Slip on Suzie

To explain myself here is the Slip on Suzie faux wrap dress I made from this StyleArc pattern:

I am always a bit wary about wrap dresses. In my experience they tend to unwrap if you live in a windy place like I do most of the time, or fall open at the Christmas concert when you sit down which is not an optimal grandmother look IMO.

This dress has a closed skirt at the bottom, no wrap, and goes together in an hour if you don't spend three hours trying to figure out how to overlap the various pieces to get the wrap.

I bound the neckline rather than turn and stitch because I am chicken and like to use my hands to head off disaster.

I had read several pattern reviews that said this dress was too low (probably is here too) so I made it in a size smaller than I usually wear to get the fit on my bony shoulders and added to the width from there down. It is my general policy to alway fit the smallest area first and add - always more successful than trying to take something in when the core fabric has already been cut away.

Here are two shots taken on the old RV site and not accessorized at all. If I were a better blogger it would be, but I am sort of waiting on my lunch and getting ready to go golfing.

This really does need a necklace and maybe a belt. The spouse, who rarely offers fashion comments unless you count "what am I supposed to say?," tells me this is not my best look which probably means too bare at the neck and too wide in the middle, which actually describes me so this is not really a surprise.

Here is another shot, that verifies the need for a belt or maybe a another look at Stylearc's other wrap dresses that have more shape, and might give me some.

The truth is I kinda just like this dress myself. I see this design as a real basic, great for travelling, good for accessorizing if you weren't in your flip flops in an RV park, and timeless in that you can keep wearing it until your daughter says "mom you always wear that dress."

My photographer thinks maybe I need blog reader feedback since his didn't impress me and in the meantime I am thinking of this two alternate patterns in the quest for a classic wrap for this not too classic sewer:

What do you think?

Sew day

Today was my once a month sewing day with my friend Trudy. 

These days are like gold to me. We sew and talk and eat and ignore all other obligations.

I will be posting some pictures and detail tomorrow but tonight I want to share with you my new favourite Style Arc pattern the Lucinda knit pant.

Suffice it to say that I whipped up one pair in the morning and we agreed they were so wearable and comfortable, Lazy-boy pants in fact, that after lunch we did a quick field trip down to Fabricville so I could get more fabric to cut out another three pairs.

I am very busy right now, largely with work, and trying a new pants pattern right out the envelope and having it fit perfectly (we decided that if there were any flaws it might be in the body inside the pants and not the pattern itself) just was so great.

Now if Stylearc would just put the Evie up on Etsy I would be set.

So tomorrow I will corral my photographer and get some pictures up, after that its back to the sewing room to make more before the week hits. Here is the drawing of the pattern but brace yourself for my version which are not quite as loose, despite the fact the body underneath is, but about as comfy as a toddler's jammies, and we all know toddlers get to wear all the cool clothes.

More later.

Just when you thought you have heard everything and a shout out to Stylearc

So much to talk about.

Christmas was one of those really good ones. I spent a lot of it walking around with things I wanted to post but time with my head out of the dishwasher was at a premium.

Enough flypaper thoughts to wallpaper a house. Enough sewing ideas to fill every room.

For some reason the holiday season always leaves me, after a long period of doing for family, with a burning desire to do some serious sewing for myself.

I started that today by downloading and sticking together a Stylearc pattern. They now have a bunch of their patterns on Etsy - such a good, good idea. Thank you Stylearc. Three sizes in one download, which is handy for those of who are weighing in at some lifetime upper end achievement numbers on the scale, and high instant gratification, with no postage fees for those of us who want to sew now.

I personally do not usually like sticking letter size pieces of paper to the dining room table with scotch tape for three hours before I can actually start making something. However I have to say that Stylearc's downloadables are in a totally different class to anything I have pieced together before. Clear with nice margins so you can cut around each .pdf so you aren't just hoping that the cut edges of the paper are lining up right. Feels very accurate and clean.

Me and Mr.Paypal will be visiting Etsy often over the winter I can see that.

