the butterfly blouse

Last fall, I stopped in to a local indie fabric store to see what she had stocked. I don't go in there very often for a couple of reasons. There's the part where her fabrics are fairly expensive and I know for a fact they're sold elsewhere in the country for much less. I don't like that part.

Then there's the part where the shop owner is ummm, how you say? not very nice. That bothers me too. Shouldn't small business owners be friendly? This lady, she is not. I digress.

Anyway, I fell in love with one of her silks. It's white charmeuse with giant black butterflies all over it, and I knew I had to have it. So of course, I waited until she almost had none left before I bucked up the $30 a yard for it. I got exactly 42".
So. What to do with 42" of silk charmeuse? First, throw it in the washer and dryer.

Yeah, you read that right. I said something to Princess Charming about being careful with it, and she scoffed at me (which she does every time I'm in there, so I'm used to this). She said "I wash and dry everything in this store."

Hrmph. I figured if Princess Charming could do it, so could I and that would also cure the problem I have of wearing silks, which is I have small children and how can I keep dirty handprints and Cheetos crumbs off of silk????

I needed a quick and easy top pattern to use this beautiful silk, so inspired by a vintage t-shirt from the seventies and a vintage pattern I have in my stash, I created something that's either totally cute and modern or way hideous and unwearable. I'm hoping it's the first one.

This is the easiest top to make. A poly jersey yoke, a silk body and a poly jersey band at the bottom. Voila! Spring and summer top. The vintage pattern I used for inspiration had me double the knit yoke to form a self-facing, but I didn't want all that extra fabric at the top. I tried it when I made my prototype and it was a little too bulky.
Originally I had arm bands around the sleeves and a ribbed neckline and didn't like the way it looked at all, so I cut them off and narrowly hemmed the sleeves and neck. This is why the neck gapes a lot more than I'd like it to.

I plan to make another version with longer sleeves in rayon knit that will be a lot less....voluminous? The word ease doesn't even begin to describe the air conditioning factor of this top. Anyhoodle, when I get that one made up I'll share the pattern in case anyone else is interested in making this.

A pattern sale? Why yes, thank you.

I need more patterns like I need more night terrors. Nonetheless, need has nothing to do with why I sew or collect pretty things like fabric and patterns.

Today, Joann's put their Vogues on sale for three days. New Vogues? Yes, yes, they're finally stocked too. You can see the ones I chose. I did not choose the bondage wiggle dress. No one needs to see me like that. I also didn't care for the parfait chiffon thing. But the Anna Sui dress is my favorite, followed closely by the gray Donna Karan. And I think 1222 has been highly overlooked. Look at the lines! The seams! Beautiful.


I also picked up a bunch of new (at least to me) Burda patterns. Some of their new patterns are super cool. The strapless dress with chiffon strap things that can tie in many different ways (the first pic in my post is the line drawing)? I love it! The little shift with the ruffle shoulder? LURV. I think the two on the bottom row are older, but still worth purchasing for $5. I could probably download them but for $5, I'd much rather just cut out the tissue than tape and cut and print and tape and curse and tape.


New Look had new patterns, too. Somehow it seems a little expensive to be paying $3.99 for a New Look pattern when the Vogues are also $3.99? Eh. I'm OK with it. I thought their two or three newer tunic/dress patterns were cute, with a little interest at the top.


So. Now I sit with way too many patterns than I could ever make up, far too much fabric, and no time. Better get crackin.

Up next... vintage Vogue 1593

In between eating Christmas cookies and eating more Christmas cookies, I've started a new sewing project. Good things it's not pants, because they wouldn't fit.

I bought this vintage Vogue Patou pattern off Etsy a month ago and couldn't stop thinking about it. The green! The tie! I love it. I wanted to find green wool just like what is pictured, but sadly no one had anything quite that... bold. So I took a great leap of faith and ordered a pink/peach/coral/rose wool flannel from Gorgeous Fabrics.


