Butterick 6183: project-delay and setting sleeves for beginners

This top could have been finished by now if I only had a machine foot to sew in a regular zipper. The problem: I hadn't. Somehow I've never realized the quiet absence of this accessory for my sewing machine. Thinking back I've only used blind zippers for years, and have never missed a regular zipper foot. I probably assumed it is a sort of standard accessory which comes with every sewing machine. Apparently mine came without...
Visited all sewing machine shops in town but none of them had one, so I had to turn to internet shopping once more. While waiting for the zipper foot to arrive I show you how I set in the sleeves. It is a sort of beginner tutorial, I guess besides setting in zippers this is the hardest thing to sew.
Back in my first sewing years I used to sew the sleevecaps to the armholes flat, before finishing the underarm and side seams. It was not an elegant method.
After a while I tried to set in sleeves like the pro's do and often ended up with a sleeve with the wrong side out.
Nowadays I do stitch the sleeve but set it into the armhole in two parts.


1. Ease sleevecap: sew between the dot markings
I usually sew 2 rows, sometimes 3 with a long stitch length.
Adjust the upper pressure of your machine (I normally use 4, now turn the button to 2) By doing this the machine won't pull the bobbin thread up. This allows you to gather the fabric by pulling the bobbin threads.


2. Stitch underarm seam, press and turn the sleeve right side out:


3. Put the sleeve into the armhole, with sleevecap on the outside. This way you put the right sides together. Look at the matching notches to see which sleeve goes which side (usually one notch marks the front and two the back)


4. match and pin notches and small dots

important: don't forget to adjust the upper pressure back to normal!

5. sew the lower half of the armhole seam between the small dots, from the eased part down

6. align the big circle on the sleeve (which marks the center line) with the shoulder seam and pin (I find it easier to put pins at the small dots as well, but you don't need it if you use a contrasting color for the ease stitches)


7. pull the double (or triple) bobbin thread you used to build in ease


8. distribute wrinkles between center circle and small dots and pin. Use as many pins as you want. I use a lot!
Sew upper part of armhole seam between the small dots from the sleeve side.
Overlap a bit with the previous seam you made on the lower part of the armhole.


9. cut and finish seam allowance (I used a second row of straight stitches and finished with a zigzag.


10. press!

Butterick 6183 top muslin - part 1

So, here is the muslin!
I must say, despite the amount of pattern pieces (4 front, 3 back + sleeves) this came together rather quickly.

sizing:
This pattern comes with pattern pieces for different cup sizes which is great, since in the past I was fine with the standard sizing and have never done a full bust adjustment. After checking the pattern instructions I calculated my 'new' bust size...which turned out to be the largest one, a d-cup.
I haven't really found the finished garment measurements so I thought I'd go with size 10, which with a semi-sitted garment fits most of the time, with just minor adjustments.

So, here is how it should look:


fitting:


+ 

• the size 10 shoulder width looks perfect
• the choice of the largest cup size was good (though size 10 is too tight)
• the waistline sits at the right height and I like the fact it doesn't look too loose around the waist
• I'd like to have this length for the finished length so I need to add extra length for hemming
• if I want the top to be somewhat fitted around the waist with this bust size, I need to put a side zipper in (I've already left one side of the muslin open)

-

• there are horizontal/diagonal wrinkles at the (finished) sleeve side of the yoke. The yoke is a tad too tight at the bottom seamline, so I need to go for a size larger there
• obviously, the fit across the bust is too snug, I need to size up that as well. Note: the apex marking is sitting at the right height but not at the right place. (The seams are sitting at the right apex placing) 
• the area below the bust in the front is slightly 'baggy'. Now baggy-ness is always caused by too much fabric. I could pinch a bit out along the seamlines, which would make the fit under the busts better. This can be done when assembling the top so I don't need to change that on the pattern pieces yet.
• the sleeve width needs adjustment, just like I did on my Simplicity blouse (you see the wrinkles when I lift my arm up)

• horizontal wrinkles at the lower back --> more about that next time!
• also the tightness at the upper back will be better with the size 12 pattern pieces:

pattern adjustments to do:
- trace a size larger (size 12) pattern pieces
(there is enough ease in the sleeve cap, so this change will not affect the fit)
- adjust sleeve width by adding a total of 2 cm (I think this is necessary, even if the sleeve is going to be a size larger) I have used Nancy Zieman's method and wrote about it in this blogpost

Pretty straight forward, right?  Next post is all about the back. I keep you posted!

currently obsessed with: Butterick 6183 top

Okay, here is the problem: because of breastfeeding I sadly can't wear any of my fitted blouses and tops. After the 9 long months of pregnancy I was anxiously waiting to be able to wear 'normal' clothes again. Though my normal b-cup size didn't grow larger than a small d-cup it is apparently enough to leave me with next to nothing to wear...except t-shirts (again, sigh) of course...
Lately I'm attracted to the minimalist trend and often wear a plain V-neck t-shirt with jeans. I am in desperate need of new, more 'dressed' stuff which I also can wear later (hopefully with my 'regular', smaller boobs, once I stop breastfeeding) Tops which go with jeans and skirts as well. The last item I made for myself was a retro, 40's blouse for the 'Sew for Victory' challenge, a year ago, just before I got pregnant. Ever since I've been sewing all kinds of practical things for the nursery but no garments at all.

