Vogue 8634 done 3 ways

I used to be very into vintage clothing, and one of my "finds" was a tan cashmere roll neck sweater from the 70's. I absolutely loved that thing, but somewhere along the line it disappeared. I was going through my fabric stash the other day and came across a lovely brown sweater knit that had been a remnant from a local designer. While I stood there fondling this lovely bit of fabric,  it occurred to me that the perfect use for all its drapey goodness would be a roll neck sweater exactly like that vintage 70's one that I loved so much. But where to find a pattern?

My first thought was to check the vintage patterns on Etsy and eBay for something suitably 70's, but that search turned up nothing. I next went through all my Ottobre Women and Burda magazines - still zilch. Feeling rather defeated, I decided to abandon the roll neck sweater idea and find something else in my pattern stash to use. That's when I found my untried Vogue 8634 pattern - perfect!

Once I sewed up a muslin, I realized how brilliant this pattern is. It is so incredibly easy - foolproof, really. I've had my ups and downs with Vogue patterns, but this one is fantastic. I loved it so much, I did it 3 times. Given that I have almost zero sewing time at the moment, this is quite an accomplishment. Each one only took about 45 minutes start to finish, including cutting time. That's my kinda pattern.

Here is the version with the brown sweater knit:

Here is a close up of the fabric. Isn't it divine! To get the full effect, though, you have to touch it - it is supremely soft.

Here is my muslin version. It is some sort of shimmery poly fabric. Quite nice, actually, but I didn't realize until I tried my finished garment on that it is basically see through.  My husband may appreciate that, but it's not so good for picking up the kids from school.  I have to wear a camisole underneath, which shows through at the bottom - yuck. Oh well!

For my third version, I wanted to lengthen it to a dress. I could have spent a lot of time fooling about with measurements, but luckily I realized that my much-adored Simplicity 2580 has a similar construction with the exact length I wanted. When I put the Simplicity bottom panel piece up to the upper front of the Vogue top, I was delighted to see they matched up exactly!

I was a little hesitant to use this fabric - it is rather loud, after all. But I threw caution to the wind and went ahead. My husband, rather surprisingly, LOVES this dress. I did take it in about an inch on either side to make it more slinky - maybe that has something to do with it.

I may want to break up the fabric's pattern with a belt, but after scouring my closet, I came up empty. How could I not own a black, skinny belt? I'm going to be 40 in a couple of weeks, for heaven's sake. How I managed to live that long without a black skinny belt is beyond me.

A slightly different view:

Anyway, you get the idea. I highly recommend this pattern, especially if you are a beginner or not used to sewing with knits. There is not much you can do to mess this up.

I also managed to make another Vogue dress, the highly acclaimed V1250. Everyone on PatternReview.com RAVES about this dress. I can't resist a good cowl neck pattern, so of course this was high on my to sew list. I added the long sleeves per Art Attack's instructions which merge Butterick 5495 with the Vogue pattern. The end result is fine, and the whole thing is very easy to sew. I still think I like my Simplicity 2580 cowl neck dress pattern more, though. I like how the Simplicity cowl hangs much better than the Vogue version.

Isn't that just an awesome color? I wish I had more of that fabric.

And one final thing for me, a Christine Jonson Shirred Top. There were approximately a billion pattern pieces to this top, many of which look exactly the same but aren't, and I did not properly mark them, so this took forever. However, I adore the end result. It is actually quite simple to make once you have the pattern pieces figured out, but it doesn't really look simple. As I've said before, that is my main criteria for judging a pattern. Love this one.

Here is a bit more of a close up so you can see all the shirring:

I just started a new part time job, so I feel like all my sewing time has evaporated. But looking at all this makes me realize I've actually been able to squeeze in a fair amount of sewing for someone who has no free time anymore. And I haven't even included the three pairs of pajamas I made for the kids last week! That makes me feel better. A girl's gotta have her sewing time.

Getting into fall sewing

I've found myself woefully unprepared, wardrobe-wise, for the cooler weather we've been having. To be more precise, it's my kids' wardrobes that are severely lacking. Since they have all grown about two feet since last year, I can't just pull out last winter's clothing! Sewing up some cozy clothes was definitely in order.

Here is a little set I made for my 3 year old son. I did have a moment of panic once I cut everything out, thinking this would end up looking like a Gymboree outfit, circa 1985. All those color-blocked, bright colors! In the end, I love how it turned out. I used bamboo french terry for both the red and the blue, so it is deliciously cozy and soft.

