Vogue Donna Karan 1159

There are many other reviews of this dress, but here is mine:

Fabric is from Stone Mountain and Daughter in Berkeley. It's labeled as rayon and lycra, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a little bit of wool in it. After all of the fuss on pattern review, it really wasn't all that hard to make. You just have to be slow and methodical. I used thread tracing to mark the circles/squares for the first time, which was so much easier than trying to make out where my chalk markings escaped to. I also read the instructions about 3 times before proceeding, so I could visualize the construction. I made a size 12, because that it what I had bought to fit my hips. I was worried because I often fit a size 8 bodice in Vogue, and there was no way to make any size alterations on this one! Luckily, it turned out just fine. I did make a couple alterations:

1) Arm hole gapage - I used the pattern alterations from pattern review here. Sadly, the arm holes were still quite gape-y even after bringing them up an inch! I then unstitched and sewed them up at least another inch (it's not a straight seam, so I just matched them up as flush as I could). This ended up taking the bodice in almost an inch on both sides, which compensated well for it being too big in the first place!
2) Length - I initially tried it on and cut off 3 inches (I'm 5'5"). I tried it on again, and realized the front hung much lower than the back, so had to unpin the back and take a very small hem there. If you are like me and don't have a mannequin for fitting, make sure you measure from the floor, not just take off an even amount.
3) Lining - my fabric was relatively thin and drapy, and has more 4 way stretch that it should. I was worried about it stretching out too far, and given the negative ease of the lining, I thought that might lend some support. I used a silky rayon jersey I had left over, which was actually a bit thicker than my fashion fabric. I enlarged the darts to make it snug in the back. It works quite well, and the fabric drapes beautifully over it.
4) Neck gapage - I put in a couple stitches to keep everything in place. This might not be an issue if you are full busted, but would recommend it otherwise. I also put in a stitch where the front crosses.

Overall, I highly recommend this pattern. The finished dress has great draping and is very comfortable to wear.

Anthropologie Knock-off Frankenpants

What do you get when you combine the following two pairs of Anthro pants?

 

I took a copying RTW class at Stone Mountain and Daughter in Berkeley, to copy my pair of the Obi trousers (pictured above left). I drafted a waist-band similar to the Falling Folds pants (above right), and came up with this:

 I used a sale piece of black wool. It has a side zip and a fake fly front. Reasonably successful for my first pair of pants!

McCall's 3830

I bought this delightful blue wool Oscar de la Renta fabric from EOS - my first order from them, and probably the only on-line retailer I will consider in the future (too many times burned elsewhere, and their wonderfully accurate descriptions are well worth the price). Sadly I was the last one to get any, so I was left with a scant 2/3 yard of 50" fabric. There went my waist-band. I looked low and high for a simple pencil skirt with a vent back and a lining and no waistband - no such thing exists. I ended up with this one since I was at Joanne's during a McCall's sale. It is an adequate pencil skirt with a vent back, no lining. I cut a size 10. I graded in 1/2 inch on each side to the hem, since the skirt is more straight than pencil-like, despite the pattern drawings. I took an extra 1/4" in each dart on the back. I added a lining and used the quick lining method from Threads Magazine here. I attempted to use the vent lining tutorial here with some success.

I used the pattern a second time to make a skirt from some fabric I got in China - it was reported to be 100% wool, but according to my iron this is not true. Oh-well. It's still a fun fabric, and was pretty cheap regardless.

Vogue 8667

Fabric used: 100% wool with tiny houndstooth print, from the remnant bin at Stone Mountain and Daughter, Bremberg rayon lining

This was a great pattern. It required a little fitting to get the bodice right - fits great in front, still obviously needs some work on my back fitting. Luckily I wear a white coat at work, so no one can see it. I cut an 8 in the bodice grading to a 10 at the waist. Changes included an SBA and adding 1/2 inch in length to the bodice. The back neckline had too much fabric, so that was pinched out. Any suggestions for what I need to do differently to prevent the folds in the back would be much appreciated. I added a single welt pocket to make it a little more interesting - used this tutorial. I thought about doing matching ones, but since it was my first welt pocket I was afraid it would not end up symmetric!

Butterick 5559

This is a delightfully easy - if somewhat detail oriented - pattern. I used a wonderful thick wool double knit from Stone Mountain and Daughter in Berkeley. It was my first time using a double knit because I don't like poly, and it is hard to find wool double knit, especially at a reasonable price. I had 1.5 yards, and it shrunk like the dickens. I barely had enough to cut it out. The pattern was easy to follow. I cut a 10 on top and 12 on bottom, but still ended up using 6/8" seams on the top and 3/8" seams at the hips. The other change was adding 1" to the hem as others said it was too short (all I could eke out from my fabric). I ended up doing a 2" hem, so only added 1/2" to the pattern length - it hits an inch or two above the knees. I finally broke down and used an orange thread to make tailors tacks to mark the fold lines - easy but time consuming. For the tucks I used my 1/4" quilting hem foot and a stretch stitch so the fabric has a little give. On the plus side, the seams met up pretty well on the side, without having to pick anything out. Despite my hatred of facings, I followed the pattern instructions on this one. I just had to tack it down in the front and back - it works fine, and I like not having any top stitching at the neck. For the hem I did a hand catch stitch. Fit is pretty good with the above changes. I didn't do an SBA due to the complicated and assymetric folds - luckily none needed after all. A little swayback adjustment would have been useful - again, not sure how to do that. All in all, a great pattern - highly recommended!

Here are the pics:

Boat Neck Top

Everyone has been posting (probably a year ago now) their version of the Burda boat neck top, so I had to make my own, minus the Burda part. I took the back and sleeves from the Jalie tunic top, and approximated a front from the top part of the Jalie pattern attached to another shirt front that I knew fit well. I used a thin wool jersey that I bought a year or so ago from Vogue Fabrics in Evanston. I think it was $7 a yard - all I wonder is why on earth I didn't buy more of it! I had some scraps of Echino fabric lying around, so I decided to applique a little bit onto the front so I could tell the back from the front. I used instructions found here. Next time I will make the stitch width a little wider - the Echino fabric is a double gauze, so the threads are sneaking out in parts of it. I probably should have stabilized the neckline, but didn't (I just folded it over once an stitched). Here it is:

The Lion A-Line

This is my second skirt using the Twinkle A-line A-plus skirt from BurdaStyle. I've gotten a lot of use out of that pattern! I also used the yoke pattern as the basis for a wool straight skirt with a waistband. This used 1 1/2 yards of Echino Lion double gauze fabric. It was a delight to work with - behaves well as cotton does, but so soft! It was worth every penny. I did line it - I suppose you don't with double gauze, but I hate dealing with facings. I didn't really make any changes from last time. I realized I did change where the pleats were in the last skirt - just moved them both out from center about an inch, so I did the same thing here. I couldn't get the machine blind stitch to be terribly blind on this fabric, so I catch stitched them hem in place using the Sewing Divas instructions available here.