This is my first online order of fine fabric, can you believe that?! I've ordered other fabric online, but I'm always leery to spend a lot of money on something I can't see and touch. Luckily, the wool flannel feels lovely and looks exactly like what I expected. I ordered two yards but when it arrived, it's even wider than I expected and I only needed 1 1/4. So I believe a slim coral pencil skirt may be in my future.


The cutting has begun. Each pattern piece is both underlined (I am using silk organza) and lined (the polka dot charmeuse). Cutting should only take me sixteen hours or so.


AND I made a muslin this time, can you believe that?! I'm not picturing it because I made a huge goof and sewed half the thing inside out. I know, it doesn't make sense but believe me, that's what happened.

I figured I should test out the fit before cutting into my expensive new wool. Because ladies were considerably shorter in the 60s than they are now, I will be adding four inches to the bodice length in order for the jacket to clear my waistband. I am not a fan of the bolero look.

Wish me luck, progress updates to follow....

Simplicity 2700 - Close, but no cigar

Now that I'm sewing again, I'm determined to only make things I want to wear. It sound obvious, right? Sadly, for me, it isn't always that simple. I tend to enjoy the process of sewing a whole lot more than wearing the finished product. I will never be one of those people who makes their entire wardrobe, I know that much.

But I do enjoy sewing and I love fabric, so I'd really like to occasionally be able to make something that adds to my wardrobe and certainly doesn't scream I MADE THIS AT HOME.

Here's where my latest project comes in. For work in the winter, I typically wear dress pants and a blouse or sweater. I used to exclusively wear Banana Republic pants and suits because they fit me the best, but their fit and sizing had changed in the last few years so now it looks like I'm wearing mostly J Crew dress pants, suits, and blouses.

I have had this beautiful piece of black pinstripe wool/lycra in my stash for the last two years, so I pulled it out this week, determined to make an exact duplicate of the RTW pants I love so much. I even traced the front and back of my J Crew pants and made a muslin of those, contemplating the idea of drafting my own pants pattern. Then I scratched that idea and poured over every single pants pattern I could find. I spent countless hours on Pattern Review.



And then I chose Simplicity 2700.



That was my mistake.



Here are my thoughts on this pattern. In no particular order because I'm tired and frustrated and considering taking a class in trouser construction/pattern drafting.



The RTW pants I love have side seam pockets, and S2700 have diagonal slash pockets. This is a HUGE difference. The look is just not the same. I cannot get the hips to lay flat to save my life, and I'm convinced it's because of the pockets.



I insist on welt pockets on the back of all my dress pants. Not because I want to stash a bunch of things, but because my fanny looks bad unless it has some extra construction framing it. That sounds strange, but it's true. My butt needs more covering than a single layer of fabric.



The waistband on my RTW pants looks to be constructed separately and then applied to the pants. In S2700, they instruct you to sew the waistband pieces to the leg sections and then stitch the pants together. In my opinion, this creates a look of a yoked pant instead of dress pants with a waistband. Come to think of it, I have some J Crew yoke-style pants with diagonal slash pockets and no back welt pockets, and they aren't my favorite. They tend to "grow" as I wear them, falling down on my hips. I digress. I also found the waistband to be way too wide and the rise to be about an inch too high for my taste. That was an easy fix, though.



If you're new to sewing, DO NOT BUY THIS PATTERN. The instructions for almost every step were ridiculous. The zipper?! Holy cow, they must not have wanted anyone to ever attempt a zipper fly insertion ever again. I didn't even follow the rest of the instructions because I was so peeved with the zipper portion.

The finished product is okay. I'll wear them, I'm sure of that. I just don't love them and I really wanted to love them.



I cut the Slim version, after comparing Slim and Average and realizing there is very little difference. I often find patterns for clothing to create a much more voluminous end product than what you find in RTW.

Final judgment? Close, but no cigar. Next time I think I'll actually try to use my self-drafted trouser pattern to re-create the J Crew pants I love.

Any Spanish speakers out there? **with an edit**

I have this copy of Patrones magazine, and there's a skirt I'm thinking of making for someone other than myself.



