Pavlova Wrap Top, Redeemed, AND...

BANGS!!

You know what... thank you all for all of the votes on the bangs vs. no bangs debate. Bangs won, and really, I really wanted bangs anyway. Plus, it's only hair, right? I can always grow them back out. Check out the awesome red. Huge shout out to Freddie at Jamison Shaw Hairdressers in Atlanta. He is a genius with color!

Oh, yeah. And I made another Pavlova wrap top today. This is one that I'm proud to model. A few notes about this one:

• Fabric is a rayon jersey from fabric.com. Super soft and thin enough to wrap successfully!
• I narrowed the neck/collar area by placing the back section that goes on the fold 1/2" over the fold. Did that make sense?
• I added 1/2" back to each back side to make sure the muffin area was sufficiently covered.
• I lengthened both the front and back 1-1/2". Could have added even another 1" to the back.
• IT'S NOT BLACK!
• The skirt in the picture is the Pavlova circle skirt.

A Marilyn Moment:

The dog shot. What are those pups behind me up to?

Pavlova Wrap Top #1... Finished!

I'm such a sucker for a sewing competition. It takes the sew along to the next level, really, and totally keeps me engaged. I've finished my first wrap top, and I have to admit... I'm a little disappointed. Not with the pattern, or even the sewing, or the fit. Steph warned us... a thicker sweater knit might not be suitable. That's essentially what I used.

It was in a free bundle from FabricMart Fabrics, so I'm not even 100% sure of its contents, but there IS something synthetic in it. The ribs are stiff, and didn't want to cooperate under the needle. But after reading about Steph's crinkle linen version, and how the ties in her woven top didn't stretch, and she tied it in the back, I think maybe MAYBE this one will work.

OK, enough disclaiming. No picture of me in it... just on the dress form (I don't call her anything, but perhaps she does need a name).

 Wrapped and tied in the back. For the record, I made the size 35 straight up (i.e., no alterations at all).

Tied in the back. See the size of that knot? It's a whopper. I swear this fabric didn't feel that thick in a single layer!

Tied in the front. It barely reaches on DF. On me, yeah, reaches even less. And it's really thick in the back (not pictured).

Bottom line... it's going to have to hang out in the magic closet for awhile. Lucky for it, we're approaching hot weather time, and it's more of a spring/fall thickness. Definitely not summer.

And, I'm hoping tomorrow to finish the skirt. No promises on that though.

Mad Monday Reveal: Lacy Renfrew

I've decided to change the Mad Men Monday thing to just a Mad Monday Reveal. Trivial, perhaps. Anyway, a few points of business.

First, I'm pretty sure all my readers know all about the Google Reader thing. I've signed up for Bloglovin', but haven't gotten the whole widget thing organized. Thankfully, we have a few months to get this worked out, but I've gotten the "Reader" blogs I follow already synced up with Bloglovin. OK, that's all I have to say about that.

The "Bangs/No Bangs" question. I'm going with bangs (fringe for all you non-American English speakers). Looking youthful trumps sophisticated at my age. Thank you for all your lovely comments!

Finally... a couple of weeks ago I whipped up a 3/4 sleeve  Sewaholic Renfrew. It's my 4th, but my first with this sleeve length. I hadn't planned to add the cuff, but without it, the sleeve was just at my elbow. Kind of an unfortunate length, frankly.

It's black jersey knit, with an overlay of stretch lace on the front, and the sleeves are just the lace. It will get a LOT of wear!!

Have a great Monday!!

Flowers for Jasmine

Thanks for indulging in a little craziness!! I have Juanita Weasel on the "lock screen" on my phone and everytime I turn it back on, she makes me jump just a little, but I love her anyway!


But, back to the sewing... I made my second Colette Patterns Jasmine top last week, and gave it the debut wear today after enduring a little cold snap the last few days.

I made a few changes this time around. The sleeves are the most obvious. I used the cap sleeve pattern piece from Butterick 5328, and instead of just easing it in, I made a little inverted pleat at the shoulder seam.


The fabric is a print design from Anna Maria Horner, a voile, that I think I bought at fabric.com, and I didn't want the center seam. The floral print is in a line at a 30 degree angle from vertical, and after cutting it on the bias it's now at a kind of unfortunate angle that looks like I just didn't cut it straight, but, well, it doesn't bother me. Anyway, I cut it on the fold, and added vertical darts in the front and the back to give it a better fit.

I just wanted to show you that the center of the flowers match this skirt perfectly, and I'm not really color blind or anything.

I made the collar just a teeny bit wider, and the neckline just a bit lower.

I like it with the bow untied, too. So, the next time (and there WILL be a next time), I need to make it just a bit snugger around the waist. You obviously can't see in the pictures, but it kind of does this weird flip out thing at the hem. I'd also make the collar even wider in the back and around the shoulders, tapering back to the current width for the tie. Or I'll just leave the collar off. I'm thinking boat neck. Maybe sleeveless.


I'm working on a vintage Vogue right now, and I'm too lazy to go check to see which one. You'll just have to be surprised! :D

I Thought It Was June

I was going to do my first Me Made June post, and daughter, Laura and I took some pictures, and upon uploading, well, that's when I discovered that it is actually still May. So, I'll show you the top I finished last week with some commentary. It's not one that will get heavy rotation so you won't get bored.

Yep, we've had a hard couple of days around here with some incredibly sad news, and you'll have to forgive me if my brains are scattered. Frankly, I'm pleased that I still kind of know how to type, but this is a welcome distraction.

This top, McCalls 5661, has been cut out for awhile, but I finally got around to it. It's the first Palmer/Pletsch pattern I've made, and it's "The Perfect Fit Top". The instructions are fantastic, complete with fitting instructions. Lines for making alterations are printed on the tissue. Sprinkled throughout are "Fit Tips" and "Quick Tips" (which are sewing tips). I decided to glam up the hem, and for the record, my top was already cut out when Gertie posted about the scalloped day dress.

I will most likely not wear it with this skirt, but I wanted you to be able to see the hem. And it fits amazingly well, Except for one teeny little annoying problem.

I followed the sway back alteration lines to a t, and when doing the tissue fitting, all seemed well. When doing the pin fitting, all seemed well. But you can see that all is not well. The print is busy enough though, that I'm probably the only one that notices, and it feels kind of weird.

I do envision wearing this top with black trousers, and maybe a black cardigan (or an ivory one). But mostly, I made it to wear with this:

How about some belted options?

I even have a wider belt that mimics the black border, but forgot about it when I was taking the pictures.

For the inside facings, I ran into a wee little dilemma. First, here's a picture of how I had to redraw the facings, which I ultimately traced onto their own tissue. This is just the front facing.

Can you see the red line? On the front piece, I had lowered the neckline about an inch, and had to take a tuck at the armscye to make it lie flat. That raised the armpit portion of the armscye. The shoulders and upper bust are the size 12, and then I made my usual widening out to the 14 + to accommodate the tummy and hips.

Oops, not enough fabric to cut out the front facing. After making the scallops, I made a facing to match for the hem, and followed instructions from my Vogue Sewing Book.

Finally, a knitting tragedy to share, but not really a serious one in the scheme of things. Darn dog.