White Seafarer tops for summer (Part 2)

  As promised here is the second Seafarer (pattern by Sew Much Ado) top that I made in preparation for summer:

 To tell the truth I thought this fabric was going to be an absolute nightmare to sew. 

I could already see in my mind the foot of the sewing machine catching in the holey over layer, or the under layer getting pulled down into the throat plate and being chewed up by the feed dogs. 

All this before the fabric had even been cut into or pinned.

 After the issues of the last white top I was totally expecting sewing  disaster (such a pessimist Kate!).

Luckily all my fears were very unfounded.  

This fabric behaved beautifully, it sewed like a dream and I had my second top whipped up in no time :D 

The fabric is actually made up of two layers of fine synthetic knit mesh fabric- a plain under layer and the holey/lacey over layer. It is a stretch fabric but has much less give than say a lycra or jersey and that actually works well with the pattern I used.

I left out the pocket feature as I think it would have been OTT teamed with such a textured fabric.

Both this fabric and the one for my previous white top were purchased from the Janome store in Balcatta. They have a fabric section at the back which has clearance Knitwit stock -always worth a look if you are in the area ;)

Happy Sewing!

Kate :)

White Seafarer tops for summer (Part 1)

The weather is finally starting to warm up (only last week we had the wood fire going) and with 40 degree summer heat looming around the corner I've started thinking of suitable clothing. 

My plan this year is to make a few quick to sew/easy to wear items from pattern's I've already tried before, then if time permits I'll move onto something new...

This week I managed to make two tops from Sew Much Ado's Seafarer top pattern (which I tested here last June). 

I've said it before -I LOVE this pattern- it sews up super quick (2 pieces only if you choose) and is a great casual all rounder piece to wear, figure flattering and easy to throw on with jeans or a skirt. IMHO you can't go wrong.

That is unless - like me- you mistake super fine ribbing for cotton Lycra, then hold on for the ride (and keep the unpicker handy)!

The fabric for this top below IS super fine cotton ribbing: 

 

Superfine ribbing is GREAT for cuffs, necklines and fold over waistbands, it stretches and curves beautifully. 
It's also an absolute *biatch* to sew without an overlocker. Seams stretch and wave like crazy- even when using the stretch stitch option (lightning stitch) on the sewing machine. 

Originally I planned to just make this using the basic front/back 2 piece basic pattern. After ripping out the sleeve ends twice due to waviness (I used a triple zig zag stitch in conjunction with"Steam-a-seam lite" tape) I decided that the only way to stop them looking like wings was to overlock armbands on as a sleeve finish. I then overlocked  bands to the neckline and bottom hem as well, in an effort to try and salvage the top. 
Even using an overlocker the seams still wanted to stretch so I changed the differential feed setting from 1 to 2.2, after consulting the user manual. 

Due to the fabric thickness this top feels more like a sweatshirt than a t-shirt (my daughter said "mummy jumper **?" when she saw it) and it looks quite "made by nanna circa 1980's". NOT that there's anything wrong with that- it's just not the look for me (when I was five years old maybe...)
 Safe to say it has now been put in the house/lounge/PJ wear drawer, I feel like a marshmallow in it so it wont be leaving the house!

How did I manage to make such a fabric blunder? Largely trying to choose and  buy fabric in a hurry- combining fabric shopping with family outings has never really turned out well in my experience.

Also -up until now- I had never had anything to do with this type of fabric. It wasn't until I was sewing it, trying to work out why it stretched like crazy, did I happen to pull it the right way and see that it was in fact ribbing! 

Bit of a light bulb moment there ;)

Guess that explains why it seemed to be a fabric narrower than usual in width (I ended up having to put a centre seam in the back fabric piece). 

Anyway I think I've waffled on enough for one post so I'll leave the top that actually DID work out until next time!

Until then ...

Happy (hopefully trouble-free) sewing!

