Counting on this Marcy Tilton top for Fabricville

I recently ordered this cotton fabric from Fabricville for my latest spring blogger project. I also ordered a Vogue dress pattern to go with it, but when I received the fabric, I thought that a cotton top would be a better fit for the hand of this fabric, and would also work better with the scale of the print. Fortunately, I'd just bought Vogue 2030, a Marcy Tilton woven top pattern that seemed like a better match.

I had to be so careful cutting this out, as I wanted to line up the pattern across the front, at the side seams, and at the lower pocket seam as well. Not perfectly, but at least get the lines level so it didn't disturb the eye too much. I think it worked out quite well, the pattern feels regular across the whole piece. 

I like the visual effect, rather like a smock. But this was a tough project overall! There were so many issues I had while making this, and it began to feel a little exhausting. 

The pattern itself was not the best I've ever experienced. The fit looks a bit relaxed on the cover, but the pattern is quite close fitting. I cut it at 16, the largest option on my pattern, which matches my measurements. However, while the seams are 5/8, I sewed up my side seams and underarm seams at 3/8 to give myself a bit more room once I'd tried it on. It's still a bit closer fitting in the bust and especially in the arms than I'd prefer, but this fabric does have a fair bit of give to it, so it's not uncomfortable, just that I like a bit more ease usually. It fits quite close overall so do be conscious of that if you choose to make this too. 

The other issues I had were the sleeve openings on the view I made - there are cute keyhole openings at the cuff, solely for decorative purposes as a band is also sewn on afterward. These took a long time to get right, and they don't sit flat at the top. I think there needed to be more of a curve at the top edge somehow. The angle at the top is kind of poky-outy. 

And that collar!! It took ages to figure out how to attach it so that the ends didn't poke out to the front between the attached facing seam. I had to fiddle with it, baste it, tear it out, adjust it again, try again, tear it out again, etc. quite a few times. I finally just fudged it enough that it looked alright and enclosed everything. I couldn't really make sense of the instructions or the illustration for this step -- I tried it as I could understand it from the drawings and it just wouldn't work. Still, now that it's done it is kind of interesting - I can wear it standing as designed, or undo the top button and then fold it down if I want a more shirt collar look. 

So I think I'd say that this pattern itself is not one I'm too keen to repeat any time soon. I do like the final product, although I'd like it even more if it were a touch larger. I'm not sure what I did wrong on this one - I thought I'd measured it all accurately, but clearly not. Still, it's wearable and the fabric is a lot of fun. And I love the pockets on the front, slightly slouchy and artsy. This one is right in the middle for me; I don't hate it but the issues with it mean I don't fully love it either. Oh well, I am sure I can make it work in my wardrobe! And one other good thing about it is that it matches with my ongoing Sudoku wardrobe project, so I can use it in one of my grid squares for that as well. One more down!

Autumn Florals with Simplicity 9646

My latest Fabricville project was an Autumnal themed one, using this floral cotton I found on their website. I found the rich colours very appealing and decided to try a quick blouse, using Simplicity 9646. (worn in these photos with a Butterick 6670 linen skirt from 2020)

I made View A, with shorter sleeves and a rounded collar. I took up an inch above the waistline, but added that inch back to the hem. I do find that it is a bit short to wear loose so if I was to make it again with the intent to wear it out, I'd lengthen it. It is, however, the right length to tuck in.

I also chose to leave off the optional fisheye darts (they are marked on front and back) and am glad I did, since this just fits around the hip on me as is. I cut a 14 at neckline, 16 at shoulder and bust, and graded out to about an 18 at the hip. So it's a pretty straight up and down fit if you also have to pay attention to that. 

I also made one addition; the pattern tissue has an interfacing foldline on the front placket, but there is no mention of interfacing it in the pattern instructions or diagrams at all. I decided to add some, however, as this cotton is fairly light. I used a lightweight interfacing the width of the fold from edge to interfacing foldline (about an inch) and am pleased that I did as I feel it did make it more stable for the buttonholes. 

Otherwise, this was quite a straightforward sew, and I enjoyed working with this lighter weight cotton. I had ordered some shiny black buttons but in the end I went with some similar matte ones from my vintage stash, as the muted tones in the fabric seemed to call for a more matte finish. I feel like this is a nice seasonal make, which will go with a number of items in my wardrobe even if it isn't my usual colours. I enjoyed working my way through this one! 

"Vintage" 90s Sarong Dress in Rayon

My Spring project for Fabricville has arrived! I was excited about this one -- this "vintage" 90s McCalls 8501 was so appealing, and then I found the perfect fabric option. This is a beautiful rayon-nylon blend, in my favourite blue and yellow colourway. 

As part of being a Fabricville blogger, I can choose a pattern and fabric and only have to share it on their blog. But you know I'm going to tell you about it too! 

This is called a "3 Hour Pattern". I find that was a thing I saw often on patterns from the 80s & 90s -- overpromising to get people to buy a pattern ;) That's 3 hours of sewing time, not the careful cutting part. And probably only 3 hours if you're a quick sewist, as I am not. 