Now back to the title of this post.

For various reasons, partially kicked off by my return to teaching sewing, I have been asked to look at a lot of sewing problems lately and asked for my two cents.

When you have made as many mistakes as I have in my sewing career a person gets pretty well qualified to identify what went wrong. She also comes up with a few ideas of how to make it go right next time.

Over the holidays it seemed to me that it might be interesting to share some of that here.

Which explains the new sidebar you see on the right.

Of course this advice will be coming from me, so you might want to consider that before you ask my opinion.

There is a possibility that I may tell you to just throw it out of a second storey window and drive over it with the car and go back to the fabric store - which is something I actually did once, but still don't want to talk about.

So keep things in perspective on this little project.

Now off I go with nothing to do but eat, sew and write things on my blog for the next few days.

Can you stand it? Another version of the Jane shirt and they keep getting louder

Remember the bright and white shirt I made about a week ago?


Well here is the night time version.

Apparently the neck is the first to go. Thank God the sense of humor is the last. Got a feeling I am going to need it, or if taste like this keeps up, everyone else is going to.

Definitely in the camp of things you make on vacation in Florida and unpack on a grey and wet day in Nova Scotia and say "what the hell?" to yourself.


Needless to say I love it. Here and there.


A few little things about this pattern that I forgot to mention in my first review:


1. Pay attention to the different seam allowances marked on the pattern pieces. 1/2" for structural seams and as little as 1/4" for things like the collar. This makes a difference.


2. If you do make the 3/4 sleeve version make sure you put in those slits, particularly if you pose with your arm bent in every picture.


3. The sleeves are a dream to put in and don't require any ease stitching even though they are set-in sleeves. Man do I enjoy that.


Hopefully those other patterns will arrive soon, if not who knows what iteration of this pattern you will be looking at next.

Chloe Parker: The Style Arc interview

As promised here is the text of my interview with Chloe Parker of Style Arc.

I am sure you will find this very interesting, but before you start reading I really have to share my own feelings.

As a sewer I love my Stylearc patterns. They fit me and the styles are both classic and current - not an easy combination to find.

I came out of this interview feeling that Stylearc could be best described as an artisanal pattern company. These are crafted patterns, hand drawn patterns - with a fairly short distance between the designer and the end user. 

Now on to the interview:

Thank you so much for doing this interview Chloe. Like many other sewers I have become a huge fan of your patterns in a very short time. To be honest I really feel your patterns are designed to fit me and your designs reflect what I see around me, what I want to wear.

But like so many other Style Arc fans I have questions. Who are these folks, where did they come from, and why do their patterns just seem to work ?
 For a start can you give me a little background on Style Arc. For example how long have you been in business? How would you describe your company?

      Style Arc is an online clothing pattern business with an industry base. We started Style Arc at the beginning of 2010 and it came about one Saturday morning over coffee with a couple of colleagues from the rag trade.  We started chatting about home sewers and what patterns were available to them? We researched and noticed that there was a gap in the market place for ready to wear patterns… which lead to the beginning of Style Arc.

      Our company is small like any business starting out, and consists of 5 people with a variety of educational backgrounds and life experiences in the rag trade over many years.  Our team consists of 2 pattern makers / graders, one sample machinist, and 2 people in the design/forecasting team.  A positive drawn from working in a small company is that you are involved/ exposed with all areas of the business and that is very rewarding to us all. 

     

Can you tell us a little about your design and production process? 

The design team research on a daily basis whether that is trolling the internet, flicking through the latest magazines or on a buying trip, their job is relentless.  Being an online line business we are always conscious of the different seasons across the world, and strive to design accordingly, putting forward appropriate styles for the different hemispheres.   The design team sketch up the range for the forth coming months and present it to the team.  At this stage some styles will make it and some will get the chop.  For those that make it they are handed to the very skilled patternmakers and then on to the machinist for sampling.  We will fit the first proto and review it all together.  More often than not we will need to make alterations to the pattern after the first sample to ensure that the fit is correct and then review it again.

