Those shoulder holes

You know the ones. Some variants are classic(al) in a literal sense, but many are on the faddish and contrived side IMO. Regardless, they're still being promoted by several pattern companies, both American and European. I don't think I saw the style at all in Germany as late as 2014. It didn’t seem all that popular in Vancouver either, while I was there, but I’ve seen more of it in Kingston—which has hotter summers and probably more tourists around where I'd see them—in 2017–18.

They have some potential benefits:

• less uneven tanning if you often wear short sleeves but rarely go sleeveless
• can feel warmer, if it’s your forearms and not your shoulders that get cold
• unlike with cap or no sleeves, nobody needs to know the state of your armpits, if that’s a controversial issue in your area (lol)
• likewise, you don’t have to show much of your upper (or lower) arms if you don’t want to
• might feel less sweaty and gross than sleeveless in humid weather, IMO, and if you chose to add dress shields, they’d be more effective, as they could cover both sides
• even long-sleeved versions can look summery, if you’re in a climate where this might be useful

Downsides:

• not necessarily considered appropriate for all occasions (such as in the office)
• structurally trickier than sleeves without the holes, since they aren’t supported by the shoulders
• more edges to finish
• when they do go out of fashion again, it'll be with a thud

I made a couple of dresses in this style last year, so I’ve been glad to see I’m not the only one still wearing it. One was based on a morph between the recent McCall’s 7412 and an early 70s Simplicity, cut as long as my fabric would allow, with the neckline hiked up and mock-smocking added to the sleeves and raised waist.

This is a crinkled linen blend I got from the Gala Fabrics that used to be in Vancouver. It lettuced a bit at the neckline and hems, but that and the clinging effect seem to become less noticeable once it's worn for a while and the fabric relaxes somewhat. The mock-smocking was done with elastic thread in the bobbin, while the neckline is held in with cord elastic in a casing.

The other was a modification of an early 2000s Neue Mode, which I may go back and use in unmodified form one of these days. The waist turned out rather loose (in keeping with the drawings) but that isn't such a bad thing, in hot weather.

The sleeves are self-lined and have an overlapped, mock-buttoned effect. I used the sleeveless views' combined neck and armhole facing to sandwich the partial armscye seams. The buttons were a gift and the fabric is a (Telio?) linen blend print that came from Dressew.

Tea towels, for actual tea

I've again become sidetracked with knitting; this time it's to replace my sorry old kitchen towels. In ready-mades I was looking for something really specific, so unsurprisingly, it doesn't seem to exist: medium to dark colours; busy patterns without too much white in them; and thick fabric—the last seems pretty hard to find these days, at any price. One of my main uses for these is mopping up tea or colorful ingredients, but a lot of what I could find was thin, solid-coloured pastels that would get very noticeably stained on first use. I guess you could bleach them, but then you never quite know what color might result.

Well, two balls of Bernat Handicrafter will make a decent-sized towel for less than $3, when it's on sale. I got many different colors in an attempt to tie together all the miscellaneous colors in my kitchen; if I don't make myself thoroughly sick of this I could end up with 12 towels, which should pretty well replace what I've got. Here's one in Indigo and Lime Stripes.

It's a Purl Soho pattern that I downscaled, in both senses; you're meant to use Euroflax linen, which is lovely, but will make a thinner towel at a significantly higher price. It seems to me that linen yarn is less absorbent, somehow, too—is it the smoother surface, or just the fact that it's never spun as thick? Most importantly, they'd take a lot longer to knit as intended. Maybe someday.

First FO of 2017

This had been a UFO for a couple reasons, but the main one was it got sidelined for a sewalong I was doing with a local sewing meetup, working on a different project—that Burda 7237 coat. That was last fall, and this is not a winter top.

I used a linen remnant with a lot of sheen. (Yeah, it's very wrinkled, and I could've done more about that, but... it's going right back in the closet for another few months. It didn't get much beyond the necessary construction pressing.)

The pattern was Simplicity 3860, dated 1952, in vintage juniors' and misses' sizes 11-16 and 18. The one I have is about 3 sizes too small. After some dithering, I found it easier to try to duplicate all the details onto my fitting shell than to try to grade it. So what I'll say next has to be taken with a grain of salt, because I don't know the exact grade rules they followed and how well my version would correspond.

