A New Twist

Remember this? BWOF 05-2008-115, the Twist Dress?

Well, I finally got mine done!

I used this cool black rayon challis with pink and green dotty swirls all over it.

When I traced this, I was fresh off of BWOF 02-2009-124, and I was really unhappy with the loose fit in the bodice of that one, so for this dress, I traced a 42 in the bodice and a 44 from the waist down. Then when I went to sew the muslin together, I came to my senses and realized a 42 wasn't going to work. So I sewed it with 1/2" seams instead of the 5/8" I had added to the pattern pieces (except for the center back seam where the invisible zip is- that one I left at 5/8"). There are 5 seams (2 side fronts, 2 side backs, and a center front) where I gained 1/4" at each seam, so that gave me 1.25" of extra circumference over all. So I guess this is really almost a 44/46. It fits just fine. Of course, I couldn't go any smaller at all, or I'd have a wardrobe malfunction!

I didn't have to make a FBA (Love you BWOF!) but I did add 1" of length at the waist- my standard long torso adjustment.

My favorite thing about this dress is the twist. It's a little different than other twist dresses because the twist is higher up on the chest, not at bustline level. That makes it safe for work or for church, and no cami or special bra needed!

The instructions were typical BWOF- confusing as all get out when read the first time, but once I started actually putting the dress together they made a lot more sense. The only unusual thing about the construction is that because of the twist, you have to attach the facings to the front of the dress and make the twist, and then attach the back facings to the back of the dress, and then you can sew front and back together, rather than putting the dress together and sewing the facings in as one piece.

But everything went together like a charm so it worked out well.

One other unique feature is that there are no "side" seams. The side back and side front are all one piece underneath the arms. But you still have four "princess" seams for shaping and the back pieces have darts as well, so you can adjust the fit pretty easily.

I doubt I'll make this one again, but I'm happy with this one and I plan to wear it a lot! And you may see this fabric again- I have just enough left to make a top!

Dots and Stripes

We interrupt our regularly scheduled sewing projects to bring you this- McCalls 5882, View B, the tunic, made out of 100% quilting cotton from stash.

I love this pattern! I love the boat neck, the narrow shoulders, the ties that cross in back and tie in the front, and all the nifty possibilities the pattern offers for mixing and matching pretty cotton prints.

"Oh no, here come the kitties!"

This is a simple empire waisted tunic, with narrow ties topstitched on over the underbust seam. this is a close-up of the center front:

This is what it looks like inside. The pattern calls for facings at neck and armholes, but I decided to line the bodice instead:

The ties are stitched down to within a few inches of center back (where the tunic closes with an invisible zipper):

This keeps the crossover up nice and high in the back and keeps the ties from sagging.

"Oh My! What are those kids doing over there?"

I started with a size 14 through the shoulders, and a size 16 from the underarm down. My waist and hip measurements actually indicated a size 20, but the pattern has enough ease that I was able to cut a 16 with no adjustments and it fits just fine. I did have to make a FBA. I added 1/2" of width and 5/8" of length which resulted in an underbust dart.

I also knew from my muslin that I needed to dart out about 1/2" on each side of the bodice under the bust (before the FBA) to snug the underbust seam up to my chest. Otherwise it was puffy and unattractive with the ties tied in front. I included this amount when I drew in the new dart.

Here is a shot of the new pattern piece (darts in pink) on top of the original (details added in blue.)

The FBA also resulted in a slightly lower bust point which worked out well for me. The original was a little bit high for me.

This is such a cute tunic. I'm not sure it's the most flattering thing on me, but I don't care. I'm going to wear it anyway! I can imagine all kinds of possibilities for mixing fabrics and adding embellishments to this. The pattern comes with detailed instructions for fitting the pattern using the multi size cutting lines, and even includes a template and detailed instructions for the embroidery on view A, the black and white tunic.

I highly recommend this pattern, which is a dead ringer for the Sabrina Tunic by the same designer, Kay Whitt, under her own pattern line, Serendipity Studio.

Stay tuned for a progress report on Summer Fields- I actually worked on it this weekend!

Lily Pond

Here is a little sampler that I stitched way back in 2001. This is Lily Pond by Just Nan.

I fell in love with this little sampler design the minute I saw it. It was the little backstitched frogs that did it for me.

The sampler is stitched in shades of pale pink and green and uses silk threads and tiny pink and green sead beads. The fabric is white linen- 28 count, I believe. The design area measures 3.75" by 7.5" including my "signature."

I always "sign and date" my needlework pieces. My hope is that they will be passed down in my family or in the families of the folks I give them to and that future generations will know where they came from, or at least wonder who STF was and what was going on in the world when the sampler was stitched. Even if they end up in a garage sale, perhaps someone will find and rescue them and wonder as well.

Here's another peek at the birth sampler.

It's quite large- approximately 6.5" by 22". As you can see I have removed all the threads in the hardanger border. (Sorry about the fuzzy photo, but you get the idea.) The tangled mess in the photo below is the removed threads on the arm of my chair.

