Another Butterick 5223...in the works

I'm back to sewing garments. I'm working on my TNT Butterick pleated top pattern. I am using a lightweight denim that has a herringbone pattern in the fabric. I have altered the pattern in the back by removing the middle pleat, thus removing about 3 inches all together. The top should be more slender fitting, especially from the side profile. I'm hoping I won't have to take in the sides as well. I will make that call later.

My favorite Butterick pattern with the pleats in the front & back

Here is how I set in the sleeve into the garment. Instead of basting two rows in the sleeve cap, I just ease the sleeve in with my fingers matching notches and seams. I do end up with a lot more pins, but it's easier for me to sew in the sleeve this way.

Pinning & easing in the sleeves by hand

Here's the result of my work. I still need to finish the sleeve/armhole seam (e.g. serging) and give it a good pressing.

Close up of sewn in sleeves

I'm off to the fabric store in search of buttons. Will be back with more pictures later and hopefully a finished garment (and loose threads removed).

Happy Sewing!

My Sewing Sisters...I Need Some Fitting Help

I finally found my Loes Hinse sweater set pattern late last night. It was tucked between two BWOF mags. Like that really made a lot of sense for safe keeping. Maybe that was my newly designated "to read" pile and I forgot. Who knows. Glad I found it.

I was able to find my first muslin for this LH sleeveless v-neck top that I sewed back in 2005. I have provided pictures below. As you can see, the front doesn't fit that well. So, my question to you lovely sewing sisters...do I need to do a full bust adjustment (FBA) or something else?

Poor fitting LH sleeveless top - side view


Another view showing the front seam

It may be hard to see, but there's a front seam under the v-neck. I had sewn another muslin that's a little bit larger and still had the same problem with the front pulled up.

My backside looks fine, no wrinkles or pulling. I just have a problem with the front. Would you believe this is the first pattern that doesn't fit?

I'm retracing the top so I have something to work with. In the meantime, I could really use your help in figuring this out.

Another Vogue 2925...Semi-Formal knit top completed

Can you stand to see another knit top from Vogue? Since I was on a roll with this top, I decided to make another using a fancy slinky knit that reminds me of lace. It only took an hour to whip up this fancy schmancy top. I bought this at G-Street Fabrics over the summer and I had a "V-8" moment. I already had this exact fabric in my stash...thanks to EmmaOneSock. If I remember right, this was a Chico's knit.

I plan on wearing this top to a fancy gala next summer. This puts the pressure off of wondering what to make at the last minute. Now, all I need to do is make one more formal something and I have 7 more months to figure that one out.

I love how a plan comes halfway together.

BWOF and Vogue on Me

Here is my BWOF knit tunic. I made the smallest size 38 which turned out to be quite big on me. I am wearing a black slinky knit tank top that I made last year underneath the tunic. I still have quite a bit of room.

I'm thinking of trimming off my seam allowances that I added to my pattern and giving this top another try. Maybe with a less stretchy knit fabric. What do you BWOF experts think?

Here I am modeling my new TNT V2925 in a size 12. The finished bust was about 34 inches. I am extremely happy with this size. Better fit and not snug at all like the size 10 version.

Both of of my latest sewing adventures are posted on PatternReview.com.

BWOF 12-2008-113...completed

Okay, I've completed my first BWOF garment. I have to say, it was a very rewarding experiment experience. This is the beginning of a new adventure for me.



Here is my knit tunic on SusieQ. I made a size 38. It is quite loose fitting on me. I can actually wear a fitted t-shirt underneath. Looking at the pictures (models) in the magazine, this tunic is meant to be worn over a shirt/garment. That explains the fit.

My neckline appears to be very low in comparison to the line drawing provided below. I'll have to double check the pattern I traced...maybe operator error.



Just as everyone has mentioned, the BWOF instructions are very skimpy. Dawn, thanks for leaving your BWOF comment/suggestion. I ended up following my sewing intuition. I had to read between the missing lines to figure out the sewing instructions and use my own sewing experience to come up with my own sewing steps.

I will back tomorrow to post a picture of me wearing the tunic. A PR will be posted soon after.

Another Vogue 2925...completed

Here's another wonderful version of Vogue 2925 knit top. This one is in a size 12. The fit is much better. Not as snug as the size 10. No alterations were needed. For the side seams I did sew a 3/8 inch seam allowance.

Does the fabric look familiar? I had made a long New Look knit skirt earlier this year and reviewed it on PR. I had enough fabric left over to make this top. I love the idea that I now have a matching two piece outfit.



