Moneta/Tiramisu/Cambie mashup!

I’m not 100% convinced about this, but I think once it’s hemmed it’ll be great in the winter with a cardigan. Mostly the waistline looks… weird. I have a super high waist, but the dress almost looks too long in the back and too short in the front. Meh. Maybe next time I’ll do a band at the waist instead of just bodice -> skirt!

Dress Front

The main colour is teal ponte, and the black is a higher quality random bit of ponte I had in my stash.

The bodice is a Moneta in L and a 2″ total FBA which may not have been enough in this more solid fabric. I drew in princess seams to do side panels, and also used the back for neck and arm bindings.

Dress Side

The skirt is Tiramisu, cut big and with no CF or CB seams. I used the slash pockets from Cambie.

Dress Back

Maybe if like it better if there weren’t the gathers for the skirt? Idk, I’ve been looking at pictures of Moneta all week while I tried to decide what to do, and I actually really liked them on people!

So that’s my new dress. Yay dress! I definitely want more in softer jerseys, and will probably make more in ponte with some size adjustments.

Sorry for the wonky photos. I did them with my phone propped on some stuff on a chair!

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Colour Blocked Moneta/Tiramisu Mashup

Yes! I’m already making another one.

I used the size L, and did a 1″ (on one side, so 2″ total) FBA and spun the dart out to make it a princess seam bodice, with the seam laying off to the side of my bust. I also pieced the back. Then I sewed it all together and tried it on! Actually pretty darn good. I just needed to take in the princess seams where they meet the arm hole, due to a tiny rib cage and a fairly high bust. The extra length is really good, but there’s still space for a black waistband should I so choose.

It’s a really pretty jewel tone teal ponte, with black sides, and other black trim I haven’t decided on. You see, I’m stuck! I’m not sure if I should line it with powernet, or just leave it and add a black neck binding and teal sleeves with black trim, or if it should be sleeveless, or if I should do a Tiramisu skirt or a full circle skirt, or what.

So indecisive.

But me, a non-dress-wearing-person actually LOVES the dress she wore today and wants more. So, uhh, I’m gonna listen to myself.

I probably could have finished it today, but I’d rather take my time and think about it, and not use too many spoons sewing. I’m so SO thankful that this knit dress has worked so well with minimal changes.

(I still have plans for more wide leg trousers, and more skirts, and more blouses, and even some woven dresses. But! Knit!! Dresses!!!)

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And now, it’s August.

And I still haven’t finished updating Me Made May. Urgh. I don’t think I’m so good with the whole taking photos thing! Although, I do have editing software on my phone now so if I can find an inexpensive tripod that I can leave set up, and a phone holder thing, I’ll be able to take photos on my PHONE and edit them and write posts! That seems like a pretty good plan.

Anyways, I’ve been sewing a bit. I made another Cake Patterns tank (the Janthina Shell), and I really love the pattern although I’m ultra super short through the upper body so next time I’ll have to raise the arm holes. There will DEFINITELY be a next time for this one. Love it so much. And today I finally printed out Colette Moneta, and taped it together (Is it just me or is their print-at-home layout horrifically wasteful? I had to print ~19 pages for the bodice and short sleeves, and it feels like I threw more than half of it into the recycling!). I had a Tiramisu dress that was giving me Issues, so I chopped off the bodice and slapped on a Moneta bodice instead. I checked Moneta against my Scout Tee, and determined the neckline was way to wide and high for me, so I changed it a bit. I also did a teensy swayback adjustment, and lengthened the front by about 1/2″. Then attached the Tiramisu skirt! It’s AMAZING. Seriously. The only issue? Not enough fabric, so I had to seam the front and also cut it on an angle. Still, I didn’t do too bad a job matching stripes on the fly, so I’m not terribly upset.

I’ve already altered the pattern to have a 1″ swayback adjustment (or short-back adjustment, tbh) and measured the neckline as I HATE the fold-over finish. I’ll be using a regular bound edge for the next one I’m making. In fact, the next one is coming up pretty quick. I have a delightful teal ponte, and some black ponte. I’m going to do black side panels and a black belt. and black binding on the neck. Just about to do a small FBA (I’m using the L size bodice for the FBA, and making it a touch bigger than the XL for this fabric), and I’ll convert the dart into a wide princess seam for the side panels. Teal is not my colour at all, so this feels like a good option for making it work!

Here’s a sneak peek of my Monetisu? Tireta? Whatever mashup name you choose, it’s a great combo.

