Sew Distracted

It's About Time.....

I did finish the nightgown today and I am very pleased.  

Here is a picture on Matilda, who is a little bigger than I am, and is wearing a bra to boot. It fits better on me, but I'm not going to share that view.  

The pattern is one of the new Vogues, 8565, a top or tunic for moderate stretch knits.

I did a few things differently.

First of all I used a stretch purchased from Nancy Erickson this month. The silk has crosswise stretch and tests out to be the same as a Hanro nightgown I own and wanted to copy. I purchased this pattern because it was on sale for $3.99 and it is pretty close to my existing nightgown. I am all for saving trouble whenever possible. 

I cut a size 12 through the shoulders and bust, an 8 through the neckline, and actually tapered back down to a 10 through the hips, although I tend to be hippy. This top flared out much more over the hips than the nightgown I was copying.

I cut an 8 at the neckline as I am narrow in the upper chest. I did not do a FBA because the size 12 attern was actually about 1/2" bigger than my nightgown, so the top is fairly roomy. Normally I would say I am about a size 16-18 through the bust. I probably followed the pattern directions pretty closely. They seemed clear enough on first reading, but I basically read them and put them back in the folder.

There were a few mishaps, as I mentioned in my prior post. This was meant to be an easy first project, but even though it is very easy, there is no accounting for operator stupidity.

My original intention was to bind the neckline with narrow ribbon, as in my original nightgown. Somehow during the process of constructing the top, I thought I wasn't up for the meticulously close stitching required so I thought I would opt for bias tape, as recommended by the pattern. That might work for a heavier knit, but the bias tape I had in stock was too thick and stiff for the lightweight silk. I cut the neckline out and rebound it today. I actually like the slightly lower neckline a little better. As you can see on Matilda, it is still nowhere near risque. The final neckline only took a few minutes and turned out quite nicely.

Here Here is a detail photo of the neckline and the 1/4" pleats.

I think I will make the pleats narrower if I make this again as a nightgown. If I use a very lightweight knit, or another stretch silk, 1/8" will be nicer than 1/4" but I do like this nightgown as it is.

I might also lengthen it by about 1 1/2". This one just barely clears my bottom. Now G thinks that is a perfect length, but I continue to believe that another inch won't hurt. Unfortunately I did not quite have enough fabric for that.

I do like this enough that I will make it again as a nightgown. I might even make it as a top, but the top would have to be lightweight and much looser to allow attractive draping around the middle-aged middle.

So all in all, I have started the year well. I had hoped to sew more, but at least I got started. And I sewed up half the fabric I purchased. I think this is a good beginning. And I know I am not going to stop here.

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Almost Perfect

My first sewing project of the new year should have been finished already, and in fact it was, until I took scissors in hand and just cut the neckline off last night before going to bed.

I am using the Nancy Erickson striped silk stretch fabric and Vogue 8565 to make a new nightgown, and I really like the way this is turning out, except for a few miscalculations for whom I have no one but myself to blame.

You see, I wanted a new nightgown and had been planning to trace off a pattern from a favorite Hanro gown, when I saw this pattern among the new Vogues.  About the same time Nancy's newsletter came, the Vogue Patterns went on sale,  and a plan suddenly materialized. 

It would have been perfect if I had stuck to my original vision.  But I didn't.

The whole thing went together beautifully and should have been done in about an hour, not including the cutting.  But, as usual, I let myself get distracted.  

One of the kids called while I was sewing and, instead of waiting, I sewed the shoulder seams while G was in the sewing room talking on the phone and I was half-listening.  That of course means that I was only half paying attention to what I was doing, with the result being that I sewed the back to the front wrong-side out.  Since I was making French Seams you would think I would have caught it before the seams were finished, but no.  Still it was but a minor delay.

Then, because it was late, and I was tired and annoyed with myself about ripping out the shoulders I decided to do the neckline differently than I had originally planned.  The pattern calls for single fold bias tape, and I was just going to enclose the neckline in a narrow ribbon but thought that perhaps the bias tape would be easier, in that I would not have to be as meticulous with the application.  It may have been but I just didn't like it.  It would have been fine with a heavier fabric, in the looser cut of a regular daytime garment.  But I wanted this light and close-fitting and the bias tape was too heavy for the fabric, at least it was not as nice as the narrow rayon ribbon I originally intended to use. 

Never ignore your basic vision for a garment.

I fretted all day Friday, but didn't have time to get back or patience to get back to it.  Finally last night I decided I was never going to rip the bias tape off, and I just took scissors to the garment.  There is plenty of room for a lower neckline.  I will attach the ribbon later today.