This and That...

Here is Katherine Tilton's new top for Butterick, 5891:

and with the collar closed

I used a batik from B&J Fabrics and a striped quilting fabric for the trim. I had a few problems with this pattern, and I still didn't get the "peplums" to look like they do on the pattern envelope. I added a facing to the collar so I could wear it open. It's got potential, but the jury is still out.

Several people asked some questions about the "scarf lifter" I mentioned in my last post which I made to avoid having "flat scarf head" when wearing my hijab

I took a couple of raglan shoulder pads and covered them with black knit

zig-zagged around the stack o' pads and sewed a strip of Velcro to the top;

added a corresponding strip of Velcro to the appropriate spot on the scarf

and Voila...

I can sew Velcro strips to other scarves, too, so I can have a change of hijab!

                                          ******************

I didn't make this, but I think it's a cute look...it's from Banana Republic:

It's a sleeveless peplum, so I'll only wear it under a jacket...

**********************

While browsing Lafayette 148 the other night, I was struck by how much difference   

styling makes, whether for merchandising, or when putting together your own outfit.

Look at the difference between the pictures...the lightweight linen top is the same, but oh, the difference the styling makes. It's interesting to me that Lafayette 148 has both pictures on their site, maybe the "styled" outfit is too much for some?

And again:

Look at these two...I never would have looked at the plain one, but immediately was drawn to #2...I find this fascinating!

Till later...

Here There Be Dragons...

and...a 4th and final Manteau! (Unless I change my mind...)

This time, I used V8626, which is OOP...

I made the shorter view, but added the collar. I like the pleats in the back.

The fabric is a wonderful quality cotton stretch print from Marcy Tilton which I bought last year; she has the same fabric, in green, on her website right now. Since I BARELY had enough fabric, I used a striped ikat cotton from Stonemountain Fabric for the facings. It's so cool when your stash yields JUST
the right fabric!

Since I was born in the Year of the Dragon, I felt this fabric had to be mine...

And HERE...is my hijab

I used a wonderful french "seersucker", also from Marcy, which is lightweight,
cool, and does not slip. To avoid the dreaded "flat scarf-head", I made a little
"lifter" out of two shoulder pads, covered in black, and velcroed to the scarf.
Never let it be said that sewists aren't ingenious!

We leave in 3 1/2 weeks, having received our "invitation" from the Iranian government.  I'll do a Travel Wardrobe post soon...

A Lot of M's...

MANTEAU #3

Our trip to Iran is a month away...so I made another cover-up, AKA "Manteau".
I went back to my TNT shirt pattern B5526, which I've made too many times to count and came up with this:

It's got front and back princess seams, I added side-seam pockets,  lengthened it to just above knee level, and added a belt.

i

The fabric is a wonderful hand-dyed cotton from Marcy Tilton called "Shibori Moon". Isn't that an evocative name? It's quite light weight, so will be good for the hotter days.

MARFY I made two "MUSLINS" in my search for a pattern for my MOTHER-OF-THE-BRIDE jacket for DD's wedding in October. I have a gorgeous fabric and am looking for a worthy pattern. I dipped my toe in the
Marfy pool (an Italian pattern company) and tried these two patterns:

which was pretty, but too large, and not really right for my fabric... and this

which was a smaller size, but still just not right  (do I sound like Goldilocks?) I am eager to try this vintage YSL

but will have to wait till I get back from Iran.

I found this picture on a blog I've been following, Manteaus Daily,

which shows some Manteaux in a store...they're brighter than I thought they'd be, but I don't see any patterns. We shall see...

MORE FROM MARGY LATER!

and MORE color!

Sewing my red pants was so stimulating, I decided to make a top to go with them (and silver pants and black pants), so I made this knit tunic

The fabric is a poly/spandex knit from Mood Fabrics that I've had my eye on for a long time... I used 

V8691, a Katherine Tilton top that I've made 3 times now. It has a particularly lovely fit through the torso, and this time I tweaked it a lot...

I added 4 inches to the length, and did not put the "ruffles" on that the pattern calls for (see here). I raised the neckline by an inch, and added a cowl collar. I also lengthened the sleeves.

I was a little leery about a poly knit, but this one is very high quality; the print is beautifully done, and it
feels good to wear.

A little Shams twirl...

 Color is fun!

COLOR!

As promised, I temporarily abandoned my usual black sewing and stitched up
a pair of RED PANTS! I seem to be on a perennial search for red pants I love...I'm very picky about the shade of red, and because they are so out there, the fit is more important than usual. I went back to my wonderful
Lynda Maynard pattern for these:

The fabric is a bengaline from JoAnns...80% polyester, 15% rayon and 4%

spandex. There have been comments that the JA bengaline pills more than

the bengaline from Australia..we will see. The color was exactly right, so it's

worth a try.

Unattractive pose, but you can see that the under-the-butt wrinkles are not a

problem. Yay, Lynda!

I'm taking a few days to unclutter the studio...and to decide what's next.

TTYL!

Manteau #2

Up for consideration in my travel wardrobe challenge is Manteau #2, using one of my TNT patterns, M5433 (OOP)

For this garment, I used a tone on tone animal print ponte from Sewing Workshop. I redrafted the pattern to include a center zipper and changed the shirt collar to a mandarin collar.

                                                             

The zipper I used is probably a little too heavy for the fabric, which is a lighter-weight ponte. I can also
wear it with a belt:

Now, I'm going to go out to my studio and sew something COLORFUL!

MARNI & ME

I've been dying to sew the Style Arc Marni Ponti Jacket since it was issued; I'm surprised there aren't many reviews of this...it's a cute jacket:

I wanted to intersperse "wear-it-now" sewing with my ongoing "Manteau Auditions". Here's my jacket

                                                             

I used a medium-to-heavy weight ponte from EOS for the body of the jacket, and used a heavy-weight black ponte from Denver Fabrics for the facing and sleeves. I mention the weights of the ponte knits, because I had a problem with the 3/8 inch seam allowances; with the heavier weight fabrics, it was hard to make the seams lay flat, and I wound up topstitching everything in order to flatten the seams. There are many different weights of Ponte knits, and I think this jacket would have been easier to sew had I used a lighter-weight knit (like a Sophia knit) or if I had cut the seam allowances a little larger.

I had trouble understanding the closure (if any) for this jacket, so what worked for me were two skirt/trouser hooks and a button just for show. It needs a cami under it...

I've worn the jacket twice and gotten many compliments on it; I love the fit of it and will definitely make it again.

I've been AWOL for the last two weeks due to an allergic dermatitis outbreak around my eyes. UGLY.
I just finished the patch test for 71 different potential allergens (I haven't been able to shower for 6 days...) and so far, am positive for only one, lanolin alcohol. Unfortunately, it's in a lot of common products, such as cosmetics, cleaning compounds, etc., so I have to start looking closely at ingredients.

NSFW Image!!!!!

It's good I'm fond of polka dots..... and I finally showered this morning...YAY!