Marfy 1640 Top Finished

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We have 4" of snow on the ground, and I just finished a thin, summery top. I'm not usually this far ahead of the season, but it's getting close to time to order Marfy patterns from the new catalog, and I thought I'd better get with it and use one of the ones I already had that I hadn't tried yet. I'm very pleased that I did as I think it turned out quite well.

I was procrastinating on this because I needed to do a major FBA on it, and I was worried about the empire seam being unflattering anyway. Luckily, I decided to do a muslin-method to alter the pattern, and it turned out well. It gave me more of a real look at what the final effect of the changes would be than a flat pattern alteration.


You can see the lines of the pattern here. I ended up adding width to the Side-Front panel at the bustline, and at the CF. I added quite a bit of length as well, which would happen automatically with a regular FBA. Since I added width at the bustline at the side-front/front seamline, I needed to add width to the Side-Back panel too. I ended up taking some of the hip room out again, but only on the right side.

You can see the side and back views below.


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The trickiest part of the construction was the neckline. They only give you a pattern piece for a ribbon to run through the casing, but I knew as soon as I saw it that it was going to need more than that to hold its shape, etc. I used 1" elastic which I secured to the back of the casing only at each end. I then ran 1 1/2" satin ribbon, doubled at the ends, through the casing over the elastic, and secured it invisibly through all layers. I may yet stitch the sides of the doubled ribbon together to make it work as a single layer, but I thought I'd try this first, as the stitching may make it stiff.

The buttons on the pockets and under the tabs are sewn on with backer buttons for strength. I can't imagine I'll ever be unbuttoning them, although they're perfectly functional. I did skip the tiny pocket bags under the tabs.


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Summer Sewing in the Snow

Yes, it's snowing here, and not just a little bit.

I'm just about done with the Marfy #1640 blouse I started recently. I just need to hem it, sew on a couple more buttons and do a few finishing touches. Here's a close-up of the pocket, flap and tab on one side. I think all the details turned out really cute.

Originally I thought I'd have to leave some of the details off, but with my lowered empire seam, it worked out perfectly. The fabric is a very light voile I got from FabricMart last year. I think it's perfect for this design. The print is very large scale and abstract, and there's no question of needing to match it, which makes it all kind of fun and spontaneous.





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You may remember the cabled sweaters I knitted for my brother and one nephew for Christmas 2 years ago, using a pattern from Drops. I am now ready to knit one for the older nephew. I didn't want to do his until he was a little older because he was close to 'growth spurt age' and I wanted this to be wearable for more than a year or two. He's going to get a somewhat oversized sweater anyway, but he'll soon grow into it, I'm sure. Boys don't generally mind wearing things that are a little big anyway. He chose the color, Delta in the same wool I used before, Bendigo's Rustic. Lovely yarn, and I ordered it yesterday. I'll be interested to see how soon it comes because they generally send things very, very quickly.

Wild Stripes

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Here's another version of Vogue 2719. The fabric is a cotton stripe, meant for quilting. I fell in love with the colors and the unusual striping. It looks a little like the rainbow of colors you get off a grease puddle. One interesting thing was that no matter how hard I tried, I could not distinguish a right and wrong side. They aren't exactly alike, but one is not paler than the other, and I like both, and honestly, I couldn't really tell the difference, so I was just careful to make sure I ended up with a right and left sleeve and front, etc. While I managed that alright, I made a crazy mistake I've never made before. I laid out the fabric and the pattern and cut it out as if the selvedge were the fold. So, I have a tiny seam at CB. No problem, and this has tiny, tiny selvedges, so I didn't lose much width. I honestly didn't notice until I was ready to mark the darts on the back, and wondered why I had 2 pieces instead of 1. Ah well, I shouldn't cut at night.

This is basically the same as the Wisteria Blouse, except I cut the pattern on the princess lines, and so this is an actual princess seam pattern.

I've been thinking about it all day as I wore this, and I think the reason I'm somewhat uncomfortable with princess lines on myself is that I have kind of a hollow chest above the bust, and so there seems to be sort of a swooping effect to get from one contour to the other, and it's more obvious with a princess line. Also, I think it emphasizes the fact that I'm very short-waisted. So, it's okay, but I still don't think it's my favorite. My actual favorite dart position is a vertical dart with a horizontal dart. You would think that would be close enough to work out the same, but it seems to be easier to get the body-skimming fit I like than the princess line is.

