Rowe's Tunic Dress - StyleArc

Northern California weather is erratic. We can switch between wearing flip flops and fleece-lined shoes in the same week. The only thing we don't wear these days are rain boots. This teeter tottering of temperature (ranging from freezing to 75 degrees fahrenheit) has allowed me to sew garments covering three seasons: late Winter, Spring, and early Summer.

This new dress is another StyleArc number. I didn't bother with a muslin (tricky I know), especially since the last pant pattern came out a couple sizes too small. It's not really the fault of the pattern or designer. It was my choice to not use the recommended stretch fabrics and thus lose all the ease. I'll report on those pants a little later.

So here's the pattern... It doesn't look like a lot of ease, and my fabric of choice doesn't have a lot of stretch... But I am darn set on using it.

Now look at my dress... It came out pretty close to the pattern style, and this is after I added quite a bit of ease to the dress (see bottom pictures for pattern adjustments).

I used a combination of four types of fabric: a lovely fleece meshed lace...yes, you heard me correctly. Let me repeat: fleece meshed with lace! It is freaking gorgeous. There's some stretch, but not nearly as much as a jersey. For the sleeve and neck and arm trim, I used a silver-speckled stretch cotton I picked up at Gorgeous Fabrics. The other fabric can't be seen until I turn the dress around to the back.

No...this is not the front, although, in a pinch, I guess it could be...it's the back with a silk organza backed ivory lace insert (another Gorgeous Fabrics find). The back image is a little wonky... Here's a close-up.

When a pattern says it wants a stretch fabric it means using a semi-woven isn't going to work...elementary. I knew this going into the project, but trying to figure out the exact ease is a bit tricky. All I can say is measure, measure, measure! Treating this fleece like a woven was best, but it's really bulky.  I decided two inches for bulk, and then another three inches in the front piece for my tummy. I know it sounds like a lot, but we're converting a fit for jersey into a thick woven fabric here.

Here's how I modified the pattern... I added side ease, and then the front panel.

Creating ease in the front might have turned it into an A-line...I was a bit worried about that. I took the lazy route and decided against making any drastic style changed to the neck line or side seams by slashing up to the very edge of the neckline, but not cutting it through. This is a common slash and spread method for creating A-line styles. But I didn't do it to the back, since my weight sits in the front. I knew the bulkiness of the fabric was going to hide any issues. Perhaps this was not the best design choice, and adding more to the side seams would have been best...but I still wanted a semi-fitted look.

If anyone else decides to make a change to side seams, make sure you "true" any changes by matching the sides against each other.
See here...

Stack the two paper pattern pieces together as if you were going to pin them for sewing, and match the edges. This is how you true patterns. This a pretty vital step that I have forgotten to do in the past when I'm altering patterns. I have started "trueing" all my patterns these days, whether I make changes or not. I have found that errors abound and it's better to know beforehand that piece A is not matched up to piece B. I recently had this happen with a collar. It's a painful realization.

For once I had a lot of fabric choices for this pattern. I don't condone buying fabric unnecessarily...I mean, just buying on a whim without a project in mind. It can be a waste of money...but I know we ALL do it right? As embarrassed as I am as of late of my stash size, I love going into it and finding gems to create something unique. Sigh...

Happy sewing!

My $200 Sweatshirt

You're probably wondering why this simple velour top costs $200. You see...when I finished sewing the main pieces, I decided I wanted some bias binding for the neck, and I was too impatient to make my own using the same fabric, especially since it curled like no one's business. This meant I would need to use fusible interfacing to control the curl before I could measure and create the binding. It was entirely too much work for a little neckline. Soooo....long story short, I set out to order some binding online. In case you're wondering, I have not been able to find a source for velour or velvet binding in the US.

After a couple of Google searches, McCulloch and Wallis, a fabric store from the UK popped up. They were having a blowout sale on trim because they're moving shop, and I went a little nuts when I realized the sale binding was about 25 cents a meter. Six Kilos later, I forgot how much shipping could run after the exchange rate. I think the shipping was actually more than the cost of the binding. Shush...don't tell my husband. I could have NOT ordered it, but they didn't quote my shipping cost at checkout. So I was clueless. (Yoda voice), emailed they did...two days later. Shocked by the cost was I.

The irony of course is that the binding was not even a close match. But it's passable I guess.

I know...after looking at all this money spent, I could have gone out and bought all kinds of fabric to make this binding. Well...yes and no. Yes...yes...yes...I could have. But in reality, no...no...no...I probably wouldn't have unless I was under some major sewing pressure. It's not my favorite project. I rather cut corners here than in the actual sewing. So what did I get for all that money (mostly the cost of shipping)? Here's my smorgasbord of trim...satins, linens, cottons, velvets, velour, polyester, organza, and other stuff mixed in for good measure... There are several hundred meters of delectable trim here.

A mixture of bias binding, zippers, and lacy elastics (for future knickers project).

Pretty binding from China...not silk, but it's okay. 

Close-up of my grab-bag binding. 

