Showing posts with label jumper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jumper. Show all posts

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Simplicity 3673, retro 50's jumper, done

Thanks for all your comments about S3673, the Simplicity 1950's retro jumper.  :)
I had asked how to handle the situation where I had mistakenly cut the CF on the fold, so I had an extra 1.25 inches in the front panel.

According to peer review, there was one vote to redo the front skirt panel, and many votes to just leave it as is (it's fine!) and one to tweak the darts (there are 8 darts after all).   Concern was expressed for having a CF seam in corduroy.  I generally don't like CF seams as I think they break up the garment.  And the last time I had a CF seam in a dress, it resulted in the Star Trek dress.  And we all know what bitter memories that dress contains. Ugh.

I wound up undoing just the skirt side seams, and letting the front panel lie "flat".  You can see the front panel is sticking out a bit on each side.

Simplicity 3673 view A/B in progress
Then I sewed down each side.
And I hemmed.
And I wore it with a purchased boat neck shirt (maybe someday I'll make a Peter Pan shirt to wear underneath).
This is what it looked like after wearing it a good part of Sunday:
Simplicity 3673 view A/B done
Somehow I didn't take a picture of the side view, but I took 2 of the 4 back darts a bit more.
Simplicity 3673 view A/B done
It has a short back vent since I cut an inch off the bottom and then folded under twice, by 1.25 inches or so. I wore it to work on Tuesday, kind of concerned it might look like a kindergarten teacher. My coworkers assured me it doesn't look that way? I'm still on the fence. But it was totally comfy since my version is not as form fitting as the envelope picture.

And as you see I didn't add the bow. I think it's more adult-like that way.
Simplicity 3673 view A/B done
The pattern envelope:
DSC07504

So, food. This is a new-to-me recipe, from the Prevention "30 Minute Chicken Dinners" booklet. It's supposed to be "Italian chicken, artichokes and rice" but I didn't have instant rice so I used orzo instead. and I didn't have oregano after my dried spice cleanout, so I used basil instead. I also used fresh parsley from my parsley plant outside, which is still going strong in this colder weather (and even after it was under snow!)
Italian chicken, artichoke and "rice" from Prevention's 30-Minute Chicken Dinners
My library books. I haven't started reading either of them; maybe on the plane to Austin?
Princeton library books
Here's some fall color from my back yard:
fall leaves
Do you know what this tree is? I don't.  I call it the "prickly ball tree"
what is it?
I don't know what I'm sewing next. Maybe one of these? But it won't be this weekend. It's PR Day on Nov 19 and I will be in Austin to celebrate it. I'm flying out this afternoon. Leslie has a packed schedule for those attending. It will be so much fun!
DSC07536 Be well!!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

How I messed up Simplicity 3673 view A/B

DSC07504
I spent 10 hours sewing today and 1 hour cutting and marking yesterday.
I messed up Simplicity 3673 view A/B. 
I knew something was up while making the garment, but didn't know what til almost 6pm today, when I was almost up to the hemming stage (still unhemmed).

Let's see if you guys can figure it out!
Oh and I would totally style this differently.  I want to make/buy a shirt that goes with this better.
I made the length of view B with the sort of belt-like thing of view A (I haven't made that little bow thing; am still on the fence about that).

So, my first clue something was wrong was, the notches for the front bodice and front skirt didn't match
Simplicity 3673 in progress
I thought that was weird.  No one on PR had mentioned anything about notches not matching.
100 bonus points to you if you know what is wrong at this stage!

Continuing on, the gathers under the bust are really loose, and not as plentiful as on the pattern envelope.  The little circles didn't match up at all.


Simplicity 3673 in progress

50 bonus points to you if you know what's wrong at this stage.

And when I tried the dress on, I wound up sewing down the side seams like it's a 12, though I cut the 14. and yet somehow, there is still a lot of room in the front skirt....see how it's triangling out like an A line skirt...but it's supposed to be like a pencil skirt?
Simplicity 3673 in progress
and the hips feel very wide?
Simplicity 3673 in progress

25 bonus points to you if you know what's wrong now.
So I'll just tell the other parts of this sewing story, unrelated to the error, and will disclose what is wrong at the end.

I had fun getting the invisible zipper in; it took three attempts.  I used Amanda's tutorial which helped a lot for matching up the band, and Sunny Gal Studio's hints for sewing the end of the zip
Simplicity 3673 in progress
The band is cut from "uncut" corduroy (i.e. it doesn't have wale)....I used 21 wale corduroy at first (the bodice is lined with the 21 wale corduroy; and the jumper itself is made from 4.5 wale), but it was too short.  (actually that's the 4th clue...10 points).  and didn't have enough left of the 21 wale to cut a continuous piece.  So I went into stash and used the uncut corduroy for the band.  All corduroy is from Joann's.
Simplicity 3673 in progress
Though I got the band to line up, the zipper was not lining up at the top, so I had to undo part of the bodice so I could get up inside there and sew the left side down to meet the right side.
This is when the left and right sides didn't match at the CB seam
Simplicity 3673 in progress
I felt like I had done a good job with the bodice lining because I understitched the lining all around the neckline.  First I stitched the neckline, then understitched the neckline, then stitched the armholes, and understitched the armholes as far as possible. The directions didn't mention understitching at all, but it keeps the lining from rolling to the outside.  Here's what that looks like--a great closeup of the 21 wale corduroy--and the wale of the 4.5 cord too.
Simplicity 3673 in progress
Some more pix:
Simplicity 3673 in progress
Another pic of the front on Emma:



Simplicity 3673 in progress
For lsaspacey: My cute Mary Janes in three colors:
shoes in three colors!
For Gwen, the chicken pot pie I made Tuesday night:
chicken pot pie
SO!   How many points did you get?  Do you know where I went wrong?

Answer:  I cut the front skirt on the fold when it was supposed to have a CF seam. I didn't realize this til I was looking at Pattern Review again, thinking about what to do about the bow, when I looked at christa S's review and saw that her dress had a CF seam....and that's when it hit me.

So, should I leave it as-is or should I fix it? I still have all SA from the size 14 so I could fix it and it would still fit. I don't like CF seams on dresses though and if I realized it I would have cut the front hanging the pattern 5/8 from the fold. So essentially the front of my skirt is 1.25 inches too big.
Also should I make the bow or not?
And does it make me look like a kindergarten teacher?
Be well and good night!