Saturday, April 16, 2011

Spring Break Sewing

Long time, no post. Life has been busy lately. Stuff like odd work schedules. I am too old to work the 11:00 PM to 7 AM shift. I end up feeling horrible and getting sick. And then there were several weekends spent visiting colleges so my eldest son can make a decision on where he will go to school after his June high school graduation. In my sewing class, I gave up on an "inspired from nature" design. Instead I drafted my own pattern for this Giancarlo Ferre jacket, which is what I really wanted to do , and sewed it up. The jacket has some interesting seam lines which are hard to see in the photo. I will describe that process in a future post. It is time for our spring vacation. This year we are staying domestic, but we are going to the southernmost city in the continental USA. That would be Key West, Florida. Followed by a couple days in the South Beach area of Miami. I suspect my travel co-coordinator, DH, is trying to revisit a favorite trip we made 30 years ago. He denies it though. Do I need any new clothes for this vacation? No. But I like having an excuse to sew garments that are not what I usually sew which is work clothes. So I made the one shoulder T shirt from McCalls 6326 out of a some pink and turquoise cotton lycra knit. It is left over from the 80’s when I made leotards to wear to my aerobic dance classes. But I still like the colors in the print. McCall’s pattern have so much wearing ease, I normally drop down a size when sewing one. On this pattern I had to drop down two sizes and make SBA. I like negative wearing ease in knit garments i.e. the finished measurement of the garment is slightly smaller than my body measurements. This was especial important in keeping this top up. It is a quick to make pattern. And the Burda “Mila” dress. a free downloadable pattern from http://www.burdastyle.com. The fabric used in the dress is a piece of white and blue cotton lycra print from a FFM free bundle and a blue/white cotton oxford from Hancock’s. What I liked about this pattern is the contrast top front and placket creates a strong T shape that breaks up a large print used on the front sides. You can leave the front closures open and see the under top. The Burda free patterns can be printed out on 8.5 X 11 inch paper on your home printer and them taped together to create the full pattern. The sewing directions, on a separate download, are good. The only disappointment was that there are no layout directions for the contrasting fabric version shown in the pictures. There is a fake front under the placket which can be seen by leaving the placket unhooked at the top. The necklines of both the outer front and the inner front are to be finished by bias binding. I used the bias binding only on the outer top neckline. My fabric, being mostly white, was slightly see through so I lined the dress with a rayon fabric including the under top, This dress seemed to run large. I made a 42 which is normal for me with Burda patterns. It was reminding me of the shapeless cheap cotton house dress like those worn by some of my older female relatives when I was a child. So I converted the pleats in the back to long darts, and took in the side seams in the bust area. I still need to sew the 12 pairs of hooks and eyes to the front placket of this dress. I hope to get some photos of these two pieces on me in situ, and give you a review of the two fabric stores in Key West.

16 comments:

  1. I love these projects! Hope your work schedule returns to normal soon. Enjoy the vacation.

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  2. Have a great vacation! Both pieces are wonderful additions to your vacation wardrobe...can't wait to read the reviews of the fabric stores!

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  3. OMG I so remember making killer outfits to wear to the aerobic classes in the '80's. Wasn't that just last year?
    Your new dress looks great. I have never tried the downloads from Burdastyle.
    Have fun in the sun!

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  4. I really like the little one shoulder top. Very cute. I like negative ease too and you do need it with this top! Cute dress too.

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  5. Can't wait to see your jacket, what I can of the seam lines, it looks very interesting. Your top and dress are very summery, have a wonderful holiday.

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  6. That sounds like a nightmare working that shift. Your lovely outfits and holiday are something to look forward to though, have a great time!

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  7. I like this fresh and pretty dress/cover up. The colours look very spring - like.

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  8. Ooh the 11pm to 7am shift takes me back - to an early abandoned career as a computer operator! Those crazy hours made for strong bonds with colleagues and great partying, but I couldn't do those shifts now and hope you won't have to keep doing them!!!

    I am very interested to see that jacket - I look forward to the photos!

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  9. Fabulous project! I love vacation sewing (as I need to remind myself in the final push toward my bike trip).

    I cannot imagine working the overnight shift. It would kill me.

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  10. I would seriously lose my nonsense if I had to work at night...I have a hard enough time pulling myself together at 7am! Your projects look great, I love the dress. Great job!

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  11. Have a lovely holiday. Ooh, a night time shift sounds absolutely horrible.

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  12. Great projects -- love the style of the top! I can't wait to hear about your trip to Key West -- I've always wanted to go down there. Hope you are having a fabulous time!

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  13. Great projects. I love the one-shoulder top, but I am always so afraid to wear them! Have happy travels!

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  14. I was in Key West for a day last February and loved it. I would go back any time and I didn't even know they had fabric stores!

    Some of my pix are up on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliar/sets/72157623481897656/ if you are interested. I would love to bicycle there - it seemed laid back enough for that.

    I hope you have a lovely holiday - and thanx for visiting my sewing blog!

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  15. Hope you had a wonderful time in Key West/SoBeach! So much sun and great weather. Your outfits look perfect for vacationing.

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  16. Your vacation spot looks so relaxing. Thanks for the heads up on the McCalls pattern. I have this one and plan to make it soon.

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