RTW refashion

I am slightly obsessed with this fabric: I loooove the colors, the pattern, the feel, and the fact that it doesn't wrinkle!

I found it at Target a few years ago. It was a bit too long for me and lacked shaping, but I just had to buy it for the fabric. I knew I would have to adjust it a bit, but I just didn't know how. I thought about shortening it, but the thought of cutting off some of that lovely fabric didn't sit well with me. So I decided to add elastic to the sides. The elastic added interest and allowed me to shorten it without losing any of the fabric!

KwikSew 3887 - A shiny leo

The fabric for this biketard was picked by my kiddo. She calls it her Rapunzel leotard for the colors. It's so shiny, you need sunglasses.

This is KwikSew 3887. It was so much fun to sew! It was quite straightforward; the only fiddly part was the elastic application. The golden band added an element of fun to this otherwise fairly easy sew.

Pattern: KwikSew
View: B
Size: 7?
Fabric: Pink, purple, gold shiny dancewear spandex from JoAnn.
Things I learned: 
* I am starting to tame my coverstitch machine. :)

Tilly and the Buttons - Francoise dress

Ever since the Francoise dress came out, I knew I had to sew it up! I used to have two similar A-line dresses that had French darts, and I just loved wearing them. Francoise has the same silhouette, so I knew it would be a winner!

You see, at times, I used to fall in love with a pattern, only to find out that sewn up, it didn't really flatter my figure. The more I sew, the better I get about only buying patterns that I know will work for me, but every now and then I still make mistakes. I knew that Francoise would NOT be a mistake.

Going by my measurements, I thought I would need a size 4. When I sewed it up, it came out a bit big, so next time, I will go down to a size 3. (Later, when I made Coco, I also confirmed that size 3 allowed it to hang comfortably on my body but not be too baggy.)

For the fabric, I decided to go with this patchy looking stretch, medium-weight denim-like fabric. I bought it years ago, and I liked it so much at the time that I bought probably 5-6 yards of it total. It was also on sale. You can use both sides of it, and I chose to use the brighter, reverse side. Looking back at the fabric now, I am not nearly as in love. In fact, I am looking at it with "What was I thinking??"

What's interesting about this fabric is that it stretches lengthwise. And because it's very very very wide, I had no trouble cutting the Francoise out on the cross grain. This means that I have tons of fabric left over to experiment with other patterns. I figured worst case scenario it would be a toile, best case scenario a wearable toile that I can wear for running errands.

I also decided to add piping to the raglan sleeve line. That looked cute, but didn't turn out to be very comfortable. So next time, I will omit it.

I might fiddle with making the neckline a bit more open, but otherwise I just love this exaggerated A-line silhouette.

Just like the Coco, I can see myself making the Francoise over and over and over. It would look smashing in a little black dress version or in a brocade; any fabric that has some structure.

Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons - Francoise
View: Sleeveless view, without the front placket.
Size: 4, 3
Fabric: Pink patchy stretch fabric (kind of like medium-weight denim from JoAnn. Navy piping.
Things I learned: 
* I am now certain that size 3 is the highest I should go in Tilly and the Buttons patterns.
* I think next time, I will add 1 inch in length at the hem.
* Note to self: don't add piping.

Simplicity 8212 - Fleece leggings

Not fancy sewing, just something useful: I made fleece leggings to go along with the fleece dresses both for my Mom and myself. They keep us warm and cozy this winter.

I made a toile to test the fit for the leggings, and both for my Mom and myself, I had to make simple but quite a few adjustments (see below) in the pattern.

The dress and pants have become a winter staple in my wardrobe, and they are in constant rotation.

Pattern: Simplicity 8212
View: A (mid-rise)
Size: M, L
Fabric: black no-pill fleece

Things I learned:
* I had to make quite a few adjustment to the fit. This seems to be the case for me for Simplicity pants patterns: they tend to be too short in the center back and too high in the center front. I added 1 and 1/2 inches to the back and removed the same amount from the front, connecting both sides to the original side-seam length.

*I also used the size S cutting line at the bottom of the legs to shorten the length, because the toile that I had made was too long.

