Sew Colette 2.0 - Macaron Completed!

Here is my finished Macaron.

I had to jump ahead of the sewalong because I really wanted to wear it to Fabricabrac yesterday.  This meant that every night this week I have been feverishly slaving over the dress.  It _always_ takes me longer than expected, even though I made no mistakes on this one!

I made quite a few alterations to the pattern.  The muslin did not fit me at all.  I had to let the midriff out significantly (about 2 inches), tapered down to nothing at the upper bodice section.  I lowered the midriff front (sweetheart part) half an inch all the way across, and raised the centre back half an inch, tapering to lowered half an inch at the side seams.  This pinched an inch out of the back horizontally and got rid of all the bagginess I was having issues with.  Part of the issue with the midriff band was due to me making it 1/2 inch wider, but keeping the taper.  I ended up making the front band almost a straight piece instead of a curved piece. 

I wasn't happy with the skirt portion, the hips were more than 16 inches larger than the waist, and far too baggy on my tall frame.  I also was afraid the style was too young for me, and wanted to get rid of the pleats in the back.  I converted them to 1.5" darts, instead of 2" pleats, rotating 1/2" out to each side seams, and making the back 1" more narrow.  I also had intended to take 1" out of the front, but I can't remember if I did or not (d'oh).  Here is a better picture of the darts

The wrinkles are there because my dress form is not as pear shaped as I am.  It fits me much better than the form.

One of the worries I had about the pattern was that the top would look like a different item than the dress, especially since I wasn't doing the midriff band in the contrast.  To counteract this I put piping around the neckline and sleeves, which I think makes it look much more cohesive.  I also piped around the waistband, and the bodice piece.  I had originally planned on picking up one colour from the main dress fabric (red) and doing the piping in that, but thought it was more classic to make piping in the dress fabric itself.  I got the idea for the self-fabric piping from Sherry's great post on piping.  Here's a better picture:

 On the inside I lined the bodice section, combining the two bodice pieces into one each for the front and back, and inserted the lining using fell stitches.  I will put that in a separate post later, as this one is getting a bit long.

Here's one last picture of the zipper, so you can see the piping around the sleeve, and that I matched up the midriff bands.

I'm not too thrilled with my insertion of the zipper, it was pretty bulky with the piping and all the fabric, but it's on my side, so I'll just keep my arm down at all times.  I think in the future I'd insert the zipper before sewing the side seam at all (before the sleeve is in) so that I can make sure it's all lined up perfectly. 

Overall I love this dress, it's fun, the fabric is actually red, black and gold, the gold shows up much better in person.  I would be proud to wear it out, and am happy that my sewing skills are finally improving :) .  The pattern took a lot of work to make it fit, but it was well worth the effort. 

Fabricabrac!

Today Auckland had their first Fabricabrac.  It was awesome, tons of people, tons of fabric.  It's essentially a swap meet with people setting up tables towering with fabric.  There were lots of great deals.  I decided to set up half a table, in order to force myself to get rid of some of my stash.

Sorry for the crap pic, I only had my cell phone with me.  I sold my little singer 99K.  It was hard to let her go, but I still have my other four vintage singers to keep me company.  I only bought two pieces of fabric, and two patterns, but they were total scores.  I picked up a Vogue Couturier pattern and a Vogue Paris Originals - both in my size!  They are awesome, but I'm definitely saving them for when I'm a little more experienced.

 Vogue 1140, a great jacket and sheath pattern.  I love the slash that runs down the princess seam line, but ends just past the hips.  I think I'll try the sheath first, and then work my way up to the jacket.

 This suit is so cute, and chic.  The skirt is pretty standard, but I'd love to try the jacket.  It has 7/8 length sleeves. 

Here's a quick glimpse of what I wore today, my new Macaron!  After a long day it was a bit wrinkled.  Tomorrow when I have the time to iron it and take better pics I'll put up a special post just for it :)

Sew Colette 2.0 - Macaron Update

hmm, I think that Colette Patterns may not be designing with my frame in mind.  I made up a muslin, and made a 10 grading to a 12 through the hips.  Unfortunately the waist was _tiny_  Here are some (cringing) pics.  

This was after I let the waist out an inch.  I think I'm accustomed to more ease in patterns, and I was a little vain in matching up my measurements.  As a warning, the midriff band seems to be designed to taper down, while my waist does not.  I had to de-taper the midriff band, making it much closer to a straight line.  I also shifted the bodice down half an inch on the front and up a half inch on the back, this helped get rid of a lot of the puffiness at the back.

Another issue I had was the pleats.  I appreciate the aesthetic that they're going for, but I am at a loss as to why I thought it might suit me.  The hips seem to be more than 16" larger than the waist, much more puffiness than I need.  I am tall.  Tall is not cute.  I tried the muslin on and it did not suit me.  I eliminated the pleats on the back, and changed them to darts (I do not need excess puffiness on my rear end).  I scaled down the front pleats by 1/4" each.  It was much closer to the silhouette that I'm comfortable with.

