I haven't had much time for sewing lately. But, I did manage to get a jersey maternity dress sewed up. I'm at 14 weeks and starting to show. Many of my pants and other dresses are starting to get a little too tight, so this dress is perfect.


Pattern

Burdastyle V-Neck Empire Waisted Maternity Dress 01/2015 #121
(What a long name for a pattern!)


Material

I used a really stretchy jersey knit that I found at a local fabric store. It has about 70% stretch in one direction and 50% stretch in the other. It's really soft and has a fluid drape.

Alterations

The pattern is meant for a woven non-stretch fabrics (eg. crepe satin). So, I had to make a number of alterations.


Usually, I am a size 42 in Burda patterns. So, I traced a size 44 with no seam allowances. I was being a little risky here, but figured there was a great chance that I would have more than enough fabric in my pieces because it was so stretchy.

I found that I had plenty of fabric in the bodice. I ended up sewing 1" seam allowances on the shoulder seam. This made the bodice land at the right spot (somewhere below the bust and a bit above wear my disappearing waist).

I also sewed a 1" seam allowance under the arms and graded it to a 1/2" seam allowance at the elastic waist. I continued with a 1/2" seam allowance for the skirt to keep all the fullness I could. I mainly sewed a 1" seam allowance under the arm because I didn't like how much the armhole would have gaped.

Another alteration was to sew strips for edging at the neckline and armholes. It just seemed like what would keep such a stretchy jersey stable in those places. It works and I really like the look.

I also cut the back piece on the fold instead of cutting out two separate back pieces.


Alterations that I made for more for style, rather than the stretchy fabric are:

- Widening and lengthening the ties - I can tie it in the front, instead of having a knot of fabric in my back when I'm sitting in a chair;

- Making the skirt more of an A-line instead of a straight skirt - I did this by grading out from the waist to about an extra 6" at the bottom sides of both the front and back pattern pieces.;

- Overlapping the front faux wrap pieces by an extra inch - this made the neckline sit a little higher, which provides better coverage and looks more current to me.

I didn't have  to draft my own pockets for once. The pattern already had them - yay!



I love how flowy and comfortable this dress is. I think it's the best dress that I've sewn yet. It's great in the hot weather and I plan to pair it with leggings in the fall. I will also be able to wear it next year as will be great for nursing.

Back to sewing clothes! I made a second pair of Burdastyle 06/2014 #118 shorts. 
I used up more of my stash and used the leftover fabric from my Fall Jacket. I won't go into too many details about the pattern, since you can read my notes on my first pair.


I made a few alterations because I was working with scraps. I lowered the rise by 1/2" (I basically just folded all the pieces down at 1" from the top. I lined the pockets with some other scrap fabric that I had. For the waistband, I used 1 1/2" elastic instead of 2" elastic and made the waistband fabric from several pieces sewn together. I was really working with the bare minimum of fabric.

Lowering the rise really helped with the fit. The shorts now hit me at my bellybutton, whereas the first pair sits above it. This means I have less fabric pooling at my stomach when I sit down.

Another thing that I did with these shorts (and the first pair, too), was to put a few tacking stitches through the waistband on two sides. This really helps to stop the elastic from trying to twist out of place.

I've already finished one project for 2015. I made Burdastyle Easy Winter 2014 2B aka. my Pretty Purple Ponte Pullover.


Materials:

• Century Ponte (49% Viscose, 30% Nylon, 15% Polyester, 6% Spandex)
• Thread

My plan was to make this top out of contrasting sweatshirt fabric. But, I couldn't find any sweatshirt fabric that I liked. I ended up with this lovely, soft ponte fabric that is lighter on the wrong side of the fabric.


I really wish I had a walking foot while sewing this top. The ponte liked to stretch a lot under my regular presser foot. I have one on the way, it just hasn't arrived yet (boo).

Pattern

Burdastyle Easy Winter 2014 #2B




One of the challenges I had with this project was deciding how I wanted my sleeves. I kept flip-flopping between dark and light sleeves. I ended up just going with light sleeves and I'm happy with the look.


