Swingy Cardi

The second garment in my mini-wardrobe for late autumn and winter, this cardigan is going to get a lot of use.  The fabric is terrific, and I can't say enough good about it.  It's a rayon/spandex ponte from Sawyer Brook, and it's a breeze to sew.  The hand is very drapey, not stiff at all, and it's very soft on my skin.  It's very comfortable to wear.  I've worn it a couple of times and like it so much I bought some of the purple, too.  The navy is sold out, but flame (a bright orange-red) and purple are still available here. 

I like a vee neck, collarless cardigan to layer over a variety of tops.  McCall's 6168 appealed to me for it's curved hem.  Rather than coming to a point at the side seams, the hemline is rounded.  I love how
nicely it falls:

The pattern was easy to fit, although these photos tell me I could narrow the shoulder width a bit, if/when I make it again.  I added the usual 2 to 3 inches to the length. 

I'm glad to be enthused about this jacket now that I'm wearing it, because I wasn't so thrilled as I was sewing it.  Despite the swingy cut and curved hem, the styling felt very plain to me.  I'm really craving excitement in my clothing these days, and would rather not make boring clothing.  To add some extra oomph, I topstitched it with a twin needle, rather than a single.  I liked the raised ridge created by the needles, as it gives some definition to the garment's lines.

The button style is a long-time favorite of mine at work, and it was great to finally let it add the perfect finishing touch to a garment in my wardrobe.  I like the simple yet distinctive styling of the button.  Notice how the curved lines arcing across the center of the button echo the curved lines in the garment.  Call me a button geek, but I like buttons to be in synch with the garment.  I actually had these buttons in mind when I chose the pattern for the jacket.  Ok, yes - I am a button geek!

What was really interesting to learn is how this fabric changes color in certain lighting.  Under the Ott light and at the window at work, the buttons looked like a perfect color match.  When I sat down at home to sew them on, I was dismayed to see the buttons looked very blue against the fabric.  They really didn't look good at all.  Even my husband agreed with me, and he's not super picky about matching buttons!  I discovered it was the incandescent light I was working under.  It changed the hue of the fabric, but not the buttons.  Knowing the combination looks great in daylight and under fluorescents, I decided to go ahead with the plan.

Yes, the styling of this jacket is a bit plain, and the fabric is plain, and the color is basic, and the buttons are quiet - but I love how I can change its look with a different top and accessories.  Here I am at work wearing a teal shell and a funky chunky necklace:

And for all of you jewelry and bead fanatics, here are images of the necklace.  I purchased it from a button maker at a fabric expo last spring.  It's a bit shiny and busy for my taste, but I've grown to like it.  It's perfect for upping the ante of a simple outfit.

This swingy jacket will look great with the bright pink tee I made a couple of months ago, and a coordinating scarf currently in the works.  I love wearing it with the teal Alice + Olive top and comfy jeans - a great combination.  You can bet you'll see more of it here as I add more tops to my wardrobe!

Alice + Olivia Cowl Top

I've been doing more sewing than blogging these days, for sure.  I have three completed garments that I haven't yet written about.  Obtaining good photos of me wearing my garments is a challenge.  DH does his best, but doesn't have a critical eye for seeing things that are out of place, nor does he know how to pose me for the best shots.  Oh, how I wish I lived near my professional photographer sister!  Posing for her is a delight, and her photos are the best ever!  Since we live far apart, DH's photos are good enough.

The tunic styles offered by Vogue 1261 appealed to me the moment I first set eyes upon them.  I love an uneven hemline and unusual construction techniques that result in a trendy, edgy garment.  In those aspects, this pattern is loaded.  The loose fit looked promising for my plus size figure.  I made the cowl neck version, and am very happy with the result.

The fabric is a luscious rayon jersey from Marcy Tilton.  It has good two-way stretch, which is required in this version.  The jersey doesn't curl, which was a big help in the cutting and construction processes, and necessary for smooth raw edges.  The armscyes are cut quite close to the underarm, and there are no darts, so the dual direction stretch probably helps with the fit in that area.  There are small folds under the arms, but I really didn't want to add darts, as there are so many other details in the design.  I cut the largest size, and added about an inch to the underarm seams.  I'm quite happy with the fit, although it's just a bit too wide across the chest.  If/when I make it again, I'll probably subtract a little wudth through the chest, to help draw in the fit an inch or so.

The primary design details are seams sewn wrong sides together and twin needle stitched from the wrong side.  I noticed on Pattern Review that several reviewers chose not to construct it this way, but I stuck with it and really like the look. 

I did change how the center back seam is sewn.  The instructions have you press the seams to the outside, butt the seams together, tape paper to them to stabilize the seam, and sew it with a twin needle from the inside of the garment.  This didn't really sound too stable, and seemed a bit risky, so I sewed the seam with wrong sides together, reinforced it with Design Plus fusible stabilizing tape (a great product!) and a layer of Totally Stable (another great product!) to give it stability and give enough bulk for the twin needle stitching to look good.  Since the seam was covered by interfacing and stabilizer, I drew a pencil line to guide me as I stitched.  A lot of effort, but I think it was successful.

 

I toyed with just using a zig-zag stitch on the outside, but found it was flat and I rather liked the dimensionality added by the twin needle stitching.  Removing the stabilizer was a long, tedious task that I performed in front of the TV.  It took much care, as pulling hard on it distorted the stitches.  Tweezers were an essential tool for this job!  Several layers of Solvy might have been a better product choice.

Viola, the finished seam, outside and inside:

The pattern calls for narrow ribbon to be sewn over the seam allowances, allowing the stitching to show in between.  I think that would be a great look but I knew I wouldn't find ribbon to match this fabric, so I simply trimmed the seam allowances to 3/8", and left them at that.

The reverse twin needle stitching is used on the center back collar seam, collar edge binding, and sleeve head seams.  I skipped the Totally Stable on these seams, and the stitches formed nicely.  Yards of fusible bias tape later, I finished the task.

The sleeve seams are a bit ragged because of the extra fabric resulting from easing the sleeve cap, but that just ups the funk factor.

 I love the drape of this collar.  It falls low enough that I can wear a short necklace, and it adds a bit of warmth without the close fit of a turtleneck.  Since the fabric is quite stretchy, I stabilized the neck edge with fusible tape early on in the construction process.  That prevented it from getting pulled out of shape, which would have easily occurred.

The sleeve and bottoms hems are single needle stitched 5/8" from the edge and left raw.  This was a pleasureable way to finish the tunic, as the twin needle reversed seams had taken a lot of time.  If the seams were all sewn to the inside, this would be an easy pattern to fit and sew.  If constructed as directed, the difficulty is raised a notch or two.  I'm glad I stuck with the original design, as I like wearing things that are a bit unusual.   The tunic is easy to wear, the color is soothing, and I feel very comfortable in it.  It is the first piece of my winter 6-pac, and I plan to wear it often!