Copycat Pattern Test Garment Basted - Sleeveless Tee

A few days back, I blogged about some of the techniques I used for learning to copy a garment pattern I'm creating my first test garment for this pattern using a plaid remnant, which is lighter weight and more fluid fabric than the original garment - a Pima cotton. Well.... I have the remnant - that's a good reason to test in this, though the fabric has a different kind of drape! Also it gives me a chance to simply make and wear a test garment and see if the basic idea work. 

Notice, after all my talk about not sewing pockets any more, that I've basted one up and pinned it on!  Well..... they are handy for slipping dog treats into - at least Jasper-the-pooch thinks so. He likes to put his furry feet on me for a cuddle and then try to slip his nose in my shirt pockets just in case I left some in there on the walk. I thought I would just try the pocket out while basting, figure out where I like possible pocket placement to be, and then decide if I actually want a pocket on this shirt. If I use the pocket I need to add some fusible interfacing.

I'm also fooling around with a sleeve pattern for this shirt at the same time. In theory, the first time through, I think I should just make up a sleeveless version to wear, but it's actually feeling a little fall 'like in our part of CA lately, and a sleeve seems like a good idea.

For the sleeve, I have a blue remnant that looks OK with this plaid (I can add a little plaid trim on the bottom edge). If the sleeve doesn't work out, then I'll just forget about it. No big deal as I'm not sure what else I would use that small amount of blue knit for.

Copycat Pattern Work - Sleeveless Tee

Why do we talk about copy CAT's?
Izzie the Kitty is unique!

I have a favorite sleeveless tee shirt, in fact I have more than one of this tee - in yellow, orange, dark and light pinks, black..... You get the idea. Though I might not find the high quality Pima Cotton the original is made from, I would love to be able to try making a similar shirt in knits I run across. Also I have a piece of Spoonflower cotton interlock knit printed with one of my Mama's designs - I would love to get this pattern going, in that fabric.

The original tee is sleeveless. The hem hits at the high hip. The shirt is a little bit boxy, but not really loose. There are no darts. The neckline is high with a minimal scoop. In the past I've copied simpler things like aprons and tote bags. This is a good shirt for my first pass at a more complex pattern copy project.

1) First, I pinned along the side seams and the hem. Then I laid the pinned side seam along a 'fold' line, and traced around the hem, after pinning the hem down.

2) I used one of those cardboard cutting out boards (the kind with a grid line on it) underneath, and pinned through that after I released the hem, and pinned the shoulder seams together. I connected the dots the pins made from the shoulder seams. The armscye I traced. You can also buy cork board in rolls instead of the cutting out boards. I had several of these cardboard cutting out boards, and they seem to work OK for pinning into.

I found I had to do the tracing and pinning in stages. You pin, trace, and release, then lay other parts down. I tried out push pins, but they made kind of large holes if I wanted to wear the original garment again. I think large regular pins can work just as well.

Why do we talk about copyCAT's?
Nothing more unique than my kitty!

Floribunda Bouquet - Terminado! Finished! (M6076)

Summer clothes work around here well into the fall months. So it what well worth my time creating a third version of this summery princess-seamed shirt M6076 (altered -no sleeveless version on pattern). I'm so happy to have  another crispy version of this shirt. Floribunda has already gone out with me on a bike rides, a couple of dog walks, and even slightly dressed up- over my black denim skirt accompanied by a long doubled string of pearls and flat red sandals-  to visit my buddy Marilyn. 

Friend Susan recommended the large black buttons versus a couple of different patterned buttons I'd laid out - they were cute but didn't pop like this big black buttons.

I'm now working on a pair of black linen pants to flesh out my essential summer wardrobe. 

Summer Essential:Foribunda Bouquet - Beginnings ( Sleeveless Princess-Seamed Shirt, M6076)

  I've begun work on Floribunda Bouquet, another sleeveless princess-seamed shirt using M6076                                                                                                              

Been getting a lot of wearing time in with Western Winds and Pinto, so por qué no*?                                                                                 

                                       

 * por qué no? - why not?