The purple of the fabric is closer to what is seen in the picture above. It's not very bright during the day, so my pictures aren't the greatest.

I finished the seams using a zig-zag stitch (since I didn't have any purple serger thread). The ponte is a bit thick, so I tried to keep some areas from being too bulky. I used a blindstitch hem on the bottom of the shirt and used a single strip of fabric to face the collar (I pressed it to the inside and topstitched in place).



This is such a comfortable shirt and it's a nice warm layer for the colder weather. While I usually prefer cardigans, I think I am still going to wear this pullover a lot.

I'm sewing another winter jacket project. Well, actually more of a coat. It's going to be a wool coat for my Mother-in-Law as a Christmas gift. So, I'm tackling a bunch of new challenges at once: sewing for someone else, sewing plus sizes, and sewing with wool.

Of course, first we had to choose a style. My MIL really loves raglan sleeves and I think wants to look like a tent. I joke, but the look she really likes are probably best represented by 1950s swing coats and opera coats. I think the issues are that she never had a coat that actually fit her (like most of us) and that she has body issues (like most of us). So, I persuaded her try a coat that fits (but is not too 'fitted') first.

"Excuse me, tent coming through."

So, my MIL is in the 'plus size' range. I already know how ridiculous that is, since I myself are at the top end of the 'regular size' range and I'm not very big. Thanks to the collection of Burdastyle magazines, I had a lot of patterns to pick through.

Unfortunately, none of the patterns were quite right. There was this raglan sleeve 'bubble' coat pattern (Burdastyle 04/2014 #130):


But, the bubble is almost as bad as a tent, so no dice. I think you would have to be pretty tall to pull off this look.

What we were really looking for, is something more like the raglan sleeve coat I had tried for my winter jacket (Simplicity 2149). Unfortunately, I only have it in small sizes.


To make that pattern, I turned to a dress pattern I had. This dress pattern is a lot like a raglan sleeve sloper (Burdastyle 08/2014 #142).


To turn it into something resembling the coat pattern we wanted, I first added ease to all of the pieces, so they were the right (hopefully) size for a jacket. I aimed for 3" of ease in the bust and 5-6" in the waist and hips. And added 2.5" to the sleeve widths. Below is the original front piece, which I slashed and spread to the right size.


I then re-traced the new front and did the same with the back. Using my new front piece, I eliminated the bodice darts and created a princess seam (this post by ikatbag was very helpful). I positioned the princess seam about 1" to the outside if the original bodice dart for styling. I also added fabric along the center front for a button band.


I stole the collar from Burdastyle Plus Special 2/2014 #405 short coat. It's a really nice asymmetrical collar. I shortened it's height and made it the right length to fit the neckline.

Whew! I've made up a test coat, but I'll save that for another post.

I've made myself a new jacket! A fall jacket like I've been wanting for sometime. I'm not sure exactly what kind of jacket it is, but I've seen the names 'field jacket' and 'cargo jacket' used. Believe it or not, I used the same pattern as my winter jacket just with some alterations.


Materials:

• Menorca Plain stretch fabric (97% cotton, 3% spandex)
• Polyester lining
• Lots of heavy duty snaps
• Bias tape
• Interfacing
• Thread
• 10mm elastic

I wanted to use some sort of twill fabric, but I couldn't find any in olive. The only fabric I found was this cotton stretch fabric. I think it ended up working quite well, but there were challenges. My sewing machine had some trouble sewing it and I had tension problems. The right combination seemed to be universal needles (80/12 for most of it and larger for thick seams), a walking foot, and turning the thread tension to near max.


Pattern

A somewhat altered version of Burdastyle 08/2011 #102. Size alterations were super easy, since I just copied what I did with my winter jacket. Basically, a swayback adjustment and a small bust adjustment. I made a size 40, but could have gone a size down because of the stretch fabric. I ended up taking in the sleeve widths a bit.



Some of the styling alterations I made were to create a separate facing. I cut along the centre front line of the front bodice to do this.


I also created a top front yoke piece by attaching the side and front bodice pieces for the first ~4" and then cutting them along perpendicular to the centre front seam.