Oh...I almost forgot. I used a McCall's Pattern for the sweatshirt, which was really a t-shirt with narrow sleeves, and fairly fitted. Of course I butchered the pattern, because I wanted shorter true raglan sleeves, and a looser fit. See the pattern...

Even though my rendition looks nothing like it...I made the model's version E, sans the cuff and neck trim. 

Onto other stuff...

You know that bit that Ellen Degeneres does on her show about Epic or Fail home videos? Today I'm showing two sewing room gadgets...

EPIC

Handi-BOB

My bobbins always run amuck...no matter how much time I spend winding up the threads back and popping them into the bobbin box, nothing helps. This little bobbin gadget solves two problems...matching my thread and keeping these little guys intact. I bought them from Sewing Machine Plus Online when I picked up some extra feet for my new Juki F600. They are very reasonably priced. You can also get a pack of 18 for $7.95 from Amazon on Prime (free shipping if you're a Prime member). See them HERE.

FAIL 

Sidewinder

This is the Sidewinder...another bobbin-related gadget. The spring broke off after one use. I repaired it, and then it snapped off at record speed across the room. It's hard to believe the whole machine's usability is based on a wire the size of a paper clip. This piece of plastic costs $30 at Joann's. I got it cheaper with a coupon, and lost the receipt so I couldn't return it. I could have gotten four spools of thread for what I wasted on this. Someone recommend me one that works...please! Don't write me and say..."I have a SideWinder and it works great." That will just make me hate this one more. Maybe it was produced on a Friday or a Monday...whatever day, it was junk.

Happy sewing!

Winter Into Spring Wear Tunic

Fabric from FABMO. An unknown taupe wool-tweed blend, with tiny pastel specks.
I picked up this five-yard piece at a sale last year for $20. Bargain.

After weeks of sitting close to 70-degrees (fahrenheit), we suddenly dropped down to freezing and even had a day of blessed rain. The cold spell incentified me into sewing something warm.

At a quick glance, this Vogue pattern looked like any standard tunic. But it is far from a Plain Jane top. I was originally attracted to its design because it had a similar smock feel that I fancy so much from my Japanese pattern books. As I moved through the sewing steps, I started to realize this tunic was filled with many design details seldom found in Very Easy labeled sewing patterns. Don't let the few pattern pieces fool you. I wouldn't recommend this project to a beginner.

I morphed the short sleeve with the collar because I wanted to wear it over blouses and shirts, almost like a light wool jacket.

Wool tweed is often itchy, and this blend was no exception. To combat this, I added some really soft polyester charmeuse that I picked up ages ago at Stone Mountain onto the collar facing, and part of the neck opening. It's a nice contrast if I decide to open the collar.




The fabric was extremely thin and slippery. I used Colette's recommendation by spraying some Sullivan's Fabric Stabilizer to stiffen the facing. You can read her article HERE.

I bought three bottles of Sullivan's for silk projects but have been too scared to use it. I am glad I tested it out on the polyester silk. It worked like a charm. I also fused woven interfacing to add more bulk.

Here's the tunic with an open collar...

The pockets were a bit of a pain to sew, not because they're tricky, but because the fabric was difficult to pre-crease. Creating a mitered corner was challenging. I almost gave up, but glad that I persevered, because the pockets are super cute and useful. The other two design details include the back dart, and the curved hem.

The dart looks so basic, but after it was stitched, I thought it was elegant on such a simple design.

The curved hem could be tricky, and since the front pockets were such a bear to tackle, I feared a smooth hem. The instructions said to do a double fold narrow hem. Instead, I used a technique I learned while sewing the curved Kimono sleeve on my Satsuki Dress from Victory Patterns.

To accomplish a smooth curved hem, it's best to stitch a longer straight stitch halfway between the final hem mark and the edge of the fabric. So if your hem is one inch, then stitch a straight stitch around the curve at half an inch. I tied one end of the stitch and then created a gentle ruffle around the curve. This allowed me to ease the fabric into the curve without any bulk, similar to easing a sleeve into the armhole. It's really a lot faster this way, especially with unruly fabric.

The last bit were the closures for the collar. I think adding a bold decorative button could be used here, but the snap (which were recommended in the instructions) left a cleaner look. I don't know about other sewists but I've always had difficulty making sure the second half of the snap matched up to the first stitched half. I figured out a quick-and-easy method by using tailor's chalk.

1. Stitch the first half of the snap at your preferred location.
2. Then snap the second half of the snap onto your stitched half.
3. Rub some chalk on the second half of the snap, and then carefully close the opening. The chalk mark should now be on the other side of where your other half of the snap should be sewn. See pics...

Rub the chalk generously over the second half of the snap.

Make sure you push down with some pressure to transfer the chalk to the fabric. 

It's not a strong chalk mark, but good enough for placement. It might not work with all fabrics,
so consider using different colors as well. 

Voila! All snapped in for the rest of Winter and hopefully into a lovely wet Spring! Happy sewing!