Sewing for a summer wedding

 I love it when I have a social event to sew for. When I was working, I sewed many fitted, tailored garments out of the fine fabrics in my stash. Since I retired, I don't have a need for those kinds of clothes. But I do miss sewing them.  

Earlier this month, my son's best friend since 2nd grade, got married.  My son was the best man, and we were invited to the "Welcome Cocktails" on Friday night and the wedding (dress code "Garden Formal Attire) the next day.

For the cocktails, I chose to go with pants outfit. Bright, spring green wool crepe pant I made maybe 15-20 years ago. The top is Vogue 9008 (2014) View B. A sleeveless top with a draped front neckline extending into a back collar. It is semifitted, with side front seams   The center cowl section is cut on the straight grain, unlike the other two views which are bias cut. This top takes about a yard of 54" wide fabric and is easy to sew up.  The silk print was purchased from FashionFabricsClub.com in 2007.

Vogue 9006

 I have always liked a cowl neck on me and though you might think they are outdated, they must be making a comeback. I was amused to see the same style top on the Vince.com website this morning.  And the price. So glad I sew.

For the wedding outfit, I spent hours going through my patterns and my fabric stash trying to decide what to sew.  I started out looking online at dresses for weddings with the appropriate dress code.  A lot of floral, flounced dress popped up, and they were also featured heavily on the pattern sites and YouTube sewing videos.  While I love a print, I am not a frilly girl. Feeling I was being distracted from my personal style, I went into my closet and pulled out dresses I had made for formal occasion in the past, holiday parties and such.  While some were a bit snug and the styles a bit dated, I did find that they all fit a trend; simple and somewhat fitted.

That exercise got me back on track and I was able to choose a dress pattern and fabric.  Vogue 8382 (2007) view B without the front slit. The fabric was a beautiful "Mint Green/Blush Pink/Pale Turquoise/Multi 100% Silk Floral Print Broadcloth" from FabricMartFabrics.com purchased in 2022.  This fabric was printed in panels and had some misprints and big slubs in the weave (mentioned on the website fabric description and reflected in the price) that I had to work around. But it was worth it. I lined the dress in blue Bemberg rayon from the stash.

vogue pattern 8382

The wedding was held outdoors, at the Virginia House.  A 12th-century prior, originally located in Warwickshire England, that was purchased at auction, dismantled stone by stone, and rebuilt in Richmond, VA overlooking the river in 1928. Some people have more money than they know what to do with. The gardens were beautiful and the mature trees provided welcome shade. Because it was sunny, 90 degrees, with low humidity thank goodness, and occasional breezes.

Virginia House

It was so fun to see my son's friend group now while reminiscing about their adventures through the years. The grade school play dates, team sports, with us on family vacations, proms, and now seeing the men they had become and meeting their wives. It was a happy occasion but also made me realize how time passes.

Let is Snow Let me Sew

  I attended an ASG sewing retreat early in Feb. on the weekend when a big snowstorm was expected. While traveling to the retreat site, before the snow started, we stopped at Ragtime Fabrics in Harrisonburg VA. They had this sign in the window

 So appropriate.  We had already made arrangements to extend our stay for an extra day, until the roads were cleared. One more day to sew. Many ladies left early. They were concerned that even though major roads would be cleared, neighborhood roads would not.  A very real problem in both Richmond where I live and Northern Virginia where many of the other participants lived.  

I made four items at the retreat.  

1.  SisterMagPatterns - Buttercup Sweater with inserted collar

  #SISTERMAGPATTERN694

Fabric: synthetic green sweater knit with gray fleece backing. Source unknown.  So, it is easy to finish the collar and cuff edges by turning over 3/8 to the opposite side and zig zag stitching the raw edge.

Fleece backed knit

I also made a quick matching hat using the Spiral-design Hat Sewing Pattern from mc2patterns on Etsy

 

SistermagPatterns Buttercup Sweater 

This top was super comfy and warm. Also very quick to sew.

3 -  SisterMagPatterns “Hush” Fleece sweater with attached scarf

 

#SISTERMAGPATTERN673

Fabric: Poly lace fused to acrylic knit backing.  JoAnn’s Fabric 

This top is not a favorite. I think it makes my top half look like a blob with the shape and extra fabric at the neckline.  Maybe in a solid fabric it would look better. i would also make the cuff more arm hugging. 