SKIRT in beige cotton with hip piece, roll on the base and applications stitching sewn with black cotton. Side zip.



The thing is, I don't speak fluent Spanish anymore. OK, I never did, but I could get by when I was in Spain.

I've run the text of the instructions through Babel Fish and it came out sounding like a different foreign language, only written in English. So I'm going to post the description and instructions here and hopefully someone can either email me or comment to tell me what's going on?



Colocar adomo de flores y hojas en falda delante y detras segun modelo y coser con un pespunte estilo hilvan en hilo torzal quedando recortadas y deshilachadas. Pasar un doble frunce en los angulos de la falda delante y detras y coser a una pieza cadera delante y detras tensando los frunces segun formas, coser y cerrar lados falda hasta senal final cremallara lado ezquierdo, aplicar esta invisible.

Translated, it supposedly means: Adom Place flowers and leaves in front and back skirt and sew according to the model with a basting stitch yarn style clipped and frayed twine. Spend a double pleats at the corners of the skirt front and back and sew in a piece hip front and back by tightening the forms according gathers, sewing and close sides to sign final lap side zip ezquierdo apply this invisible.

My main question is how the top half goes together? Is the yoke piece at the top simply topstitched onto the skirt, or are those keyhole boxes actually turned with right sides together, clipping at the corners? It looks like the flowers are just stitched on top of the skirt, allowing the edges to fray? The person I'd be making this for wouldn't like that, so I'd have to come up with a different method of stitching them on.

Thanks for your help!

**Thanks to the wonderful okiethfairy, I am now including a photo of the pattern pieces. They lead me to believe it's put together like the key/pattern pieces and not appliqued. What do you think?**

A pink pair of pants

I am almost finished with my perfect pink pair of pants. They're technically a muslin for a pair of trouser jeans I loved with all my heart until they died after many years of wearing.

Here are the originals, a pair of Meli Melo trouser jeans with a cute braided pocket band detail that made it nearly impossible to actually use those side pockets. So I omitted that detail for now. By the way, Meli Melo went out of business shortly after I bought these jeans, so I think it's ok to knock them off, right?

They got kinda tight over the years. Stupid washer and dryer! Shrinking all my clothes on me, even the ones I hang to dry. Couldn't be me, certainly not.

I cut them up after they split up the center back and used the pieces as a "pattern" of sorts. I found this stretch rosey denim at Hancock's for $3 a yard. The only drawback now, in hindsight, is that the rose denim has quite a bit of stretch and the original jeans weren't stretch at all, although they acted like it. They were 80% cotton, 20% poly, which is probably why they were so soft and acted kinda stretchy.

Because the originals had gotten a wee bit tight, I cut the pattern pieces with a one inch seam allowance, to allow for some adjustments should I need it. The stretch in the rosey denim took care of that, though, so I ended up not needing it.

I am really really really happy with the almost finished product, considering I was basically winging it. Had I remember these were a 'muslin' I might not have spent so much time getting the welt pockets just right, but I did anyway. They aren't perfect and there are still threads I need to snip, but they look pretty darn good from a distance.

I still have to take the waistband off and do some fixing so I haven't sewn on the button or buttonhole yet. For one, I totally forgot to interface it! Spaced out completely on that. So I wore the pants in to Ben Franklin to buy buttons and by the time I got home the waistband had grown considerably.

Sorry for the gross belly shot.

I created a curved waistband with some cotton on the interior, but I will be adjusting it and curving the center back seam even more to fix the gaposis that occurred while wearing. Not too noticeable in these pictures, but definitely there.

All in all, I'm really happy with them and I'll be trying my hand at a second pair and possibly a pattern posting soon.

First and last

Well, thanks to the lovely and helpful Mikhaela, I did finally manage to shir something. And I can say, hands down, with no equivocation, that I will never again shir anything. Ever. Unless the gods somehow bless me with a sewing machine that loves elastic bobbin thread, that is. And when I say loves, I mean a machine that will buy the fabric and cut it out, too.