The impression I get is that this pattern (as drafted) will fit best on a figure that's relatively shallow front to back, i.e. with a wide, flat ribcage and chest: The armhole doesn't have much depth front to back, so on a person who has more, it will probably crease against the front of the arm/shoulder area, unless it's cut very low to mitigate this. Personally, I drastically reshaped the armhole when resizing the pattern and even so, had to hollow out the front more after cutting. The blouse also has the typical postwar very fitted waist that's more concave in front than I've ever been, so I had to reshape those darts. I narrowed the upper back, at the same time coping with an ostensibly permanent wear/crease line in my fabric that I couldn't cut around, by adding a long CB dart. I would probably cut and sew that as a seam next time, if there is a next time.

Lastly, design changes: I was a bit bored with the thing, so I decided to make reversed armhole facings to go with the neckband. I used an invisible zipper since that's what I could immediately find to match. (Now that I look at the button in artificial light, I'm really rethinking whether it's an okay match. Hmm. That might get changed.)

The pattern as a whole is clearly "of its time," and there are some aspects of the fit and design that probably really would work best for a 1950s teenager. But I think the blouse at least can be made much more versatile.

Activewear

Being bored with what I currently have, I made a couple of things. The fabric was some sort of gray "technical" type I got from ELingeriA before it closed. I couldn't tell you what it was, except that it clearly resists water on one side and absorbs it on the other.

Now that I've worn the FOs, I figure it must've been meant for a warmth layer of some kind. Anyway, I got two projects out of it. Second things first, Kwik-Sew 2779, so out of print it isn't even on their website anymore. I cut it as long as I could with what was left from the first project. I'd also lowered the rise and cut the waist elastic rather long so it would sit lower than the original design intended.

The first project was Kwik-Sew 3835. As my fabric was less stretchy than what the pattern intended, I cut all the bands in much larger sizes. They still stay up quite well. I also erred on the small side for the main pieces, since I felt all the volume wasn't really needed. That all meant the main pieces could be eased, not gathered, onto the waistband.

With the wicking properties, I was concerned about the orientation of the bands. If I'd followed the intended construction, they'd have been water-resistant against the skin, not a great feeling. If I'd made them inside out, I can only imagine what stink would get trapped inside. So I cut them in two along the length and assembled them so as to put the wicking sides to the insides (er, patient inside) on both.

The gray is not an exciting color, but the gathered pair is very different from anything I have, and I like its drape. Now if only I had a cooler fabric for summer. The main parts can be made in a woven; I think they'd be nice in a crinkle gauze.

Favorite Things Pins & Needles: a Tardis knitting needle case

I got this Tardis fabric at Gala in Victoria. The pattern is pretty much a simple rectangle that folds and rolls up.

I made a zipped closure for the small pocket (at lower right), instead of a Velcro flap, because of what I had on hand. Also, I feel the zipper is unlikely to allow stuff to dump itself out.

 

To keep the needles in, the case just folds up. This isn't the neatest thing ever, since the flap ends up being a bit big and loose relative to the rest.

But it's simple and does the job.

I also made tie ends instead of using the elastic-and-button closure, figuring elastic could wear out and not really wanting to bother choosing a button.

Other things to note about this pattern:

• Directionally patterned fabric (a.k.a. "with nap") can be an issue because the main piece is just folded up to form the pockets and the flap.
• The pattern has you stitch twice through the different pockets. I think it would be difficult to get both stitching lines in the same place, plus it's more work. I only stitched through all layers once, after positioning all the pockets.
• It's probably best for straight needles and maybe DPNs, rather than circulars. Personally, it holds all my straights, and I don't plan on acquiring more. It won't also hold all my DPNs; as there's a chance I may buy more and/or find ones I've misplaced, I've punted on any sort of elegant storage for those, for the time being. But I think the stitching line spacing and/or pocket size might need some reworking if you want this to be mainly a DPN case.

This should be my last quilting-cotton accessory project for a while.

The finished patchwork bag

I've declared victory on this. It will most likely be used for small project storage: patterns, knitting stuff, that sort of thing.

Because of the buckram retrofit, the lining had to be put in by hand, not a fun thing to do, but it didn't take long. I tacked the corners together too, hiding the knots in the seams.

The lining fabric itself is a leftover piece of something from Dressew. It's much more suited to garments and looks rather sad in a bag; if I had been less cheap or lazy, I'd have either used a heavier satin or cotton, or interfaced it.