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More Tops Needed!

So I was fortunate enough to be a tester for printing a new pattern from Cake Patterns (WOO!), and decided to go through the whole process and make up the pattern.

Umm. 1.5″ petite adjustment above the bust. After I sewed on the neck binding. Whoops. I always forget how short I am above the waist. Thankfully I can just re-cut from the tank I am wearing, then re-sew the whole thing. :) I will definitely get a lot of use out of this pattern, the V-neck once it’s been raised is just about perfect, and I love the height of the underarm. The addition of sleeves will be super simple, and then it’ll be really close to my favourite, super old t-shirt that I haven’t been able to get rid of. Just a soft v-neck instead of a scoop.

I used my Blank Canvas Tee (the original!) as a guide for a minor swayback adjustment, and I think I’ll use it as a guide for some more adjustments to the back, as I’m so narrow above the waist there compared to my front.

Unfortunately, I’m not wearing any me-mades so far today! Just some me-hemmed yoga pants. I was hoping this would be a quicker make, but figuring out the neckline (Just trust. Really.) and then having to re-cut have made it a bit longer than I expected.

Oh well. I’ll be done in a couple more hours, especially since the neck binding makes sense now.

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Hummingbird Update

I was lazy, I admit. Instead of taking the waistband off and doing a “proper” alteration, I washed and *dried* the skirt, then whipped off 3/4″ from each side. Just a total of 1.5″ for the whole skirt as I used a 3/8″ seam allowance.

And it’s pretty much perfect now, except for the fact that it sticks to all my leggings, nylons and tights! Oh well. I have some super slippery nylon tricot I was going to make a new slip out of, so hopefully that will do.

I also went out fabric shopping (gasp!) and got some lululemon reject dark denim-look spandex for some leggings, a length of red-purple organic cotton for a scarf (which I’m wearing right now!) and 1m of some lovely caramel coloured knit for a t-shirt. Sadly the caramel knit smells like rotting seaweed when wet, so I’ll have to wash it a couple more times with synthrapol and vinegar, to see if I can get rid of that scent.

I’m also very slowly working on making some new PJs. Maybe I’ll have an initial set (wearable muslin!) done for this holiday weekend, but likely not. I have a lot to do at work this week.

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Hummingbird Skirt

Hello hello! I’m alive. I finished school and thought I’d have a lot of time to sew and blog, but then this confirmed night owl ended up with a contract working 7am-3:30pm. Getting up before 5am every morning is a really difficult thing to do, and I was so drained.

I ended up getting a real full-time job as a lab tech (yay! science!), and now that I’m more comfortable at work and know a bit more about what I’m doing, I actually finished something!

Yay, my Hummingbird Skirt!

It was so easy to sew, people. The only trouble I had was with the waistband, and that’s because I didn’t follow Steph’s instructions. I decided to be “smart” and make my standard waistband. Umm, no. It’s way too big because I cut it on the non-stretchy grain and thus couldn’t stretch it to subtly gather the back of the skirt like I had planned.

Oops. So that will be coming off and I’ll replace it with her waistband treatment. I’ll probably put a bit of ribbon into the seam, especially for the front, because I don’t want it to stretch much and I find my waistbands always stretch unless they’re reinforced with ribbon.

The fabric I chose to use sticks to EVERYTHING, so I’m wearing it with a slip today. Hopefully once washed I can figure something out (Maybe tack a slip into the skirt so the skirt doesn’t turn on my body? Line it when I replace the waistband?) so I can wear it more easily with leggings. I might also take in each side seam by 1/2 to 1 inch. Apparently I’ve lost weight? Wouldn’t have guessed that…

I have fabric for 3 more of these skirts waiting for me, as well as some red wool and black coat lining for a red wool half circle skirt with a yoke.

Red isn’t in my wardrobe colour plan, but it looks so good with black and charcoal, which are. I might even wear it with teal, if I find the right one to make some tops out of.

Yep, that’s my plan. Skirts and tops. I need a cardigan pattern. Maybe I’ll wait till I can order and download Sewing Cake’s Carmine pattern (you can see a small image here) once it’s released.

Sorry no pics. My place is still a disaster after hiking this summer. I am still working through reorganizing everything so it’s accessible for any potential sunny weekends coming up!

