Ottobre 03/2014-16 sparkle tee!

My sassy girl recently outgrew her entire tee shirt drawer (conveniently timed for Top Month!), and there was much weeping and wailing as I "made" her get rid of many of her favorites. I told her to choose a few for me to recreate for her. One of those was a RTW Old Navy top that I had added HTV to. It was a beige shirt printed with gold stars all over it, and I really wasn't sure I would be able to recreate it. Where was I going to find the fabric?!

FabricMart came to my rescue with this grey/silver version that Myra just loves. Whew! I was afraid I was going to have to cut a zillion tiny foil stars. That would have been not so fun...

The original shirt had long sleeves and a gathered neckline. Myra requested short, puffed sleeves, since we live in the South and it's hot here. We found a perfect pattern in the 03/2014 issue of Ottobre. The original was designed for striped knits and to be cut on the bias for a diagonal stripe, but I didn't need that, so we cut it on the grain instead. Otherwise I didn't change the pattern at all. It's a really nice basic tee.

The neckline is a nice high scoop, gathered with clear elastic and bound with self fabric. Those stars gave my coverstitch binder a wee bit of trouble, but they sure look nice. The sleeves are puffed just at the cap and hemmed.

The top came in two lengths and I sewed the longer one, in the hopes that Myra will be able to wear it for more than 5 minutes. She's growing so fast these days!

At Myra's request, I replicated the decal on the original top, this time with silver glitter instead of gold. We do love to sparkle around here! I was so happy I was able to replicate a favorite top, and even to improve on it!

*************Tip for tops********************
Since it is Top Month for the stashbusters, I though I'd share a little tip for hemming in a tight spot, such as sleeves on a child's top like this one.

When I know I'm going to have limited space for pressing my hem (or and binding/bands - pretty much anything that is getting sewn in the round), I press the allowance up before sewing the piece into the garment. If it is a particularly small piece, like doll clothing, you can stitch the hem at this point as well, but I don't do that for human clothing, since it leaves a bump under the arm. Pressing the hem is at least 4000X easier on a flat piece than it is once the sleeve seam is sewn and you have a tube to deal with. Once the hem is pressed, it is much easier to fold up and stitch. As I mentioned, this also applies to binding and bands - press them in half before you sew them into a loop. It will be much quicker and easier! I hope that helps with your knit top sewing!

Ottobre 06/2008-16

I've made this skirt before, so this'll be quick.

This is the Tammy skirt from the 06/2008 issue of Ottobre. This time I made it out of black twill. She needed a neutral skirt to wear with all of the pink tops she has. Pants are out of the question, of course.

You can see the details a little better here. For this version, I topstitched the yoke with pink hand quilting thread. I like the thickness the hand quilting thread has. It isn't quite as heavy as topstitching or upholstery thread, but it still packs a punch. I also left the pleats more unpressed to give it a little more body.

It twirls nicely.

My favorite part is the lining. It's cute polka dot satin. I hate hemming polyester satin, so I  just did a serger rolled hem. I think it's pretty fun, and Myra's a wild child so the lining shows quite often.

It's long enough to carry us through at least a season or two. I hope. The blouse she's wearing is Ottobre 01/2010-15, which I blogged about here.

Ottobre 06/2008-16, the "Tammy" skirt

Thanks to everyone who has weighed in so far about my crazy dress idea. If you haven't scoped out the wild vintage fabric, scroll down to the last post and let me know what you think. So far it looks like I've got some sewing to do...

And what have I been doing otherwise? Well, at my last sewing group, one of the ladies brought some tubs of fabric, patterns and notions that her daughter in law had asked her to get rid of. In among the half sewn dresses, random zippers and shoulder pads was a little green Myra-sized top and quite a lot of coordinating plisse. I adopted the poor forlorn yardage and gave it purpose.

I hemmed it long in the hopes that we'll get 2 summers out of it.

The pattern is from the 06/2008 issue of Ottobre. They call it the Tammy skirt. I call it adorable!! It features a curved front yoke with a center front box pleat and symmetrical knife pleats radiating out. I actually ordered this issue after seeing this adorable version in the Ottobre flickr group. Let me tell you, if I ever need a mojo boost, I just surf the flickr group and immediately want to sew something.

In back the waist is elasticated for a nice easy fit. I photographed it from the side to show you that I actually did take the trouble of matching the print.

It is fully lined - gotta love Ottobre. I used some grey cotton/poly broadcloth of unknown origins. I think it was given to me, which makes this outfit essentially free. Gotta love that!

The pattern construction was kind of cool. You pleated the front, attached the yoke and then facing, then stitched on the pleated front lining. Then the back was attached to the back lining and the elastic basted on. Only then were the side seams sewn, with the skirt and lining sewn as one into a long tube. Then the lining was folded into the skirt and the elastic sewn down. You did have to carefully line up the waistline front with the top of the elastic at the back. Of course, the pattern was perfectly drafted, so it all fit together effortlessly. I love Ottobre, and Myra loves her new skirt.