Sunday, November 28, 2010

A "fix it up" kind of Sunday

Ok, Gwen, it cracked me up that you were the one to guess what I'm going to make out of this:
Guess what this is going to be?
I'm going to make a version of your Santa bag! It definitely won't be as nice or "high tech" (no zipper, no feet, no candy cane striped handle, no key ring, no monogram, no quilting). I'm hoping to make it this week. :)

I decided that today I would fix up some shirts!

Shirt 1: the Mondo shirt

Mondo shirt Before:
the Mondo shirt, done

Mondo shirt After:
Mondo shirt:  now with short sleeves

Ok, I wore this shirt twice. I didn't like how the vertical stripe eventually would get scrunched up around my elbow. Yesterday I spent way too much time adding additional horizontal stripes to make this longer, then hating it, then today I chopped the sleeves down to short sleeves. I also removed the neck stitching and then twin needle stitched it. And I tried to make it more fitted in the bodice.

Shirt 2: NewLook 6731

Before:
New Look 6731 view C-ish

After:
NewLook 6731:  now with closer fit, shorter hem, and twin needle stitched hems.
This was the first shirt I made this year (wow my hair has grown a lot in 11 months!), and I didn't wear it a whole lot, mostly because it felt too big and too long, and it had zig zagged instead of twin needle stitched hems.

I cut about an inch and a half off the shirt (including the hem). I then hemmed it an inch with a twin needle, and also twin needle hemmed the sleeves. I shaped it a bit in the bodice and cut out the excess. I really love it now, and think it looks better in real life than in the pix.

Shirt 3: The screaming pink Jalie 2921 tie shirt:
Before:
Jalie 2921 in progress
After:
Jalie 2921:  now with closer fit and non-plunging neckline and twin needle stitched hems

Ok so I kind of hated how this shirt originally turned out. I had added a back seam to take care of some scarf issues and also hated my zigzagged hems. Plus the scarf neckline is really a plunging one when sitting down. So I hand stitched the scarf about 2 inches so it won't plunge anymore, removed the zigzagging and twin needle stitched. I also slightly shaped the shirt and cut off the excess. Now I'm really pleased with it, and also think it looks better in real life than in the pix.

Shirt 4: last week's Vogue cowl neck:

Before:
Vogue 8634 done

Not really "after", more like "in progress":
Vogue 8634: still too big


As debbie pointed out the shirt is just too big for me. I wore it to work on Monday and felt like I was swimming in it. The neckline is big and the cowl is heavy, so the cowl pulls the shirt down in front, not very attractive for working. Look carefully at the "before" and you'll see the raglan sleeve seamline is in the WRONG place. It's far off from where it should be. I tried bringing in the raglan sleeve line some more but the real problem is the cowl and neckline. I'll rip out the cowl and recut the entire top half as size small. I think that will resolve the problem. I will also be sure to try the top on after sewing the raglan seamline but before sewing the cowl back in. Then I can see if the raglan seamline is in the right place and give me a chance to fix it before sewing the cowl back in.

And as for the bow shirt, I ordered the fabric from joann.com last weekend but it hasn't shipped yet.

Good night!!

5 comments:

  1. Wow! You've been busy! I must say that I like all of the changes you made, though. I especially like the change on the Mondo shirt. I didn't think the fit could get better, but what you did made a difference.

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  2. Good on you for making those garments work the way you wanted them to - many of my garments look better in real life too - the camera can be so cruel. (or at least, I hope it's being cruel and not being real).

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  3. You had a really productive day! So glad you were able to update these tops and make them more wearable.

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  4. Love love, love your Mondo shirt. I'm anxious to see what you're Santa bag will look like. The bag I made was for my daughter. It was so much work, that even though I have everything to make one for myself, I haven't got up the ambition to do another.

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  5. I HATE going back and fixing old projects, but it's totally worth it. Hats off to you!

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