Summer Essentials: Pinto the Picnic Shirt Terminado! (M6076)Sleeveless Princess-Seamed Shirt

Nothing like the neighborhood Fourth of July to inspire me to finish sewing Pinto the Picnic shirt. (I've blogged about my work fitting M6076 - both for Pinto and Western Winds numerous times  ) Pinto is such a cool, comfortable - not to mention cute (!) summer essential. I'm  looking forward to wearing her when I bike to summer chorus and also when buddy Marilyn and I next meet for a cup of tea. I know I'll also reach for her just any old time I reach into the armoire, looking for something to pickup my spirits. I sure hope to create a few more of these sleeveless wonders before fall.

Pattern Work - Working For My Plaid - M6076 Princess Seamed - With Sleeves

Can't you just envision these pattern pieces and muslins as a red-plaid princess-seamed shirt?

In the November episode of the Enchanted by Sewing audio/pocast, I talked about sewing tartans and plaids. I also mentioned I have plans for a new red plaid, princess-seamed shirt, using M6076. As you may have noticed in my recent postings, Jasper-the-new-pooch has been sewing my slow sewing down even more. Still, I have gotten in some pattern work!

All four pattern pieces have a muslin attached. My next step is to transfer the seam lines onto the muslin, before I begin basting.

 I drew those seam lines  onto the pattern, based on the measurements I took from the sleeveless Western Winds shirt, which I created from this same pattern (altering to create a sleeved version as well as getting a good fit for me). I've really enjoyed wearing Western Winds and got quite a lot of late summer/early fall use out of that shirt - of course here in California it stays warm longer than much of the U.S.

For Western Winds, I cut back the top of the shoulder towards the neck, but I've dropped that back in place for this sleeved version. My new pattern includes lines for both sleeved and sleeveless versions. I  cut with room for either version, then use my clover wheel to lay down the armscye lines, then cut away what I don't need for the particular version I'm making. 

For more description, see my previous post- Sleeved to Sleeveless.

There's a good chance I'll be making a few more changes to the muslin, and therefore pattern, before I snip into that red plaid. I also plan to re-test the new pattern on another sleeveless version, sometime over the next few months. Tried and true patterns take a while to get just so, but they sure are worth their weight in gold.

I store in-progress muslins and pattern pieces clipped onto binder clips  hanging off cup hooks. That way they don't get wrinkles in between sewing sessions, and they all stay together.

Sleeveless to Sleeved - Pattern Work - M6076

The purple line shows the cutting lines I used for altering the original pattern to be  sleeveless
The red lines are my new adjustment lines

Earlier this fall, I first began working with the princess-seamed pattern M6076. The first result was my sleeveless Western Winds Shirt. I really liked the fit, fabric and buttons on this shirt and I wore it quite a lot.  The pattern doesn't actually come in a sleeveless version - I raised the underarm point and then graded the top of the underarm seam to create a well fitting sleeveless version.

My next goal is to create a sleeved version. So far (Jasper is encouraging slow sewing!)  To date, I've just worked on one of the four pattern pieces - the Side Front. 

Once I get all four pattern pieces reworked, and since I made alterations right on Western Winds, I'll probably make another sleeveless version just to test this version of the pattern. Also I have enough clover green linen left from my Irish Laurel dress to make it!

Then I'll be testing the sleeved version in muslin. The main changes I'm making are

1) Taking the end-of-shoulder point back out about 1"

2) Taking the underarm point out 1"

3) Dropping the underarm seam point 1.5"

I went back to Western Winds and noted where I actually sewed my princess-seams
Then I added a new seam allowance, using a Clover tracing wheel
, 1" out from those seams. 

Terminado - The Bramble Blouse - Another Semi-Fitted Sleeveless Summer Blouse

You don't hear the term brambles used to refer to berries much these days.
I think it dates more from times when lots of berries grew naturally
in woods and fields, and folks just went out to pick their own, come summer time.
Nowadays most of us find our berries in a box or frozen bag.
The birds and squirrels score most of the ones I have in my yard.
Oh well, they can't run to the grocery store like I can! I don't really mind.
And it saves me a bit o' trouble in those prickly bramble bushes.

Hey! Do you remember the podcast I did in July, where I talked about creating my sleeveless, pink and white seersucker blouse Amaryllis blouse from my much altered tried-and-true shirt pattern (it started out life as B5586)? Well I enjoyed wearing Amaryllis so much (that gal has been a real go-to summer wardrobe choice) that I made another blouse from my same much altered pattern.