Do you have any plans for a North American distributor? 

      We are constantly reviewing the business and how better to improve our services to the customer.   So in answer to this question it would be a possibility for the near future.

Tell me. What do you think is different about the Style Arc draft for sewing patterns?

       It is most important to our brand that we keep the personal touch and customer service at this level along with great fitting patterns.  That is not to say we don’t wish for further growth.  We are so pleased with what we have achieved in such a small amount of time and look forward to the next 12 months.

   

      Thank you Chloe for a great interview, for your time, and for your patterns.

More information on Stylearc's Coco jacket

If you hung in there with me you know that one of my problems with the Chanel jacket project was that the pattern was not on my side.


Not for a minute, not from the beginning.


Why in sewing, as in so many other major areas of life, do we just not listen to those little voices?  Not until it's too late, not until we have said to our friends "I should have known." The signs are always there. In my case I should have stopped when I had to wrestle the upper bust to the ground.


So the issue of a pattern for my next Chanel jacket, when I am at home an reunited with all my tools, is major.


I have been thinking about the new Coco pattern from Stylearc but I had some questions.


I finally emailed Chloe and team with my questions and with the generosity that seems typical of that operation they sent me shots of the shop model and .pdf's of the instruction sheets. This is simply the kind of information a sewer always needs and never gets pre-purchase, so with the Stylearc team's permission here it is for you too. 


You should be able to scroll down through the embedded .pdf to see it all:





And here are some studio shots of the model jacket:

Work in progress model frayed edges not added yet.

This is definitely a shorter Chanel type jacket but I feel the lines add width to the upper body for balance, and I may lengthen it a bit for me.


Yes, I have ordered this pattern and a whole bunch of others along with a replacement for my Sasha shirt that turned out so well and is still missing in Room 333.


More news too.


In all the discussion about this jacket I asked Chloe if she would let me interview her, channeling that part of my past that used to write for a couple of the local papers.


She said yes, amazingly, so watch for that interview too as soon as I can post it.

Stylearc Jane blouse review

Yesterday was a good day. Hit the garage sales and got some clothed Barbies and a trike.

Also finished my wearable muslin of Stylearc's Jane's overshirt.

There is a bit of a back story on this.

I personally find a cotton shirt sometimes cooler in the hot weather than a knit top. More air room. I also have been thinking long and hard about clothing designed for men that have been deemed "classics" for women.

Tell me, do you often see a woman who looks better in a pair of pants with a fly than without? Why are trousers with a fly a female "classic"?

Same goes for the old power suit straight up blazer with the mega shoulder pads.

I think this is important because this list of classics denies garments that really do suit women and are comfortable for them. 

So I was so happy to see the return of the dress to corporate and fashionable life. I am intrigued by this fall's new statement skirts.

Which brings me to shirts vs. blouses if you define a shirt as something with a collar band. 

Now these shirts were designed for wearing with ties, which are things that men themselves complain about. Shirts can look fresh and sharp on women, particularly women with a longer neck because the stand raises the collar and takes up neck space. However if you don't have a long neck it can't be your best look. I remember once been suckered into thinking I needed heavy duty collar interfacing on a collar band shirt and ended up with red marks burned onto my neck under my ears. Was I mad, it had taken me ages to match the print at the front.

Which brings me to the blouse and a convertible collar worn open, a strictly only female garment. These are IMO more flattering on most women. 

Trouble is there are very, very few patterns for them. In fact if you add in the camp shirt element you are stuck with some kind of hybrid unisex women/men/boys pattern that has zero shape.

So I was intrigued when I saw the Jane shirt and thought that this might be a possibility.

Amazingly I am running out of fabric here (I thought the Chanel jacket was going to take me longer but I hadn't anticipated I would become so obsessed with getting it in the Out Basket.) In fact all I could find in Knoxville in 100% cotton  that I liked, until I discovered Gina's Sewing Centre, but that's another story, was dotted quilting cotton.

So I used some of this (I have three more dotted cottons) to make up a trial of the Jane.

