Jasmine Blouse

I had been meaning to try the Jasmine blouse from Colette patterns for quite some time...but I always avoided it because of the dreaded SBA. Problem was, it was too cute to put off for much longer. I went to a Colette patterns party at Sew La back in February and I made my Spider Peony and managed to get around doing an SBA by making the side bust darts 1 inch smaller total...so I thought I would press my luck and try something similar with the Jasmine bust darts. I took each dart leg in a half inch to take off 1 inch total and then redrew the dart legs from their original starting point to their new thinner leg point and guess what??!?!? It fits perfectly! I was so amazed...I should never have put off making it for so long. I wonder if I can get away with that on all Colette patterns? Hmm...maybe I should go public with my fake SBA procedure...so much easier than all that cutting and slashing for an amount I don't even know how to figure out!

If my process described in words does not make sense, let me know and I'll post pictures of how I did it. This was my first time making a bias cut garment so I was unaware of how it wears. At first I thought it was pulling weird, but I've since made another bias cut garment (to be reviewed soon--Simplicity 2594) and it pulls the same way so maybe that is just how a bias cut garment wears...it still looks great, I think it is just something to get used to.  A definite change I would make next time it to make the armhole smaller...it pulls from way too low when I move my arm which may be the reason for some of the pulls I was describing above.

I made this out of a polyester crepe de chine I got from Fabric Mart. The fabric I used for hte contrast was the same polyester chiffon I used on my Vogue 1178 by Anna Sui that I blogged about here. It sews wonderfully....I just love crepe de chine whether it is polyester or silk. I think it is my favorite kind of fabric. The only tricky part comes with hemming since polyester hates to hold a press and it is a slippery fabric. But lucky for you all, I took pictures and will write a tutorial on how to hem those slippery impossible hems!

In some reviews, people have used bias binding for the collar instead of a facing and I happen to be a fan of facings and not a fan of bias binding. However, having said that, I would probably use bias binding next time...all the layers got extremely thick so just something to keep in mind...also the chiffon is almost too light and airy for the collar..I would interface the chiffon next time...or use a more substantial fabric.

I actually wore the exact outfit you see in the pictures to ETA California. I had a great time there and met a fellow blogger in person that I had never met before...Susan from Knitters Delight. I also went with my sewing friends you have seen before...check us out!

Sandra, Jill, me, and Nhi at ETA California

Lastly, I am gong to Montreal in a week...anyone know any bloggers there or good fabric places I need to check out? Please let me know!!

Check out my pattern review here.

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Vogue 1178

I made this dress about 1 year ago to wear to a good friends wedding. This dress was almost never made! I saw this pattern, Vogue 1178, when it first came out and completely passed over it. The picture of the model and the dress does not appeal to me at all. But later on I saw the line drawing and realized what an adorable dress it was! Plus it doesn't hurt that it is an Anna Sui design...she designs amazing clothes!

I immediately bought some Amity style fabric... (Halloween colors see?) and got to work. I used polyester chiffon for the top layer and the ruffle layer. The polka dot one I got on ebay and the black chiffon has black sequin type things...more like large sparkly dots periodically and I got that at Joann's. I also used my favorite polyester lining...it does not feel silky it feels more like a georgette. I love the feel of this kind of lining vs the slippery satiny feel of linings for jackets and things. I think each type of lining has its place. I like this polyester/georgette feeling kind for directly against my skin. 

This pattern was rated average and I believe it was done so because of the tricky type of fabric you are supposed to use and the miles and miles of teeny tiny little hems. Um...no. I was not about to do that. I used my serger for the majority of the construction. I did rolled hems on everything I could. I used this gorgeous serger thread from Superior Threads called Halo.  The two colors I used were Snowfall and Jet Black Silver.

With this method, construction was easy. There is one thing to note though. I guess I never noticed the weirdness of the sleeves in the picture. When I made up the sleeves and tried them on, I thought at first I had done something wrong because they looked so odd! But a careful glance at the cover photo shows that the dress has those weirdly poofy and tucked sleeves. So I went with it. A lot of the reviewers were in love with the sleeves...if I made this again I would probably just used a traditional gathered sleeve instead of doing all the tucks that gave it kind of a weird shape when it was on.  One other change I would make is to the front wrap piece. If you look above at the line drawing, you can see how the edge is rounded at the bottom of the piece that wraps over the top. It lays unevenly on me and I would square that off if I made it again so it would lay flat instead of pulling to the left slightly. All in all, the pattern was much easier than I would have anticipated.

close up of weird sleeves.....isn't my husband the most handsome man ever???  <3

As far as fitting goes, I had to take in the bodice 1 1/4 inches on each side. And as a result I took some tiny tucks in the skirt to make it fit the new bodice size. That was the only change I made. There was no gapping problems or anything else. Pretty lucky huh?  I used silk thread for the construction but in hindsight, it made it made it more difficult to sew and more puckers were occurring. Half way through I grabbed Sandra Betzina's More Fabric Savvy and learned I should be using polyester thread to sew chiffon to avoid puckers. Oops....so keep that in mind readers!

Here is an in person shots....sorry about the weird angle.  It is one of the few full length pictures I have from that wedding.

 

Me and my adorable husband

You can see my review here on Patternreview.com.