6 May 2014

sewing for victory- 6. Not another UFO, just missed the deadline!



Unfortunately, I missed the 'Sew for Victory' deadline by one day! What happened, I really don't know. I guess I have a really bad time management. Past weeks I have been busy working in my vegetable garden, enjoying the early summer days in april, discovered the great cook books of Yotam Ottolenghi (made already a lot of recipes from his book 'Plenty').Of course, I've been working as well but what happened with time???
It seems like sewing-wise I have been busy to find El Dorado, an imaginary 'Golden city'...


A few days ago (last minute) decided to go with the well-fitted Simplicity 3688 blouse pattern for the Sew for Victory challenge, but on the day of the deadline another things came along and I wasn't getting further than cutting the pieces (which is the most boring and least rewarding part of the sewing process, if you ask me!) But now, here it is! (and this supposed to be a '40's 'dreamy' look instead of a 'sleepy' one)


the fabric:
At the end of the day (read: past last minute) I've got a fine, 100% cotton fabric which dries incredibly fast and as a bonus almost doesn't crease (great for the summer!) It is supposed to be a quilting fabric 'Minimals by Poppy' but it is much softer than that. It has a small circle/dot pattern which I could was able to cut without major pattern-matching:


Since I missed the deadline anyway I didn't rush things and did French seams along the shoulders and the sleeves. Pretty, and with this fabric it works well. The bodice seams are finished by simple and neat folded back edges.

pattern adjustments:
I used a straight size 10, because there is 5 cm ease included in the pattern, which I thought was too much for me. Otherwise I made just 2 main adjustments after fitting my muslin:
  • made the upper part of the sleeves about 2 cm wider
  • shortened the bodice by about 1.5 cm (less than 1/2 inches) and added 2 cm at the hem to compensate
  • decided to skip the sleeve-cap darts and simply gathered instead (partly because I think they make the sleeve cap look rather flat)
  • added darts in the back and took a bit out in the center seam of the back at waist-heigt
The blouse pattern doesn't have a 'lengthen/shorten here' line, so I just cut across the chest (about halfway between the armhole and the pleats)
I must say, the sleeve-adjustment method of Nancy Zieman (here) worked incredibly well! The pattern modification was easy and the fit is amazing! Just look at the pics below how much room I have now. AMAZING!!!


Now, this is the 'I'm-sooooo-happy-with-my-sleeves' -look:


By the way, the jeans skirt is from the same pattern, I made it for my 3-hour-skirt challenge, a while back. It is not hemmed yet, first I was going to shorten it a bit, but I quite like the just-below-the-knee length for now.


Here you can see the finished length. Works fine for me!


At left: I'm trying to do the 'Colette-patterns-look', at right trying to demonstrate that the blouse works in a sitting position as well...


For other Sew for Victory posts click here:
1. project plan
2. style, pattern & fabric inspiration
3. muslin, the good, the bad and the ugly
4. taking a few steps sideways
5. another fitting intermezzo

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