Peacock Silk Top for Grand Reception

***Edited in Purple---patternmaking, side-back princess seam.

I had signed up to attend the Grand Reception, held on the night before the quilt show opened.  This is a semi-formal affair, so I needed something 'special' to wear.  I decided to try to copy a Watters H2O top that I had tried on during my MOG dress-shopping marathon.  And I had just the right fabric for this...a peacock-colored silk that I had picked up at the Fabric Collection in Jackson, TN, on one of the MOG dress shopping trips!

Here, you can see me in the final top...along with Etta McFarland (my travel buddy!) and Jim West, the Managing Director of the IQFOI and founder and CEO of Travel Alliance, Inc., which operates the Sew Many Places travel company who organized the tour for us.  We were walking along talking with Jim when we stopped to take a photo...but look at how well we 'match' the quilts in the background!  And who doesn't love a man in a kilt? :)

To make my top, I began with the basic blouse pattern with side and waist bust darts as well as back shoulder dart.  I used the program settings to widen the neck opening, but had to manually create the neck shape I wanted.

Notice the shape of the sleeve pattern:  I have found that I get the best sleeve cap shape when I keep the wrist circumference very small...too small!  Widening the wrist narrows the cap (a program flaw that I have been complaining about for years now!) so it is best for me to draft with a small wrist then redraw the sleeve below underarm level manually.

I used ZERO bust ease* and 4.5" hip ease. 
I wanted the waist darts to measure 1.5" wide, so I adjusted the ease level until that width was drafted.  The waist ease setting ended up being 3.5".

*Knowing what I know NOW, if I was doing this over again, I would use a bit more bust ease.


I rotated the side bust dart to the shoulder. (Why not just start with the dart there, you may ask.  PMB cannot keep the armholes constant when the dart is rotated, so I start with this same side bust dart and make my changes manually.)

I also drew in the 'princess' line, which I wanted BESIDE (not 'ON') the bust point.
I also located the 'V' portion of the neckline.

I copied/mirrored the front pattern to create a WHOLE front, drew the new curved neckline, then eliminated the portion beyond the princess line on one side....this is a wrap front style.

Next, I drew a circle on the bust point, radius = 1.5". 
I used the LOCATE POINTS tool to divide the edge of the wrap (between waist and neck) into four sections...locate three points.
I drew lines from each of these points to either side of the bust circle, as well as to a point located on the sideseam that was 3.125" below the underarm.  These lines were to become the pleats.  

I used the SCISSORS TOOL to CUT the CF line into segments...this is important.

I measured that shoulder bust dart, then rotated HALF to the first pleat and HALF to the second pleat. 

When the pleats are opened, those CF line segments change their orientation.  That TOP segment will eventually become the grainline for this pattern.

At this point, I copied the pattern and extended the top CF grainline, then rotated the pattern so that the grainline was vertical.  Now I had the pattern for the LEFT side...and instead of pleats, those would be sewn as darts (so as to reduce bulk).

I continued working on the RIGHT side.  I drew in another line BELOW the waist...now I had three lines (including the waist) that still needed to be converted to pleats.  I did NOT rotate any of the bust dart to these lines...it was ALL put in those top two pleats.  These were simply rotated open to add fullness so they were equal in width to the other pleats...this was done AFTER I had separated the SIDE FRONT from the CENTER FRONT section.

Again, the top CF line segment was extended and the pattern was rotated to make it vertical.

Now I had a pattern for the left front, one for the right front and one for the side front.

Time to work on the BACK. 
As mentioned before, my back neck opening drafts NARROWER than my front neck opening...which is bad.  I am told it doesn't happen to everyone...depends on the measurements.  Anyway, I shift the back neckline (PINK) laterally by .25" and redraw the back shoulder dart (RUST)  smaller to control the length of the back shoulder seam.

To get rid of the back shoulder dart:
I rotated the back shoulder dart to the armhole...at the 1/2-BAH height level.  Then I drew in the princess lines to incorporate the waist dart, curving to create a nice shape.  One side of the princess line (BLACK)  touches the upper leg of the now-armhole dart and one side of the princess line (RED)touches the lower leg of the now-armhole dart.  This incorporates the shoulder dart uptake into the princess seam and eliminates the need to sew a separate shoulder dart.

***see edit, below.
HOWEVER, now the two princess seams, BLACK and RED, are not the same length.  So I measured and found that the red line (side-back princess seam) needed to be lengthened by 0.5" to equalize these seams.  I drew in the BLUE segment (on right image), which is 0.5" long, then ROTATED the lower armhole (GREEN) by 0.5" CLOCKWISE, pivot point = underarm point (PINK CIRCLE). 

***Edited to correct-
On 07-28-13, I was putting away these patterns and I saw a hand-written note on this side back pattern piece with a reminder of something I had forgotten.  After sewing, the back princess seam seemed 'poufy', so I ripped and REMOVED that extra .5" that was added to the back armhole to equalize the princess seams.  So, apparently, it might be better to just leave those seams unequal in length...at least for me!