Quick Burda WOF Top

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I wanted a quick project, and decided that the popular #105 from the May, 2008 Burda World-of-Fashion magazine would be it. I traced it, altered and cut it out Sunday evening, then made it up yesterday. It turned out pretty well, although I don't think it's exactly my best style. I used a printed cotton, and it was very easy to make up. I like the sleeves and the way the shoulders and sleeves fit. I think it's the elastic waist I'm not crazy about. It's okay, but I don't think the poufiness of the peplum is doing anything for me. It calls for 3 large buttons and the 5 snaps underneath are the actual closure. I did as instructed, and then added a few more snaps to make things stay just right.

If I make this again, I would change the elastic to darts or tucks or something. I may just use the sleeves with my favorite saran block blouse, which has kimono sleeves. This would be a nice change, and I love the way the body of that blouse fits. It has fisheye darts in front and back, and lots of shaping in the side seams. It would be interesting to see just how much of the dart shaping of that blouse is in the kimono sleeves, and how much I'd lose if I changed to raglan.

I'm ready to topstitch the collar and lapels on the Marfy #1234 jacket, but I thought I wanted some Tiger Tape to help me make perfectly even stitches. I was amazed to find that none was available in town, even with all the quilt shops here. I have read some more since, and decided that I can probably do just fine without it. I hope so anyway. I think I'm going to just go for it, as usual. I've been doing samples, and I like a thicker cotton thread the best.

Trial and Error

 

I've been working on getting a nice fitted top that I can use to do a 2-piece dress with and have been through 3 muslins, one wearable, which you see above. After the wearable one, I realized that if I wanted better results, I ought to start with something different as a base. I was using a very fitted Marfy jacket pattern with nice princess seams plus a dart. It was working somewhat, but I realized that no matter how nice princess seams work for everyone else, they've never been my best style. So, I decided to start with a darted pullover Vogue blouse pattern that I had altered using my saran block. I consider the two blouses I've made from it in the past to be some of the best-fitting and most comfortable ones I have, so why not start there? This seemed to work very well. and I'm very pleased with what I whipped up tonight. I made a nice wide scoop neckline and it has small sleeves which I think improve over a sleeveless top for me. I think I'm going to use facings on it instead of lining it completely like I did here, although I do want to underline it.

I will start tweaking my skirt pattern tomorrow and I don't anticipate much trouble there. If I have enough fabric to do it, I want to do a fairly deep pleat on each side of the center and put pockets there.

I ordered a very large scale floral print for this, and I think it's going to be nice. It probably would have been nice to have it done for Easter, except that it's going to be so cold Sunday that I may have to wear my winter coat.

I've also been knitting on a new project. It's the Cropped Cardigan from the big anniversary issue of Vogue Knitting from last fall? I didn't think much of it when I saw the magazine, but Elann had someone knit it up in one of their yarns, and it look so much better than the original. I like the pattern stitch very much. They just call it Textured Stitch, but I realized it looks kind of like crocheted Afghan Stitch to me, although with extra diagonals. It's kind of fun to knit, too. The right side has you slip a stitch, knit a stitch, yarn over, and then pass the slipped stitch over the other two. You just purl back on the wrong side.

 

Fall Sewing - Ruched Skirt

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I knew when I saw this skirt pattern in the May 2007 Burda WOF magazine that I wanted to make it, and I knew the perfect fabric. Timmel Fabric had had a plaid mesh fabric that kept popping up in my head, but I never knew just what I should do with it. Until I saw this skirt. The original was a plain tulle underskirt with a border print overskirt, but I thought a plain overskirt would be more wearable with such a stylized design. So, I ordered the fabric along with a plain brown in a light weight, and proceeded to do nothing with them for a couple months. I'm glad I waited, as it really seems to be a Fall skirt rather than a summer one, and when I had finished it, my real problems began, as I tried to find something that I wanted to wear with it.

I had lots of help from some very discerning eyes, and the consensus was that it went best with a Marfy zip-front jacket that I made a couple years ago. (The colors are better in person, as I lightened this photo a bit so the skirt shows better.) So, now I had a jacket, I now needed a blouse. I had enough left of the plaid to make a blouse, and so I tried on several styles to see what I liked with the jacket, and decided on Vogue 2719, which I had made previously in a batik. You can see the collar under the jacket above, or here's a photo of just the skirt and blouse.


Link to larger photo here.

I put 2 collars on the blouse. I used the brown skirt fabric for the undercollar on the top collar and the top of the lower collar. It's a small detail, suggested by Linda's description of an Armani jacket, although completely different, and not nearly so wonderful. It was fun to do something different, though.


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Cream Marfy 1251 Blouse

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I finally buckled down and finished the blouse I've been fooling around on. It's Marfy 1251, the flounce blouse pattern, without the flounce or the sleeves. It's a little longer than the green version, and I must say, it's a very cool, comfortable summer blouse. As you can see, it's a bit roomy although it has some shaping, and in fact, I took it in a lot all around below the bust to the hem.

