Vogue 8793 - a Katherine Tilton blouse

Another completed project!  Yeah!  This is Vogue 8793 - a Katherine Tilton blouse.  Not sure I like the look with leggings - jeans would be better.

I added a pocket to the front of the blouse because - well - who doesn't like a pocket!

The fabric is a doubleknit that I purchased at this year's Sewing Garage Sale.  It's polka dot on one side and stripe on the other.

I really like the neckline on this blouse.  It uses a double collar that is edged with a zipper!

Close-up of the zipper tape used as an edging.  

Cutting out this blouse took a bit of thought to make sure I had the dots on the correct side and the stripes on the other side.  I did find the arms to be a bit snug from the elbow to the wrist.  If I make this again, I will widen the sleeves just a bit.

I decided to edge the pocket with the zipper tape too.  Kinda cute!

Sorry this post has random thoughts here and there, but it was a random kinda day!

Here are the stashbustin' stats:

2 yards of sewing garage sale fabric for $5.00

Total YTD = 72.41 yards!

Happy sewing everyone!
Star

Final Project for September Sew for 30 - A Renaissance Revival Top

Project Number 9!!  Butterick 5925 - a Katherine Tilton top.  This is the second time I have used this pattern and I still love it.  First version can be seen here.  I call this version my Renaissance Revival top.

The fabrics and trims for this top all came from the stash.  The "faces" print, was purchased at the ASG Sewing Garage Sale earlier this year.  The polka dot used for the sleeves and pockets has been in the stash for a long time and the trims - well - one of them I know is older than I am as it was passed onto me from my grandmother.  

The "faces" fabric is very, very drapey, so I knew it would work well for this top. The polka dot fabric - not so drapey, but it's ok in the places I used it.  The "faces" fabric was just wide enough to cut out the front and back pieces - being extra careful of the face placement so one didn't fall on my boob or right in the middle of my backside!  I barely had enough fabric leftover to squeek out the one pocket front out of the faces fabric too.  

I am looking forward to wearing this top when our weather finally starts cooling down.  It was 89 degrees outside when my dear Mom snapped these pics and we were both starting to sweat - especially with leggings and boots on!  Thank goodness we found some shade in the backyard.

Here's the trim I mentioned earlier that is older than I am.  The neckline and one of the pockets is trimmed with it and I think the bronze portion of the trim is made from actual metal!  It's a bit scratchy and it has sharp edges to it.  I sewed the entire neckline trim on by hand as my machine was having nothing to do with it.  This top will have to be a handwash only item as I'm sure this trim would snag the rest of the garment if it went thru a regular wash.  Who knows - it's so old that it might just fall apart the first time it is washed too!

Here the pocket front cut from the faces fabric.  It too is trimmed with the metal braid.  

The other pocket edge is trimmed with the faces fabric and if you can believe this - that fancy trim on the edge - well - I had a 1/2 inch to spare on that piece - which means it was meant to be!  I think it was leftover from a pillow I made years ago.

I've done fairly good this month for the September Sew for 30 projects.  I've completed 9 out of the 10 I had planned.  The only item left is the garment bag - which is cut out and the bias tape completed - I just need to sew it together.  Hoping to finish that one this weekend and then I'm onto other projects.

I hope everyone has enjoyed incorporating 30 minutes a day of sewing into their schedule.  I know I have - especially after my nearly two hour commute home on Wednesday due to an accident and traffic jam - I couldn't wait to relax a bit in front of the sewing machine.

Here are the stats for this project:
Total yardage for this top = 2 yards
Total YTD yardage = 91.125

Happy sewing everyone!

Star

Vogue 8817 - A Dress?

My last Tilton garment was a bit of a flop, but this one has turned out great!  Yippee!  I have actually made this pattern previously, but this time, I decided to turn it into a dress.

Using View C of Vogue 8817 - I tried to squeek out as much of the leftover black and white circle fabric that I had to make the bottom portion of the dress.  My grainlines are not at all correct on these two pieces, but that was the only way I could get the most length out of my leftover scraps.  After hanging on the dress form for a few days, you can see that the back is a little higher than the front.