But it wasn't too complicated. A front, back and overlay, plus a little tie piece and a neck binding. I of course overcomplicated things by trying to add pockets! But I can't imagine a summer dress without any. It was a bit fiddly to figure out where to attach the pocket bags, somehow that overlay confused me a bit. But it was worth the time.

This fabric is 90% rayon, 10% nylon, and that makes the hand a little different; it's not a challis, it's easier to handle than that. And I really like the way it drapes, too. The front has an overlay that is sewn into the side seam and then ties at the side with another little tie that you sew into the opposite side. Quite secure. 

The changes I made to the pattern:

• Shortened the body above the waist by 3/4"
• Lengthened the bottom hem by 1" (a bit tricky with those curves)
• Added side seam pockets

Isn't it strange to call something from the 90s vintage? I don't feel like it was that long ago. Maybe if you lived through the era, it's not vintage to you! In any case, this is a light summer dress that I know I'll wear this year, vintage or not :)

Jalie Bianca in silky patchwork

The second part of my Fall 2024 Fabricville Blogger project is this simple dress, made from this Satin Dimara Multicolour print. I ordered this print because I liked the visual mix; the listing said it was viscose, but unfortunately when I received it, I found that it is actually polyester, which I dislike and don't usually sew with. So I changed my pattern plans, choosing to go with something very simple with few seams - both to use the print effectively without too much matching across a seam, and to reduce the handling of this satiny fabric. 

I chose to use the Jalie Bianca, a pattern I've made before and really like. This time I altered it to have even fewer seams - I cut the front and back pieces on a fold so there are really only side seams to worry about. I made the view with sleeve cuffs, and also added in some side seam pockets. 

I also cut it to give more width in the hem, by simply sliding the skirt in from the fold about an inch, and extending that a-line shape a bit. I added 3 extra inches to the length in case I had to trim off at the end, which I did, so I was thankful for the excess. 

This is how much I had to even up the hem after hanging- widening
it did mean it was more on the bias than the original as well

I found cutting the toughest part of this - this fabric was so slippery! I thought I had it perfectly balanced but the print is a little slanted, just enough to annoy me, lol. Other than keeping it from sliding around it wasn't a bad sew. I had to use a new, fine needle to keep from snagging anything, and did have to let the dress hang overnight to let the hem settle, then level it before stitching, which was a finicky job! 

So it was a bit fussy for such a simple dress but I think it's really fun in its finished form, anyhow. I like it, and just hope it won't be too staticky to wear - I think it will go under quite a few jackets.

Maybe not the original plan of my cream corduroy jacket, which is a great pattern from Vogue, but turned out much too big for me. But I have lots of other sweaters and jackets which will match with one of the many colours in this print. 

Vogue 2053: Jacket in Cream Corduroy

For my latest Fabricville blogger project, I decided to make a dress and a jacket -- well, I've only finished the jacket thus far but do have the dress on the cutting table now! 

This Vogue 2053 was enticing, I pictured it in this lovely cream corduroy from the latest offerings at Fabricville.com. The fabric is indeed very nice, but this project was SO HARD. This boxy jacket was more complicated than it appeared at first glance. It has paneled front and sides, full length sleeves with a working vent, and is fully lined.

This wasn't too awkward until I got to the lining the sleeve part. Oh my goodness. It took me almost an hour of fiddling before I figured out how to stitch the sleeve hems and vent extension together inside out and then flip it so that it sat correctly with no holes! My brain was tired. Something I discovered was that none of my tailoring books had any instructions on this specific part of the process, and I couldn't find anything online that showed me what the Vogue instructions were trying to tell me to do. Finally I just tried a few things, unpicked a few things, and finally got it right. Whew! 

The other difficulty with this project is in the fabric itself. It's a beautiful cotton corduroy, but it does shed terribly when working with it. And pressing is another issue: I had to be very careful and press gently on a folded towel so that I wouldn't crush the wales. But it's hard to get it perfectly crisp when you can't just squash it down. I used a lot of steam and time and it mostly worked, but it does wrinkle up again fairly quickly. Especially in the sleeve where there is a lot of bulk. 

I took about 3.5" out of the sleeve length but I think I could stand to take one more inch if I try again. And if I did try again, I wouldn't bother about the working vent, I would just make a shorter simple sleeve ending. As it is, I didn't bother putting buttonholes in the vent, I just stitched the buttons right through both layers. The sleeve is boxy and doesn't need a working vent. 

Close up of the sleeve vent - kind of looks 
like my face when I finally finished it!

One thing I decided at the beginning was that I didn't want to use the corduroy for the facings. I felt that would be too bulky, and it could also cause the jacket to stick to the clothing underneath if it was at all grippy. So I auditioned a few fabrics in my stash, but ended up going with a pale linen in my upcycle pile - it was an old pair of summer pants that I didn't like wearing but were made of a lovely linen. It was perfect for the facings and I like the contrast on the inside. I used an 'oyster' lining from Fabricville for the rest of the lining, and found some very cool brass buttons there too. 

