Sunday, July 19, 2015

A Floral Tunic and Long Shorts - Butterick 5997 and Style Arc Jennifer City Shorts

Hello, Friends!  I have been so busy sewing the past few weeks, yet I haven't been posting many finished projects here.  With all the rain we have had lately, photo shoots have been near impossible.  So, when the sun peaked out this afternoon I knew it was time to photograph a few outfits!  Without further ado:



Please excuse my very squinty eyes, and extremely flat hair!  If ever there was a time that I should have worn sunglasses for a photo shoot, today was the day.  I had good Southern "higher the hair closer to God" hair going on, and the minute I walked in to the humidity it fell.  In less than a minute outside my hair and face were drenched.  Is it possible to have 110% humidity?  I told my husband we weren't breathing the air this afternoon, we were drinking it.

Enough about the weather, we are here to talk sewing.  Inspired my Mary over at Idle Fancy and her original version of Butterick 5997, I purchased this lovely floral voile from Mood Fabrics.  Let's talk about this fabric for a minute.  It is so soft and light and it just feels magnificent against the skin.  I am tempted to go back and buy it in the other color too!


Copenhagen/Baby Blue Floral Printed Cotton Voile  Photo from Moodfabric.com

Raspberry/Copenhagen Floral Printed Cotton Voile  Photo from Moodfabric.com

Here are some of the details for the Butterick 5997 tunic.  I decided to sew the View A tunic, and make some modifications to get a bell sleeve.  I intend to do a full on construction post later in the week, and I will spill all the details there as to how I made this tunic fit (because it certainly doesn't go up to my size), as well as some things I would change next time around.

I love the neckline of this tunic.  I have always been a fan of v-necks and love the Mandarin collar.  I decided to go with the view that has front shoulder yokes with gathers, as opposed to the pintucks that Mary went with.  I love the look of the pintucks, but since my machine has been acting up, I didn't want to need to sew something more precise.

Butterick 5997 Tunic with Gathered Shoulders and Mandarin Collar

I added a six inch side slit for sitting ease through the hips.  I think it is a shame that this pattern was not drafted with this feature, as any longer tunic should offer this option.

Butterick 5997 with added Side Slit
The back of the tunic has a shirttail hem, which is another detail that I love.  It is actually long enough to cover my whole derriere.

Butterick 5997

This tunic is my start to bridging my wardrobe towards Fall.  It is cool enough to wear now when I need sleeves, but will give me some coverage in the Fall that will layer well with a long sweater vest.  Again, I LOVE this fabric!  The tunic needs a few minor tweaks, but I am quite happy with it as well.

On to the shorts.  These are the Style Arc Jennifer City Shorts.  You may remember the first time that I made them here.  The ladies at Style Arc went above and beyond to fix the issues that I has with the original pattern.  I decided that I would trust the ladies' from Style Arc work and dove in to making these shorts in a Cerulean Blue twill that was in the stash, which has no stretch.

StyleArc Jennifer City Shorts Plus Size
As you can see above, the Jennifer City Shorts have a low front waist band.  The slash pockets surprisingly don't bulge.  These shorts may be a little long for some people's taste, but I quite like the length.  They would be easy enough to shorten though.

StyleArc Jennifer City Shorts Plus Size

As you can see, I have a very ample and rounded plus size behind.  I was very surprised that without any adjustments these shorts fit in the behind.  That never happens!  I love that little side slit in these shorts as well.

StyleArc Jennifer City Shorts Plus Size
I find the yoke in the back of the shorts to be very flattering.  There are again just a few minor tweaks the pattern needs to look smooth.  These are issues specific to my body and not the pattern's fault.

So friends, tell me are you already sewing with an eye towards Fall?

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Fall Sewing 2015 - Mood Dimensional Knit Fabric

Friends, every year about this time Fall sewing starts to pop in to my mind.  Long before we have passed the dog days of Summer, I start to get the itch to stitch all things Fall!

With that in mind I have been perusing the deep dark hole of fabrics available on the internet.  I came across these two fabrics on Mood this week and I wanted to squee with delight!


Moodfabric.com Oil Blue Dimensional Paisley Knit

Moodfabric.com Heather Black/Charcoal Dimensional Knit

If you have been reading the blog for very long, you may remember this raglan t-shirt I made last Fall.  It was one of my most viewed posts back then.



I used a dimensional (I called it quilted at the time) knit for the body and cuffs of this shirt.  Now, I am seeing that Oil Blue Paisley Knit used with a steel gray sleeve and cuff for this Fall!  You can check out the Heather Black/Charcoal Paisley Knit here.  I can honestly say that this shirt was one of my absolute most warn garments last Fall and Winter.  You may take pause when you see that the cost of this great fabric is $25 a yard.  With the pattern that I used from GreenStyleCreations I only needed a yard of 58 or 60 inch fabric to make the body pieces and cuffs.  When you add in another half yard of a different knit for the sleeves and collar, you could easily make this shirt for $30 with a really nice fabric.  This dimensional knit is 9% virgin wool!  It is going to be warm and cozy, like pajamas you can wear in public.

Friends, I am not associated with Mood Fabrics.  I don't get any special treatment or any kind of kickback for showing you this fabric.  I am only pointing it out, because I am buying it and so many people reached out last year to find out where I got the original fabric for the shirt above that I knew I had to share as soon as I saw it.

So, what would you make with these lovely knits?  I can see sew many possibilities!