Pattern: Ottobre 4/10

Embroidery: Kiki Tomato

Fabric: Bamboo french terry from Bamblue Fabrics

And here's a sweatshirt for my oldest son. I have a ton of boy knits in my stash, and it's getting a little hard to figure out what to do with them. My oldest has pretty much grown out of prints, and in any case, the prints sewn up as shirts always looks like pajamas to me. My solution for this was to use the prints for sweatshirts. Of course the t-shirt jersey is much too thin to use by itself, so I fully line it with another knit, making it a perfect weight for our mild winters.

A close-up of the Mario fabric, which I got on Etsy:

 Pattern: Ottobre 1/07

Here's a Zoe for my daughter. I couldn't believe how fast this was - 30 minutes start to finish, I think. It's amazing how quickly I can put a shirt together when there is no embroidery involved!

Pattern: Farbenmix Zoe

And finally, a rocket ship shirt for my little guy. Can you tell I had red in the serger and was too lazy to change it? The fabric is some lovely, but extremely pricey European campan. How I wish this stuff wasn't so expensive! The colors are just fantastic.

Pattern: Ottobre 1/10

Embroidery: Kunterbunt

Ruffles for my girl

I was scouting out eBay a few weeks ago, trying to come up with some sewing inspiration (as if I really needed any more of THAT!). A friend of mine introduced me to the Australian brand Paper Wings, and I just love the elegant simplicity of their clothing lines. I found this dress on eBay, and fell instantly in love with all those ruffles! I had to make one for my daughter.

I used the Mamu Katrin pattern for my base, which ended up being pretty much exactly what I needed. The original PaperWings dress is gathered in the front and back, and I originally thought I'd have to extend the skirt panels to make those gathers. But I know from experience that this pattern runs really wide, so I just left it as is and added lastin to the seam to create the gathers. That worked perfectly.

The original dress only had a couple ruffles going up the back, but I kind of miscalculated how much I would need and ended up with a ton of ruffles. Having rolled all those hems, I was determined to use all of them! So my dress ended up being a little more ruffly than originally planned, but you can never have too many ruffles, right?

For the fabric, I used some red jersey that may or may not be bamboo. It's an old piece I pulled out of my stash, and it predates my store, so I'm not 100% positive what it is. I do know that it is supremely soft, so bamboo or not, it is heavenly.

Pattern: Mamu Katrin

Fabric: Either bamboo or rayon jersey

I also decided to make the kids some Halloween shirts. Despite the fact that I have more Halloween embroidery designs than I could ever possibly use, when Urban Threads had a sale not long ago, I stocked up. I fell in love with their Primitive Macabre series, and bought the whole lot of 'em.

Embroidery: Urban Threads

Patterns: Ottobre Design

As long as I had that Ottobre pattern out, I decided to upcycle a men's shirt for my son. I've long been a fan of Little Overcoat's recycled children's clothing. The way she combines fabrics and colors is masterful! I've been copying her style for ages, but mine never turn out as nice as hers.

Despite the fact that it looks like the dragon is sniffing his armpit, my son loves this shirt.

Sewing for sweater weather

I am in dire need of a new winter wardrobe. Where I live, it doesn't really get cold until December, so I usually don't have any motivation to sew wintry stuff until well into November. By that time, of course, I am frantically making Christmas presents and up to my eyeballs in all the usual holiday stuff. After Christmas, I'm usually looking forward hopefully to spring. So, the winter stuff just never gets sewn.

This year, I decided to change all that, in large part because the average age of the garments in my winter wardrobe is approximately 8.5 years. Drastic measures have to be taken. So, despite the fact that it was hovering around 100 degrees for much of last week, I pulled out a few of my sweater knits and started sewing.

The first fabric I picked up was this amazingly soft sweater knit that I got on a recent fabric shopping excursion. Apparently it was a leftover from a local fashion designer, and I snagged all I could. Wanting something  a little unusual, I turned to Butterick 5564, which bills itself as being Fast & Easy. Snort! No, it is not fast nor easy. I suppose it could be if the instructions for the sleeves made sense, but they don't, so you are left to flounder, swear, or break out in a cold sweat (I did all 3). Thank heavens someone had written how to do the sleeves on www.patternreview.com, so I didn't need to go completely crazy.