SistermagPatterns Hush sweater 

SisterMagPatterns – Has some really unique styles. My experience is that the PDF's are easy to assemble, info on finished garment measurements is accurate. Good instructions. Very good YouTube video tutorials.  Both styles I made seemed to be drafted for much shorter bodies. I needed to add length in the torso and sleeves to both patterns.  Both patterns had unique sewing instructions. The inserted collar on the Buttercup has a different seam allowance than the bodice part you are sewing it to. This is to facilitate a sort of flat felt seam on the inside around the inserted collar.  Watch the YouTube video for a clearer explanation.  The Hush sweater has an underarm gusset. Gussets are challenging for me in wovens, but in knits, with a tendance to curl, super challenging. I hand basted them in place before sewing with a machine. 

4 - SewistCAD  Two Color Blouse

I love a pattern piecing puzzle, both in clothing and quilts. My latest one was the 2755 Two-color Blouse Sewing Pattern from Etsy vendor SewistCAD. 

SewistCAD Two-color Blouse

 

SewistCad appears to be the Etsy shop of www.LEKALA.com. After I purchased this pattern, I was sent a coupon from Lekala to order the same pattern or one other pattern using my custom measurements from the Lekala site. I have done this before with little success. Customized patterns software does not handle age related body differences such as high round back and forward neck, or asymmetry, well.   I prefer to make my own changes to standard size patterns.

Cotton Chambray

The fabric was cotton chambray from the stash in green and blue. I made a size large which fit well except that the bust dart was huge.  I am a B cup. I reduced the dart size and readjusted the front bottom to match the back. Loved how this turned out. Instructions for this brand are minimal.

Two-color Blouse

Two-color Blouse

Fashion for the Bed

Well, I would call a bed skirt fashion for a bed.

We recently completed renovations on several of the bathrooms (they were circa 1970) in our home.  Updating them now so that they will appeal to buyers when we downsize homes in the near future. Renovations on the bathroom attached to the main bedroom spurred renovations on the bedroom also. Installation of in-ceiling lighting, painting, new carpet and drapes, and bed skirt.  The bed is one of those high colonial styles that require steps for small children and pets.  But that means there is loads of under bed storage for out-of-season shoes and clothing.  To hide the storage boxes, I sewed a bed skirt. A king size bed skirt with a fabric decking that goes between the top mattress and the box spring mattress.

Bed Skirt

I chose to make a flat skirt, rather than gathered or pleated, because the box springs rests on iron bars that slot into the side frame of the bed. This meant I had to sew faced opening in the skirting panels at exact locations for the iron bars to go through.

Bed skirt opening for support bar

 It was tedious to plan and sew, but I am so happy with the way it turned out. It coordinates with a Lone Star quilt I made 20 + years ago. 

I also sewed some bed fashion for me. Specifically, a pajama set. 

The 2025 garment challenge for my ASG group was a camp shirt.  We had meetings where we discussed choosing patterns and fabrics and did actual fittings of muslins.  I already have many camp shirts, so I decided to make a set of pajamas, which essentially is a long sleeve camp shirt with matching pants.

The pattern was the Liesl + Co. Havana pajamas.

Liesl + Co Havana Pajamas

The top has a classic convertible collar with shoulder yoke, much like their Camp Shirt style but with the popover placket and a front pleat instead of the button placket. 

Fabric: Viyella print from @Fabricmart purchased in 2002 in a salmon color I overdyed with blue Rit dye, and it came out green which was a bit of a surprise. Viyella is a blend of wool and cotton first woven in 1893 in England, and the "first branded fabric in the world" It was made of 55% merino wool and 45% cotton in a twill weave, The fabric feels like a heavier cotton flannel. 

Viyella Fabric - original color

The pattern has a lot of wearing ease, so I sized down. I did not like the ½ inch seam allowance. I prefer a 5/8-inch seam allowance because I typically do a French seam on sleeves, pant and top side seams. 

Match the hotel decor sleepwear

I don't usually wear pajamas like this to sleep in, except when I am traveling.  I have had the hotel fire alarm go off in the middle of the night and had to exit and huddle in the parking lot in skimpy sleepwear covered by a sweater. Never again. Now I am prepared.