Until then? Nope. Never again. (Can you tell I haven't finished the top yet? It still needs buttons down the front of the ruffle and I haven't stitched down the ruffle.)

I started this top almost a year ago. I had purchased this lovely imported Japanese cotton print from Hart's Fabric and I didn't really know what to do with it. On the screen the colors looked clear and crisp, but in person they are much grayer. Muddier. Whatever, they aren't crisp and clear. I still like it, but it wasn't what I expected.

Then shortly after buying the fabric, I ordered this Jamie Christina pattern off Etsy for this cute little shirred top and dress. This was before I realized shirring just involved cutting a box and sewing straight lines. More on that later.

So the idea was born, marry the Japanese landscape print that has a texture like linen but is really cotton with the shirred ruffle button top.

Only, my machines won't shir with elastic thread in the bobbin, as I've shared only too many times.

Mikhaela of Polka Dot Overload recently posted a similar problem with shirring, and mentioned that she'd finally developed a technique that did not involve elastic bobbin thread. So I emailed her and she was gracious enough to share. I'm not going to copy her email because that would be wrong, plus I think she'll post her story on her own blog, but I will condense the instructions and share what I did with my own top.

Mikhaela's advice was to use the elastic thread but to zig-zag over it. After experimenting a few times, I finally came up with this system, and I took a picture (gasp! a picture during the process is so unlike me) so I hope you can see what I was doing:

1. Cut a piece of elastic thread 18" long. My bust is about 36" around, so I arbitrarily chose half that measurement.
2. Tie knots in each end with about a 1" tail.
3. Start each row by staystitching just after the knot, effectively "locking" it in place so when you're stretching the thread as you're sewing it won't come undone.
4. Zigzag (length 3, width 3) over the elastic thread, keeping the lines about 1/2" from the previous row. I managed to do this easily by using my larger 9mm presser foot and following its edge.
5. When I got to the end of a row, I'd turn down the dials and staystitch just before the knot again.
6. And for good measure, I tied the two knots together in one knot and then continued my zigzag over that to lock the tails in place.

Whew. That's a long process for a little payoff.

I even timed myself towards the end (actually, on the eleventh row of shirring as I was cussing the slow progress), and it turns out it took me almost ten minutes per row with all the steps involved. That is insane.

After I added up all the failed shirring rows that I had to rip out, plus the eventual successful rows and then the minor details of straps, ruffle and buttons, this simple little summer top took hours upon hours of labor. Let me tell you friends, IT IS NOT WORTH IT.

I have decided if I ever want a shirt with shirring, I'll go to the store and buy one, or take my lovely friend Cara up on her offer to let me use her Brother (since it seems to like it fine).

So there you have it. A partially finished product and a whole lotta wasted time. I could have completed my vintage pattern contest entry in the time it took me to shir this stinking top! And that includes underlining it!

BUT, I'm glad I did it. Cause now I know, and otherwise it just would have eaten away at me.

Now on to my next rant. I mean this in the most respectful way. Bloggers, sew-ers, crafters, everyone out there that is doing this needs to stop, in my cranky-just-spent-way-too-much-time-shirring opinion. STOP "designing" patterns people are asked to pay for and then pretend that it's an original design that should not be copied for resale purposes. For example, anyone who is releasing a design today for a shirred top or dress just exactly like the one I just made. PEOPLE! This is a box with elastic thread at the top. That does not constitute an original design, nor does it require a huge amount of design effort. It's totally cool if you want to upload a pattern for others to follow, I just find it greedy to ask for money for that "pattern," and then to demand some sort of copyright privilege and expect people not to use the pattern to sell finished items.

I've seen this over and over in the craftoblogosphere. Someone "designs" a zippered pouch, packages their pattern for sale, and then claims people can't make zippered pouches for sale based off their "original" pattern. Give me a break. You know who totally impress me for their completely original designs? People like the girls behind Sugar City and Sarai of Colette Patterns. Now that's original design. Zippered pouches, shirred boxes? Not original.