I took in the sides about 1 inch on each side and then added two bands to the bottom of the dress to make it a little longer and voila! I think it turned out pretty cute!

I purchased this necklace on a vacation in Chipping Campden, England two years ago and have never worn it.  Finally I have something to wear it with!

Back view.  It's a very roomy dress, but it is super comfortable and I can't wait to wear it to work next week.

And yes - this is another stashbusting project.  This adds another 2.75 yards to the total for this year bringing me up to 8.25 yards sewn so far.

Happy Sewing everyone!

Star

January MAGAM Done - Thank Goodness!

I am happy to say this garment is finally done and it was a dud!

I had high hopes for Vogue 8834 a Katherine Tilton pattern, but was sadly disappointed.  Of course I opted not to make a muslin first and instead just decided to dive right in.  If I had made a muslin, I would have thrown both it and the pattern away without further thought.

The back of the garment was fairly roomy - not huge, but enough to move around and be comfortable.

However the front just pulls at the bustline - and I'm not overly busty to start with!

The collar on the pattern is supposed to be just a single layer with the wrong side of the fabric showing, but I opted to do a doubled collar instead.  Of course I spent extra time lining up all of those lines and trimming away the excess material on the double turned facing.....

See - look how well the lines intersect!

Only to be disappointed with the front - My lines are off just enough to be annoying.  My mish-mash of buttons adds a little interest to the front.

But that big floppy collar lays funny and your bra strap ends up showing.

And the sleeve has just too much in the back of the arm.  See that extra fabric just sticking out in the back?

As you can tell, this top is not a winner for me and I'll probably never wear it.  It was so annoying with the collar flopping everywhere and constantly readjusting it just for these photos, that it would probably drive me crazy if I had to wear it all day!  Oh well - you win some and you loose some!

Note to self - next time - make a muslin!

One good thing did come out of this experience though - it was yet another stashbuster and this one consumed 2 & 5/8 yards bringing my YTD total to 4.25 yards.  A slow start to the year, but it all counts!

That's it for me today - onto the next project that will hopefully be a better one!

Happy Sewing everyone!

Star

Vogue 8778

This jacket is a Katherine Tilton design for Vogue Patterns.  I made this awhile ago and have finally posted it.  This jacket adds to my collection of jackets that are members of the "Big Collar Brigade" - I seem to have quite a few members in my closet.

The jacket is made out of polar fleece and the day I took the pictures, it was about 80 degrees outside and I was roasting, so I tried to take some quick snaps.

The jacket is very loose-fitting with an asymmetrical front zipper closure.  I wanted to do a little something different with the zipper so I combined two different zippers in my stash.  As you can see below, one side of the zipper is white and the other side is black.  Also, after sewing in the zip, it seemed a little plain, so I added some polka dot ribbon to each side.

The black polar fleece was the packing material used in an e-bay purchase of a new sewing machine.  Of course I couldn't throw it away - for goodness sake - it was free fabric!  There was about 3 yards of the stuff and it had various holes and marks so I needed to work around them when cutting out the jacket pieces.

The striped knit sleeve material was leftover from a previous project.
The polka dot polar fleece was purchased at a local fabric store - I can't remember when exactly. Here's the back view - pretty simple from the back.

After completing the jacket, it seemed like it was missing something so I added the pocket to the front.

The pocket material is some cotton knit I had in my stash.  To make the pattern, I used a salad plate from the kitchen and traced around the outside of the plate and then added a seam allowance.  Using two pieces of knit, sew the circles together and turn.  When I added the pocket to the jacket, I decided how much of the circle I wanted to turn back to form the flap and just sewed around the edge of the rest of the pocket.  Add a button and ta-da!  Super easy pocket!  I think the round pocket pulls from the polka dots on the collar and my cute little polka dot button was the finishing touch.

The two collar pieces in front just meet - no hooks and eyes or anything.  I might add some hooks and eyes at a later date.

That's it for now!  Hope you like it!

Happy Sewing!