Have to tell you I love it.

First the pictures:

The all important bum shot. Note yet another iteration of the Peta pants into shorts. Note the nice yoke with the pleats set off quite far to the sides so it doesn't billow out.

The frozen smile shot, nice fit I think. Note the matching star earrings someone talked me into buying at a jewelry party. Finally they match something and further allow me to channel my highly developed inner '50s housewife.

The dog talking side shot - so you can see what this blouse looks like unaltered and without a bust dart, which this pattern doesn't have.

Here's why I like this pattern:

• No bust darts but in a casual shirt still a pretty good fit. Yes, with a dart I could eliminate those pull lines shown above and the pull up at the front, articulated in the cotton,  but since the front view looks OK I am good with this for an is-what-it-is.
• Casual and therefore cool and comfortable but fitted enough so it doesn't look sloppy. Set in sleeve (that went in with minimal easing), ease built in at the back with a couple of tucks.
• I love the collar. It's is pretty and feminine.
• Fit together beautifully. Well-drafted pattern.
• If I had my serger I would have knocked this out in no time. As it is I had to bind the back neck, and still in Chanel mode for some reason hand stitched the hems. Didn't want to see a line of white thread running between my dots.

I made this out of the box and this is what I would change next time:

• I would lower the top button about 3/4".
• I would add about 2" to the length and do the side slits as per pattern. 
• I might add a bust dart and certainly will add to CF.

A real TNT keeper with potential for further development.

Style Arc Tops installment two: Sacha top

Here we go, Style Arc's Sacha top. It is advertised as a sort of big shirt but to be truthful I think it is more of a long version of a fairly fitted shirt with a bust dart with perhaps some casual drop to the shoulder.


I made the size 12 right out of the envelope, no alterations at all and you can see on my 5'9" self that it is still really long - I actually added my usual 2" to length and then cut it off again.


On, this feels like a good fit but not so loose that you would say hang over the bathtub in comfort and scrub it out without feeling the pull across the back. I will definitely make this again, shorter, as a shirt I would wear to work.


The fabric was some great embroidered white cotton I got last year from Fabric.com when I was delusionally thinking I was going to make 10 white shirts, which of course I am now starting to do now the pressure of feeling I have to is off.


Which should just about tell you all you need to know about me.


The construction was straightforward and easy. I did note that the collar band was pretty slim, narrower than I am used to seeing, but probably more RTW. And I was also interested to see the dart was very angled and actually just in the right place for me. How often does that happen?

Now I want to talk to you about my current run on Style Arc patterns.


This season for some reason the pattern book offerings have left me cold.


I mean I really, really want to like them. I had a great time last spring and summer sewing up new styles (remember those great Vogue knit dresses we all made?) but this year everything I saw had deja vue all over them. There wasn't a pattern that I could not have pointed you to something similar in an earlier book.


I also did a wardrobe cull before I came away and what I threw out tended to be some of my more trendy styles that didn't get as much wear as the effort deserved. A new style as to be compatible with what suits you - not just a new trend. I learned this again for about the 49th time this lifetime.


My trips to the Garment District have also reignited my deep love of good fabric (which is always looking for a way to find itself up to the surface) and you really need reliable patterns for that.


Which brings me to an appreciation of TNT (tried and trues for those who still wonder about that term) and to me Style Arc so far is providing me with those.


Now, they are expensive I know. Hand-drawn on heavy paper, as the orders come in. Shipping to Canada is about $20 so three patterns plus shipping is over $50. Not worth it for one offs but if these are basics, like the pants I made 12 pairs of, well this is a good investment.


On the subject of pants, for those of you who are thinking about them, I want to note a difference between the Peta and Cargo. The Cargo has a wider leg (has to as it can be rolled up) but also a more shaped waistline which actually is somewhat more comfortable if you have a big butt like I do ( I have decided to forgo the delicacy in the interests of efficiency), although the Peta is very nice too. 


And when they say works best in drapey fabrics they say that for a reason. I like my poplin Peta's less than the softer chambray ones, although I wear both happily.