I guess my biggest problem is that I really don't feel like myself, I really do not 'feel' this new-larger-boobs silhouette of mine. Trying to keep things simple right now. I know shaping below the bust is important, so really loose fitting items would end up looking boxy.
I think this top, which is part of the new Lisette capsule collection for Butterick really stands out.
What I like about is:
- the length (not too long)
- the flattering rounded neckline (not too low and not too high)
- the graphic lines
- the loosely fitted shape
- and of course the fact that the pattern comes with different cup sizes. Thank God, the (full) bust adjustment is already done here!

Unfortunately it took a while (like months after the US release!) before the pattern was available here in the Netherlands. Well, finally it came out last week and I bought it right away. I'm already dreaming of sewing it in different fabrics: clean and simple in crisp cotton or dupion silk, in pretty lace, maybe denim or even in a double knit, uni color or color blocking (more fabric inspiration from the Lisette pattern site here)


With such a simple silhouette having a perfect fit is essential. Here comes my favorite part: making a muslins!!! The shoulder width and the length both have to be perfect. To prevent a 'boxy' look I already know I have to do a swayback adjustment. (Hate fitting the back seams by myself!) I wonder how it is going to look with larger boobs... I can see some problems in that area as well.
Before you think I'm about to add yet another UFO-project to the pile, I have already managed to cut and sew a muslin! Stay tuned!

diy: fitted changing pad cover 'Koeka Amsterdam' knock-off aankleedkussenhoes

Here is my third Koeka knock-off project!
For the changing pad I used their 'Amsterdam' changing pad cover as inspiration. They use a cotton waffle fabric in combination with a cotton bath-towel fabric for the middle section. These sell for about 45 euro's a piece!
Below the original version:


this is my knock-off:


...with a way better fit at the sides and corners!


material:
- cotton waffle fabric (prewashed and -shrunk)
- bath towel 70x100 cm (enough for two changing pad tops. I ripped our the side seams for the seam allowances)
- elastics
- embroidery thread
optional: fabric dye to match the colors

costs: 
My costs were for two changing pads less than 15 euro's!
About 6 euro's for 85 cm of cotton waffle fabric, 3.99 euro's for one IKEA Haren bath towel (70x100cm), about 1 euro of elastics and 1 euro of embroidery thread.

(I used dylon to dye both fabrics in the same color. The fabric dye was the most expensive, about 10 euro's but used for other projects as well)

step-by-step:
1. Prewash and iron your fabrics before starting!
It is better to let the fabric shrink before the first use instead of the second one... I prewas my cotton fabrics at a normal temperature, but then put them in the dryer with fairly hot air.

Cotton waffle fabric tends to 'bobble' after washing. After prewashing I ironed my big piece of fabric and after cutting the rectangular pieces I ironed them again, making sure that the stripes run horizontally and vertically.

2. Take the measurements and make your pattern

Making the cover requires a bit of 3 dimensional thinking. You need to 'translate' a 3-dimensional shape into flat, 2d pieces.
The cover is made out of one rectangular upper part (consisting of two pieces of waffle cotton with a piece of bath towel in between) and 2 contoured parts for the short sides.
First, measure your changing pad. Use a standard seam allowance you are used to work with. For me it is 5/8" or 1,5 cm. I used my handy parallel tracing wheel to do this.




You can either measure and draw directly on your fabric, or choose to make a paper pattern first. You can choose how wide you like to have the bath towel section. The original one goes  up quite high at the sides.

If you assemble the top part from different fabrics don't forget to add extra seam allowances where the two fabrics meet!(= at both long sides of the bath towel and at one side of the side sections of the waffle fabric.)

3. Cut the pieces:
- 1  upper middle section (bath towel)
- 2x upper side sections (waffle fabric)
- 2x the contoured sides (waffle fabric)

4. Sew the waffle fabrics at the sides to fill up to the desired (measured) width according to pattern  Pin and sew.


5. Finish seam allowance (I used a simple zigzag stitch) and fold the seams under the waffle cotton layer. Press. I used a really small top stitching on the waffle cotton to keep the seam allowances nicely in place. The topstitching will be practically invisible when you embroider next to it.

6. Attach the contoured sides:
Since it is easier to sew a straight line simply clip and open up the seam allowance (basically straighten the shaped part). Place the pieces with right sides together, pin and sew. Clip the other layer as well.
As you can see my seams don't match up here. I decided to make the center part just a little bit shorter for a nice, tight fit.


Topstitching and clipping the corners:


7. Fit the cover on the changing pad: fold the short sides under and mark the corners. You can measure it too, but there is somehow always a certain amount of 'unexpected' stretch in the fabric which you can spot and correct this way:



8. If it is needed, open up the seams in the corners up to the marking on the inside and pin the seams in a downwards vertical direction. Stitch, reinforce corners by running 3-4 times through it. Finish seam allowances and press:


9. Now it's time for a lot of relaxing handsewing!
Embroider the edges of the bathtowel-layer with blanket-stitch in a contrasting color before putting in the elastics:

This is the best time to add the little appliques too. Of course, you are free to skip them or to use a Koeka-style applique. Those are made out of felt and secured with a simple cross-stitch (like an X) with embroidery thread.
I didn't liked the flower appliques of the original cover, and made really simple and cute crochet bunnies instead. I used this tutorial. 

10. Last step!
Make the elastic casing at the bottom. I used about 2 cm to do this, first folded back 0.5 cm and then 1.5 cm. Pinned and pressed before sewing.
To prevent bulking the elastics only go around the corners: 10 cm at the short sides and 15 cm at the long sides, measured from the corner seam. The mid-sections remain straight for a better fit.



Ready! ...and now make one more...
I have made two covers, and planning to make a light grey one too. Just for fun!