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Tiramisu: Magenta French Terry (2)

After sewing most of the dress last night, I realized that it probably isn’t a French terry. I think it’s just a thick 100% cotton knit, as it has practically no recovery. The dress is pretty good, but there are some things I need to fix on it,

• Even though I cut the neckline binding quite a bit shorter than the actual neck opening, it’s just not doing its job. I need to undo the underbust seam where the binding attaches and slide some flat elastic in there to help hold everything together. This is due to the fabric. This won’t happen if I make the dress again in a real French terry, as the ones I have available have a little lycra in them.
• The sleeves need a wide sleeve binding, as the narrow just doesn’t work in this fabric.
• I will probably have to hem it. Sigh.

One thing I’ve noticed is that the dress is quite low-cut on me. Low-cut to the point where most of my bras show (I wear everything except plunges, so this is irritating). I had moved the CF seam 1 cm to get more of an overlap, to hopefully raise the neckline, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I’m getting those drag lines that move diagonally down and out from the binding. I also think I need more width above the bust, so I might slash-and-spread along the FBA line and ease the front shoulder into the back. This is pretty typical for me as my front ribs are much broader than my back, and then on top of that I have a very full bust.

Tiramisu, Magenta fabric, no skirt

I’d really really prefer the mole to be covered, or at least my cleavage not be quite so exposed, but I’m not sure what to do as I get more drag lines if I add more overlap. Maybe I should just add to the overlap seam on the dress, instead of overlapping more. Hmm.

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Tiramisu: Magenta French Terry (1)

So I’ve been working on sewing up a Tiramisu by Cake Patterns. I’ve made one for a friend, and it’s pretty much perfect except for the fabric being too stretchy. So she’s going to come over this week and I’ll cut out the underbust seam to take up the extra fabric, and I’ll also take it in under the arms a bit.

I did a muslin the other day, and then decided (upon viewing Steph’s underbust fitting tutorial) to just go for it in my French terry. I’ll put a couple pleats into the underbust, then pin the seam and try on the dress. If the seam needs any finessing in the heavy fabric, then I’ll take extra length out, etc. But if it doesn’t, then I’ll just sew things up.

The dress takes me about 3 hours to sew, from getting out the fabric and pattern, to hemming.. although I must admit that my hem is a quick run through the serger, as I’m not worried about the finish on a knit dress for casual wear. The full turned up hem only takes me about 15 minutes, though, so it’s not an entirely daunting task should I decide the dress needs it.

I have 2 metres of the French Terry, and with some futzing and the elimination of the CF seam, I am able to cut every part of the dress out of this 2 metres. I’ll be cutting the pockets out of a cotton quilting fabric to reduce bulk, as this fabric is ridiculously thick. I think I have something in a similar colourway, but I can always use my Blue Clouds fabric should I not be able to find anything.

Magenta Tiramisu, cut out

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Tiramisu: Muslin 1

It’s actually not too bad! I cut the 40C, and did a 3″ FBA (so 1.5″ spread across the nipple area), and then increased the overlap by 1cm. I also ended up unpicking the front to pull the crossover down to make it lay flatter against my chest. Hmm. Not 100% successful.

I think what I need to do is pinch out from the arm to the neckline (1″ at the neckline, reducing to nothing at the arm) just like I did for my last Blank Canvas Tee. I did stretch the binding slightly as I placed it, so this really shouldn’t be happening. I think it’s an artifact of having rather large breasts on a small rib cage.

There’s also a little pooling under the bust that I’ve already snipped off the pattern. And I have to do a better job of the flipping gathers next time! Yeesh! Gathers belong under the bosom, not in the centre front!

I also hope for a little more overlap on the next one. This is one of my lower bras. You can sort of see my mole if you click on the top picture… that’s where the crossover needs to happen!

Front view of Tiramisu, it looks OK but it could be better.

Tiramisu pulled down, to simulate a skirt.

Where the underbust seam should actually go.

Weird angle view of front.

IDK. Another weird angle.

So there you go. Tiramisu 1. I have a couple changes to make (I think it’s too long all over, looking at my horrible mirror pictures.), but so far, so good.

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Yay! I got my pattern!

Go, Tiramisu, go!

So excited. Steph posted a guide to choosing pattern pieces that could actually be my measurements, so I’m going to try it with my magenta coloured French terry, and make a shirt (hopefully) this week. I’m still trying to finish a course (yay for extensions?) so I don’t have a lot of sewing time yet, but I’d really like a couple new tops and a dress for Christmas.

Ooo. Maybe even something for my mom. I’ll have to get her to send me her measurements. Although really, my dad is the one I always have problems finding things for. Sadly, I don’t think a Tiramisu would suit his everyday life.

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