Pattern: Butterick 5564



After struggling with those sleeves, I wanted to do something that was truly fast and easy, so I turned to Jalie 2911 for a shawl collar hoodie. I love Jalie instructions - so simple! And the patterns don't have a lot of fuss to them, which is much appreciated by someone who is coming to despise fussy patterns. (Just don't ask about the Jalie button down men's shirt I recently had to throw into the garbage midway through. Sore subject.) For this hoodie, I used some of my yarn dyed hemp/organic cotton jersey from Bamblue Fabrics. I love this stuff! I bought every colorway available. This will be a staple in my winter wardrobe, I think. It's roomy enough that I can wear a shirt underneath on the coldest days, but still doesn't look like a tent.

Pattern: Jalie 2911

Fabric: Hemp/organic cotton jersey from Bamblue Fabrics

And now for a little bamboo sweater knit. I have three colors of this amazing fabric in stock at Bamblue at the moment. I'm totally in love with the stuff - the softness is just incredible. If it were realistic, I would make my entire winter wardrobe from it! But for now, I just have this:

Pattern: Burda 7866

Fabric: Bamboo sweater knit from Bamblue Fabrics

While I love, love, love how this turned out, I was annoyed by the instructions for how to do the neckline. It looked simple, but turned out to be a fussy mess. Nope, don't like it at all. Next time, I will do something completely different. What, I don't know. But it certainly won't involve any hand sewing, I can tell you that right now.

Having sewn a bunch of stuff for myself, I was starting to feel a little guilty about not sewing anything for my kids. As I had promised myself that I would make at least one Halloween costume this year, my daughter's witch costume was next on the list. I have never actually made a Halloween costume before, despite my best intentions, because whenever the costumes come out at Target, my kids fall in love with one and I hand over my $20 and everybody is happy. Not this year! This year, I really wanted to struggle with gathering yards and yards of tulle and slippery costume satin that unraveled all over everything! Who wouldn't?

I do love the end result, and my little witch is quite pleased with her costume too.

Pattern:  Simplicity 2569



I also made a raincoat. How I hated sewing this. I will never use laminated cotton again. It is ghastly. So stiff and unforgiving! But it had been sitting in my stash for two years, and my daughter kept asking over and over when I was going to use it, so I finally broke down. I hated every second of this project, but at least my daughter has a new raincoat. It's not totally waterproof because I didn't treat the seams, but at least she can go out in a light rain. Also, the sewing is just atrocious because about midway through I had given up the will to live. But it is done, and I can move on with my life.



Pattern: McCall's 6392



Cutting into adored fabric

I have an extremely bad habit of hopelessly messing up sewing projects using fabric that I adore and will never be able to find again. Case in point. Rather than suffer such heartbreak again, I decided that the next time I use my favorite - and rare - fabric, I will do something so easy that I cannot possibly mess it up.

I purchased this tiny piece of gorgeous lavender cotton lawn at The Fabric Outlet in San Francisco. They only had 1.5 yards left, which nearly made me cry right then and there, but I was determined to do something with it. I picked up Hot Patterns No Sweat Easy Sew Poetry in Motion Tops (HP105) not long ago, and bravely decided to use it for this fabric, even though I had not sewn this pattern before.

It all came together just fine, although I didn't have enough fabric for long sleeves, as I had originally planned. But overall, a success!

Pattern: Hot Patterns 105 (OOP, I believe)

I have been sewing a lot of Vogue patterns recently, with mixed success. From the picture on the envelope, Vogue 1027 is pretty much my perfect dress, so I had to try it! I decided to use some rayon jersey that I had originally carried in Bamblue Fabrics, but wasn't selling particularly well, so I discontinued it. (I do still have about 2 yards left, if anyone wants it!). 

The end result is ok, but not the "perfect knit dress" that I was hoping for. For one thing, the bodice does not fit me well. I'm not sure whether this is because all that fabric is pulling down the bodice, or my natural endowments just don't fill the dress out, but either way, it's an odd fit. Also, the dress ended up being way too long on my 5'7" frame - I had to hack off about 5 inches. Overall, I'm ok with the dress; I just don't LOVE it like I wanted to.

Pattern: Vogue 1027

Finally, it was picture day at the school this week. This event always sneaks up on me, so I needed something quick and easy - but still beautiful - for my daughter to wear. I chose the Pink Fig Lily Top (which is really more of a dress), because it fit the bill. I pulled out my Heather Ross Far Far Away double gauze, delighted that I would finally use this fabric before my daughter grew out of it!

This picture is not the best; my daughter was all hyped up for picture day, and simply could not stand still. This was the only shot I got of her that even remotely does the dress justice.