The style of jacket I am imitating, as well as jean jackets, use this piece to sew the top pocket flaps into. Here are the pieces partially assembled.


And here is what it all looks like on the finished jacket. It's funny, now that I've done this, I've realized how many jackets have this styling feature and it is really easy to do.


I also changed the epaulette slightly to a shorter version that doesn't double back onto itself. You may also notice that I added shoulder pleats. For some reason, I had way too much sleeve cap ease (maybe I added too much seam allowance to my pattern pieces - the Burdastyle pattern doesn't come with seam allowances). I decided to work with it and created a box pleat on each shoulder that lines up with where the epaulette meets the shoulder seam. Not the look I wanted, but it's growing on me.


I made my own pocket patterns from another jacket that I really loved and that this jacket is replacing. I like them more than the pockets that come with the pattern.


As with the winter jacket, I added a hood. This hood is attached with four snaps along the back of the collar.


I wanted to keep the jacket light and make use of the stretch fabric's stretchiness. If I used a non-stretch lining, then the jacket wouldn't stretch much. So, I only lined the sleeves (you might recall the lining fabric from my winter jacket). A tutorial of a similar thing can be found on the blog Purls and Pleats.

I kept the rest unlined and used flat felled seams and bias tape to finish my seams. For the top back yoke, I used two layers of fabric, which I sometimes see done on dress shirts. This added a bit of stability to this area, it helped hide the tops of the princess seams and the centre back seam, and it made it possible for me to have the epaulette snaps attach only to the top layer and not sit directly on my shoulders.


Overall, I'm very happy with the jacket. It's very light and I love the colour. It's very easy to dress up and down.


Here is the back with the hood detached. I'm ready for fall!


I love this style of jacket and if you like it, it's really easy to take any pattern and make one yourself. For example, someone made a military style Sewaholic Minoru on the blog Cut Cut Sew. It's all about the olive colour and the pockets.

I decided to go back and fix the crotch on my Burdastyle 03/2013 #126 Shorts. At little change made a huge difference!


I scooped out the front and back curve about 1/4" at the in-seam. Almost all of my weird crotch wrinkles disappeared!


The back looks much better, too. This little alteration also made the shorts even more comfortable. It no longer feels like I'm getting a slight wedgie - lol! So, if you have pants or shorts that are giving you a wedgie, the trick it to scoop out the crotch curve a little deeper. 


And since I didn't take a good picture of it last time, here is what the side pockets look like in the pattern. I really like them. It adds a little interest to what are otherwise plain grey shorts.

The summer heat is here, so I have made another pair of shorts for the office. The pattern is Burdastyle 03/2013 #126. I used the same pattern last year to make a wearable muslin and now I finally made another pair with nice fabric.


Materials:

• 50% Cotton / 50% Polyester Poplin: $8
• Pocket lining (old bedsheet): $0
• Interfacing (already had): $0
• Zipper: $2
• Button: $0

I really love the poplin. I was easy to work with and is a nice warm grey colour - it goes really well with a lot of other colours.


The shorts are wrinkly from my wearing them. I wore them to the office and now they have a lot of wrinkles from sitting.

Pattern

Burdastyle 03/2013 #126

I really like the side pockets. The side seams are like princess seams and make my legs look a little longer.



Alterations

I made a size 40 like with my first pair (a size smaller than what I am on the chart). I did a slight swayback adjustment (I moved the pattern waist up about 1/4" in the front and down 1/4" in the back).

I changed was the hem length to about 8", in order to be able to comfortably wear them in the office(didn't want them to be too short).

I narrowed the bottom of the shorts so that the openings are about 18" (about 1.5" off of each side seam). I had a pair of shorts that I liked that were like this. However, I think those shorts might have a little spandex in them, since the poplin seems a little tight. Not horrible though. I didn't want them to be too wide at the bottom, since I had lengthened them. What do you think?

I might go back and make the crotch curve a little deeper. I don't have a wedgie in them, but it's close. haha [Update: Check out my post on fixing the crotch curve.]


That's it! Now I feel like making a top to go with it. But, I should get further along in revisiting the Wardrobe Architect first.

