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.

Burda 7237: the end is nigh

There are several more things that need to be done before I put the lining in. That's assembled too, less an underarm seam that I left open for bagging but might decide to close.

The fabric wrinkles easily, but it's also being softened up nicely by all the (over)work. I'm told that the shiny coating is more decorative than waterproof; no big deal (she says as it pours here for the next week at least).

One small thing to note (the instructions don't make a point of it, although they're in the correct order for it to happen): you have to complete the pockets before topstitching 4.5cm from CF. That way, the pocket seam allowance will get caught into the topstitching, rather than bumping against it. It's a nice touch that'll hold the pocket bags in place.

The instructions tell you to sew the lining in by hand, but I plan to do it mostly or entirely by machine, although I haven't decided whether that applies to the CB vent as well. It may also get an inside pocket.

Neue Mode these days: print-on-demand (looks like)

Unrelated to anything I'm currently working on, I tried ordering a few printed Neue Modes¹ while Sewingpatterns.com² had a rare sale on them last month.

My guess is these come from the same digital sources as their downloads do. I don't know how the originals would have been digitized (if they didn't start out that way), but just to see, I tried ordering patterns of various ages—the site has a few that look to be from the late 70s or so, many from the 80s, and possibly the complete catalogue from the 90s–2000s. It seems the image quality for the newer ones is slightly higher, but not by a lot. They've all got at least a bit of fuzziness, just like downloads from Printsew—not that impressive, though not unusable. I haven't yet attempted to check whether they're printed at the correct scale. I should hope so.

The paper is fairly heavy, kind of like old Kwik-Sews' but maybe not as smooth and flexible. Instructions aren't included; you have to download the PDF of them yourself from the site. Since it's possible to do that without ordering, I think it's well worth checking if the instructions for a particular pattern are to your liking before you decide whether to buy. Some of their oldest patterns have only German instructions.

The patterns are placed in large white envelopes with the original envelope image printed on, usually scaled up slightly, with the sharpness suffering as a result. Since the pattern paper is not very compactly folded, nor folded to match the size of the envelope, the result is rather bulky, similar to what I've seen from some small indie outfits.

All in all, I think the quality is fair. I'd prefer it over having to print out a download, myself, but it certainly doesn't match the polished presentation of the old Neue Modes.³

Are they worth full price? Well, how much do you really need a specific pattern? The reason I've gone to the trouble to get Neue Modes in the past is the quality of the drafting, variety of styles, and good construction methods, particularly for things like coats—those have the most complete set of pieces for interfacing and lining I've seen in home sewing patterns. The pants fit is similar to Burda's, and the sleeve cap shapes are (if anything) better, with a pronounced swoopy curve in front. The instructions are also similar to Burda's, which may be a dealbreaker for some.

I've now collected more Neue Modes than I care to admit, and these may be the last I buy. If you want to try this brand but aren't set on any particular pattern, you can still get some deadstock originals from some other sources. I've had good experiences with The Sewing Place. There are also some here and there on various resale sites, with (unsurprisingly) more being available in Germany, where they originated.

¹ Backstory: Neue Mode stopped designing and printing new patterns about 2007-8. I don't know what exactly happened then, but sometime thereafter, it looks as though Sewingpatterns.com got the rights to reprint their patterns and to sell them as downloads.
² People have had, shall we say, mixed experiences with Sewingpatterns.com. I've never had problems getting print orders fulfilled, eventually, but they aren't very communicative to say the least, and I wouldn't want to order from them if I had a deadline. The site is also not too professional-looking and hasn't had its design updated in the past several years, if ever—although I sometimes find site design updates gratuitous, this one's gone long enough that I have to wonder what else about the site hasn't been updated. They take PayPal; I would strongly suggest using it, if you do order from them.
³ In the past year or so, "new" Neue Modes have come out. I don't know who drafts them, and since the original Neue Mode drafting was what I appreciated, I haven't tried any of these others. You can tell them apart by their different instructions, which lack diagrams and seem rather Lekala-like.

"First" project of 2017

Or rather, this is the first project I've done any (more) work on—it remains to be seen what'll be finished first. I bought the pattern probably 3 years ago and just started it last October; being a coat, it feels like it's taking forever. The pattern is OOP Burda 7237 (here it is on the German site, where it can still be downloaded; I don't know how to find it on the English/US site, if it's even there).

It's in their petite sizing; size numbers are halved from their regular misses' European ones. I'm about the right height for their petite standard, although my height proportions aren't distributed identically.

Notable and not-so-notable fit changes:

• The bust darts seem way too low, something I would not have expected of a Burda petite pattern, given the way Burda says to convert their regular patterns to petite. It looks low on the model too—not easy to see, but there if you look at the "Original-Große" photos on the German site. I wonder if they were trying to keep the bust shaping below the View A flap. In any case, it was going to be glaringly obvious on my crisp fabric, so I raised the dart point—by more than two inches! Even on a non-petite pattern, I wouldn't expect to move it up more than maybe 3/4" (at least, if I hadn't done an FBA that lowered it). That being said, I found the armhole depth about right for me as it was, in line with what I'd expect.
  
• I did a large bicep alteration of 1 1/2", and lengthened the sleeves by 1/2" below the elbow. Not too surprising.
  
• I took a generous quarter inch of width out of both the front armscye and front of the sleeve cap. I could have considered taking the same out of the back armscye, but was advised it's just as well to leave it in for reach room when the fabric is non-stretch.
  
• I'll add thin shoulder pads, since the shoulder tips seem a little bit extended.
  
• To stop the lower front edges splaying out, I was advised (by a fellow member of my sewing meetup group, as with the shoulder width) to take in, or maybe I should say lower, the shoulder-neck point on the fronts only. This effectively "rotates" the entire front to make CF hang straight.
  
• I might let out the hips at the back side seams; haven't decided yet.
  
• I may shorten the belt. As designed, it's meant to be tied in a bow of some sort, and seems to have quite a bit of extra length.
  

Dart oddity on this one aside, I appreciate that Burda still makes a few petite patterns. They seem designed to be flattering on shorter people: good proportions, and a nice but not overwhelming number of details.

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).