Now off to another day in the hotel room and walking the trails of Knoxville with Mr. R.


You would think that 4 weeks in a hotel room with a dog, a sewing machine, and Christmas knitting projects from Christmas 1993 (plus some online work from work) would get to a person.


No.


I am absolutely flat out all day.


Tonight we are going out to a work party with my husband's team. I really like the people he works with and am looking forward to it.


BTW aren't men weird about what they don't know? If I were to ask my husband what everyone drove he could tell me, however he is unable to answer interesting questions like:

• how long have they been going out and are they serious
• how long have they lived here
• how many children do they have
• how old are the children
• where does his wife work
• where does her husband work

You get my drift. What does he do all day?

Style Arc Tops installment one: Adele top

I have had a great week in Tennessee with much to report.


Let's start with my Style Arc tops.


I really have a huge backlog of Patternreviews to do but first of all I want to just show you how these patterns are working out on me.


I think it would be helpful to know more about the body shape I am sewing with so you can put the fit into perspective. I really have no shame:

• I am 5'9". Some of the tops I have lengthened, but realizing how long this patterns already are I have cut off that amount in many cases and will tell you if I have made the out of the envelope version or not.
• I am about 20 pounds heavier than I was 10 years ago, and I am 58 now. How do you spell menopause?  What I am saying is that I am carrying excess on the middle. Consider that. My photographer has been well-trained to say "you look slimmer in that" even before he really looks at what I have made.
• I have a D cup and usually do a FBA. I didn't do that in most of my tops but will have to do it again in one, you will see that in the next couple of days as I work my way through these.

The Adele top: 

Fabric: 

Nice rayon knit from Fabricmart. I am kicking myself for not bringing more of my stash with me. The print is a little loud but I think the diagonal lines are slimming.

Pattern alterations: None except for 2" added on that I wouldn't do again - these patterns are already pretty long. Note I did not do a FBA and am pleased with the fit, fitted through the chest (I made a size 12) but full enough through the bust. I suspect Style Arc grades more intelligently than some other pattern makers. Note the narrow sleeves, not an issue for me since I have a weak upper body but might be for you.

Construction notes: 

OK did as suggested but scrapped the overly complex, in my view, instructions for stabilizing the neckline. Why do this? I have a head.

Instead I measured the neck opening, cut a 3" wide piece with the stretch knit as long as 3/4 the opening and used my now favourite method of applying neck binding:

1. Stitch the short ends of the neckband together making a ring.
2. Fold the band, wrong sides together and lightly press. This will give you a double layer neck ring of fabric.
3. Pin the neckband to the wrong side of the top, which will then be the folded neckband right sides up against the wrong side of the top.
4. Stitch using a tiny zig zag for stretch (I left my serger at home).
5. Flip the neckband to the right side and stitch close to the folded edge to secure.

With a light knit this gives a good clean neck binding that is nice on both sides. I also use the same treatment for woven bands and will take some pictures of that up close.

I will definitely make this top again. Five stars.

Conspiracy theory

My friend Robin over at a sewing on the side has been making some Style Arc pants lately and having the same extreme success we all have had with those patterns.


I made three pairs of Linda pants in ponte for my trip away. They were perfect. Super comfortable, with a waistband suitable for sitting for long periods of time in restaurants and on airplanes, but with a leg that looked like real tailored pants.


Most of all the best thing about these pants are the fit. Right out of the envelope with these minor, made-for-me adjustments:


1. My waist is 1.5" bigger than the hip measurement of the size I bought. This is no surprise to me. I added 3/4" to the front seam tapering down to normal by the crotch.


2. See belly above and also the ample rear end. I added 1" to the waistline at top at CF and CB and then tapered back to usual by the side seams.


The result is a perfect, perfect fit.


I have made the exact same alterations to the Kerry Cargo pants which I made once in a poplin as pants, and once cut shorter as shorts.