The fabric is silk with an embroidered windowpane design. I bought it several years ago off the $1/yard table at Wal-Mart. I knew it was going to find it's pattern match someday. As it turned out, I'm not sure this was the perfect match after all. I like it very much, and I like it with this style. It was easy to sew, so what's the problem? It was just impossible to match the pattern because it was not embroidered in a perfect grid pattern. It looks pretty good, but it's not perfect enough to match. The front's good enough I think, but the CB seam was not going to match, so I gave up and decided that's just one of the "perks" of using human-embroidered fabric rather than something done by machine. I'm sure this was done in India or somewhere and thus, like Madras plaid, it's got its own little peculiarities, but that just shows that it's hand done. That's my story anyway!


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I was afraid that buttons would be a problem, as I didn't want plain white. The fabric is more of a pearl or pale cream color, and I was thrilled to find these pale, pale pink vintage glass buttons in my button collection. I think they're perfect, and there were just the right number, so it must have been meant to be. There are weird reflections off the button onto the fabric in the photo or something, but there is no discoloration on the fabric in actuality.

I did hand work on the sleeve edges, turning twice and stitching by hand for a very thin, flexible finish, and serged and turned once at the hem and hand stitched. I was going to turn twice at the hem, but it was getting a bit thick, and I didn't want to take the chance of having it flip up, as many very narrow hems do. This seems to be staying down so far.


Click here for more detailed photo.

I like the inverted-V shape on this version, whereas on the green one I wasn't so sure. This is a bit longer and I think that makes a difference.

You can see all the photos and a couple more HERE.

Books, Blouses and Bad Weather

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The photo above is from June 22 (see how lax I've been!) and I looked out the north window and was just stunned with the beauty of the light, the clouds, and the ferocity of it all. I am very sorry to say that we only got the few drops on the window to show for it all. We're really starting to wish for rain around here, and my grass is not happy either.

Now that June is over, and with it, the end of the fiscal year, and all that entails, I suddenly feel as though a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I'm getting close to done with a Marfy blouse that I've been forcing myself to work on. Not sure why I have to be forced, as I'm anxious to get it done and wear it, but I think there's something about my ingrained guilt that says if I'm procrastinating about something I don't want to do (like end-of-fiscal-year stuff) then I can't use my wasted time for doing something I really do want to do. Silly, but I've noticed this before. I guess that way, I too, shall suffer.

Anyway, the blouse is the same flounce blouse I did in dark green, except without the flounce, and without the sleeves. It's cute, although the fabric is somewhat of a problem. It's not just exactly what I'd call on-grain. It's silk with an embroidered windowpane check which doesn't seem just exactly square. I think it's going to be fine for this anyway, and I've found the perfect pale, pale pink square antique buttons for it. Only 4, so it's lucky that's what it calls for.

I met with most the the local Sewing Guild officers at the Guild's monthly Charity Sewing night (we're making fleece mittens for the Head Start kids) to begin to think about the next year, and although the programs are all pretty much set, we need to take a different direction as an organization. This has been my feeling for quite a while, and I was so glad that they not only concurred, but had been thinking this for some time also. It's a lovely group of ladies, but it's been very much "stuck in a rut" for a few years. I think the membership is ready to try something new if only someone will tell them what they should try. We are going to start with organized business meetings, no matter how little business. It's been years since minutes have been read of a previous meeting, and even if someone manages to make a motion about something, we don't generally end up voting. Belonging to several groups with semi-rigid parliamentary procedure and this group, the difference has made me appreciate just how far the framework can get you.

I've been knitting away furiously on the Xmas gift sweater, and I've divided for the armscyes and am now getting near the top of the back. Then it's on to the front, the sleeves and then finishing. So, I hope to be done by Fall.

I've also been listening to more Audio Books from my local library.


I really enjoyed The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. It's an unusual construct, but very well-thought-out, and very much a page-turner.



I must wholeheartedly recommend Growing Up Lutheran: What Does This Mean? Janet Martin and Suzann Nelson to anyone who grew up in the Lutheran church, especially if you are Scandinavian. The authors were about 10-15 years ahead of me, and are both Norwegian, and I'm Swedish, but so much is exactly the same. I would really recommend the CD or audio-book, as the presentation is half the fun. This would be a great gift for older relatives who "lived through it." I took a copy to my parents this afternoon, and my mother especially was laughing and reciting with them. "This is most certainly true."