 
The bag is meant to have little tabs with grommets instead of these D-rings. But I wanted antique brass, and this was the only thing available that really matched the clips I could find. No great loss since they're easier to do a good job with anyway (although getting them in on top of the stiff ends of the zipper tape was a little tricky, as I recall).

Burda 8409

This is an out-of-print pattern I got discontinued (thus the X) several years ago. My notes say it's from 2005 or earlier. It's probably not going to be as easy to find in North America as an OOP Big4 would be, although I do see one on eBay at time of writing.

The reason I decided to make this up is that I had these old H&M cargo pants, on the left, that I'd got a lot of use out of, but that finally bit the dust—first the drawstring kept breaking (they never fit all that well in the first place; the rise was too short and the waist too big, so the drawstring must have taken a lot of strain to hold them up), then the zipper got somewhat unreliable, and lastly they got a nice big hole on the butt. The longer view of the Burda pattern is similar in design, if you don't look too closely. I added view B's back pockets onto view A, but otherwise didn't do anything to up the similarity. The H&M pants have bellows pockets with (rather wrinkly) flaps, more rounded bound hip pocket openings, and back knee seams and front knee darts. The latter especially is an interesting detail, but as I was making these looser, I thought it wouldn't serve as much purpose.

My version is in sage green Tencel twill. The color is less versatile and the fabric may not be as durable; it's a little heavier weight but much drapier than the original's cotton. But it's extremely comfortable and feels cooler to wear. I was waffling between two sizes, but decided on the larger one in case of durability issues and because the fabric has significant drape. The larger size sits lower on the hips; if I'd gone smaller I might have had to lengthen the rise substantially. On the other hand, the waist does grow with wear, so I'm not convinced I made the right decision—and I regret not having added belt loops.

I shifted the lower parts of the legs inward as recommended by Jan Minott for knock-knees. In hindsight I probably didn't need quite as big a shift, especially on the front, but this does make the fit much more graceful in back, as otherwise I get diagonal wrinkles there. I didn't alter the length at all, with the result that these are probably a little puffier at the hem than they're meant to be, but I actually like that. At least some extra length should be kept in any case, because of the drawstring hem.

As for other design changes, I left the zippers off the lower legs, since they aren't really needed and would interfere with the drape. I also made sure to get zippers with dangling pulls for the side pockets, so those hang down even though those zippers are sideways. (Maybe that's going a little overboard, but why not take advantage of Dressew's zipper selection?) Instead of having the drawstrings come out by leaving the bottom of the seam open, I put in grommets. The drawstrings are meant to be made of self fabric, and let me tell you, turning them is a real pain even with a Fasturn. Afterward I also found I could easily whack off several inches (didn't want the bows dragging on the floor) so could have saved myself some of the turning hassle. I'd recommend folding and topstitching them instead, or better yet, if you have an easily matched color, buy twill tape. 1/2" is about the right width. Lastly, I used a hook and bar instead of a button on the fly—no buttonhole and no color match required.

In conclusion, I'm pretty happy with these. They may not be quite as versatile as the originals, but the fit is certainly better and I'm happy to have a working zipper. (Actually, I suppose I could've just sewn the fly shut on the old ones, since I certainly didn't need it to get into or out of them. But they're beyond repair at this point.) If Burda fits you well, I would recommend this pattern if you have or come across it.

Getting through the brocade

I'm trying to use up one major piece of fabric per week for the Patternreview Fabric Stash Contest.
Last week's fabric was the green rayon/silk brocade I'd mentioned in my initial post on the aforementioned contest.

Most of that's become ca. 1969 Vogue 2156, reviewed here; the rest became the clutch from New Look 6092. It was the first time I'd sewn brocade of this particular fiber content, probably around 75% rayon/25% silk or so. Not surprisingly, It was much easier to handle, and in particular press, than the synthetic brocades and brocade-look satin prints I'd worked with before. To the contrary of what Sandra Betzina's More Fabric Savvy says, and unlike the synthetics, it does hold a crease quite well, especially if you've got a decent iron. (I think everything else said above brocade in that book was on point.) While I liked this fabric a lot, and I'm pretty happy with the finished items, I was very glad to be done with them, what with all the fraying.