I finally feel like I'm on the homestretch with this piece. I still need to finish the hardanger- wrapping the remaining threads, and I still need to stitch the silk ribbon portion at the top of the sampler and add beads all over. I always save that for last. Silk ribbon embroidery (and beads, too) can catch on things and get snagged and ruined very easily, so I always wait until last to do it.

Fortunately, today is the first day of a three day weekend, so hopefully I will get plenty done on this! (And a couple of other things, too!)

A Little Bit of Stitchin'

There has been stitching going on this week. Here you can see the almost finished bottom portion of the birth sampler. Notice the "in progress" hardanger band. I'm trying to get the outer borders completed before I go back to removing threads and weaving the bars.

This is a close-up of the corner. You can see the inner hardanger border, the Algerian Eyelet stitches between the satin stitched rows, and one of the funky hearts that are in all four corners.

And here you can see what the hardanger section looks like with the threads removed, but before the remaining threads are wrapped and woven. The Algerian eyelets on the right side are only half done. The first half of the stitches is worked in one pass and the second half is worked on a second pass.

And in between stitching sessions, I managed to make a muslin of this, Simplicity 2690. I'm making the short sleeve V-neck tunic. I hope to have a finished top to show you soon.

Cargo Pants

The Butterick 5022 cargo pants are done! Whew!

I used light pink (light weight) twill and I made a size 7 straight out of the envelope. I love them! The princess likes them, too.

Here is a closeup of the front pocket with the elastic casing. I love this little detail.

Here is the side cargo pocket, complete with rhinestone applique, double topstitching, and the grosgrain drawstring. The pattern called for making a self fabric drawstring, but yeah, I'm a little too lazy for that. Besides, the slightly darker pink ribbon with white running stitch just looks fancier.

Here's the back. It's pretty plain. I am definately going to make these again. The Princess also likes the little top included in the pattern so we're going to make that, too.

You can see the complete review for the cargo pants here on Pattern Review.

Another Band Done

The drawn thread/hemstitching band is done.

Here's a close up look. Or at least as close as I can get with my camera. Julia asked for a tutorial on this technique and I will see what I can do. That might be something to work on this weekend while I'm off. In the meantime, here's a little sampler I stitched back in 2000. This is Bee Keeper's Cottage by Shepherd's Bush:

This is an adorable little sampler (aprox. 2.5" by 11.25") stitched in shades of purple, green, and gold on an antique gold toned linen.

It features bees, of course, and includes two tiny brass bee charms and a little pewter moon. I love this little piece and I really need to get it framed and hang it up somewhere.

By the way, all of these unframed samplers are stored flat, loosely layered in a plastic storage box (the same kind I use for my fabric stash) dedicated to needlework. I don't know that that is the best way to store them, but it's worked for me so far. All of them are in perfect condition as of right now.

And now I am off to work on one of my many WIPs.

Pumpkins, Pockets, and Progress, Oh My!

The Pumpkins are finally done! I finished stitching this little baby up on Sunday evening- aren't they cute? Now, what to do with them? Should I frame it? Make it up into a little knick-knack, or a door hanger, etc? Suggestions? Sorry about the fold lines. I still need to press it and probably block it. But it's finished!

I also made progress on B5022:

These are the front pockets. I love the elasticized top edge. It's just a little bit different and looks so cute and feminine. I can't wait to get these sewn onto the front pieces so I can start to get an idea of how this is going to look.

And here is the blingy iron-on applied to the cargo pocket. Application went very well. I followed the directions on the package and all the rhinestones adhered perfectly. We'll see how this goes. I'm still not convinced this is going to stand up to everyday wearing and washing. I'll have to try to remember to at least wash the pants inside out, but I'll have to let you know how this holds up.

And finally, progress on the birth sampler:

I got the verse and several more bands of stitching added. Sorry the photo is so dark. It's so hard to get good shots in my house and believe it or not, when I used a flash, it was even worse. You can see at the top that I'm right in the middle of a band with drawn thread that will feature hemstitching. It will be very similar to the band at the bottom of the photo. I have already completed the left side, and you can see where I still need to finish preparing the right hand side. I carefully cut the specified horizontal fabric threads in the center, then I pulled every other thread completely out of the fabric. Then I pulled each remaining thread carefully toward the center of the piece, threaded it up on a tapestry needle and wove it back into the fabric in place of the removed thread. This leaves a nice, finished edge at each edge of the band and the border stitches will be worked right into the re-woven fabric as if no threads had even been removed. It's not my favorite part of the sampler, but it's relatively easy (once you get over the idea of cutting your fabric and pulling threads out!) and the results are striking.

I'm taking the next two days off from work so I am anticipating a nice, long, four day weekend. I hope to get some more progress made on the pink cargo pants and on the birth sampler. I also have another little UFO in progress that I plan to take with me if I end up out and about this weekend. I'll share that one next time.