Sonia (Mom) Models the Floral Blouse!

It's Mom's first official photo shoot! (click on pics to supersize)

But first, let me tell you how I finished the blouse.  I took roughly 1-1/2" off the front neckline.



Thinking I'd skip a collar, I added a simple, elegant bias band.



But on my mother, this neckline looked boring and a little stiff, so I removed it and added a standard collar band and collar.  I am so glad I did.  I think it looks very sporty on her.

Cotton floral fabric from Metro Textiles

I added vintage yellow plastic buttons from my stash and, rather than add cuffs, I finished the sleeves with a 1-1/4" topstitched hem at about 3/4 length, which is where she likes her sleeves to fall.





I'm very happy I raised the back neckline.  It fits her nicely and there's no pulling.



Rather than use the sleeve that came with the pattern (Simplicity 2339), I created a sleeve shaped similarly to a two-piece jacket sleeve (with the seam toward the back rather than lining up with the side seam).  This gives her more ease in back where she needs it and less in front where she doesn't.





She wanted a little extra fullness in the back, so I added 1" of width and eased it into the yoke.





She didn't want any shaping so I left out the fish-eye darts in front and back that are part of the pattern.  The blouse is slightly shapeless imo, but hey, she's the client!  And the colors are splendid.



I will continue to refine this pattern so it fits even better next time.  But she's happy, which is always nice when you're sewing for someone else.

Have a great day, everybody!

Enough Muslins -- Let's Get Started!

I could certainly have made a few more muslins before cutting into my fashion fabric for my mother's blouse, but since I paid $5 for this cotton print (at Metro Textiles), the stakes aren't very high.

Any tweaks I need to make I'll make to the garment itself.  As you can see above, I've completed the two fronts, the yokes, and the back.  You may recall that on the latest muslin, the back looked like this:



I added a full 1-1/2" to the back neckline.  If there's too much, I'll trim.  Better too much than too little. 





I still haven't decided what kind of collar I want to add; I may just go with a narrow band.  My mother generally doesn't wear shirts with collars and her neck is short.

Today, while trying on the muslin, she asked if I thought the print looked too young for her.  I said, not at all.  It's certainly not neutral, but I think it brings a lot of color to her face, don't you?  It's cheerful.

Tomorrow I'll tackle the sleeves and hopefully finish it by Sunday.

Hope your sewing projects are going well.

Have a great day, everybody!

Mom's Muslin #2 -- Simplicity 2339

Yesterday a few of you suggested that I work from a smaller pattern to create a well-fitting blouse for my mother.

I had purchased Simplicity 2339 a few years ago and decided to give it a try rather than continuing to tweak my vintage Butterick pattern.



Since the Simplicity is multi-sized (like pretty much all contemporary patterns), I was able to blend the Size 12 shoulders with Size 14 everything else when tracing my pattern.  (I used the "B" cup front piece.  My mother's upper bust is 35"; her full bust roughly 36".)

Straight out of the gate I added a 1" sloping shoulder adjustment in both front and back.  I also took 1/2" off the bottom (outer) edges of the yoke, so that the bottom turns up (like a smile). while the back slopes down.





I skipped the collar this time (this pattern calls for a two-piece collar and a button placket instead of a one-piece collar and facings).

The results are a big improvement on yesterday's muslin.



Without any other alteration, the shoulder seam sits much more forward than yesterday's did.



With sleeves attached:



From the side (a shallow dart provides some shaping):



The right sleeve went on kind of wonky so I removed it.  I decided to draft a new sleeve following this Katheleen Fasanella blog post about sleeve cap ease.  Basically, the sleeve is fuller in the back (where you need more room for movement) than in front. 



My mother couldn't tell the difference when she tried it on.  I think I can see a difference, but I also attached it in the round rather than flat.  From the back:



With arms crossed in front:





Sleeve from the front (with arm lifted):



So that's how things stand as of today.  My mother says she doesn't want her blouse any more fitted than this.  I think it looks pretty good.  I'm not sure which sleeve to use; it's hard to tell which shape looks better.



As always, your feedback is welcome, and if these are the kind of adjustments you're used to making, I'd especially love the input.

Have a great day, everybody!

Mom's Blouse -- Muslin 1

For a first stab, this blouse muslin is not terrible.  Frankly, it fits no worse than most of the ready-to-wear tops my mother generally wears.

I decided to work from a basic fitted blouse pattern, Butterick 9232 from 1960, which has been sitting in my stash for many years.



I traced the pattern pieces, widening the waist (and not closing the darts) to give it more of an A-line shape.  I added a yoke to the back and a sloping shoulder adjustment.  I didn't change the sleeve at all (but skipped the cuff) and decided to add the collar.  My fabric is an old cotton sheet.







I added a center pleat to the back but I'll remove it: the back is very full.  My mother's biggest fit challenges are her forward-sloping shoulders and rounded back.  I'll need to move the shoulder seam forward and perhaps re-draft the yoke so that, on paper, it will slope slightly upward at the edges.  I'll likely narrow the shoulders and back at least 1/2" on each side.

I'll likely move the shoulder seam to where those pins are.

I think she needs some sort of sloping shoulder adjustment in front too.  There may be other adjustments to make and if they're obvious to you please let me know.

 She wants this to be loose-fitting for summer but not so over-sized that it isn't flattering.  Originally we were going for a caftan top.

I'll add some shaping in front too.

I'm surprised how much I'm enjoying working on this.  Since my mother lives with us, she can try things on immediately -- no waiting.  This blouse goes together quickly, so once I make my changes I can whip up another version pretty fast.  I hope to get another version done by week's end.



Have a great day, everybody!

Sewing for Mom + My New Hat

I have the fabric, I have the mother, now I just have to get started.

I want to make my mother a few summer tops and, if you saw my last post, you saw the beautiful cotton floral fabric I picked up at Metro Textiles on Thursday (also above).

I have a few patterns I think will work, but I may just start by making her a simple sloper using a shirt pattern of mine.   She tried on my patchwork madras shirt yesterday and the fit isn't bad.  Her shoulders are much narrower of course, and her back is quite curved, but I can make those adjustments pretty easily (I think).



I want to make this this coming week and I'm asking you to hold me accountable.  Once we have the sloper fitted, the top shouldn't take too long -- we're talking basic tunic/caftan shapes.

In unrelated news, I wanted to share some cool shots of cars I've seen on my most recent photo shoots.  I don't own a car myself but I'd be happy to have either of these in the garage.  Actually, I don't have a garage either.





Nice, huh?

Moving right along, I did something I'm not proud of recently: I went to a brick and mortar hat store and tried on straw hats.  I saw a gorgeous Stetson Panama fedora for $175 but, friends, I couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money for something that would get ruined in the rain or could blow off my head while I'm bicycle riding.  Plus where do you put it when you go to a restaurant?  (Hat check girls are a vanishing species.)

The part I'm not proud of is that I immediately went on Amazon and found a much, much cheaper version -- not a true Panama but still a Stetson (and straw) that cost about 1/4 the price.   It arrived yesterday and I love it.







I'm thinking of this as a starter hat and if I wear it a lot this summer maybe I can rationalize spending more on a true Panama purchased from my favorite hat store, J.J. Hat Center.  BTW, they don't carry the hat I bought so it's not like it was an option.

Finally, I'm really enjoying my new iPhone.  Who knew what a joy texting could be, or just checking my email on the fly?  I've even joined Instagram!

In closing, what does one do with a hat like this when you need to take it off in a public place -- lay it on the floor?

Have a great day, everybody!