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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Don't Faint! I Actually Made Something!

After all the family stress, it feels so good to just sit and sew and listen to music.  Fabric and music never gets mad at me over my blog!  What shocks me the most is some members of my family seem to think the ENTIRE WORLD reads my blog.  Good heavens!  If I thought that, I would DEFINITELY go get that face lift I've always wanted.


So, guess what I made?

It started out to be this Vogue pattern.

I looked at the measurements on the flap -- see those little green circles -- and it said I needed a size 16 AND a size 18 AND a size 20!  Good grief already!  HOW does anyone gets these things to fit?

Look at the FRONT pattern piece compared to my Sure-fit Designs pattern piece.  IF I made the size 14, the edge of the shoulder was still 1 5/8" too far out past my shoulder.  The blue lines on the neck show where my shoulder/neck junction is.  And, of course, everything under the size 14 would have had to increase gigantically when I reached the underarm.

SO, I decided to get out my Sure-fit Designs knit pattern that I had used to make four tops.  They all fit me perfectly, and I thought I could REdesign the pattern to have stripes going all different ways.  I had to take the v-neck out too.

First I put the pattern from my envelope down on my table.  I put paper on top of it and traced a new pattern to chop into pieces.  This is the FRONT.  The original front was to be placed on the fold.  The new front has to be all in one piece, and I had to change the neckline -- always a HARD thing for me for some reason.  Especially, the BACK.

Here is the new FRONT and the new BACK.  Formerly 2 pieces -- now 4.  I made sure the side seams would match up and the length of the triangle side seams were exactly the same length.  I made the mistake of taking a tiny tuck in the front neckline.  I will have to take that back out.  Not needed.  I should have realized that since I started with Sure-fit Designs.
Next, I finagled the material all around to get the stripes going the right way.  NOT EASY!!!  You have to cut the sleeves out ONE AT A TIME, unless you aren't the perfectionist I am.



 I wasn't sure WHAT to do with the neckline.

I decided to TRY the version on the pattern envelope, but made mine a little wider like a band.



WRONG!!!

I had to take a huge tuck on the top of each shoulder to look like I was NOT wearing a paper bag.





I took that off immediately and decided to just turn under the 3/8" hem and Steam-A-Seam it.  MUCH Better!

Lucy is modeling today as I am not in the mood.

Maybe I'll wear it tomorrow and take a pic of it on me.





Here are the sleeves.  NOTICE the bust darts that were NOT suppose to match at the stripes.  One of them came out perfect without even trying, and then I spent 30 minutes making the other one match.

AARRGGHH!





And last, but not least.  Here is the back of my new striped knit top:

Pretty cute, I think, and the fit is AWESOME!

Jackie's fence is being put in tomorrow, so I may dig out some more stripes from my stash, and try this again.

Maybe I'll put the diagonals on the big pieces this time -- or maybe mix a stripe and a print - or maybe a stripe and a solid -- or maybe I'll just swing on my swing and dream of Jackie.




Hugs,
Joy

15 comments:

  1. I love how you can take your SureFit pattern and re-design it. I have such a hard time with that. Would you please make a step by step video of what you did? Your top looks great!!

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    1. A step-by-step video? Yikes! I should have done that from the beginning. I'll try to document the next one for you. If you have the line drawings -- usually on the back of the commercial pattern envelope -- it is easier to figure out how to redesign you SFD blueprint. At least, when you get done sewing it up, IT FITS!

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  2. Lucy looks lovely ;) Great use of stripe fabric and good call on the neckline.

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  3. Joy Joy, I love it and did you notice that it is ASYMMETRICAL???? Well, sort of asymmetrical. I really, really, really love it! Now I'm thinking what can I do with my plainnnnnnn blue knit? It is so, so plain. I'll have to find a way to JAZZZ it up. Hmmmmmmmmm......I'm thinking.

    Hugs, Phylly

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    Replies
    1. If you only had an embroidery machine! LOLOL

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  4. I love your knit tee. I think it is so smart to take interesting details to use with your fitted tee pattern. I love the Sewing Workshop designs but they look awful on me, no matter how drapey the fabric. I just submitted a big order to FabricMart, sale on knits, and plan to spend several weeks working my way through funky tee pattern details combined with my TNT knit top. Thanks for the great idea!

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    Replies
    1. I just ordered something like 35 yards of knit fabric from Fabric Mart. It was on sale, and I got a new customer 20% off on top of that. It came out to about $5 a yard which is really good these days. I'm going to be making a lot of knit tops. Nothing is more comfortable.

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  5. Love your top, and love the versatility of SFD's.

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  6. I love the stripes! Jackie would love to watch you sew. :)

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  7. Joy your top looks lovely.
    Lyn

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  8. I LOVE this! Isn't it a great feeling to work on something when you KNOW it's going to fit?! Can't wait to see this one on you.

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  9. Beautiful top. Look forward to seeing you wearing it


    Skye

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  10. Your hard work paid off with a beautiful top. But most of all I'm impressed with your pattern storage idea! Brilliant!

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  11. Fabulous work on your top! Very dramatic. I have a striped fabric that looks exactly like yours except mine is blouse weight cotton. You have inspired me to try some fun blocking with it...

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Hugs, Joy