Here are the pleats pinned at the shoulder. Instead of trying to mark the fabric with chalk or pencil, I use my pins to mark the pleat lines. Then I carefully fold over, matching the pins to create the pleat. I use a third pin to hold down the pleat until I baste it in place.





Here I am stitching the front shoulder seam. I also place a 1/4 inch twill tape in the stitching area. I find the twill tape does a great job stabilizing the seams.

I have serged the shoulder seam and made sure the serger has caught the twilll tape:


Here's a view of one of the shoulder seams completed. At this point I go ahead and serge the hem areas (neckline & armhole):


For the finished neckline, I turn over the neckline 3/8 inches (instead of 5/8 from pattern instructions) and pin. Notice the neckline is smooth:


Another TNT top is finished. I have a fantastic slinky knit that looks like lace that would be perfect for a dressy version.

I will be back later to post a picture of me wearing this new knit top and with the skirt I made this year.

Vogue 2925...Knit Top

I know...it's about time I started posting something about my sewing. Well, I am having a very productive sewing day. First, I managed to cut the fabric for my BWOF 12-2008-113 knit top. It is in my sewing queue ready to be stitched up.

Here is what I am working on now:


This the infamous Vogue 2925 ensemble pattern. I made the knit top. Can I mention that it was super easy?






Here's my knit top on SusieQ. I love the pleats at the front shoulder areas. I traced and cut a size 10. I found that the top was a bit snug using the 5/8 inch seam allowances. So I ripped out the side seams and re-sewed with 1/4 inch seams. A much better fit.

I absolutely love the neckline shape. It covers my front chest area nicely. The front shoulder pleats were easy to sew. The only time consuming part was folding over the neckline area and armholes and topstitching.

I still have to hem the bottom and it should be done.


My only heartache with this pattern is the size range. I bought the (6-8-10) pattern size for the knit top. If I want to make something else from this pattern (e.g. jacket, skirt), I have to purchase another pattern in size (12-14-16). Actually, I would like to try this knit top in a size 12 and I believe the next Vogue sale is this week. On my next version, I am going to add bindings to the neckline and armholes. I think it would be a nicer finish. This looks like a TNT pattern for me.

NL6856 Muslin...Not Too Crazy About It

It's been raining all morning and all day. Great opportunity to do some sewing. No running around or shopping today, just blissful peace in my sewing room and the hum of my SM. Oh, and of course Christmas tunes are playing in the background.




Here's my NL muslin knit top on SusieQ. This NL knit looks better on her than on me. I'm not too crazy about the neckline treatment as it appears to stand up along the edges and more noticeably around the shoulders and back areas. I still need to hem the sleeves and the bottom. Maybe it will look different once I finish the garment.

Maybe there's a reason why NL did not include a picture of a real live model wearing the clothes on the pattern envelope.


I'm off to finish two more t-shirts (morphing from Men's XL to KS size M).

I'll try to post more pictures later today.



** Update **



Here's a picture of the finished New Look knit top. What do you think?

Wearing My Butterick 5251 Cardigan

Here I am wearing my new cardigan. I could not wait to have a picture taken. I took my pictures this evening. Then one thing led to another and I went ahead and posted my review on PR. You can find my review on the right side bar under my recent sewing projects.

I think this cardigan looks better on me than on SusieQ. lol! This sweater knit print is a bit too masculine for me. I would like to find a floral knit and sew this up again. What do you think?

Butterick 5251 - Sweater Knit Cardigan Completed

This is a follow up post to the previous one from this morning. This sweater knit cardigan is finished. I have included more pictures and more details.

Okay, I mentioned in this morning's post that I would post a picture of the finished seam. Here it is. The main seam I sewed with my sewing machine (SM) using the narrow zigzag stitches. I then serged the seams about 1/8 inch away from the main seam and trimming the excess fabric off.



I hand sewed the inside collar to the base of the jacket using a slip stitch. I also slip stitched the front facing edge to the shoulder seams.



Here's a picture of the front facing and the hem. I serged the outer edges of the facings. I topstitched the facing to the cardigan along the facing edges. For the hem, I turned up 1-1/2 inches and also topstitched.




I turned my cardigan inside out and placed it on SusieQ to show you what the insides look like.








Here's the finished cardigan with the self fabric belt.









Here are the side views with the self fabric belt.








Here's another view of the cardigan without the self fabric belt. I actually like wearing this cardigan loose.



I think this cardigan will look great with a pair of jeans for a casual look or with a pair of slacks for a dressy look.

This sweater knit cardigan could be completed within a weekend day or within several hours over a few evenings. I will be posting a review on PatternReview.com within the next few days and include pictures of me wearing my new cardigan.

I need to take a break from this marathon sewing I have been doing. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my cardigan and the sewing techniques I have used and the many pictures I have included.