And doesn't it look pretty durn cute with my sage'y green shorts from two summers ago? I think so! I've also been wearing it with my new Midnight Sky black denim skirt, but I don't have a really cute photo of that combination yet :-)

Oh yeah, I altered the pattern a little more!  I just can't get enough of altering now - no pattern is safe from my fideling fingers.   Blame my wonderful dress form buddy Conchita for that! Because this crisp bramble printed cotton doesn't hang off a woman's body in the same way as the loosey-goosey seersucker I used for Amaryllis, I made a few changes to my Bramble Blouse as I was creating her. . . 

i) I took the long front darts I'd created from the hem, up the princess line, to the bust apex, and extended them up above the bust apex. 
ii) I also took those darts in more - so my Bramble Blouse is all together narrower than Amaryllis.  
iii) In addition I added long darts along the back princess seam. 

My dress form Conchita was really useful
when it came to making the
Bramble Blouse more fitted

These alterations resulted in a semi-fitted blouse that's just a little more fitted. 

OK, I admit it. I used good old
safety pins to try out that extended dart.
Because just after I tried this out on
Conchita, I slipped it on
me and checked out that new dart in the bathroom mirror.

Amaryllis is somewhat fitted,
but less so than my Bramble Blouse
That works because she's made out of a non-crisp seersucker

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Audio/Podcast Summer of the Blouse - Amaryllis http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/07/ench-by-sew-022-summer-of-blouse.html

Blog Posting about Amaryllis http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/07/amaryllis-my-new-semi-fitted-blouse.html

Wardrobe Builder - The Midnight Sky Black Denim Skirt http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/08/terminado-wardrobe-builder-midnight-sky.html

Creating Conchita, my Dress Form Friend  http://enchantedbysewing.blogspot.com/2013/09/ench-by-sew-12-dress-forms.html

Put a little Muslin Into It - Sleeveless Blouse from Shirt Pattern (B5526 Pattern Alteration)

If English isn't your first language.... I based the title for this posting on the English phrase/idiomatic expression "Put a little muscle into it", which is an encouragement to work hard.

As I mentioned in a recent blog posting, I've been working on altering my tried-and-true B5526 from a shirt to a sleeveless   somewhat fitted, summer blouse. Here's the muslin I created to help me decide how I want that blouse to fit. As you can see, I tried out the dart on one side to see if I wanted to just have that bit of fabric be loose and blouse or add fit. After trying the muslin on my own-self, I went in favor of the dart.

My dress form, Conchita, has been of immeasurable help to me in this endeavor as I 
a) Dropped the shoulder seam slightly forward
b) Decreased the torso girth
c) Added a waist to apex-of-bust dart.

Practicing my draping skills to make pattern alterations is the kind of thing that keeps me...

Enchanted by Sewing!

~ ~ ~

Web Resources

Planning for Rosa: My Summer Dream Blouse (Liberty of London Tana Lawn)

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/07/fabric-for-rosa-summer-dreams-blouse.html

My Experiences Creating Two Different Dress Forms (Audio Podcast with show notes links to various blog postings)

http://www.enchantedbysewingpodcast.blogspot.com/2013/09/ench-by-sew-12-dress-forms.html

Fabric for Rosa - The Summer Dreams Blouse

A few weeks back I purchased two yards of Rosa, a Liberty Art Fabric Tana Lawn, at Brittex in San Francisco. Like my other Tana Lawns, the hand of this material is incredible, like a wonderful silk - kind of - but with something else I haven't figured out how to describe. 

Why is this print different from any other basic flower print? I can't say, but for me, it is.

In preparation for cutting and sewing a short sleeved blouse from this wonderful fabric, I altered my favorite shirt pattern, (B5526) into a short sleeved blouse pattern. My alterations involved moving the shoulder lines forward, decreasing the bodice girth and adding waistline to bust apex darts.

I'm currently working on sewing my first test version in pink and white striped seersucker. When I say "test version" I don't mean a muslin - I've created a muslin already and fitted it on my dress form and on me. The test version is one that I'll be wearing to see how I like the alterations. I plan to make at least one more test version before I snip into Rosa. That's partly because I adore Rosa and partly because Tana Lawn is quite pricy - a real investment! - whether I buy it in San Francisco or London. 

http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/product/Liberty//Rosa-H-Tana-Lawn/59043

Designed for Liberty by Allan Thomas in 1997 and has been on Classic Tana since 2002. 100% cotton with a texture and sheen to beat the band! Product ID: 59043