Kate :) 

P.S in case you are wondering where you can get this type of ribbing from- I brought this fabric from Janome Balcatta.


** We tend to call sweaters/pullovers "jumpers" here but I know "jumpers" refer to a different type of garment elsewhere in the world.

My current project: Lolita Patterns

I'm on holidays at the moment (hooray working in a school environment!) and on my sewing table is a garment I have just finished as part of pattern testing for Lolita Patterns.
After putting my hand up here and there over the last 8 months for pattern testing I've been forced to reassess how I spend my sewing time, after all there is still only so much sewing one can do when raising little ones (well at least for me). As a result I have stepped back from pattern testing somewhat(some of my reasoning for it can be found in this post here), mostly to enable me to work on projects which need completing in order for me to have a [semi-somewhat] functioning wardrobe. This time however conditions have coincided (mainly that I had two weeks off work at the same time as the window of testing) to allow me to put myself forward for testing!!! 
This project -while not exactly falling into my current rule of "super fast and easy" - is a design that's intriguing and unusual enough to make me want to give it a go....something completely different from what I usually would wear :D
Another reason why I signed up for this one was that I like the ethos behind Lolita Patterns- in that they decided to make their patterns in a wider range of sizes (up to a size 24 ) right from the get go! You can read about it here and here on the Lolita Patterns blog, posts which coincidentally helped me greatly in understanding better the dynamics of pattern drafting. 

I can't wait to show you what I made from this latest pattern test. Submittal date is tomorrow so hopefully I will be able to post up pics of it soon, once the pattern is officially launched!

Stay tuned and...

Happy Sewing!

Kate :)

Floral Kwik Sew top goes out

So finally got a snap of my floral Kwik Sew 2643 being worn. We were on our way to the public library and I asked hubby to grab a quick shot before we left, not super "styled" but an acurate reflection of my day to day wardrobe :)

 This version was actually the first top I made from this pattern- you can see my original post here. Fabric is from Spotlight- $7 (or thereabouts) a metre on special. A bit thin for my preference as a single layer but I fell in love with the big fluro-bright flowers on the tan background. Plus having a $10 voucher that was due to expire helped cinched the deal (birthday voucher that is- thankyou Spottie!)

Now I'm not so sure what I was thinking picking a fluro/beige colour combination, I think I may have been swayed by all the pinterest boards I've been browsing lately. At least -if nothing else- it's a bit "unusual" ;) And luckily enough it worked out well for my first shot at this pattern.

Originally I made this this up with full length and full width sleeves. What you see now is the hacked and trimmed back version. I serged a fair bit off the width of the sleeves, chopped the length to near elbow and took it in a little more on main body seams as well. The neckline is the original neckline, I thought it was a bit too high on first wear but now I thinks it's OK. In fact -on reflection- it probably the ideal neckline for a work top (or for any other situation where accidental cleavage flashing is a no-no).

I've played around a fair bit with this pattern now and think I should probably put it away and try something new...

However with summer around the bend I find myself wondering what the short sleeve option looks like made up...and how hard it would be to alter it into something more "wardrobe friendly" if I don't like the original design.

Lots to consider ;)

Happy Sewing!

Kate :) 

Striped cowl neck Kwik Sew 2643

Another bathroom mirror shot, maybe I should glam it up a bit if I keep using it as background ;P

Anyhoo... I made this top up before the blue cowl neck version, but it's been in the wash (cold weather here so it's seen a bit of use).
 The neckline is the original pattern neckline, with a 8 inch band (folded to 4 " wide) sewn on to form the "cowl":

I did have a more drapey cowl neck in mind when I started making this, but now realise that the cowl/collar extension probably needs to be curved not a straight rectangle or at least wider at one edge. 
I'm not sure if I'll be making any more of these for a while as I feel a bit burnt out after making four in a row, plus with warmer weather around the corner it's probably time to start pulling out summer patterns (or at least complete my half finished summer projects from last year!).

Happy Sewing

Kate :)