Butterick 5251 - Sweater Knit Cardigan-WIP #1

I am currently working on the Butterick 5251 knit cardigan. I have to mention, it's coming along nicely. It is turning out to be a wonderful looking knit garment. This will be a long post with lots of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

This is a close up of the bulky sweater knit I am using for this knit cardigan. It's a pretty blue and dark brown diamond patterned knit that I found at G-Streets. I had about 2 yards and 2 inches of this fabric. Turns out it wasn't enough to fit the belt pattern piece. Since this fabric had a 4-way stretch, I was able to reposition the belt pattern piece along the selvage.


Here's the fusible knit interface applied to the collar. I used Pellon's Easy Knit (that's what it said on the paper that came with it). I applied and fused it with a damp press cloth and medium/high heat setting.


Here, I am pinning the front pieces to the back piece. I match my notches first and then match the ends. Then I gently pin along the seam line and careful not to stretch the knit fabric.


I'm sewing a 5/8 inch seam using a narrow zigzag stitch. Once I'm done with the seams on my SM, I go to my serger and finish the seam edges. I stitch about 1/8 inch away from my SM seam (main seam). This gives the seams a nice finish as well as reinforces them. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the finished seams. I will include a picture in my next post.


To give you an idea of the narrow zigzag stitch I used, here's the display on my SM. This shows what the actual stitch would look like. Your SM stitch settings will be different than mine. This gives you an idea of what you should try to get your machine to stitch out.



Here's a picture of the narrow zigzag stitch I used. As you can see, it's not quite a deep zigzag and not quite a straight stitch. The narrow zigzag gives the seam some stretch and prevents the stitch from popping or breaking.

Here's the collar after it is sewn together (interfaced with non-interfaced). I pinned the back collar area away from the seam line.


This is the first time I am sewing a knit on my Sapphire SM. I tried sewing a knit over a year ago and had some issues. I guess with experience and getting to know my SM, I didn't encounter any problems with sewing this sweater knit fabric. You'll notice the thickness in the picture. That is about 5 layers of bulky knit fabric. I set my SM speed to the slowest setting and it did not hesitate one bit.


Save the best picture for last. Here's the collar and front facings installed. The collar is actually a bit wider than what's presented on the pattern envelope picture. The line drawings appear to be exact. I think I have to get used to the collar. It just seems a bit wide towards the bottom when I tried on the cardigan. I do like the style...very contemporary looking.

This cardigan is about 80% completed. I still have to finish (hand sew) the collar back, hem the cardigan, topstitch the hem and front facing areas, and create the self fabric belt. I will be back with more pictures and another post later.

Happy Sewing!

Butterick 4659 - Pink Floral Shirt is completed

My new shirt is finally completed. I sewed in the sleeves, the buttonholes and buttons last night. I tried it on this morning to take pictures. Guess what? It's too hot to wear right now. We are having a heatwave...90's and a bit humid. So for now, Susie-Q will model my new shirt.

I made this shirt in a size 10 with a finished bust of 38 inches and finished hip of 41 inches.

This pink floral cotton print is from my stash. Probably from G-Street Fabrics. The fabric is really soft.

I had fun sewing this shirt. It's rated as "fast & easy" and it truly was. There were only one area where I had to slow down my sewing. It was stitching the neck and shoulder area. This is typical for this kind of collar treatment. I have another shirt pattern on my to do list and I noticed it has the same collar application. This pattern does require a lot of hand-sewing (slip stitching). As you can see, it was well worth it.

Here's the different views on Susie-Q:

** Updated to show additional pictures and pertinent sewing information **


I wanted to show the inside details of my shirt. So, I put the shirt on Susie-Q, inside out. I serged the raw edges of the seams (e.g. princess and side seams) to give the shirt a nice finished look on the inside. And since the fabric is cotton, I wanted to prevent any unraveling of the fabric. After stitching the sleeves in with my sewing machine, I also went back and serged around the sleeve seams.


For the narrow hem, I serged the bottom edges of the shirt. I folded the hem up 5/8 inch and pressed. Then I would tuck the serged edge under and press again. I topstitched the hem. Here's a picture of the curved narrow hem (shirt is inside out):



Here's the inside neckline and shoulder area with the handsewn facings:



Here's a close-up picture of the wing collar:




Update: I finally got around to taking pictures of myself. Here I am posing in my new shirt. This is the correct shade of pink that you are seeing on me (the pictures above were taken with the flash set too high, sorry).

I have posted my detailed review on PR.

Progress on my shirt

My pink floral shirt is coming along nicely. I made a lot of progress last night. I was able to stitch the front and back facings into the shirt. It needs a good press.

