A while back a friend gave me a few lengths of fabric that had motifs printed centrally along them.  They came to her via her husband who works in the clothing trade.  I suspect that they may have originally been destined for scarves.  I love the colours and have been wondering for a while what to do with them, and eventually decided on turning them into a top.  I chose the Style Arc Meg raglan.

This is a pattern that I have used before. Style Arc describe it as follows: MEG RAGLAN TEE: This gorgeous elbow length raglan sleeve Tee has a relaxed fit that is designed to flow with the body. It features a high low hemline and a high scoop neck. This style is beautiful made in a soft flowing silk.  FABRIC SUGGESTION & DESCRIPTION: Silk, Rayon, Crepe, or any soft woven fabric.

I love that this is a raglan pattern for wovens, and that it includes a shoulder dart so that the raglan sleeve is able to conform to the body nicely.  The mitred corners on the hemline are another example of Style Arc’s excellent drafting.  I chose to combine the scarf fabric – which is something slippery and probably polyester although I suppose that the potential is there for it to be silk – with linen for the sleeves and neckband to tone things down just a little.

I sewed size 12, as I had done in the past. I attached the narrow bias cut neckband in a similar way to how I would do it on knits, with the strip folded in half wrong sides together, joined to the neckline right sides together with a narrow seam allowance, then turned, pressed and topstitched. I think I’d do this differently next time – maybe just cut a wider bias strip and bind the neckline so that it sits a little flatter.

The panel fabric was very tightly woven and did not particularly like being sewn. I swapped to a finer sharps needle to topstitch it, but it’s still pulled a bit along the stitching. I suspect that only a sewer would notice.

Since I was working with a limited amount of fabric I wasn’t able to match the print exactly at the side seams, but I don’t think it is entirely problematic. Style Arc patterns are usually full sized, which really helped with getting the print placement how I wanted it. So, to the pants!

The pants were sewn in linen from Tessuti, and definitely show the characteristic wrinkling of linen. Please note that these photos were taken at the end of a working day after about nine hours of wear! I have to take the opportunity to get my photos done whenever it presents itself. I ordered the linen online, and when it arrived it was a much lighter weight than I had anticipated.  I was quite dubious about using it for pants, but went ahead anyway and as it turns out it was okay.  I have sewn the Style Arc Lola pants a multitude of times – just do a search for them on my blog if you want to see the previous pairs. Size 10, elasticised waistband with a flat centre front insert, front angled pockets, and a nice little elasticised back hemline feature. Definitely one of my favourite patterns for lighter weight pants.

Style Arc also have a dress pattern that I suspect is very similar to the Meg raglan tee, that is already in my stash. Maybe it should move up the extremely long to-sew queue! However I’m still focusing on sorting out my winter work wardrobe. And since Stella went back to school yesterday, Clare goes back to school on Monday, and I go back to work on Monday, I’m not going to have much time for non-seasonal sewing!

Although there are a few Hot Patterns in my stash, I haven’t actually sewn many of them. They are multi-sized patterns, and because I am relatively inexperienced with their sizing, I have often been too lazy to trace and but unwilling to cut.  Some are now available as pdf downloads.  I am quite happy to print, tape and cut those!  I have the Fast and Fabulous Trilogy Shift Dress, Tunic and Top a try.

The website describes this pattern as follows:Make yourself these 3 easy pieces, perfect for drape-y wovens like rayon challis, charmeuse, soft  linen, silk(y) twill, crepe or gauze, but also fab in fluid knits like silk(y) jersey, rayon, or linen jersey.  Semi-fitted, pull-on styles have a gently shaped  silhouette, with center front & back seams. ‘V’ neckline and cut-on cap sleeves are finished with self fabric binding. Choose your perfect length; a midi-length dress, a mid-thigh tunic, or a lower-hiplength top. All versions feature a deep pleat folded into the front yoke for that essential bust shaping, plus a curved front and straight back hemline.  Showcase those eye-catching prints or your favorite solid colors in these fabulously breezy pieces…wear the dress ‘as-is’ or belted; try the tunic over a crisp cropped pant or a boyfriend jean, and team the top with a slouchy wide leg trouser or a long, lean midi skirt for effortless chic.

Firstly, if you are ordering a pdf download from Hot Patterns, make certain that you order the correct paper size for the country that you live in.  This is very important.  If you don’t you will have huge frustrations when it comes to taping the pattern together.  (As a side note, there are some free pdf patterns by Hot Patterns on the Fabric.com website – these are all designed to print on letter size paper rather than A4, so Australians, be careful with taping if you use those patterns.  One edge will need trimming but the others will need a gap filled.  I can’t remember which is which right now).  Then you need to choose size.

As I’ve mentioned before, choosing size can be tricky.  Hot Patterns have a myriad of measurements on their sizing chart to help you to decide.  I cannot remember finding finished measurements printed on the pattern pieces, but I could of course have just pulled out a tape measure and used that to check, remembering to subtract seam allowances.  I could have chosen by high bust measurement, as is often advised.  In the end I just went with size 14, which was closest to my measurements.  I was pretty sure that it would be too big for me, but had an ulterior motive.  I thought that this fabric would be great for my Mum.

The fabric is a woven viscose, and I bought it as a remnant so was working with a set amount of fabric. I cannot for the life of me remember where I bought it, even though it wasn’t very long ago. Darn Cheap Fabrics? The Cloth Shop? Spotlight? Not sure. There was just enough for the top.