This week's fabric has been a piece of Bemberg that seems endless, which is why I've been sewing rather than posting. Not a very interesting fabric to look at, but for the record, here it is. The idea is to make lots of dark brown breathable lingerie that can substitute for the black non-breathable kind that's the only (less flattering on me) dark-colored option in RTW.

Hollywood 1512 done; brocade next

Just a brief note to say that my first fabric for the Patternreview stash contest is out of the way.

Rather than repeat myself at length, I'll point you to the review on Patternreview. It's already rather tl;dr, but I do have a further bit to post on getting a tie end through a French seam, so that'll hopefully go up here tomorrow.

Next up, and already cut, is this Chinese brocade.

If all goes well, (most of) it will be a late-sixties dress. More on that later.

Burda 8544 (and a swayback alteration I didn't end up doing)

One of my few recent finished projects is this nightgown.

I'd considered doing a form of swayback alteration, which would have shifted the back neckline down, lowering the shoulder-neck point and requiring the shoulder seam to be redrawn. The new cutting line would have been as marked here:

The idea is to remove the extra length at CB by taking it out all the way up at the top of the pattern piece. (Incidentally, I'm not sure my issue is really a swayback so much as a high round hip that can't easily be fit by patterns without princess or waist seams.) In any case, I pin-fit this and found it seemed unnecessary; I think the cut, in my size and this fabric, is roomy enough in the hips that it isn't an issue.
The fabric is a navy jersey of some sort, and the lace is one of the last ones I bought from ELingeriA in Germany before it closed. Here it is in more detail, but less accurate color:

The fabric is meant to be cut away underneath, but I didn't do that here. The lace pattern shows up better against this dark fabric. I also made the long sleeves the usual tapered shape, instead of adding the circular flounce as intended by the pattern.

This pattern is long out of print, but it seems the main details should be easy enough to imitate. It's essentially a loose, lengthened T-shirt with the lace applied across the front, covering the bust darts. The back is plain, which ordinarily might bother me, but I think in this case it's just as well not to put any potentially fragile lace there.

A quick little UFO

So yeah, I've got a backlog of pattern reviews to do, and I haven't been great about starting any new projects that need much planning. On top of that, I've been doing fun things like spending quality time with memtest. Anyway, one thing I did finish recently was this little bag:

I had the main piece all knitted and ready to go, together with the handles, sitting in a drawer for oh, about three years. Two main reasons: a) I thought it should have a lining, but didn't think I had anything suitable on hand; and b) after sewing another similar little bag with rigid handles, I realized I don't especially like using this style of bag. I'd much rather have a shoulder strap, and I find the openings on these things unwieldy, even with fairly generous slits left on either side of the handles.

In the end, I just used muslin for the lining; that matches the handles well enough. It remains to be seen how much use it gets, but hey, at least it's finally done, and I do like how it looks.

The pattern is Patons' Cabled Bag; the yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Seaspray, used double.

Rain boot socks

Not that there's been all that much need for them this year, but I've continued knitting some heavier socks. These, of course, go quicker than the usual fingering weight. They also help make my boots, which are too loose in the ankle and foot, fit better. The ones below are in Briggs & Little Tuffy, which I like for the mottled and not-too-saturated colors. They are rather short, as the bobbles take up a lot of yarn, but one skein was enough (they were knit toe-up).

The sock shape is the Riverbed master pattern from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, and the bobble stitch pattern is from Lesley Stanfield's New Knitting Stitch Library. The Riverbed's a very versatile pattern in that all sorts of stitch patterns can be applied to the top of the foot. It needs no grafting or picking up of stitches, things I like to avoid. Stanfield's book is very useful and nicely organized as well; all the stitch patterns are charted, which I think makes them much simpler to mirror and to use on anything knit in the round.

I hope I'll get back to some more sewing soon, but knitting projects are good when I don't have a solid block of time to really think things through.

Using up my red knits: Vogue 2506 et al.

I don't know about you, but I don't like changing the thread in my machines. Even more so if it's the serger or the coverstitch and has at least three cones to change. Honestly it isn't that big a deal, but still, I find myself avoiding it. So my past four projects have involved sewing up all of the reddish knits that I have. One was the streaked red knit that I used for the McCall's cardigan in the last post. There was enough of that left over to do something with, but not anything I'd really want in a moderately warm fabric like that (i.e. long sleeves were not going to be possible). So I used it to test an old Kwik Sew pattern, 304. More on that later, but to put it briefly, it's much boxier than it looks and I wouldn't sew it again without a pretty major redesign.