On the plus side, I'm now really happy with my muslin.  I'm a bit worried about the rear darts being pointy, but I should be able to get them into shape.  If anyone knows a good source for shaping rear darts I'd love to hear it :)

The Macaron is now cut out in the fashion fabric.  I've cut out bias strips for the piping, and have to wait until the weekend to buy cording and a zipper.  I'm trying to decide where to put piping.  I'm not doing a contrast waistband, so I thought I would put some on the top and bottom of the waistband.  Also on the sleeve hems and neckline.  Should I put some on the sweetheart bodice as well? 

Plans: 6PAC and Macaron

I have been sewing, well I've been planning, cutting, thread tracing, and fitting.  I've decided to jumpstart my sewing by committing to not one, but two sewalongs (of sorts). 

I'm waiting on Sew Colette 2.0, which starts in August.  I've cut out and thread traced my muslin, I'll start to fit it in August when the sewalong starts. 

I've also decided to participate in Artisan Square's 6PAC, a 6 piece wardrobe of neutral basics for Spring.  I desperately need more work clothes, so this should give me the beginning of a foundation.  These are the first four items, I still have to decide on the last two:

I haven't bought the fabric for item 1 or decided on a pattern for item 2, but I've already fitted the muslin for item 3, it's the one that'll be the most work.

Traveling Outfit - Papercut leggings and Burda cap sleeve dress

Over the last month I spent 28 hours on airplanes and 26 hours driving as we toured the Northwest visiting former colleagues and family.  Before I left I had just enough time to whip up a 'traveling' outfit.  Comfort was my main priority, but I wanted it to be presentable too.  Not shown in these photos is I often dressed it up with a large black bead necklace and silver bangles.  These photos aren't great, I have to twist my photographer's arm to get a photo, and then I typically only get the one shot.  I think it looks better IRL, at least that's what I tell myself
For the dress I used Burdastyle Cap Sleeve Shift Dress #130, for the leggings I used Ooh La Leggings by Papercut patterns. 

I have wanted to wear leggings forever, but my DH is dead set against them.  I finally bought the Papercut pattern, and I love my leggings!  I really like that it doesn't have a center back seam all the way up to my waist, they feel so comfortable, and no wedgies!  The shift was really quick, I bought some 'ponte' knit and whipped it up in an evening.  It's a bit tight around the hips, but I gained about 5 pounds on the trip, once I lose that the dress should be all right.

Sew Colette 2.0 - Macaron!

I've been sitting on the Macaron pattern for almost a year, waiting for an excuse to sew it up.  Here's my excuse!  I even bought fabric a couple of months back.  I'm going to follow along with the sew along which is perfect timing.  Here's my inspiration dress:

ok, the fabric isn't too similar (ETA: Photos now below photos to come) but it's a Japanese cotton, with gold, red and a bunch of other colours.  I'm going to do the body (including the waist) in the cotton and the yoke and sleeves in black.

 

  I plan on using the dress fabric for piping around the sleeves, neckline and waistlines. ETA:  Like Sherry did here

My Fabricmart Haul

I'm travelling around the states for a bit, so I couldn't pass up an opportunity to try out fabric mart.  I (over) ordered 22 yards of fabric, so I think I'm going to have to throw out all my clothes in order to fit the fabric in my suitcase.  Anyway, I'm writing this post to keep myself honest, as my stash is growing exponentially I need to start making sewing plans.  So without further ado:

This Marc Jacobs fabric was used in cute 60's style sheath dress and pleated skirts (one worn by Rachel on Glee).  I plan on making a sheath dress out of it using a 60's pattern I have.

 This J. Crew suiting is a bit stretchy, and medium weight, so I'm going to use it for McCalls 5927, which doesn't have too many pieces so the matching shouldn't be too bad . . .  worse case scenario I wear it with a belt or add piping at the waist to hide poor matching

This crepe lookalike is pretty stubby, but looks pretty nice.  I'm planning on making an informal blazer, maybe following Gertie's class, but I'd rather do a boyfriend-type blazer.

 This one is brighter than I expected, I'm going to make a skirt using Simplicity 3688.  I bought the pattern to make the pants, but I think this fabric is too loud, so I'll keep looking

 I have no idea what to do with this ponte.  It doesn't have great recovery and isn't particularly soft.  Maybe a blazer at some point . . .  maybe a jacket/hooded sweatshirt for my son

 This is a great silk/cotton blend.  I really want to make a 'couture' version of Vogue 1251.  For some reason I love this dress, and I've got the silk organza and china silk for the underlining and lining.  I don't know if I have enough though, I'll make a muslin first and see if I can eke out the dress. 

 This is a Marc Jacobs cotton.  I'll make some sort of a top out of it.  I'm not really sure, it's too traditional a look to make a classic button up.  Maybe I'll make the burda sleeveless blouse again . . .

This is a great brown ponte knit.  I'm hoping I can eke leggings and a simple sheath out of this.  I made a ponte sheath in purple that I love to wear because it's so comfortable. 

I also ordered tracing paper from Richard the Thread.  I've been muslining almost everything I make these days, and have been making 'permanent' patterns by tracing the stitching lines on my muslin before cutting, then tracing the lines with any adjustments onto my fashion fabric.  I am terrible at cutting out fabric using the pattern tissue, so this allows me to not worry about accuracy in cutting.