Now all that was left to do was separate the patterns, add seam allowances, and clean them up.  I added generously at the tip-top of the side back (and side front) princess seams, then trimmed away any excess when I cut out the paper pattern pieces and fit them together.  This one only needed a tiny bit of trimming.

Using this pattern, I cut out the silk dupioni as well as the silk organza (the underlining).  BTW, that organza was white when I bought it, but I prewashed my fabrics together...now it matches.  :)

I started out hand-basting these pieces together, then tried machine basting, but evently resorted to glue-basting the underlining to the fashion fabric.  Those front pieces had LOTS of darts/pleats to baste around!

For my loops, I found a great tutorial on making narrow spaghetti straps on this site. She uses a bobby pin to turn the narrow tube...genius!  Check it out...

Oh!  My buttons!  Would you believe I found this set of buttons to cover in my grandmother's stash?  Again, her stuff comes to my rescue, just as it did with the button for the MOG dress.  This set had just the right amount of buttons, in just the right size...hard to find at the local store these days!

 
My loops, as seen from the inside:

Here are the loops and the buttons, as well as a snap I sewed on near the lower edge to help keep the hem closed.  Since I lined this top with black Ambience, I didn't have any peacock-colored china silk to cover the snap with...so I used it as-is.

To hold the underlayer, I sewed a button onto the lining at the princess seam, catching only the lining.  I wasn't sure if I should try to catch the outer layer (seam allowances) too, or not, so I just caught the lining.  I made a thread loop to go over the button.

Here you can see the buttoned inside...

At one point during construction, I was very frustrated.  I had the neckline all stitched, trimmed, clipped and understitched...but those 'points' were kind of wanting to stick out away from my body.  I had forgotten to trim a bit off the facing pattern and I was afraid this was the cause.  I ripped one side...understitching, mind you!!!...and scooted the seams as if the facing had been trimmed...then pinned to see if that might fix the problem.  I couldn't really tell...

About that time my doorbell rang.  It was my next door neighbor, who hasn't been over to my house in years!  She had come to say hello and see my sewing room.  I took her up and showed her around, then told her about the problem I was having with this neckline.  She then told me about a particular collar that gave her fits (long ago), so she went to the storage room and grabbed some WIRE and sewed it into the collar seam...now she could shape that collar any way she desired!  Well, a lightbulb went on over my head!  YES!  She also said that if the hem of a jacket wanted to flip out on her, she would sew a quarter into the front hem/corner!  Genius!

As soon as she left, I put the ripped-out neckline back as it had been before I ripped it.  I hand-sewed some thin copper wire along the neck corner seamline...bending the ends to prevent pokies.  Worked perfectly!  I could probably have used the heavier gauge wire (in my jewelry-making stash), but I didn't want to be able to feel it (with my hand).  Then, when I got to the hem, I took no chances...a quarter seemed excessive but a dime was just right! :)

Here is the jacket on my paper-tape double...see how my left shoulder blade really sticks out? That makes it difficult to get my back shoulder width just right.   This jacket is 'almost' perfect...for a no-ease garment it is great.  But next time, I would prefer a bit more ease at bust and above, across the back.

Here are a few pictures of the top ON ME!  I felt like it looked good and made a good impression.  Though close-fitting, it was not so tight that I couldn't move, even with the camisole underneath.

At the Grand Reception...not everyone chose to dress semi-formally.  And there were no dress-police there to enforce the code!  But I was glad I looked appropriately attired, even if my hair DID look awful this whole trip!  sigh.

The fellow in the plaid shirt is the official photographer...he certainly didn't dress for the occasion!

Perhaps you can see a little tightness across the back? 
I think I would also lower the armhole just a tiny bit for the next one (in addition to adding a bit more bust/shoulder ease).

Ya know, on the MOG dress, I had made the shoulders TOO wide!  So, when I drafted the pattern for this top, I reduced the front and back shoulder widths...but apparently, I over-did it! 
Story of my life.
Next time...

Cheers!

Sleeves, take two!

The new sleeve pattern was MUCH better! 

 

I probably could have even lowered the sleeve cap a bit more for some additional mobility, but I think this sleeve is fine since it is so short.

 

I used a CAP HEIGHT of -1 on this SET IN SLEEVE.

 

Which means I could probably have used a CP HT of -1.5, I think.

 

On the PREVIOUS sleeve, I did use a CP HT of -1.5, but it was a different sleeve choice...

That was the CAP SLEEVE.

 

So, the correct cap height choice depends on WHICH sleeve style you make!

 

 

After printing my sleeve pattern, I was STILL a bit concerned about that dramatic upward swoop of the hem.

 

The shape just seemed so...severe.

 

So I added .5" to the overall cap length by redrawing (with pencil on the paper) as indicated by the blue line on this pattern.  That blue line became my cutting line.

 

I used .375" seam allowance on the lower/hem edge...5/8" on the others, simply because that is what I had used on the dress.

I really prefer using smaller...3/8"...seam allowances, but when the outcome is uncertain, best to use larger!

 

 

I once again cut each sleeve from the lace and from the gold mesh.

I aligned the pieces RST and sewed the lower/hem edge.

Then I understitched that edge, pressing the seam allowances toward the gold mesh.