Yes, family members no need to tell me the photos on my blog suck, but you folks are out of town and Rascal's paw shakes when he holds the camera and the shots are too blurry to use. So it's the old back-of-the-door shots:

Yes too I know these are just your old elastic waist units, however the cut is so good that once on and the elastic expanded to Babs size they look smooth and excellent. You have to trust me on this until I can get a photographer around here.


Now get ready for the rave.


I have been trying to make pants that fit since 1972 (yes I know you weren't born yet, but pants fitting was no easier then than now). 


I have made gingham muslins, tried 47 different perfect fit patterns (some documented on this blog). I have taken classes, taught classes,  pinched, tweeked, taken in and let out.


I have pivoted and slid. I have cloned and drafted. I have bought software, tracing paper, broken countless mechanical pencils, and used more Scotch tape than Christmas.


I have spent enough money on this to have paid for medical school. That is if medical schools accepted people who stopped taking math in Grade Nine (thank you thank old school system of the province of Quebec which had a very francophone view of the importance of arts and languages).


Despite all of this I have still, no matter how much I have tried to convince myself that it was only an issue of not standing right in my clothes, had:


1. A sort of space at the front that would have accommodated a fanny pouch, that is if I wanted to wear one under my pants as sort of a security measure to thwart pick pockets on my travels.
2. A rear end that pulled down when I sat, exposing my vast collection of old lady underwear.
3. Diagonal wrinkles on the inside of my legs that only moved to new places when I tried to get rid of them.


I am not the only one this has happened to.


What if - this is where the conspiracy theory comes in - the problem was pants patterns for sewers that were drafted not to fit nearly anybody, and not me? 


Or you?


What if a decent pants draft reduces pant fitting problems to human-sized tasks?


What if there was one or two simple tweaks you could do to every pants pattern that a particular organization produced and every one of those pants patterns fit?


Style Arc has made me suspect this might be true.


To my relief another Style Arc order arrived just in the nick of time yesterday, with the Peta pants Robin made, and with the Sasha blouse too.


I am attaching the pattern shot of the Sasha to show you why I am just as optimistic about this pattern.  


Note the shaping of the collar stand and collar, compared to the ruler straight units we usually see, the small front armhole versus the back and the high sleeve cap.


Interesting.

Style Arc Linda pants

My Style arc Linda pants pattern finally came and I whipped off three pairs in the last two days. All stretch wovens because that's what the pattern calls for. A grey pair of stretch gabardine wool from G Street  I have had for a while now and wondered what I would do with it, some stretch poly crepe that was meant to be my muslin until it turned out, and some RPL.

Front step you can see the width of the leg

They are going to want to see the motorcycle he said

I wore these with shirts because I wanted to show that even though these are elastic waist pull on pants they can be worn with the straight stuff, although in real life I probably won't wear these shirts

OK just take the picture

Shams has put us all onto these patterns and I have to thank her for that. Apart from adding to the waist, natch, and what is now my regular 1" addition to the top of the centre front and centre back crotch seams. I just whipped this up like a crazy person without any further alterations.


I have a few observations that might be useful to another sewer:

• Don't get hung up on the Bengaline fabric suggestion. I used three different kinds of stretch wovens and they all worked fine.
• These are pretty fitted though in the hips, which is good in a stretch woven, but I noticed there was more comfort in the fabric with a little more stretch. I did the 4 inch test and the fabric that pulled to 5"was great, the 4 1/2" slightly less so, but still very wearable.
• The instructions suggest you top-stitch the seam allowance that attaches the waistband to the pants after pressing it up - I did this once and am not sure I like it. It was fine on the finer RPL but made little pleats in the heavier wool stretch - but maybe that was just operator error.
• The seam allowances are small - 3/8" which means you can't really press them open. Be aware of that. I straight-stitched the seams and then 4 thread serged them, so there is slight seam allowance bulk but really only I can see it.

Serious consideration going to go on around here about ordering more Style Arc patterns.

A good bit of back-to-school sewing for me. Tomorrow I am going to take a look at that Vogue jacket.