Playing Catch Up, Part I...

...Or:  

What I Made for Christmas

I don't know why I haven't blogged!  Lack of photos?  Lack of time?  Lack of--who knows?!  Well, whatever the reason, I'm back now.  I've sewn a lot since my last blog post, and I'm going to try to document as many of these projects as I can remember.  But not all in one post!  For this post, I'll just focus on what I made for Christmas presents.

I made a top for Mehetabel's mother-in-law.  Let's call her Carmelita (the MIL, not the top).  The top is made from a sweater knit purchased from Cali Fabrics.  For the pattern, I started with New Look 6412.  I straightened the curve from the bust to the waist, lengthened the sleeves, shortened the length of the top, and curved the hem slightly.  For the collar and neckline, I used the cowl neck pattern piece from the Sewaholic Renfrew.  The shoulders were reinforced with twill tape.  All seams were sewn on my regular machine and finished with the serger.  The hems were done on my Babylock Cover Stitch machine.  I love how this top turned out, and I think Carmelita likes it too! 

Speaking of the Renfrew cowl neck, I also melded that collar piece onto McCall's 6886.  I trimmed quite a bit off the hem to make it into a top and curved the hem (I think it's a more flattering line). The top is made from a double knit from Fabric Mart.

For Christmas, I knew Mehetabel would like some relaxed tunic tops to wear with leggings.  For these, I used New Look 6412, straightened the curve between the bust and hips, lengthened the sleeves, lengthened the top (she's 6' in height; we are a tall people), made a slight high/low hem, and curved the hemline.  These were sewn on my regular machine, the seams were finished with the serger, and the hems were done on the cover stitch, and the shoulders were reinforced with twill tape.

The wearable muslin was made from this red and white jersey print.  I think I bought the fabric from fabric.com.

The photo above shows Mehetabel trying on another one of the tunic tops.  This one is a sweater knit from deep stash--I bought it on sale years ago from Joann Fabrics.  It's a paisley print, in shades of green with touches of black and turquoise.  

The final tunic was made from a cream and ivory boucle sweater knit from Cali Fabrics.  I thought this piece would be quite versatile.  I made some coordinating Jalie Eleonores (shown below), although I think she'll wear it primarily with leggings.  I also made a pair of red Eleonores.  The fabric for both pairs was purchased from Michael Levine.  

In the past few months, I've sewn quite a few pairs of Jalie Eleonore jeans for Mehetabel.  So far, I've made the previously blogged about violet and white pairs, as well as red, navy, burgundy, cream, and sapphire.  I also made two duds:  hot pink and black.  These failures were due to not enough stretch in the fabric.

To round out my Christmas sewing, I made some doll dresses for some girls in my neighborhood.  They are really into American Girl dolls, so I thought it would be nice (and fun!) to sew a few things for them.  I made the pattern for these dresses 20ish years ago when I made clothes for Mehetabel's American Girl dolls.

But I wasn't the only family member toiling in the bespokeability factory.  Mehetabel made six pillows for her mother-in-law (Carmelita!) for Christmas.

Mehetabel's top is New Look 6150

And I have to mention the fabulous present Mehetabel gave me:  enrollment in the Susan Khalje  Classic French Jacket video course.  Wheeeeeeee!

I plan to blog about other completed projects soon(ish), although I'm not sure you should believe me! 😉

Happy sewing!

White Jalie Éléonores for Independence Day & Violet Ones Just Because

I'm going to add more width to the calf on the next pair to alleviate the wrinkles at the knees

Recently, Mehetabel and I were perusing the offerings at Old Navy.  She snapped up this navy and white gingham top--I don't remember how much she paid, but it was on sale, and the cost was pretty low.  She knew she had a block party to go to on the 4th and thought she could pair this top with a red camisole--and I offered to make her some white Jalie Éléonores to complete the outfit.

This is the fourth pair of Éléonores I've made.  The first pair was in violet cotton/lycra stretch twill (Violet, you're turning violet, Violet), and it is the same fabric as the white ones.  The fabric was purchased online from Vogue Fabrics; unfortunately, these fabrics no longer seem to be in stock.  I've also made Éléonores in hot pink stretch denim and black stretch gabardine--perhaps I'll blog about those at some point.

The photos of the white pants were taken late afternoon.  The light wasn't great!

This fabric does have the required 20% stretch, but its recovery is just so-so, and it wrinkles quickly.  It also unraveled quite a bit during construction which prompted me to finish all seams with the serger (in fuchsia for the violet pants, because, why not, and in white for the white pants), even those I topstitched with the coverstitch.  This created overkill in a couple of instances (inside leg seam, back yoke) but it should stop the shredding and shedding.

The photos of the violet pants were taken on a cold day in March.  Again, the light wasn't great.

The coverstitch made the topstitching process quick and easy for the most part.  

I used size V and added two inches to the leg length which left room for a scant 5/8 inch hem.  Sewing was a breeze, and all the pieces fit together perfectly.  

This is a better representation of the (violet) color and fabric

In addition to the added leg length, I shortened both pieces of waistband elastic by 1-1/2 inches each, and I'm glad I did!  Like me, Mehetabel has at least ten inches difference between her waist and hip measurements. 

The only other change I made was to eliminate the front faux pockets.  I figured Mehetabel's top would cover them anyway; if she wants them on future pairs, I'll be happy to add them. 

The directions were clear, and Jalie even has a video showing the construction from start to finish.

Mehetabel likes both pieces, which is great, because I have several pieces of stretch denim that should work well with this pattern.

Happy Independence Day to those of you from the U.S.  Happy 4th of July to everyone else :).