The second fabric is a viscose/wool/angora blend; I have what've turned out to be a few major wardrobe builders made from this same fabric in other colors. This one's a slightly duller, softer red, partly because of the slight heathering from the angora, but the serger threads were close enough (and maybe as close as I'd be likely to find in that weight, not living in New York). For this I used a newer basic top pattern, Kwik Sew 2619, that I'm much happier with. Again, more on that later; I may end up comparing it to 304.

Lastly, what I'll actually show here is Vogue 2506. It's a 2000 sweatshirt pattern that I got discontinued (thus the X) several years ago.

I made something like the version shown in off white, but split it down the front, left out the drawstring, and closed it with hooks and eyes only at the neck and the diagonal front seams. I've given it a bit of a "flyaway" pose on the form. It does need another pressing, and I'm debating whether I like it closed at the lower hook or not, but of course that can just be left undone.

With the extended shoulders and the very straight cut, I'm glad I used a drapier fabric than shown in the sketches. In fact, it's very oversized. This is probably just as well for an unlined cardigan that will have to be dragged on over other things.

So that's it for my red knits. It's nice not to have to rethread, but I'm also relieved to be able to move onto something else. Maybe some wovens will be next.

McCall's cardigan and one more tricot project

Here's the McCall's cardigan I've been meaning to photograph.
It's 6996 which, judging from Patternreview, wasn't as massively popular as another cardigan-with-peplum pattern they put out, but still got a good many reviews. I plan to add one, real soon now. These have both been over-flashed and the real color is closer to what you see in the mirror, but I guess the advantage is the heathered pattern shows up.

I'm pretty happy with the pattern. My only complaint is I might like the collar to be gathered and stayed on the sides as well as at CB, at least if it'd help keep the shoulder seams where they belong (though I'm not certain it would). They tend to slide outward; it isn't absolutely terrible, but when it happens, it can give more of an extended or drop-shoulder look than the pattern would've intended, judging from the sleeve cap height. I like the peplum more than I expected, but it won't go with everything, so it does need some careful planning to wear.

Oh, and the coverstitch worked very well on this fabric, though you can't really see it at all in the photos (which is kind of the point).

I've got maybe half a yard of the fabric left but I'm not sure what, if anything, I'll do with that.

As for the pink tricot, I had quite a bit left and decided I could use another half-slip with just a bit more length. Turns out one of my knee-length skirts sits lower on the waist than I remembered. So this one's 20". I used the last bit of lace I had left over, cut in half so I could get it all the way around the hem. That means it was serged on RS together, rather than applied to the outside, to hide the cut edge.

This time the elastic's serged on, flipped inside, and sewn on with a much narrower three-step zigzag. I like the look of this better than the wide three-step zigzag I used last time. A narrow coverstitch would've looked even more like RTW, but I lacked the motivation to rethread the machine. Anyway, I highly recommend Kwik-Sew 2467 or Beautiful Lingerie, both of which will tell you how to cut and make these. They don't need to take more than an hour or so, once you're used to them.

Tricot and oldish Kwik-Sews

I've finally had the chance to sew some of the Antron tricot I got from Bra-maker's Supply the other month. I got pink because it was the one color they've got that I don't already have in RTW slips (the others they have being white, ivory, and black — come to think of it, I don't think I have ivory, but I guess I figured it was so close to white, pink would be the more interesting choice). It isn't a color I typically wear, but eh.

So far I've made Kwik-Sew 2394 and 2467. Unfortunately, both of these are now out of print (and I figure it's a matter of time before that 2467 link dies). For what it's worth, occasionally I see Sewingpatterns.com selling these older patterns as downloads long after the printed versions are out of production. I've shortened both of them by 4", because the problem I currently have is that most of my RTW slips are too long for my knee-length skirts. Hey, I'm short.

The full slip has lace edging and ribbon shoulder straps from Dressew. I considered making the straps adjustable, but I think they may be a bit too thin (thickness, not width, if you know what I mean) to stay in place in the sliders I have.

 
The half-slip hem is done with my machine's "M" stitch, which sort of looks like its mock blindstitch; the technique is described in several Kwik-Sew patterns as well as their Beautiful Lingerie book.

