This used to be one of my favorite patterns. I have gained weight since I last made it, but I figured that it would work just as well if I retraced it. Instead of grading up the last version, I retraced a larger size. I’m not happy with it. It doesn’t fit in the shoulders/neck.

The thing is that I knew that would happen. So, oh, well. I’m going to put it aside for now and look at another button front woven shirt pattern. Maybe that new Sandra Betzina one from Vogue.

I like this sheath dress. Not that I’ve made a sheath in the past, but maybe this one!

This long shirt is nice, too. And there’s no reason why it has to be so long.

This may be the straight skirt for me. It is supposed to come down below the knees, so I shall have to lengthen it being long of leg. I would replace the facing with petersham ribbon.

So I decided to cut out another twist top dress. I wore this one yesterday, and Wowza! everyone (well, like 5 people) exclaimed on how great the dress is. Happy Dance!

I have a lovely navy knit with white roses on it. Lori gave it to me at a BABES.

I’m happily cutting away. I’ve got the back pieces and centerfront cut. I lay out the last of the navy knit and place the sidefronts on it. I decide to check to see how the front top piece will fit, and it won’t!

So what do I do? I stop. I put down the pattern pieces and my rotary cutter, and I leave the room.

I come back after I’ve calmed down. What to do? Hey, how about I follow the recommendations in the pattern instructions and cut the front top pieces out in a single layer? I’d like you to know that I had read the pattern instructions. Just because I rarely follow them anymore doesn’t mean that I don’t look at them.

So the side fronts and one top front piece are cut. I still have to cut the other front top, the sleeves, and the godets. I will probably have to piece fabric for the sleeves or the godets or both. We shall see.

I think my favorite patterns come from the Burda Plus magazine. They usually send 4 pattern sheets with each magazine. That’s 2 large pieces of paper printed front and back. The sewing lines are printed in different colors for different patterns.

This sheet is from E952, the spring 2007 issue. I was getting ready to trace pattern 406 Dress.

As you can see, if I cut out a pattern, it would destroy the sheet for all other patterns on it. Plus, I use seam allowances, so I would need to add them somehow. So that’s one reason that I started tracing.

The other reason is that when I tissue fit with tissue, I shred the tissue. I just can’t be gentle enough with it. I like to use PatternEase to trace, and that doesn’t rip so easy.

My twist top dress progresses well. I chose a polyester knit. It’s pretty lightweight, but it has body. It feeds thru the serger very nicely. It isn’t easy to cut. The knit is floppy and stretchy, so I decided to cut the dress out in a single layer. It takes much longer, but with the linearity of the print, I had to get it grain on.

I decided to to have a centerback seam, so that I’d have sufficient room for my butt. That meant that the only piece that I needed to cut on the fold was the center front.

I did make alterations. I used the top pieces from my twisttop t-shirt, and I started with a 46 for the fronts and backs. I added to the sides at the hips and in centerback for my butt.

Instead of sewing the princess seams then inserting the godets, I prefer to sew the godets to the center piece, then sew the princess seams.

So my dress is almost complete. I’ve got the front fully assembled, and I’m sewing the princess seams on the back. Hopefully, I have a new dress, soon.

These are out of stretch cotton. I can’t figure out this pattern. All the pants that I’ve made, except the pair that I think is too small, they all fall down at the waist and end up hanging half way down my thighs. Not comfy. So I made this pair slightly below the waist, not where they are too small. And they are too small across the tummy. Argh

I’m working on the twist-top knit dress from BWOF Spring 2007 So far, I have traced and altered the pattern, and I have it all cut out except for the left front. Hopefully, I’ll get that cut tonight.

I’m using a knit that Georgene gave me. It’s a poly knit, pretty lightweight. The background is navy and it has med blue and white circles on it.

Update on Simplicity 2956

Remember my rant? Well, it turns out that I forgot to put in a pattern piece. I add that piece, and everything is fine. I think the top is a tad big in the back and a bit too low under the arms. I couldn’t manage to take a good picture of it.

I’ve also got a pair of pants in the making.

The pants are cut and the front fly is complete. I’m short on interfacing for the yokes, so I’ve got to go shopping before I can go any further on them.

I’m pretty sure the fabric came from a BABES, and that reminds me that I need to check to see what BABES is up to these days.

Jacket with collar

The front – sorry for the crummy pic.
The sleeve is just basted in to check how
well it fits in the armhole.

I had to stay home with Pulguito. He had a fever of 102F and threw up this morning. I feel terrible now. I think I might have it. Pulguito seems to be fine.

I feel terrible. I want to sleep. My head hurts, and I have no energy. I felt fine this morning.

When I finally got enough energy to do a bit of sewing, I didn’t have any fun! It was time to ease the sleeves into the jacket. I hate that. Well, I used to hate it. I never could get the sleeve in smoothly. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. But I still dread it.

Before I run the ease line on the sleeve cap, I pin the sleeve into the armhole just to check things. The back of the sleeve seems long.

Well, I’m an optimist, so I go over to the sewing machine and run my ease line. I gather up the sleeve cap and pin it into the armhole again. The front goes in great, but not the back.

The back

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