Vogue 8815- Peplum Tops: Part 2 of 2 - "A tale of two peplums"

A continuation from "A Tale of Three Muslins"

Now that the fitting was out of the way. It was time to figure out construction methods. I had chosen faux leather and stretch lace, two materials I had never worked with before, so this wasn't going to be quick.

I started with the stretch lace which I had already decided to underline with gold colored knit lining from Emma One Sock. A combination of trial and error and online research led me to the conclusion that each set of pieces cut in the lace and the underlining needed to be hand basted together with silk thread. Luckily this pattern had only four pieces. It still took a while, though, as the fabrics liked to move around. I also came to the realization that when it came to the machine sewing, my walking foot  was going to be invaluable. I figured out serger settings for finishing the seams and the rolled hem at the bottom of the peplum. I then tested out binding methods and materials. After comparing the results I got with foldover elastic, black rayon knit and knit faux leather I decided on the knit faux leather (The same I used for my Christine Jonson skirt) for binding  the neckline and armholes. I played with neckline shapes while the muslin was on my dressform and finally drafted a curved v-neck which I felt worked better for the lace top than the jewel neckline. I left out the back zipper since the fabric had so much stretch and for the same reason ended up taking in the side seams a bit to make it fit right.

The final result:

 

Another view (with the Christine Jonson stretch faux leather skirt this time):

 

After the finicky stretch lace/underlining combo the faux leather was going to be easy.... or was it? The sewing itself wasn't too complicated. I used my walking foot so didn't have any problems with the faux leather sticking. For comfort I used a black rayon doubleknit for the bodice back. I *think* I bought it from Gorgeous Fabrics years ago. The invisible zipper insertion went smoothly even though it's been a while since I've put one in. Thank you Kathleen Fasanella! (For the tutorial I used click here, it involves changing the pattern slightly if you're using a commercial pattern but it works beautifully every time) I used the same doubleknit I used for the back for the binding but this time I used a different method, folding it to the inside, understitching it like a facing and topstitching on the right side (thanks to my walking foot again!) I fused the peplum hem with Design Plus double sided fusible tape and then topstitched.

 

Done. Pretty straightforward. So I tried it on. Uh oh... Dart Fail! I had worked on the front darts in muslins one and two because the placement was off and they came up way too high in the original pattern. I had fixed the problem, so I had thought. It was fine in the muslin and the stretch lace but not so much in faux leather. A little too.... "pointy" . Changing the top to have princess seams would've been the right choice from the beginning for this fabric, but I didn't want to scrap this otherwise beautiful top at this point  and I didn't have enough fabric left to redo the whole front. I slept on it and came up with an innovative idea. I'm sure I'm not the first to come up with this but I've never seen it before. Faux Princess Seams! I simply sewed a tiny tuck on the wrong side (right sides together) starting from the dart point up till just before the shoulder seam (as far as I could get without having to rip out the shoulder seam and re-sew). It took careful marking to make the "seams" look good and most of all MATCH. If you look closely there are two tiny puckers in the faux leather where I ended the "seams" at the shoulder but they are not noticeable when wearing. The fabric has enough stretch that these tucks didn't affect the fit at all. They do, however, completely fix the "pointy" problem! 

 

 





And the back:

The fabric is not nearly that "shiny" in real life but that's how it photographed, I'm sure there are some camera settings I could have changed but I don't claim to be a photographer. Just a Happy Sewist :-)

Fabric Shopping!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I had to go into NYC for a morning meeting the other day which ran a few hours longer than expected. I missed my early bus home so I decided to wait and get a ride home with my husband who had a few work related things to take care of first. So I hopped on a subway and 20 minutes later was in heaven. Fabric Heaven!

My first and often only stop in the garment district lately is Metro Textiles. I am usually limited in my time since I try to tack a bit of fabric shopping onto the end of things like meetings. If I have time for only one stop I head over to the 9th floor at 265 West 37th Street where I have a personal shopper in Kashi. He has an amazing knack for figuring out peoples' style and taste and just KNOWS what you will like. He figured me out after a few short minutes the first time I was there and almost everything he shows me is spot on. This time was no exception and when I walked in the door he ran to get this:

It's a rayon knit (Italian according to Kashi!). The white pattern is raised on a black mesh backround. It's like a burnout but not like any I've ever seen before.




I also walked out with some of this:

Flat

Draped

It's a wool blend sweater knit that is 80" wide! I had it in mind for a sweater or hoodie of some sort though seeing it draped over my couch is making me want to just keep it as is. :-)

Besides for that I walked out with everything on my list including some nice lining with just a bit of stretch for only $3 a yard. Did I mention yet that Kashi's prices are superb? They are. That's the other reason his is my go to store.

Kashi himself with the bolt of beautiful Italian knit . Lot and lots of fabric in the background!

Freeda needs a diet!

I haven't forgotten about Part 2 of the peplum tops. That will be coming soon. I just had good news to post and it couldn't wait. Freeda (my dressform) needs a diet... well, I need to remove some of her padding. I noticed this today when I tried on my muslin of Style Arc's "Creative Cate" and then tried it on Freeda. It was somewhat snug on her. I knew I had lost some weight but it's great to see it has actually translated to the way my clothing fits me! I only re-padded Freeda a few weeks ago. Time to remove some of it now!!!

