Colette Macaron

"I feel pretty Oh so pretty I feel pretty and witty and gay And I pity Any girl who isn't me today I feel charming Oh so charming It's alarming how charming I feel" Westside Story.

Isn't it great, that my 16 yo will probably never read my sewing blog! I made this dress for her for a vocal contest, which she sadly did not win. But she bounces back really quick because she just wants to be a stage diva instead of an opera singer.

Back to business:  This is the Colette Macaron pattern.  Colette patterns seem to be well drafted and thoughtful.  I really like how she angles some of the pattern corners so that when matching up they fit in the corner of the other piece so well.   This is a really easy pattern.  As any pattern for wovens, you will most likely be doing some fitting.  Also, Colette drafts for a C cup.  I made a muslin of just the top portions in a cotton and mostly took up the circumference of the ribcage and bust area.  I also shortened the distance from the shoulders to the bust. These are typical fitting issues for my daughter. 
I should have made a muslin with similar fabric to what the dress was going to made from.  The dress in the pic is cotton sateen and a sheer poly knit.  When I made this dress up, the knit portion was too long because I did not take into consideration the stretch going downward.  I just tightened the sides more and deepened the shoulder seem.  To relieve some of the bagginess in the back from the same issue, I just added some darts at the shoulder blade. 

She is not standing straight, so it is hard to judge the fit.  This is all the tweaking I could do with the vocal contest the next day. 

Lastly, I did not do the sleeves and I used fold over black elastic instead of binding for the neck and sleeve edges. Under her arms, I could have done a better job tightening the elastic. Oh well, she thinks that she wants many, many dresses with this pattern in various and sundry colors and fabrics. whew!

Carry on.....

Vogue 1224

I love this pattern! It came together really easily, quickly and no fitting issues needed! My daughter is 5'2" and usually wears the absolute smallest pattern size.  Her typical fitting issues are related to a small back and ribcage. Only change on this pattern was to tighten the neck elastic so that it would not droop too low.  She wants the hem to be shorter like the pattern models, but my husband was none too keen on that (ha!)

Happy Sewing!

Claire

My Template Saga

Ok, I never thought I would have anything but my rulers. Rulers make me happy.  There is this high end fabric store in the Plano area, that just sells the heck out of my rulers. Well, the owner, has some necessary items that she needs made for her shirt making classes.  So, we get the shirt making template done.  Now, she needs a pocket making template made. Unlike rulers, templates have to have instructions.(sigh) Sooooo, today, I am taking pictures of how to use the pocket making template for my instructions. And, to be perfectly honest, this is the first time I have messed with the template_ because I do knits.

Can you believe the point on this pocket?

Here is a better pic of the template:

Unfortunately, my finger prints are all over this thing.

Now, I must belly up to the bar and make myself a shirt with pockets just to show off this point!

Hug those men in your life!  Happy Father's Day

Claire

Free Onion Top

This is the Maria-Denmark aka Onion Pattern newest pdf pattern and it is FREE!! Kirsten Kimono Tee

This was probably the fastest I have ever made a t-shirt. I am not all that good with centimeters and my measurements but I went with the small.  I usually go with a medium in most patterns.  I am 36 in the bust and 37 ish in the hips.  It is form fitting at my hips, but I think that is how it is suppose to look...kind of ruched in the middle.  I almost added side slits but I am liking this for now.  The directions talk about finishing the neck and sleeves with FOE or ribbing.  I did neither and just turned it under and cover-stitched it. There is no gaping at all with this finish because of the shallow neck. I think my next one, I will add a small pocket.
Fabric cotton knit from Fabrique! here in the Dallas area.

Ottobre Woman 2/2012 #15 Roberta Pants

Ottobre finally has an  elastic waist pant for wovens! I was so glad to see this pattern.  I was needing some quick to make pants that did not look like PJ's.  These are drafted for stretch wovens.  I have made them out of stretch denim, stretch linen/cotton (white) and stretch linen (khaki).  The only thing to do when tracing this pattern is to be sure to make the patterns taller at the waist in order to encase the elastic properly.  The directions say this, but who looks that closely on an elastic waist pant? I know you can not tell this from the photos, but these pants are very slimming (yay!!).  I bought this fabric from     SMF Fabric
out of Houston.  I bought the white and khaki linen from her and they are wonderful!  Believe it or not, but I have been so comfortable in these linen pants even in 97 degree weather here in Dallas.  This fabric would make great summer jeans too!