OK, end rant. I hope I haven't offended too many people, and this was actually not about Jamie Christina. I love her fabric shop and the dresses she sells on Etsy. I'm more irritated with a big name blogger who has just recently released an "original" shirred dress pattern that you have to pay for. I have big magnanimous plans for uploading and sharing lots of patterns, just as soon as I can get around to it. Pants patterns, reversible cross-back top pattern, etc. I may even throw in a shirred dress pattern, just to tip the scales in favor of something free.

oui oui

I feel myself hitting my stitching stride again. Feeling good about something I've made instead of bad, which is a nice little change.

I was in a boutique here recently when I came across this super cute top. I took a stealth Blackberry photo at a bad angle but didn't want to be accused of fashion espionage or something.

The more I thought about that top, the more I came down with Sew-er's Sickness. You know the drill. "Oh, this is so cute. I can make this!" I don't even think the original top was that expensive. But my brain started to list the reasons I could make it.

- It was made out of white French terry, and I had a stash of white French terry I'd bought at Hancock's for $2.95 a yard on my fabric shelves, just waiting.
- It was a simple shape, a button-down top with little flutter sleeves and a waistband. I knew I'd seen a similar pattern somewhere.
- The cuteness of the top relied on some craftiness - the designer had added little ruffles edged with navy serging, and pick stitching along the waistband pieces. All things that are easy enough to create at home.

So....this is what I came up with, complete with my poor posture. It really looks nothing like the original inspiration, but I like it nonetheless. Oh, and I took these pics before I remembered to hem the bottom. Oops.



I downloaded the free JJ top pattern from burdastyle.com and made the following changes to it.

First, I omitted the collar and cut the neckline a little lower so I'd have a scoop neck. Then I used some gingham in a bias band to create a little neck binding. I used that same gingham for the sleeve bands and then got a little crazy and made covered buttons - huge covered buttons.

Why stop with all that? I ended up decorating the princess seams with a stitch from my machine's library. It's like a giant X with a dot in the center.





I cut a size 44 according to my measurements because I falsely thought French terry didn't stretch very much. Well, it does. So I ended up taking in the side seams by at least an inch each and the princess seams by about 1/4" under the bustline. I could probably stand to cinch it up a little more, but I don't want the front to gape open.



I really like the finished product. In my house, there aren't many un-attended photo shoots and this one was no different. My oldest son wanted me to read his fortune cookie fortune while I was on the timer.



1. French terry is pretty hot. It got muggy today and was 78F out and I was hot in this top! So it's probably going to be a spring/fall top, but that's fine with me.
2. The pattern that would have been an exact match to the top I saw in the boutique is Simplicity 2601. After I cut out the JJ I realized my mistake. That's ok, I have plans to make the Simplicity pattern, too! Can't have too many cute tops in my closet, right? I may even try it in a stable knit. I seem to wear a lot more knit tops than woven.
3. I really really love gingham. I think it would be totally cute to make a navy gingham top with white ruffles.
4. I hate making covered buttons. I need three hands. Or two people. Either way, they were my least favorite task from this project.

All told, this top cost me somewhere around $10. I think if I used a total of two yards at 2.95 a yard, there's almost $6 in fabric and two packages of covered buttons at $2 each. Not bad, eh? Way better than the $89 the original top cost.

My contest entry....

I read on Peter's blog that Pattern Review is hosting a vintage pattern sewing contest. So....I decided to forego all sanity and enter.

I know, I know, everyone else in the world is enthralled with forties and fifties styles. But not me.

I'm a sixties mod kinda girl.

So this is my contest entry - a dress made of stretch silk/cotton out of this vintage Vogue couturier pattern by Federico Forquet. I think it dates to the winter of 67/68.


There is some weirdness I'm going to have to modernize after reading the directions. It calls for lining the dress (yay! I believe all serious garments should be lined), but instead of making two shells and joining them at the neckline, they want me to basically sew each piece as a sandwich, lining on top of fabric. Then join another "sandwich" at the seams. I don't like it.