I must admit my tricot-sewing skillset is far behind some of my other sewing abilities (such as they may be). Until fairly recently, I've avoided sewing many lightweight knits, for a few reasons:

• I feel like there are already too many lightweight knits in RTW. I can see why the industry would want to do this; they presumably save on costs and encourage the customer to buy more layers to wear.
• I don't especially like layering (takes more planning than I enjoy doing) and I try to avoid wearing very thin knits on their own.
• My sewing machine doesn't always sew thin knits well. There's no presser foot pressure adjustment, and I haven't got a straight-stitch throat plate (I don't know if one was ever manufactured for this model), so I tend to run into problems with the fabric being stretched as it's sewn, or being sucked down into the machine... and that's assuming I can find a needle that will consistently pierce the fabric rather than sort of bouncing off, or more precisely, getting through at the wrong time to form a stitch. Now that I've got a serger that does a better job, this is less of an issue, but in the past it's meant that I've avoided those fabrics and therefore I've had less experience with them.

That means I didn't enjoy sewing this fabric all that much, and I'm thinking I'll probably prefer to stick to Bemberg for my slips in the future, not least for the greater variety of colors. Also, I suspect only the black color comes very close to being opaque. Still, the Antron does work quite well as an anti-static layer, and there's a lot to be said for Bra-maker's standard colors: their tricot should match their other pink, white, ivory, or black fabrics and notions well.

New socks, catch[up|all] and some general plans

It seems that every time I move continents, I have to try out all the new colds the next winter. That and work have stopped me from doing my usual projects. Besides that, recently, I've been focusing somewhat more on knitting than on sewing. Here's what I have to show for it:

These are based on Cat Bordhi's Upstream master pattern, with the stitch pattern from Anna Zilboorg's Gemma (which in turn came from someplace else, IIRC, but I'd have to look up where exactly). They aren't blocked; generally I let wearing and washing do that for me, for socks anyway. I'm noticing Cat Bordhi's default arches come out very high, which is even more noticeable if the socks are oversized and have short cuffs, as in this case (they're oversized because they're meant as layering rain boot socks, and they're short because I couldn't make them any taller with the 100g yarn I had). She does tell you how to customize that, and I may look into it next time I'm making biggish socks like this. On closer-fitting socks I'd say the high arches are an advantage, though they can look odd when they're not being worn.

The long-suffering rayon crepe georgette dress is finally done, but it's already been worn once and washed, and needs ironing before it'll be ready to photograph.

I've cut and started McCall's 6996, which is shaping up nicely. It might make a good test for my coverstitch machine.

Finally, I've been thinking over what kinds of projects I want to do in the near future and over the course of the year. Current ideas:

• I'm not sure I will do many (any?) Patternreview contests. At any given time, chances are good they won't match what I really want or need to sew just then, and it's too easy for me to get off track and disappointed with something I wasn't all that excited about doing in the first place. I'm certainly appreciative of and impressed by the people who plan and manage the contests, but they may just not be for me.
• I'm not planning on posting about my stash every month (whew). I still do keep track, but it's not too interesting to write about, and must be very dull to read about.
• The temperature range here is far more limited than it was in southwest Germany, not to mention any of the East Coast/Midwest cities I've lived in. I'm finding I have too many too-warm clothes and not enough middling ones. Some long-sleeved tops/shirts may be up next.
• I have a large collection of lingerie fabrics I stocked up on in Germany and Holland, plus a few newly acquired here. Anything made from that might or might not make it here; we'll see.
• Last year, I've decided, I was trying to control too much of my sewing. While I think some wardrobe planning is worthwhile, this should be a hobby, and I shouldn't get too caught up in sewing the ideal thing at the ideal time.
• I do want to continue with my pattern-drafting nerdfest to some extent, but I'm a little desperate for finished clothes right now, so it may be a while before I get back to it.

That's all for now. I'm off to the Fabrics Etc. meetup early (for me) tomorrow; Tasia from Sewaholic will be there!

Bag done

The side without the pocket; you can see a bit of the exposed-zipper top closure

The side with the exterior pocket

The one appliquéd side seam that avoids cutting off the owl motifs

In comparison to the original bag from which I took the pattern,

aside from the obvious fabric and trim differences, this one is much more structured, the pocket and zipper placement is reversed, and the handles are shorter — partly intentionally and partly because given the length of fabric I had, I would have had to seam them not once but twice to make them as long. These address three things that annoy me about the original: it can't stand up by itself, but collapses if I put it on the floor, making it harder to grab the handles or reach into it; I prefer to wear it on my opposite side; and the handles tend to flop off my shoulder when worn. On this one the handles are actually a bit too short to conveniently wear with some of my heavier RTW coats, which have (too) deep armholes, not that I think this is really a wintry fabric anyway; still, I'd make slightly longer ones were I to sew another of these.