Using some more of the knit fabric I found in Tucson, I made myself a nice summer dress. The fabric is striped and had a bit of a 1980's retro feel to it, so I went with a pattern that matched. I choose Burdastyle 04/2013 #108.


I also wanted to make a dress for the Simple Dress Challenge for the sewing group I'm part of (Stitch Once Rip Twice).

Pattern

Burdastyle 04/2013 #108


This pattern is meant to be used with satin fabric, but I figured I would try it with a knit. 

Materials

• Knit fabric
• 1/4" elastic
• Thread

The pattern itself is nice and simple, but the knit fabric was more of a challenge then I thought it would be. The fabric is very slinky, so I was hard to make it lie flat, let alone try to match up the stripes. I must have spent 3 hours cutting out the front and back, when usually I'm super fast at cutting. Frustrating!


I'm happy with how well I got the stripes to line up at the end. I placed the large dark band at below my waist, so it falls into the background. While, the brighter stripes fall on my bust and hips and highlight those areas. Overall, it gives more of an hourglass look. 

I knew that I wouldn't need as much ease as I would if I were using satin, but I kept it a bit large anyway. I wanted it to be nice and comfortable. I cut a size 40 on top and size 42 from at the waist down (which is what my measurements are on the chart).


Alterations

I only made a few changes. I sewed the neck and arm bindings on the inside instead of on the outside. And I sew side in-seam pockets instead of front welt pockets.

I wish I had make the neck hole a little smaller. The knit fabric makes the opening larger and my bra straps pop out now and then. Not too big of a deal though. 

I also used 1/4" elastic for the waist instead of a belt. This makes the dress really easy to throw on and go.

Overall, I'm really happy with how this turned out. It's great for hot weather, which is when I like to wear dresses the most.

This latest project was a big one! I wanted to make some simple ankle pants using Burdastyle 03/2013 #104, but it took a lot longer than I thought it would.


Materials:

• Cotton Stretch Sateen (with spandex)
• Thread
• Interfacing
• Zipper 
• Button
• Bias tape 

All from my stash!

Pattern

Burdastyle 03/2013 #104

I chose this pattern because it looks rather simple (and it is). What made it super difficult was the fabric I used. There is simply too much stretch in this sateen! Even though I used my regular Burdastyle size (size 40) and the pattern mentions that you can have some stretch, I just had too much.

I spent hours and hours (about 16 hours I figure) trying to get the crotch curve right and trying to get rid of wrinkles. For the most part, I succeeded. But, the wrinkles all come back with wear.

To be honest with how the pants look, all of my pictures are taken after I wore the pants to work for a day.



The front isn't too bad. Just some wrinkles from sitting. 


The back is very wrinkled. After trying to get them to disappear, I decided to just live with them (most RTW pants are wrinkly, too).

[Update: I just remembered that, when first assembling the pants, there wasn't any ease in the back inseam for me to work in (unlike the instructions say to do). It is possible that the stretchiness of the fabric and/or improperly located pattern marks made this happen. This might be why I have extra back wrinkles.]

Alterations

With this stretch fabric, there was too much ease. I ended up making the seam allowances about 1.5" on the side seams and inside leg seam! It just keeps stretching and stretching!


I added a waistband so the pants would stay on better. With wear, they stretch out even more! The waistband helps keeps the pants in place. As you might tell from the photo above, the waistband also loosens with wear (even though it is interfaced), so I might go back and add twill tape to it.


I also added patch pockets on the back. I'm proud of how they turned out.

Overall, the pants are super comfortable and most people probably don't notice the wrinkles. The wrinkles aren't as obvious when I'm moving around. I've decided to live with them.

While the fabric was a big pain in (and around) my butt, it really is lovely to look at and touch. It has a nice sheen that doesn't come though the pictures.

What I Learned

Sometimes I waste too much time fitting. I think us sewers can get a little obsessed with the little things. My pants crotch looked good after about an hour of fitting and yet, I kept fiddling with it (and maybe made it slightly worse!).

Also, I should probably avoid fabric with so much spandex, unless I use a pattern specifically made for it.

What do you out there think of my pants? Did I horrify you with all of my wrinkles?