summer Archives - Page 2 of 5

Lucinda July 31, 2013

Pattern Review: McCall’s 6752 [Stripey Sundress]

Pattern: McCall’s 6752, view D
Fabric: gifty from my Spring Sewing Swap partner Sue
Size: 8 graded to a 10 at the hips

Sandals: Nine West (old)
Crossbody: Michael Kors
Sunnies: Tommy Hilfiger

I only made this dress a little less than a month ago, but I’ve worn it a bunch of times already. It’s so easy to wear! I knew with a fabric this funky, I wanted to sew a dress that had simple design lines that would show off the multi-directional nature of the print. And since the surplice style of the bodice is cut on the bias, it made the stripe direction even crazier. Love this dress!

I read a review somewhere online about how the reviewer thought this was a ho-hum, yawn-inducing pattern. Honestly, I think this is a case of you get out of it what you put into it: if you don’t use some kind of fun print, then yeah, you’re going to get a little bit of a snooze-fest dress. But really, I would make this again out of a solid black or red knit. It’s a great basic dress pattern that can be styled in many different ways- I actually wore it to a seminar last week with a cropped black blazer and peep-toe heels and felt professional but stylish.

I was apprehensive about how this dress would fit, what with the low-cut neckline and a potential for gapeage. Since I’ve been noticing a large amount of ease when sewing Big 3 knit patterns, I cut out an 8 for the bodice and 10 for the skirt instead of the usual 10 for the bodice/12 for the skirt I cut for patterns calling for woven fabrics. It actually worked like a charm and didn’t need to be taken in any more to achieve the fit I like with knit garments. Honestly, why would there be no negative ease with knits, or at least zero ease…

Although I got the dress to fit, I still recommend to anyone who wants to make this dress to tack down the criss-cross neck. It’s got to be almost impossible, because of the drape, for this dress to not flap wide-open when wearing. Also, if you’re thinking about skipping the elastic, you will end up with a drastically different-shaped dress. Before I inserted the elastic I thought there was no way that this dress was going to fit me since I was swimming in the bodice. After sewing in the elastic, I couldn’t believe how much the bodice changed!

So yes, this is my new go-to, wear-everywhere summer dress. I just wish that the fabric was holding up better since I lovelovelove the striped-ness and squealed out loud when Sue sent me this fabric. Sadly, it’s starting to pill and the black is fading (I think the black is printed onto the white fabric). I’m going to try and get as much wear out of this dress as I can!

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Lucinda June 12, 2013

Finished Project: Floral Tiramisu

Pattern: Tiramisu by Cake Patterns
Fabric: Jersey from Metro Textiles in NYC
Size: this round, a 30D for the bodice

Finally, a finished garment! Seriously, it’s been a month since I posted something? Yuck! I blame a) my schedule and Chris’ not matching up well and b) the weather being crappy when there’s an opportunity for him to photograph my garments. I have at least two other projects that have been waiting for a month+ to be photographed, too! According to the poll all of you lovely readers were kind enough to take, you like pattern reviews and finished projects on this lil’ blog, so let’s not mess with a good thing, hmm?

After heeding everyone’s advice (thank you!), I cut out a 30D for the bodice on Tiramisu Deux. It made total sense to cut that size out; it looked like it equated the amount of fabric I removed from under the bust on my first Tira.

I think it worked out much better this time, although it seems to me that the waistband piece should come up higher underneath my bust a la an empire waist style (dude, I look like I have virtually no chest in all of these pics). The funniest thing is that when I went to do the gathers and tried to match the notches of the bodice pieces to the waistband piece, it was apparent that the gathers weren’t necessary since it was making the bodice a smaller size than the waistband. Hah! One less step for me, which was good, since I was having a “stupid sewing” day and had to resew literally every seam at least twice – I kept making stupid mistakes. Also, since I didn’t shorten the bodice pieces like I did the last go-round (aka hack the extra length of the bodice/neckband off), I needed to shorten the neckband by a significant amount – roughly an inch or so – to get the neckband piece to lie flat around the back of the neck. There was some crazy floppage back there beforehand.

On the positive side, this dress got me out of my sewing funk. I think for the past three weeks or so, everything I picked up to start sewing hasn’t really been jiving with me. I didn’t really want to force the issue, so this past weekend I uncovered some fabric I totally forgot I bought last spring in New York, and it clicked in my head that this fabric would make a perfect Tira dress. Problem solved! Now I’ve got my “sewjo” back (pun definitely intended) and can’t wait to tackle some projects that I started but haven’t finished yet.

I’ll probably make this at least one more time…maybe even cut a different bodice size. Possible a B or C instead? For a knit, this pattern is designed with way too much ease and I think the fit could be even better.

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Lucinda September 5, 2012

Pattern Review: McCall’s 6552 [Linen Beach Cover-up]

Pattern: McCall’s 6552
Fabric: Linen/cotton print from Joann’s (clearance section!)
Size: Small

Location: Ogunquit Beach, Ogunquit, ME

The impracticality of this pattern for everyday wear did not dawn on me until I sat down at my computer to order fabric for the dress. It should have been pretty obvious to me immediately, considering that the picture of the model shows the neckline of this pattern plunging down past where one’s bra band would be (of course, she is clearly not wearing a bra in the picture). I pushed this pattern to the end of my pattern queue until recently, when I decided I wanted to make a new cover-up for the beach to take on vacation to Maine…hmm…perfect! Who cares about a low-low neckline when you have a swimsuit on?