Finally.

I cut the last loose ends on this sweater today. I'd started it in, I don't know, maybe May, as a project I'd still be working on while all my other yarn was crossing an ocean and a continent. That worked.

The pattern is (at time of writing) top left here, meant for Cascade Heritage 150, and called "Pretty Mallory". I used Spinning Flock Farm 100% Wensleydale Wool, which I don't think is made anymore, and of which I had about 1440 yards, limiting my options. I'm not sure what I originally meant to make with it; before this one, I started, was not happy with, and frogged two other projects. I'm not terribly excited about this one either, but some of that is just how long it dragged on, so we'll see if it turns out to be useful long-term.

I wanted to make the sleeves on this as long as I possibly could, so that meant shortening the body some, though I think I could've saved more yardage by making it more fitted. The pattern does have waist shaping, but it really doesn't amount to much. I also had some trouble with the neckline rib flipping, though that doesn't happen when it's actually worn. Anyway, it turned out high-hip length, with 3/4 sleeves.

New Look 6387 done

... well, except for a final press, especially around the neckline.


My general thoughts on this pattern:

• The neckline looks wider, and the collar narrower, than I would have expected from the flats. (Other differences — shallower armholes, piping, more hip ease, more length, and an extra button — are my changes.) I think the narrower collar would maintain a good scale for view A, since there's the ruffle added to it. I don't know how much all of this has to do with New Look's grading, and how the proportions would look in, say, the smallest size (this is a middle size).
• The way I did this, there was an awful lot of hand work. You can do a lot less if you're fine with topstitching down centers front and around the neckline, armholes, and hem.
• For beginners, the instructions would make this harder than it needs to be. No, the tie ends are NOT made identically to the button loops — you have to finish the ends! Purchased bias tape will look pretty bad on some fabrics, and, uh... I think there was some other questionable thing about them that I can't recall at this point. I'll try to think of it if I get around to reviewing this.
• The tie ends are long enough that they'll go around the front, if you like that sort of thing.
• Worth hunting down? Maybe, if New Look normally fits you well. It seems like there aren't so many fitted, woven blouse patterns these days, so I'm happy I still have some of these old ones.

Simplicity 1540 done

More or less, anyway. It should get a final press, but I might or might not do that right away. If it's going with me, yes; if it's going in the shipping container, no doubt it's going to need a press when it comes back out anyway.

My dress form's still in a bizarre state where nothing hangs right on it. I'm about to shrink it down to its minimum size, not fiddle with it, so:

My main conclusions about this:

1. Never do hand-worked buttonholes with regular thread, not even doubled, and probably not quadrupled either. You'll deeply regret it before you've even finished the first one, and once you've cut the first one open there's nothing to do but finish them all. It'll take forever and the needle eye may wear through the thread. If you can't get matching buttonhole twist or other very heavy thread, just do them some other way. I did try cording these but it didn't work all that well. I suppose I could do another go-round with real buttonhole twist, which I've since been able to find.
2. This pattern is meant for fleece-like fabrics. A lot of the synthetic fleece readily available in the U.S. would be a bit too drapey for the design, I imagine, and the lightweight fusible the pattern recommends for the collar and sleeve bands might not work at all on fabrics that melt at low temperatures. Boiled wool and some of the coarser synthetic fleece types should be OK.
3. It's nice that the pattern gives you proper upper and under collar pieces, but the sizes might not be quite different enough depending on your fabric's turn of cloth.
4. I took in the side seams quite a bit, but it still seems rather loose-fitting. Probably not my best look.
5. Because of the roundness of my buttons, I had to make the buttonholes longer than I'd have liked; a deeper underlap might have been better. Obviously the pattern's not intended for thick buttons in the first place, though, because there's supposed to be one right in the middle of the back, where anything protruding would be rather awkward.

BTW, I did in fact decide to topstitch the front edges, and I added non-functional buttons to the pockets to show off the fact that I have these buttons in a few sizes. I did have to choose carefully because they clearly have some sort of past: they are not all quite the same color.