Because I am a relative newby to Hot Patterns, I followed the instructions. I found that they worked quite well.  I particularly like the deep front pleat that is caught into the shoulder seams.  I bound the neckline after sewing the centre back and shoulder seams, then sewed the centre front seam, resulting in a lovely crisp V.  As usual I applied binding to the wrong side before wrapping it around and topstitching on the right side.  Sewing was very quick – I think that the “Fast and Fabulous” tag is quite right.  The overall silhouette of the top is similar to the True Bias Sutton blouse and the In House Patterns Kimono top, but there are enough subtle differences for me to be happy to have this pattern as well.

So the end verdict – yes, this top is about two sizes too big for me, as I suspected it would be, which makes it perfect for Mum.  It looks terrific on her and I’m sure that it will be worn quite a bit in the hot town she lives in.  And as for me? I plan to sew myself the dress – in size 10.  This top was the first garment I sewed in 2016.  A pretty good start to the year!

Sewing Vogue 9067 was an interesting experience.  It’s a Vogue pattern that I’ve seen pop up on quite a few blogs now.  At first I saw more about view A, the sleeveless top.  Then attention seemed to switch to view C.  As it happens, view C was the one that I bought the pattern for.

Vogue describe this pattern as follows: MISSES’ TOP AND PANTS: Very loose-fitting, pullover top has back neck slit, button/loop, and seam detail variations. A and B: back extends to side front, no side seams. C: bias neck binding and sleeve and hemline flounce. Semi-fitted pants. D: straight-legged, partial elasticized waistband and stitched hems. E: tapered, elasticized waist and side pockets. A, B, C and E: narrow hem.
FABRICS: Silk Crepe, Lightweight Broadcloth, Jersey, Challis.

Okay, on to my top. Did you note that bit about the top being described as “very loose-fitting”? Here are details from the back of the pattern envelope and the finished measurements on the pattern piece itself.

My bust measurement is currently around 40″.  According to the back of the Vogue envelope, that would put me in size 18, which is the Large in this pattern.  I had bought the smaller size combination, knowing from experience that I am much more likely to sew somewhere around size 12.  So I checked the finished bust measurement, printed on the pattern tissue.  For the XS it was 44″.  That would give me around four inches of ease, which would still be plenty and result in a loose top.  CHECK THE FINISHED GARMENT MEASUREMENTS BEFORE YOU CUT! Only the bust measurement was important for this top, since it flares out even more through the waist and I didn’t have to worry about the ease there.

As well as cutting the XS, I did a little bit of petite-ing and took some length out through the body. The fabric is a voile that had been in my stash a little while. You can probably see in the photos that I took a considerable amount of care when cutting to keep the motif placement pleasing. The sleeve ruffles were cut as a single layer and narrow hemmed rather than being self-lined, and I left the back neck opening out completely.  I chose to bind the neckline with bias binding made from the same fabric.

This is a very pretty print, in colours that I really like individually, but it wasn’t the right choice for this top for me. Other than the creasing in the above photo, it just feels too “delicate” and I think that from a distance it reads rather pale. However I do like the overall silhouette and would like to sew this again in a more drapey fabric. The voile is just a little too airy. I’d rather something that stayed a little closer to the body. So, on to the skirt.

This is the Style Arc Brooke skirt, in the shorter length.  From their website: This on trend asymmetrical skirt has a full wrap that will allow you to wear this skirt with confidence that it will not fall We have given you two full patterns in two different lengths that gives you the choice of the mini skirt or the more sophisticated knee length. You will feel fabulous in either!  FABRIC SUGGESTION & DESCRIPTION: Linen, cotton twill, wool gabardine.

I constructed this as per the instructions, except I left the front darts off completely to allow more stomach room.  This resulted in quite a comfortable fit.  I think I sewed size 12.  Mini length on me is above the knee, but only just.  That’s what happens when you are 158cm tall!

The fabric is orange rigid denim from Crafty Mamas that had been in stash for a little while. It has a bit of a slub running through it and was easy to sew, as denim generally is. Although this skirt fits well, I have only worn it once so far. It needs a bit more “playing with” to work out what tops go with it best. I’ve realised that I tend to reach for skirts with stretch in them before those sewn in rigid wovens. Back to that central theme of comfort, I suppose!

So overall? If you make this top, beware of the pattern sizing! I like the overall silhouette of the pattern, but will make it again for myself in a different fabric and pass this one on. It just doesn’t feel like “me”. The skirt will get more tries – it’s a matter of how to incorporate it into my wardrobe. I like the hemline at the front and it’s a good fit, and the colour definitely fits into my wardrobe.

Shortly after sewing my first Simplicity 1733 I decided that I “needed” another.  But this time, I needed a maxi!

I really wanted a striped fabric for this one, because I knew that the stripes would do interesting things across the twisty front. I found this poly/spandex knit at Darn Cheap Fabrics.

Construction was pretty much the same as last time, except that I chose to have short sleeves as per the pattern instead of leaving the dress sleeveless. Once again I used a zig-zag stitch on all hems after they had been secured with vliesofix tape.

I did endeavour to match or at least balance the stripes throughout. They match along the side seams and sleeve seams, but are out along the armhole and bodice. Bummer. Looking at this photo I need to do a few more hand stitches to secure the centre front gathers higher behind the twisty knot – it looks to be drooping a little.

Once again the back is nicely supported by the elastic through the seam allowances were the back bodice and back skirt join. This allows it to then nicely flow over back rolls. This fabric worked extremely well with this pattern. I wore this dress to my husband’s family Christmas/Thanksgiving celebration on a hot day in early December. It was ideal!