Here's the "muslin" ($1.99 FabricMart ITY) on Freeda:

And now on me (sorry about the awful mirror selfie, I need to figure out something to prop my camera on so I can get some better pictures of myself)

Oh and the "Creative Cate", it's a great pattern! It's my first from Style Arc and now I understand what all the fuss is about. It's beautifully drafted and what's better it fits me really nicely with minimal alterations to the pattern. I have one more change I want to try and then I should be able to sew this one up. There will definitely be more about it coming soon.

Vogue 8815- Peplum Tops: Part 1 of 2 - "A tale of three muslins"

I'm a fan of the peplum trend. It's great for us pear shaped women since it camouflages the size of the hips. It's also wonderful for giving the illusion of a small waist for those of us whose waists are not what they once were after a kid (or four) I have a top with a peplum in my wardrobe and I love how I look in it. Since it's more summery in it's style and color I needed one for fall/winter. I really wanted one in faux leather (I've been seeing them around) but after some research (Pintrest!) I decided I needed one in lace as well.
Some of my inspiration photos:


For modesty reasons I wear all my sleeveless and short sleeved tops and dresses with a thin rayon/lycra knit layering shell that covers my elbows. It opens up my wardrobe options to many different styles that don't have sleeves and a high neck. It's also great in the cooler months. I can't imagine wearing any of the above tops in the winter (and they are supposed to be fall/winter styles) without sleeves underneath or a cardigan on top. brrr...

I started with Vogue 8815, which I ordered from sewingpatterns.com, and went shopping for fabric.

For the faux leather version I found this at fabric.com I wish I had bought more since they're now out of it in black until the end of March and I wanted to make a doubleknit skirt with a faux leather panel.

I came up with some stretch lace for $6 a yard at a local discount fabric store (that unfortunately has mostly home-dec stuff lately) and chose to underline it with some gold colored knit lining I bought at Emma One Sock years ago.

Pattern with fabric swatches:


As soon as the pattern arrived I traced off the pattern in my size as per my bust measurement (18). That was my first mistake... I should have remembered from years ago that I am always one size smaller (at least) than my measurements in the "Big 4" patterns. In my defense it's been a long time since I've sewn for myself, let alone used a Vogue pattern. I completely forgot how off the fit usually is for me out of the envelope. I did my usual flat pattern alterations including adjusting for narrow, square shoulders, and adding to the waist and hip.


Muslin #1 had so much extra fabric in the back I couldn't even see anything else. I took in the back, shaping the CB seam. I also changed the placement of the front darts. (Why in the world was this pattern drafted with the front darts so close to each other?). I probably did some other tweaking that I can't remember about now because by the time I was done the muslin was so marked up that I felt I couldn't work with it any more. I transferred my alterations to the pattern and cut...

Muslin #2  which was much better. I was able to see that the front was large as well. so took it in along the center front ( See, I really should have traced that size 16 to start with). I tweaked the front darts some more. The back still didn't fit to my satisfaction. I took a 1/2" tuck out in the center back horizontally across the back just below the armholes, tapering to nothing at the side seams. (Well, my 11 year old actually did that for me. That made things much easier than my old method of trying to twist myself into a pretzel to fit my back) This took out more of the extra fabric and shaped the center back seam more.  I added a bit to the side seams at the bottom of the back, because that's where I need the extra room, not in the center of my back. Now that was more like it! Again the muslin was so marked up and taken in that I felt I needed another one just to be sure. So I transferred the alterations again.
The back was now looking like this: (including my change to the seam allowances and changes at center back due to using a different length of and method of invisible zipper insertion than the pattern called for)

So I cut Muslin #3- This time I added the peplum which only needed very slight alteration to match the size the bodice ended up at. Finally I got a good fit! It fits me even better than it does Freeda (my dressform). At this point I had invested about a week and a half into it and I was so proud I was ready to wear it just the way you see here.

 

Which I didn't. I continued onwards. But that's for next time.

Continued here: "A Tale of Two Peplums"

Christine Jonson 1025- Basewear 2- Taper skirt

This pattern had been marinating in my stash for a bit. OK years. I don't even know how many. But I'm happy it was there when I needed a quick skirt and didn't have the patience to draft from scratch. (my body has changed a bit since 2007 when I last worked on my basic knit skirt block... that was two babies ago!)
Why I didn't have the patience will be in the next post. I was in the midst of working on my Vogue 8815 muslins (yes I mean muslins plural). I didn't muslin this pattern (no patience for more muslins) but measured the flat pattern and cut it a smidge big. It worked out great.

I cut size 18 but added 8-1/4" in length to bring the finished skirt to 4" below my knee which is the length I wear my "shorter" skirts. I used black stretch knit faux leather from Fabric.com ($6.98 a yard if I recall correctly). I wish I had bought more of it because of course it's all gone now and I only bought a yard and a half. I ended up taking in the side seams about 3/8" each when I tried it on prior to putting in the elastic waist. I topstiched the elastic and hemmed it with my coverstitch machine (babylock). Total time dedicated to this skirt: less than two hours from start to finish. Including going up to the attic to find the pattern (I did mention I've had this one around for a while). I wore it to a Chanukah party that evening and was complemented on it numerous times. It was so much fun to reply: "Oh this thing, I just whipped it up this afternoon"

Funny thing that happened while I was sewing this one. I was lazy with my marking because I was in a rush. I sewed the side seams, pressed them, and was about to try it on when I had a panicky moment when I couldn't figure out which way was up! The skirt is tapered from the hip to the hem so it was hard to tell the hip curve on top from the taper at the bottom. Luckily I thought of comparing it to the pattern and the curves are different so It wasn't too hard to make out the top from the bottom. I marked it THEN of course.