I learned quite a lot making this, and also made quite a few errors. I feel that I could size down a bit but it is way too late now to make any adjustments; I'm kind of tired of the project ;) Things I learned for next time - use a more pressable fabric, size down a bit, and don't bother with the sleeve vents. I think if I changed those trouble points, this would be a fairly quick project on a second go. As it is, after all the effort, I'm fairly pleased with how it looks, but am also not 100% convinced that this boxy style is right for me. I'll try it styled a few ways and see how it goes. It might go right into someone else's closet -- or not, depending! 

Butterick 6727: My Fabricville "House Dress"

For my latest Fabricville blogger project I've made myself a classic House Dress...well, maybe I'm stretching it a bit. I've made a faux wrap dress from Butterick 6727, in a fun cotton print covered in colourful houses. It makes me think of  Bergen or St. John's or Kyiv! 

This was a pretty simple project but it took a bit of time thanks to the special details. I made View B, with piping trim and a below knee length. The dress is a faux wrap, with the crossover bodice and skirt both sewn shut together at the waistline seam and then tacked down by the buttons along the front. Which are also faux -- they are stitched on through all layers at the very end, the closure is actually an invisible zip in the back. Although if you really wanted to you could eliminate the back zip and make real buttonholes in the front, as the crossovers are quite deep and all faced. I don't think you'd run the risk of flashing anyone with this pattern any way you chose to make it. 

The only slightly more difficult part was attaching the waist seam. This was because you have to be careful that the two piping ends on the bodice and skirt line up properly so it's a continuous line from neck to hem, and because there are a lot of layers there while you're doing it. With the crossovers on the bodice and the skirt both basted down, along with their facings, you are essentially stitching through 6-8 layers of fabric at one point. So don't choose a thick or heavy fabric for this one! My cotton is very lightweight and crisp, and I used lightweight interfacing, so it worked very nicely. 

This sewed up quickly once I got going. The only alteration I made was to shorten both the bodice and the skirt by 1" each.  I cut a 14 at neck, 16 at bust, and 18 at waist to make easy size adjustments for my figure, which usually works quite well. But, I find there is a bit of extra height in the shoulder area, which I could have taken in a bit so I might add some 1/4" shoulder pads to fill out that space later on. Otherwise, this was an easy sew, with a nice cotton that behaved beautifully. I really like the piping detail and feel secure in this faux wrap, which I never do in an actual wrap dress! My first dress of the season, to appear shortly on the Fabricville blog as well!

A Batwing Burda, for Fabricville and beyond

My second project for Fabricville this fall was a shimmery black batwing dress. I love a good 80s influence, and when I saw Burda 6074, I knew I had to make it.

For my Fabricville version, I used “Dazzling Black” evening fabric, a poly knit with printed sequins. A print is so much easier to sew than real sequins! In fact, this fabric was very easy to handle. It’s lightweight with fairly minimal stretch, and it behaved nicely when sewing. I used a stretch needle, though, as this fabric was both thin and tough at the same time. It worked really well, where a regular ballpoint needle was just not working out. 

The Burda pattern is a quick and easy sew, as promised on the pattern envelope. There are 5 pieces; front & back, sleeve, collar & self-tie. Because this fabric is so lightweight, I interfaced half the collar with some light knit interfacing. You won’t need that if you have more heft in your fabric, or if you’d prefer it to be more squishy and cowl-like, as designed.

I only changed the pattern slightly, shortening it by 1/2″ above the waist and adding the 1/2″ back at the hem. I wanted my version to be knee-length so I didn’t shorten it at all (I am only barely 5’2″).  I made my usual Burda sizing of 42 at the shoulder and 44 at the hip, although I also added a bit extra at the hip when cutting it out, probably 1/4″ on each side. I also shortened the sleeves by an inch. 

I enjoyed sewing this up, but when I put it on, well, I did feel it reminded me quite strongly of a Hefty trash bag! The combo of fabric and pattern perhaps wasn't the best here, even though both on their own are pretty great. 

So I decided to make another version, this time is a lighter weight knit from my stash. I got this green and black soft knit at Fabricland locally, quite a few years ago. I had just enough to make this dress. (the pattern calls for 3 m. but I found I could fit it into 2.5 m. quite easily). 

I made all the same sizing adjustments, as I found my first version fit very well. But this is where fabric makes such a difference! I found the cuff area of the sleeve on the black version quite tight, so I added 1/2" to the diameter on the green one. But the green fabric has a lot more stretch than the black, so I find it is now a little too large! I'm going to narrow it back down to the original sizing.

 

I also added pockets to my green version -- I didn't think the thin and shiny black fabric of the original could handle pockets, but this thicker and squishier knit worked just fine. I placed the tops of the pockets just below the match points for the sleeve (which basically sit at the waist). This seems just right, and it's very convenient to have pockets! 

I love the silhouette of this pattern, especially the sleeve. The 80s vibe is strong, and it's also a very comfy outfit to wear. I think it looks quite different in the two fabrics, and enjoyed that it's also a quick sew.