Following the measurements on the envelope and picking the size that corresponded to me the closest, I cut out a size Small. In actuality I could have made an Extra Small to get a fit that wasn’t so billowy since there is a lot of ease, but it worked out ok in the end and I didn’t really mind the extra gathered fabric around the waist. I shortened the length of the pattern by quite a lot and toyed with the idea of shortening the sleeves, but I left them as is.

What’s cool about this pattern is that it’s made up of three major pieces: the skirt front, skirt back, and then the bodice piece, which folds over the shoulders and connects at the waist. The construction was super quick to stitch together and could have gone together in one night if I didn’t have to get up so early for work the following day. The casing for the drawstring is sewn in a way I like the best: the seam allowance of the skirt/bodice is pressed up towards the bodice and stitched down in place. This pattern was also a good refresher of my button-hole skills since it’s been a long time since I’ve sewn some!

It was perfect to wear to the beach during the week, especially on cooler, windy days when I didn’t want to wear my sleeveless cover-up, but it also was just as comfortable on some of the hotter days on the beach thanks to the linen fabric. I’d make another one of these next year for beach season, maybe with the short sleeves or sleeveless in a knit fabric. If you’re looking to make a cover-up like this but want more coverage, check out Coco’s adaptation of the bodice piece – I love how she redrafted it to be more modest and practical.

The only other thing I can think of making out of this pattern is a swanky dressing gown to go over a nightie, and maybe sashaying around my apartment wearing it with a wine glass in hand. Hmm, not a shabby idea…

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Lucinda September 3, 2012

Yes, You Can Knit at the Beach

I was told that knitting at the beach was “impossible” and “icky” because of the sand, sunblock, and surf spray. Being that I’m stubborn by nature, I was determined to prove everyone wrong! Here’s my tips, based on my recent vacation to Maine, on how to knit at the beach:

1. Knit with something “non-wooly” – Cotton, hemp, or linen are great choices for beach knitting. They’re perfect summer fibers and won’t stick to your sunscreen or skin in the heat. I used some Rowan Cotton Glace I had leftover from a previous knitting project (hey hey, stash busting!).

2. Pick something small, portable, and simple – Since my project wasn’t going to be large like a sweater, I threw a small Ravelry project bag in my beach tote that held my yarn, needles, and a zipper pouch with scissors and a tape measure. Even though my knitting project was a mesh lace bag, it was easy to remember a four row repeat and not have to fuss with instructions blowing all over the place.

3. Sand and sunblock will get in your project – That’s why I chose to knit something that wouldn’t matter to me if sand and sunblock got in/on my project, such as a reusable mesh tote bag. I found it helpful to use hand sanitizer to clean my hands and make them less slimy and slippery when I knitted. I didn’t notice sand sticking to my cotton yarn that much, but I’m sure it’s there. Not a big deal to me.

4. Use something to hold your yarn in place – The cup holder on a beach chair was quite handy to keep my yarn from tumbling out of my lap and rolling down the beach. It was also pretty windy most of the days we were out on the beach, so I was grateful that my yarn was kept snug and in place at my side. A yarn bra or yarn keeper would be nice alternatives if your beach chair doesn’t have cup holders.

5. Leave your Addi Turbos at home – My cheap Boye needles were exposed to salt water, sunblock, and were lost in the sand several times. I would never want that to happen to my expensive Addis! The same goes with other treasured knitting notions (or yarn) that you wouldn’t want harmed.

Have you ever knit at the beach?

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Lucinda August 20, 2012

Circus Skirt

Pattern – combination of McCall’s 6554 and Butterick 4443
Fabric – Cotton poplin from Mood in NYC

Tank – INC
Shades – Bulgari
Sandals – Tahari
Necklace – gift

This skirt was the result of a sewing disaster.

It started out originally as a dress, hence the reason for McCall’s 6554. I thought it would be a sweet summer sundress out of this crazy stripe fabric I found at Mood earlier this summer. I even thought through how to place the stripes – horizontal for the bodice, vertical for the skirt. Oh, how fab it was going to look.

After stitching the skirt to the bodice and trying it on, I realized that this wasn’t going to work out at all – the fit of the pattern was much larger than I anticipated (even after making a muslin for the bodice) and frankly, with all of the crazy colored stripe action going on and a big A-line skirt, two words came to mind when I looked at this dress on me in the mirror: circus tent.

That’s when my mom stepped in and suggested I try to convert the dress into a skirt instead. See, I made this when I was home visiting the folks in July, and my mom had a pattern on hand that she’s made into dresses and skirts for me in the past: Butterick 4443. I used the skirt portion of the pattern and lined it up onto the skirt I already had from the McCall’s pattern (minus the pleat, I took that out and stitched the two center fronts together). Following the swoop of the side seam, I traced the pattern onto my skirt, re-cut it and voila – crisis adverted! I finished it up with an invisible zipper and tried a new technique of using twill tape in place of a waistband facing.

Instead of tears and a tent of a dress, I have a pretty new skirt that’s great for casual summer days. When sewing gives you a lousy pattern, make an awesome garment!

What kind of sewing crises have you avoided?