I talked to my mom about this technique since she was sewing in the sixties and I wasn't even a speck on the horizon yet (didn't make my grand entrance til seventy-two). She said that was a common technique, lining garments in an underlining sort of manner. But since the fabric I'm working with has some stretch to it, we both think it would be wiser to make a lining shell and put it all together at the neckline and armholes as I would a modern pattern.

So, it'll have a few modifications but otherwise the original pattern will be used to a T.


Now, I just need to get crackin cause the contest ends in two weeks! Yikes. I've not spent a lot of time on Pattern Review, although I'm trying to refer to it as I contemplate using commercial patterns. I'm hoping it'll help me avoid disappointment!

I have two copies of this pattern so if it turns out ok - meaning, non-hideous - I'll prolly give one away in a grand giveaway to celebrate completion.

Vogue and Butterick patterns on sale!

Hancock's has Vogue patterns on sale 75% off today through the 5th! This is a great time to stock up on the Vogue patterns you've been drooling over. Vogue just released its new Summer book, but if your Hancock's is like mine there's no telling if they'll be stocked yet.

And Butterick patterns are 99 cents! That's a steal, and Butterick are usually timeless classics.

Look mom, I joined the Junior League

Have you ever seen the children's clothing catalog called Olive Juice? I have two little boys, so somehow through my online shopping I've managed to get my name added to their mailing list.

While their boy's clothes aren't exactly my cup of tea, the girl's things? Heavenly! So adorable, in fact, that I stole one of their designs from this season's catalog and reproduced it for myself.

That's right, people. I turned the Poppy dress into a dress for an adult woman on the upward slide to forty.

And guess what? I love it!

Here's the story.

I got their catalog in the mail a few weeks ago. I love love love this dress. The stripes! The ruffle! Love it.

Then I was in Omaha, Nebraska, for work one day and managed to find my way to their Hancock's store. You see, my Hancock's are total junk. Omaha's Hancock's on Center Street is awesome. The store is clean, the fabric selection is lovely.

I carried a big bag of bargain priced fabrics back on the plane with me, and one of them was this green and gray stripe knit. It's got a texture like pique but it's a little more subtle than the pique you see men's polo shirts made of.

I set about to experiment and see if I could make a similar dress for myself out of my new favorite striped knit. My worst-case-scenario would be that it would turn into a knit top if it looked hideous as a dress (less is more sometimes).

I love stripes, did I mention that? Love them.

I also love ruffles. Maybe I haven't told you all that yet, but I do. Love ruffles a lot.

And here it is. The finished product.

I used the sheath pattern from the Sew U Dresses book in my regular size, because with knits you'll have give (i.e. stretch) you wouldn't have with woven fabrics and I knew it would end up a little larger. That's what I wanted. If you want something more fitted, cut one size down in knits.

I reinforced the shoulders with stay tape and fell in love with my machine's stretch stitch (after two days of swearing and tearing out stitches that popped under each stretch test). No more straight stitches for me on knits! No sirree, I'll be using the little lightning bolt from now on. More on that later.


I think it looks kinda like a tennis dress for a Junior Leaguer, don't you? I love it. It's the kind of thing I'll wear all the time in the summer - to the pool, to Target, to the park. With flip-flops, with fancy sandals.

With a tan. Jeez, girl, get some sun would you?

Ok, so here are the details:

Once again, my photography stinks. Sorry for that. I wanted to show you the little Featherty tag I sewed on the outside of the neckline (in part to keep that stinking facing down!).

Total cost of the fabric was about $3.50. It was in the bargain section for $2.95 a yard and with the ruffles I used a little less than 1.5 yards. Score! The Olive Juice dress for little girls is $48.50.

After sewing on the ruffles I didn't want to use ribbing at the neck and arms so I made facings. Now I kinda regret that decision? They don't lay so nice. Is there a trick to this? I haven't sewn much with knits for years. Or would you have used ribbing (self) at the openings? I don't know, I'm open to suggestions.

I never know what to do with my body in pictures. I looked up so I could cut out my head and I laughed so hard when I uploaded the pics I decided to keep it. Nice nostrils, Heather.