For now, the main part of the shirt is on Susie-Q...until tonight when I tackle the sleeves and split cuffs. I am learning to sew in stages (versus sewing for hours on a weekend). Thank goodness for the brighter June evenings as the sun doesn't go down until around 8:30pm. This allows me to have atleast 1-1/2 hours of sewing time after dinner.

I did take some interim pictures, but decided not to post. I want it to be a surprise. My attempt to sew something with light colors. This shirt is light and cheery and will definitely stand out in my closet (among my black pants and my black tops). :)

Butterick 5216 - Blue/White Floral top

I finished the top this morning and have been wearing it around the house. It is very comfy. I did run to my local Hancock's as they were having a "Grand Re-Opening" sale. Can't beat their $0.99 pattern sale...Simplicity, McCall's, AND Butterick. Ooops...I am digressing...sorry. I didn't tug or fidget with the top while in my vehicle or in the store. So, it's the perfect summer top for me. And better yet, I did not worry about my bra strap showing. It does peak out a bit where the tie comes out of the casing. Better there than on the shoulders.

While at Hancock's, I picked up some nice rayon fabrics to use with this pattern. I think it will drape nicely and my bow won't be so frumpy.

Now, on to my next Butterick project...the shirt with flounce sleeves.

Happy Sewing!

Two Butterick patterns in the works

This is Butterick 4659. I had previously posted this pattern on my to do list and I am finally going to make it. I have traced view A (purple top in the drawing) and the fabric pieces are already cut and ready to sew. I am making a muslin in a size 10. The finished bust is 38 inches. This looks to be semi-fitted. The muslin I selected is a light pink/off white/pale yellow/rose colored floral cotton (soft) fabric from my stash.

I have read the previous PR reviews on this pattern and will watch for the gotchas. It appears the collar might be an issue, but I have worked with a similar KS pattern and believe I can get through this pattern without any problems.


This cute pattern is Butterick 5216. I am in the process of hemming view A, the gathered top with the ties in the front. Does this look familiar? Yes, I have done a similar version using KwikSew 3610. The KS pattern uses front and back facings to incorporate a casing for the tie. This Butterick pattern uses a fold over (casing) and stitch method.

A big plus with this Butterick pattern is the option to have the tie in the front of the top instead of the side. All it means is stitching a buttonhole in the front. Another plus for this pattern is the wider shoulder strap created from the wide tie. I have tried this top on with a regular bra and the tie straps does a decent job of hiding my bra straps. You will have the opportunity to see that when I post my review on PR. So, I already give this pattern a "I highly recommend" and "easy to sew" ratings. A bargain if you can get this pattern on sale for $0.99 (like I did).

Happy June!

Another Butterick 5223 - Floral top

Okay, so my third version of this top is posted. What happened to my second version? ...Stay tuned.

I found this lovely raspberry/black/green/yellow/white cotton fabric at G-Street. It is probably a quilting fabric, but I could not pass it up as the color and print is gorgeous for a top. After I pre-washed this fabric, I noticed the fabric width was only 40". Good thing I bought the whole remnant.

After sewing the top, I tried it on and felt the top was too loose fitting. The side profile was a little too poofy for me. I ended up taking in the side seams 1/2". Since the sleeve fits perfectly, I went ahead and took in the side seam at the bottom of the arm opening. About 1" inch below the underarm seam, I started my stitching on the original 5/8" seam line and then gradually stitched away from original seam line and then kept stitching 1/2" from the original seam line down to the bottom of the top. Not bad for a quick fix.

I was flipping through the Butterick pattern catalog and saw a picture of this jacket being modeled. I noticed the pleats for this jacket/top were not stitched down as in my versions. In the pattern instructions, they have you baste the pleats and I interpretted it to mean topstitching down the pleats, eventually. I think if you end up basting your pleats and then removing the basting stitches after the jacket is completed, you'll have a softer looking neckline. I am not sure how it will affect the side profile of the jacket. I guess there is only way to find out when I make my 4th version of this pattern.

Now, what happened to my second version? It's still on Susie-Q. I was doing test buttonholes for this lovely bright color floral pique version and ran into some problems with the buttonholes coming out crooked/wonky. So, I stopped working on this jacket and continued sewing my third version. Now that I have figured out a way to take in the side seams, I will also do the same with this jacket (after I undo the hem). And hopefully, I won't have any problems with my 2nd test buttonholes. If I do, my backup plan is to use huge snaps.

So, this is pretty much what my weekend was all about (besides the fabric shopping). I would have loved to traced out another pattern, but that didn't happen. Focus on finishing these Butterick tops was my priority.

Happy Sewing!