New Look 6598

I bought this pattern a while back. It’s a blouse with sleeve and collar variations. Truth be told, I really only looked at the front of the pattern when I bought it. I wanted to have/make more woven tops (as opposed to knit tops). I saw this and I really liked it.

Well, what I didn’t realize at the time is that it does have a nice detail on the back of the blouse – a tie.

It’s a simple detail that just makes it something a little different. This is quite easy to make AND I used another piece from my fabric stash AND some buttons I had as well!

This is the kind of thing that I can see myself making again. It also comes in long sleeves and sleeveless, with a collar or without (like the one I made here).

Now, on to the next project to use up some more stash!

New T-shirt pattern

I love a good T-shirt. You would think that finding a good pattern to make one would be easy, but not necessarily… I’m pretty particular about how I want it to fit. I don’t want anything too tight or too low-cut in the front. I have found a source of RTW tees that I really like, but since I joined the RTW fast this year, I don’t want to buy any. So, I decided to try this new pattern I found on Pattern Review. It’s called the Jenny from In-House Patterns. It’s very basic, but that’s what I like.

First, what I love about the pattern is the fit. It fits just the way I want it to – not too loose, not too tight. And I really like the length.

Now, what I wasn’t crazy about is the V-neck was too low for me. So, I raised the neckline by about 2 1/2″. With doing this, it was a bit difficult to get the neckband to fit correctly. I had to keep shortening it until I got it right. I also had never attached a V-neck neckband the way the instructions say to do it. After trying it their way and trying it my way (which is the way that the Vogue 8536 T-shirt pattern instructs), I like my way better. I get a better fit and a more defined V. I also think it’s easier.

As you can see, I made this in a variety of colors. The solids are cotton interlock (my personal fav for tees). The print is a rayon/poly blend that’s very stretchy. Best of all, I had all of these in my stash!

Overall, this is a great pattern. I may still do some minor adjustments to the neck, but the sleeves and everything fits well. This is definitely a keeper!

And by the way, this is a PDF pattern which is something I don’t normally do. But it was very easy to print correctly (do the test page first).

McCall’s 6884

I finished this dress yesterday. It’s really easy to put together. It would have been done a lot sooner if I hadn’t lost my sewing mojo in the middle of it. But anyway, the only thing I changed with the pattern is to raise the neckline by about 2 1/2″. It’s a good thing I did, because it would have been way to low for my taste if I hadn’t. As it is, I really like this dress. I used a knit I bought a while ago from JoAnn’s.

The tie is very long, so I’m assuming it’s to go around the back to the front. At least, that’s how I wear it. This pattern could be a really good wardrobe builder for a lot of people. I can see myself making this again is a solid knit as well.