 I folded the mesh to the inside and positioned the pieces WST, pinning carefully along the hem edge to align the layers without letting either side shift backwards or forward at that hem seam. 

Then I pressed well.

 

After basting the cap edges together, these sleeves were inserted into the dress without major incidents!

 

Lastly, I serged the armhole seam, cutting off most of the seam allowance, as it would be pressed out toward the sleeve and I didn't want a big seam allowance showing through the lace. 

1/4 inch was fine.

 

Yes, it would probably have been nice to bind that seam in lining fabric...I didn't.

 

 

Now it was time for a closure at the back neck edge.

I had already tried a small hook and eye on the inside, but it kept coming loose during try-ons...no way was it going to hold during dancing!

 

I needed a button.

 

Looking through my stash, hoping to find a set of buttons to cover with the dress fabric didn't produce any buttons small enough.

 

So I started looking for 'regular' buttons, holding little hope of finding any the right color but making the effort anyway. 

 

 

 But what do you know!?  In my grandmother's button stash, there was a little plastic ziplock bag containing 6 small purple buttons!

 

 

These buttons were just right! 

Not too big.

Not too small.

Not too  shiny.

Just right!

 

 

So I sewed one of these buttons onto the left neck edge of my dress, then made a thread loop on the right side.

 

 

The dress closes nicely now!

I haven't tried dancing yet, but if it will hold tight long enough for me to put the dress on and get the hem marked, then I think I will trust it for the night!

 

Oh, and have you  noticed the color of these images? 

All different.

This purple shows up as blue much of the time.

No telling HOW this dress will show up in the official photos!

Sigh.

Andrew, if you are reading…

…stop and exit now or you’ll spoil your surprise!



I made a gift for Andrew, my SIL, for Christmas this year. It had occurred to me that last year, he made a handmade gift for me. I hadn’t planned to make gifts, but decided I had better make at least ONE! So I put on my thinking cap.

Here is what I came up with:

Andrew had asked for a sketchbook. I purchased two: a large one and a small one. I decided to make a cover for the small one only.

I started by finding a picture of Andrew and taking it into Photoshop. I chose BLACK for my color sample, then, on the top toolbar, I chose FILTERS. From the Filter drop-down menu, I chose SKETCH…then PHOTOCOPY as the type of sketch. Voila! The color photo now looks like a sketch of Andrew!

I created a 'picture package' to print multiple images…I chose one that had several 2.5” x 3.5” pictures on it, as that was the size I wanted the finished block to measure. To do this, I went to the top toolbar again….to FILE, then AUTOMATE, then PICTURE PACKAGE. To print this, I cut a piece of freezer paper down to 8½ x 11” and ironed it to some muslin, and cut the muslin to be the same size. I put this into my printer and printed the picture directly on the muslin.

I don't know WHY Blogger sometimes insists on rotating my pictures! Nor can I figure out how to prevent or correct this...

I wasn’t sure how permanent this was, so I ironed it first….then got my finger wet and put a tiny bit of water on the image in the lower right corner. Sure enough, it did smear a bit! I know there is a product that can be used to make images permanent, but I don’t have any of that product right now! I dabbed it dry, ironed it again and decided I will NOT get this near water! Then I used a marker and redrew the image areas that smeared…although there were plenty of images and I didn’t plan to use that particular one.

I chose some stash fabrics and started piecing, just random colors and sizes…designing as I go. I created a pieced strip, then turned under its two long, raw edges. I placed it over a larger piece of fabric and stitched it on…using a zigzag at the top and a straight stitch at the bottom using gray thread. Then I changed to brown thread and did some more rows of stitching, zigzagging over the first row as well as doing a blanket stitch on a couple of other seams. I used a variegated thread to zigzag over the straight stitch on the lower edge of the strip.



I trimmed it roughly to size and fused some DécorBond onto the back. I put another piece of the background fabric over the DecorBond (like a sandwich).

Next I folded under about 4” at the right end, to create a pocket to slide the front cover into, then I serged around the edges. I decided to trim the corners off of what will be the flap. I cut a wide strip of fabric and folded it in half, lengthwise, stitched and turned, then pressed flat to make a large belt-loop like thing to slide the back cover under…I pinned this in place. Then I cut some strips to use as binding. I decided to piece the binding, for a more scrappy look. A bit of blanket stitching held it in place.





To make the closure, I put some wooden and copper beads onto2 or 3 strands of embroidery floss…cannot remember how many I finally was able to get through the beads! It was tricky…I ended up using a dental floss threader! Anyway, I tied knots to hold the beads in place, then used the variegated thread to zigzag over the embroidery floss to make cording. I sewed the cording in place on the flap, then sewed another bit of floss onto the flap, which I used to tie the button on. More floss and another button on the cover and Voila! The cording wraps around the buttons to keep it closed.

I wanted to add a pencil pocket on the inside, but since I was making this up as I went along, I didn’t know exactly WHERE to put it. So the pocket was created last, and sewn on by hand. Arrrgh! I did the zigzagging around the edge in variegated threads first (by machine!), then hand sewed it in place using brown thread and a blanket stitch.

Merry Christmas, y'all!