* Because the fleece is not quite as stretchy as the activewear fabrics this pattern was designed for, I decided to serge only a 1/4 inch seam allowance at the side seams of each leg and at the crotch seam. I left the 5/8 seam allowance where the waistband joins the pant legs. I probably could have gotten away with a little bit of a snugger fit, but I didn't want to risk them turning out not stretchy enough.

* I constructed these pants almost exclusively on the serger. I did use my sewing machine to hem the pants. I hemmed them flat. If there is one thing I really don't like fiddling with is hemming small circumferences in the round. And I sewed in the elastic with a zigzag stitch. (I don't know about you, but my sewing machine does not like zigzag stitches on stretchy things like elastic or swim- and activewear: it always skips stitches. I need to figure out why. I use stretch needles on those, which helps, but it's still not great....)

Tilly and the Buttons - Coco dress

This dress has been in the plans for a long time. Pretty much ever since it came out.

Like many others, I love everything about the Coco dress: the silhouette, the versatility -- everything about it. Especially the silhouette. Nothing looks better on me than an A-line silhouette.

A few months ago, I decided to buckle down and make a test version of the Coco dress out of a knit I had in my stash. This test fabric stretches but has virtually no recovery and easily gets holes in it from the needle. I was worried about attempting even a test garment out of it, because I had made a top from this fabric before, and I got lots of holes in the fabric along the seams, and especially at the top stitching -- neither ball point nor stretch needles worked. Thanks to a helpful suggestion on PatternReview.com, a Microtex needle finally worked.  AND with the Microtex needle, the test Coco dress turned out to be a VERY wearable toile! Love it when that happens! I made a size 4, which turned out to be bigger than what I needed, but it's totally wearable and I get a ton of use out of it: I wear it multiple times a week. The only thing I changed was: I decided to put the funnel neck seam at center back. I also realized that the dress looked better on me sans pockets.

In the picture, I still have the pockets on (excuse the loose serger threads which when the photo was taken hadn't been tucked in). I later removed the pockets and moved the buttons to the sleeve cuffs.

The sewing process of the Coco dress was such a pleasure! I find that some patterns are not drafted as accurately as they could be. This is definitely NOT the case with the Coco dress: the Coco goes together so easily. All seams match PERFECTLY. Sewing the Coco dress is like sewing meditation. It just makes me so happy to have found Tilly and the Buttons' patterns: Tilly's instructions and patterns bring me such joy. I made a test of the Delphine skirt (from her first book Love at First Stitch): wow! Now, I just look forward to seeing new patterns from Tilly. Tilly's patterns can be assembled with such ease. I love that sewing her patterns is stress free! Thank you, Tilly and the Buttons!

I decided I would make a smaller size of the Coco dress next time.

Now....  I often think to myself that I would love to wear more dresses. However, in the winter especially, I almost exclusively wear pants, because I am always cold. So I decided that this would change now that I know the Coco dress.

I bought a nice red no-pill fleece for my fleece Coco, and I followed the same directions; put the funnel neck seam at center back, omitted the pockets, and put teal buttons on the funnel neck and on the sleeves. I did use a narrower seam allowance on the side and under the sleeves for the fleece version. This dress feels like I am wearing a blanket, except it looks more stylish. :)

My sewing machine was not quite as thrilled as I was about sewing layers and layers of fleece, so I decided to give it a break and not bother with top stitching close to the funnel neck. The sewn and serged seam allowances seem to be heavy enough to stay together and turned down where they should be.

I plan to make black fleece pants to go with my fleece dress for extra cold winter days.

Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons Coco dress
Size: 4, then 3
Fabric: cotton knit, then no-pill fleece
Things I learned: 
* I thought I was a size 4 in Tilly and the Buttons' sizing, but even for the fleece, I found, I could go down to a 3. For a lighter knit, I might even try a 2 next time.
* I put the funnel neck seam at center back.
* The pockets don't look as good on me as the plain version.
* The Coco dress easily lends itself to decorations on the funnel neck and sleeves.
* For the Fleece version, I used a serged 1/4 inch seam allowance for the sides and underarm seams. This gave me a little extra room to put a T-shirt and pants under it for the winter.

I even made a dark red fleece Coco with white buttons for my Mom, with black fleece pants, so she will stay nice and toasty, too, this winter. (More about the fleece pants in another post.)