The Best Laid Plans

Sometimes I just don't stay true to my SWAP plans.  There are many reasons why my plans change (I get bored, I can't find the pattern I was going to use originally, I can't find fabric to suit my ideas...), but in this case it turned out that the textured white sweater knit I was going to use for my planned project had much less yardage than I had originally anticipated.  In fact, it looks like I already hacked another project out of it.  I have no idea what the project was or when I did that, but the result is I didn't have enough fabric for the chosen project.

Photo credit:  M1357, My Image Magazine #7

I fell in love with the pattern M1357 from My Image Magazine #7 (fall/winter 2013/2014).  The magazine can be found here: Made by Oranges.



The sweater is a pretty basic sweater, with a lovely loose turtleneck, large cuffs at the wrists and is finished with a self-fabric bottom band.

In searching through my stash, I found a black super stretchy fabric (maybe a matte slinky - remember that stuff?!), with very fine taupe stripes.  It took me longer to trace the pattern off than it did to sew, and neither took very long to do.

I love the finished result.  I did a Nancy Zieman pivot and slide method of adding 1" to the bust instead of a traditional FBA (I didn't want a dart in this fabric).  I also added 2" in length to the sleeves.

Before I added the bottom band, I sewed the pieces together on one side and then wrapped it around my hips, marking where I wanted the final result to be.  I ended up whacking off about 10 cm in the width of the band to make it more fitted.  I would suggest doing this for each top you make from this pattern as all stretch knits behave differently.

I'm really happy with the final result.  So happy, in fact, I immediately cut out another one from a fabric I had just bought.

This fabric is a very open weave knit in a charcoal grey mix, with a bit more body than the "slinky" I used for the first one.  It kind of feels like a chenille fabric, but not as soft or as bulky.

I added about 5 cm to the length at the centre front, tapering it to nothing at the side seams to accommodate my bust volume, instead of only the width that the Nancy Zieman method FBA seems to add.

I will certainly need to wear a cami, tank or tee underneath this top as it is very showy otherwise, but I love the unusual fabric.

I think this is a cozy but lightweight sweater that will be great for the transition to spring.  If it ever arrives...that is.

FO - More Dots!

I've actually been scheduling time in m'Atelier this month.  As in, it's in pen in my paper calendar and bullet journal so it's an actual scheduled event I don't mess with.  Like, a lunchtime stress relieving appointment, or an after dinner appointment that I have to honour.   This means I've been getting a lot of sewing done.  Which is great, because I've made a rather lofty goal for myself to complete the SWAP I'm currently working on (you can read all about my plans here).

I love polka dots.  Sewing with polka dot fabric makes me very happy.  I found a black rayon blend lightweight crepe with white polka dot fabric on my stash and knew I just had to include it in my sewing plans.  I decided on a blouse using My Image magazine #12 M1612.   You can find the magazine on www.madebyoranges.com.

M1612 has back princess seams, with a yoke at the front shoulders and 3/4 length bell sleeves, which you can see in the line drawing above.  What the line drawing doesn't show is the soft gathers where the shoulder yoke joins the front.  When I was tracing the pattern, I wondered why the front piece seemed so much bigger than the yoke piece, but didn't notice the part about gathers until reading through the instructions.  Not that it would have changed my mind about making the blouse, but it's funny (weird) that the gathers aren't shown.  Anyway...here's the finished object:

I love it!  I chose white buttons.  Mostly because I had just used up all of my black ones in the right size, but also because I thought they were fun with the white polka dots.  The neckline is finished with self fabric bias binding, which I think is a really nice touch.

You can't see the princess seams on the back in the photograph, in fact, you can't really see them in person either, but they add really nice shaping to the blouse.  It's flowy, but not voluminous, which is how I prefer it. 

What are you sewing?  Any SWAP plans?

Twisted, a FO

A while back, I found a new to me pattern company.  Don't cha just love the internet?  Made by Oranges is a company based in the Netherlands, who publishes My Image, a semi-annual magazine with patterns for women. I have collected all of their issues over the past year or so.  Shipping from the Netherlands to Canada is relatively quick (about two weeks or so), and I haven't been any trouble with either the Canada Post or customs.  I've just resubscribed for the coming year, as well as purchased a subscription for B*Trendy, the children's pattern magazine they also publish.

The patterns in the magazines need to be traced the same as Burda Style magazine, which can be a bit confusing, but I highlight each pattern piece with a highlighter before tracing to make it less confusing.  I also place a bright work light directly over my work space when I'm tracing (and wear my reading glasses!).  The directions are just as brief as Burda magazines, but come in four languages. However, the lovely clothing with a touch of European flare make it totally worth all of this.  And, the glossy photographs of the clothes made in a number of different fabrics are well worth the purchase price.

This is my first Queen of the Dots SWAP piece.  Item #10 (Top #5) as noted in my previous post is My Image magazine #15, M1760 twist top in lightweight mustard heather jersey knit.  This fabric came from Fabricland (not sure if it was my local store or one I bought in a huge haul last October in Ottawa).  I've sewn this fabric up in other colourways previously, and it is lovely to wear, albeit a bit sheer.  I felt it would be perfect for the twist in this pattern.

I chose size 42 based on my measurements.  I made a 3/4" swayback adjustment, which is a standard adjustment for me, and graded the waist shaping out to accommodate my figure. I also added 1" to the length of the sleeves.

The challenging part of this pattern is obviously figuring out what the directions meant for the twisted part.  I was sewing in the evening after a taxing day, and it took me a few tries to figure out what the instructions meant, despite the drawings that are included for this pattern.  I did eventually figure it out by bringing the top over to the dress form and draping it this way and that. Once I got that figured out, I couldn't figure out how I was supposed to finish the portion of the top front and ripped a small hole during the stitching/unstitching/restitching process.  Fortunately, the hole was covered when I finally did figure out what I was supposed to do.  Next time, I'll add a bit of a wedge through this area to accommodate an FBA.

The body of the top ended up being quite long on me.  I cut off 2-1/2" from the length of the body.  I guess being able to cut off the length isn't a hardship, it's just an uncommon practice for me with my long legs and arms :p

I love the result.  I would love to make this top again, but as it is pretty distinctive, I won't make it again in this SWAP capsule.