New Look 6245 - My last summer top?

The weather is starting to change so I thought I would try to squeeze in one more summer top for this year as I'm sure Mother Nature will throw in a few more 90+ degree days for us before it actually starts feeling like Fall.  Using the leftover fabric from the lining of the Minoru Jacket, I wanted to give New Look 6245 a try.  After all - this would be considered a bonus garment since it was made from leftovers, right?

I loved the fabric in the jacket, but it's not quite right for this top.

There's not enough drape in it to lay properly - you can see here it hangs away from the body and looks like a box.  

The back view isn't much prettier.  Still lookin like a tent here....

Hang on, I think I might have a brown belt somewhere - let's give it a try.  Bingo!  Much better with the belt.

Yes - there is a waist hidden under all of that fabric.  

Back looks better too - although I should have taken more time to adjust the fullness before taking this picture!

 Here's a recap with belt and without..

My new total for yardage sewn since the beginning of July is 29 yards.  I'm getting there slowly!

My next project is going to be a complicated one and will use alot of fabric.  Stay tuned for a post on those project plans soon!

Until next time - Happy Sewing!

September MAGAM Garment - Done!

Check off the September MAGAM Challenge project as done!  Yippee!  And I'm lovin this new top!

This is a Katherine Tilton blouse - Butterick 5925 - View B.

Here's a pic with a little less enthusiasm - so you can actually see the blouse.  As mentioned in my previous post - all three of these fabrics were from my stash and I think they play well together.

I made a size small and it's the perfect fit.

As you can see, the top has a bell shape to it - with unique pockets on the sides.

The pockets are incorporated into the side godets.  I made one pocket out of the ripped up material and the other out of the main t-shirt print - and of course trimmed each pocket with the opposite fabric.

Here's a close-up of the fabric and sleeve.

And another shot of the side godet/pocket.  The pattern calls for all 3 fabrics to be made from knit, but I wanted to squeeze in the green linen I had to highlight the godets because it just matched perfectly.  I cut the godets on the bias and this seemed to work out just fine.  Looking back now, I could have cut the godets on the straight of grain and it would have worked just as well.

The Summer Stashbustin event is all over and I missed my personal goal of sewing 30 yards of fabric :(.  But, I'm going to keep stash sewing thru the end of the year and see how big of a dent I can make in my heaping piles of fabric.  I think my stash is breeding somehow because it doesn't seem to be going down at all!

With the completion of this blouse, my new total yardage sewn since July 9th of this year is 27 yards. I hate to think how many yards before I am completely stash free - this could take me years!  (Hang on - did that just sound like a personal challenge to myself - I think it did!)

Until next time - Happy Sewing!

September MAGAM Determined

It's been three weeks since I last posted, but with good reason.  Lots of little weekend vacations recently (one truly bizarre!) have kept my foot away from the sewing machine pedal.  I'm just now posting my September MAGAM Challenge project.

I originally wanted to create something complicated for September, but with only a few days left in the month, complexities aren't in order.  Simple sewing this month is in my future.  I plan on making Butterick 5925 - A Katherine Tilton pattern - View B (the lower left hand corner view).

All of the fabrics are from my stash - the 80's rock star print in the middle is a knit I purchased from Stonemountain & Daughter in Berkeley earlier this year.  As you can see from this post, I changed my mind on the destiny of this fabric - but that's ok.   The solid green is a linen and the ripped looking knit on the top left is a leftover piece from this previous project.



Sewing View B - I'm hoping to use the ripped fabric for the sleeves, neck binding and maybe some of the pockets.  The linen will be the base pieces of the pockets and the 80's print the main body of the garment.

If you are interested in one of our bizarre weekend getaways - please click here to see a youtube video.  We won't be making it a yearly adventure, but it was funny to watch!  Especially the ostrich's!

Happy Sewing Everyone!

Sewaholic Minoru Jacket

Today marks the beginning of September in California and what a perfect time to make a winter coat - 100 degrees outside and not a cloud in the sky.  I won't be modeling this one due to the weather, but luckily, my trusty Mannequin decided to volunteer to do the modeling instead.

This fabric is a quilted poly (I think) that I purchased during a vacation in Vancouver, Canada a number of years ago.  I remember wrestling with the fabric, trying to make it conform to my carry on bag and hoping the bag wouldn't burst at the seams in transport.  It's stitched with a variegated thread in a swirly, floral/paisley motif.
I questioned using this fabric for this coat because it was so bulky, but I thought I'd give it a go and I'm glad I did - I absolutely love the way it turned out.

I opted not to sew in the optional hood because of the fabric's bulk - there was no way it would fit into the collar without looking like I had a pillow around the back of my neck.

I special ordered a zipper to get the perfect purple color.  Originally, I ordered a plastic molded zipper because I was afraid that a brass one would snag the stitching, but coincidentally, was sent a brass zipper instead.  After e-mailing the company and having them send me the correct plastic molded zipper, I ended up using the brass one they had originally sent.  The brass pulls out the orange color on the thread so nicely I think. 

The coat pattern doesn't come with pockets so I decided to draft my own.  Rather than do a square pocket, I rounded the corners on the bottom to better match the swirly pattern of the stitching and added a lining to them as well.

Here's a look at the back.  The jacket has raglan sleeves with elastic filled cuffs on the sleeve ends and elastic 3/4 of the way around the waistline.

I stitched thru the middle of the elastic to help keep it in place.

But here's the best part of the jacket - the lining!  I just love it!  This fabric too was in my stash and the colors match perfectly.   

I even fussy cut the inside pockets to match.

And added some bias tape to the bottom of the hem to help tie in the light blue color.

Here's another view of the inside front all zipped up.

And the back view.

The loop on the back is some grosgrain ribbon.  I tried to make a loop from the quilted fabric, but it was just too thick and I figured it would feel like I had a knot on the back of my neck when wearing it so I changed it to a ribbon loop instead.

This puts me at sewing 24.625 yards of fabric during the 2014 Stashbust.  I have another 5.375 yards to go to hit my own personal goal of 30 yards.  With that said, I better get busy!

Until next time - Happy Sewing!