Marfy Flounce Blouse #1251

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I finished the Marfy blouse I was altering the pattern for in my last post. I think the alterations were about right, although I had to take in the front from the waist down. This fabric also has a slight tendency to grow a bit, as it's so very loosely woven. It's a silk gauze with a "flocked" paisley design. It's from FabricMart, and I've had it quite a while. When it came, it was much darker than I'd thought it would be, and so although I still liked it and wanted to use it, it wasn't right for what I'd had in mind. I thought it fit the boho feel of this blouse, however, and it was very nice to work with.

The actual construction took me just a week, but the cutting out seemed to go very slowly for some reason. I used a loden silk organza for the interfacing, and I'm pretty pleased about how it doesn't really change the color of the fabric. Wherever there's interfacing however, there's also a facing or double layer of some kind, and so that changes the color anyway.

The sleeve "cuffs" gave me some trouble in deciding just how to do them. They are not a real opening cuff, they simply are a narrow band above the sleeve flounce, which has a buttonhole through a doubled spot, which is then buttoned to the cuff a little further on. I've seen this before, I think in Roberta Carr's Couture book, but I've never actually made one.

Although I like this blouse, I don't think it's my best style. I have never felt comfortable in ruffles, and although these flounces don't bother me, and are better than actual ruffles, I'm really the more tailored type. I know that, and I should just stick with it. I like tailored things anyway. I plan to make this blouse again, but with the lapel on both sides and plain sleeves. I'll also skip the V in the hem.

Pattern Alterations

I'm altering a pattern for a blouse from Marfy #1251, which as you can see has a lapel on one side, and a flounce on the other. So, they give you both a left and a right front piece. I altered the side with the lapel, and will cut both sides from it, and cut off the lapel for the flounce side. You can see my FBA below, next to the unaltered flounce-side front piece.  

Since I bought the pattern in a size for my shoulders, besides altering from a 44 at the shoulders to a 48 for the bust, I also altered the sleeve, which was both too narrow and too short. The bottom edge seamline is the original length, as you attach a band and then a flounce, and I didn't want to have to redraft the flounce, which is of course, a spiral.
I'm beginning to cut this in a deep green silk gauze, which will be sort of a test, as if it fits well, I'd like to try it in a plaid or stripe, which will show the changing grainline on the flounces.

Marfy 1294 Silk Chiffon Blouse and Silk Drawstring Pants

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Well, this is the result of my decision that I needed to add a few (or at least one) trendy piece to my wardrobe. The blouse is an edited version of Marfy 1294, which is one of the free patterns in the Spring 2007 Marfy catalog. Photo LinkPhoto Link
I liked it, but felt it was too young for me, and that I would look silly in it. However, I remembered a photo I had saved from a Fall 2006 runway show, and this pattern was perfect for making my own version. It's very similar except for the use of bands instead of elastic casings. The Moralioglu has the front band above the bust, which I very much like on the model, but I changed it to below the bust, which was much better on me.

The fabric was part of a free bundle from FabricMart, and was perfect for this blouse, so I was very pleased.

I really like the back neckline treatment, and the fact that the back is straight.
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The pants, which just happen to be a perfect match for the blouse, were made before I even decided to make the blouse. They are my regular pant pattern with a drawstring waist, in a corded silk fabric, which I like, but it does wrinkle almost like linen. They're very nice and cool though, so they'll be great for summer, which is what I wanted. It's supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow, so I guess it's about here.

You can see some detail shots of the blouse here.

Coral Marfy Blouse is Done

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I finished the coral cotton/silk Marfy #1101 blouse last night. Actually it was all done on Monday except the buttonholes and buttons. This version fits quite differently than the last one I made, which was a chiffon, and is more fitted looking. This fabric has lengthwise crinkles or disorganized pleating, and it gives it quite a stretch factor. I knew it was going to be much more casual in look and in fit, and that's fine. The sleeves turned out very long, and since the chiffon sleeves were just right, that was a surprise. This has the cuffs coming down over my hands, but that is about how they're supposed to be, but I don't think that's really my style. I simply made fold-back French cuffs, which I like, as the line of the cuff echoes the line of the collar. I had buttons on hand which were the correct size, and a perfect color match. Now I wonder if I should have used something with a little more contrast. It's a little plain looking, but maybe that's a good thing. I can always change them if I want to, I guess.

This should be a nice cool blouse to wear this spring and summer, even with the long sleeves. They can always be turned up too.

Here's the pink interfacing I used.

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Lower Right is the fused interfacing.
Center is right side of facing with interfacing fused to it.
Upper Left is unfused fabric for comparison.

Here's the pattern illustration from Marfy.

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