Sewaholic Renfrew tee and Ottobre 02/2007-1 tank

Whenever I want some quick and satisfying sewing, lately I have been turning to the Sewaholic Renfrew tee.

This is my fourth time making it, which is nearly a record for me. It helps that they are so quick to knock out. I love instant gratification sewing.

This time, I decided to make the V-neck with long sleeves, out of a snuggly sweater knit that I scored at Walmart for a dollar a yard. It's insanely soft stuff, but also seriously unstable and a royal PITA to sew.

The drapey, unstable nature of the knit is what makes this sweater so cozy though so I think it was worth the pain and agony. In terms of alterations, the only thing I did was my usual cheater FBA on the front bodice and sleeve. The back was already traced from my prior Renfrews, so that saved some time.

Peek a boo!! Unfortunately, the loose knit that makes it so soft and drapey, also makes it totally see through, so I needed an additional layer for underneath. Since the 02/2007 copy of Ottobre happened to be out, I traced off the Tank top (model #1) and sewed it up.

I had a long, skinny strip of slinky knit left over from this outfit, and it was exactly enough for this tank. Yay for stashbusting and for using my Ottobre Woman magazines! I did the same sort of cheater FBA on this, just grading out to the size 40 at the underarm, then back to the 38 at the waist. Slinky is really forgiving, so I didn't stress out too much about the fit.

The pattern calls for binding at the neckline and armhole, but there are very few things less appealing than trying to do a binding with slinky. I just made a plain band and topstitched the neckband down. It was much less fussy than messing around with a binding.

The neckline on the Ottobre tank is a bit higher than the Renfrew V neck, so it shows a bit, but I like the casual, layered look that results, so I'm pleased. I'm glad I finally tried out this Ottobre tee as well. It's the basis for several other styles in that issue, so it'll be fun to try out some of those!

Ottobre 05/2007-1 "Vintage Blouse"

Wait, it's not for the kids! That's right, I finally tried out an Ottobre Woman pattern!

This is the "Vintage Blouse", style #1 from the 05/2007 issue of Ottobre Woman. It is one of the styles that really caught my eye when I first got this issue last year. The fabric I used is a Tencel shirting from FabricMart. I think the soft drape it has is perfect for the vintage styling of this blouse.

It is a fairly basic style, with darts for shaping. I haven't ever been completely successful fitting a darted blouse, and while this is the best I've gotten so far, it isn't perfect. The horizontal bust darts are too long, and my initial placement of the vertical dart was totally off. After the blouse was completely finished, I ended up unpicking the dart and moving it. It was not my happiest moment.

The collar is one piece, without a stand. I generally prefer a collar with stand, but this is a style I see quite often in vintage patterns. It is definitely easier to sew, and I think it has a ladylike look. I interfaced the collar, front facings and cuffs with silk organza. I thought that a sew in interfacing would be more vintage feeling, and silk organza paired nicely with the tencel. I love the crisp drape it has.

The sleeves are gathered into narrow cuffs. The pattern attaches the cuffs with topstitching, and also includes topstitching on the collar and down the front edges. I omitted all of the topstitching and slipstitched my cuffs down by hand.

One of the things I was looking forward to exploring with this pattern is how the Ottobre blouse draft works for me. I'm happy to say that I think it is comparable to Burda, in that the ease in the pattern is not excessive. I made my "usual" fit adjustments (although as I mentioned, I'm still working on perfecting the FBA on a darted bodice) and the fit is reasonable. I do wish I had done a broad back adjustment though. I generally need one, and didn't do it here for some reason and I do have a bit of tightness when I move my arms forward. There is a shoulder dart in this pattern, so a broad back adjustment would actually be quite easy.

I'm not usually a "tucker", but I like this blouse tucked into my high waisted jeans. It has a bit of a Rosie the Riveter vibe, yes?

ETA: I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who had trouble fitting this blouse on a large bust. Debbie and Angie, both of whom are excellent and experienced seamstresses, had trouble with this draft, so if you want to make this blouse, tread carefully and check out Debbie's review.

This is the final piece of my Fall Wardrobe for the SAL on PR, so as soon as I can get photos edited, I'll do an outfit post with the other four pieces.