Pattern: Pink Fig Lily Top

The Vogue Rollercoaster

I have not had much luck with Vogue patterns. Of the four that I have tried, two of them ended up in the trash: both pattern and garment. That is a pretty dismal success rate. And it's not like I'm trying obscure patterns or anything; I chose patterns that had been carefully vetted by Patternreview.com readers before making a move! I'm beginnng to think that Vogue patterns do not really fit my sewing style. My idea of a perfect pattern is one that isn't too fiddly, and where you end up with a garment that looks impressive but took almost no time to sew.

Vogue patterns are anything but that, at least that's my impression from the four I've done. And the pattern rating on the back is just humiliating. The dress I just completed is rated as "Easy." I did not find it easy at all, and therefore my sewing ego took a beating. I need vanity pattern ratings, like vanity sizing in the clothing world; a simple t-shirt with a warning label like, "Only very advanced, skilled seamstresses should attempt!" Of course, the pattern company wouldn't sell many patterns that way, but it would make me feel better.

Anyway, here is the one dress that did turn out fairly well, despite a lot of sewing frustrations. The biggest problem was no fault of the pattern, but that of my machine: it kept eating the fabric. Constantly! Ugh, it was a horror. I tried everything to correct the issue and finally through a magical combination of changing needles, cleaning the machine, and changing the thread, I was able to finish the thing. But not without a lot of swearing on my part.

Now I just need to go dancing. I'm not sure what else this dress is appropriate for, but I do like it!

Pattern: Vogue 1225

The fabric is a thin, slippery poly blend knit with glittery leaves sprinkled throughout. I originally was selling this on Bamblue Fabrics, but I sold not one single yard (probably a good thing, now that I know how difficult it is to sew with!). I only had 5 yards, so I decided to keep it all for myself.

Another Vogue pattern I tried recently was the much-lauded V8379 wrap-dress. Patternreview.com readers ranked this as one of the best patterns of 2007 AND 2008, and it is in the 2009 Hall of Fame. But....I just didn't like it! I have a tried and true wrap dress pattern that I love (Onion 2010), and was resistant to trying a new one, but the Vogue pattern had so many good reviews that I couldn't help myself. But it is much fiddlier than the Onion pattern. Also, the facing pops out constantly, which is OK given my busy fabric choice, but I'd be really bummed if I had made this in a solid color. Finally, nearly all the reviews I read on Patternreview said to lengthen the bodice, so I did....but now it's much too long. Ugh.

Overall, I do like the dress, but next time I'll go back to the Onion pattern:

I do like the sleeve and collar detail on the Vogue pattern: I may steal it to put on the Onion pattern next time.

Pattern:  Vogue 8379

Fabric: Zig Zag Rayon Jersey from Bamblue Fabrics



One dress I won't be showing you is Vogue 1235, which ended up in the trash. I adore the look of this dress, and badly wanted it to turn out nicely....but sadly, it just did not work for me. So many things went wrong, and by the time I joined the bodice to the skirt the whole thing was just a mess. I don't know if it was the pattern or me. I may try it again someday.....

In love with bamboo jersey

I am literally up to my ears in bamboo jersey. I've been making good progress toward stocking every color I can get my hands on for Bamblue Fabrics, so I have a ton of it lying around. But I haven't gotten around to sewing much with my own stock lately, because I've been so busy sewing for the kids (and all that embroidery takes a LONG time!).

Last week, I decided to change that. I cut off several yards from my rolls, washed it up (it does wash up quite nicely - I even put the stuff in the dryer, but I know that freaks some people out). And then went through my patterns.

First up is Simplicity 2554. I used my burgundy bamboo fabric for this - what a dream to sew! The quality is just TDF. This is a fairly simple pattern, and I just love how it shows off all the delicious drapiness of the fabric.

The next pattern I did was McCall's 6408. It seems I can never have enough of these drapey knit cardigans during the winter. They are the perfect thing to wear over leggings! This particular pattern is fantastic. Ridiculously easy, and I just love how the ties give it a little something special. For this pattern, I used my mocha bamboo jersey.

Can't decide which picture I like best, so I'll throw in this one too:

Finally, I made McCall's 6078.  I have made this pattern before (although a different view), but I somehow managed to lose the shirt. I remember modeling it for a picture two years ago, and I have not seen that top since. It is so annoying, because I really need a black cowl neck shirt like that, but I refuse to make another, since I KNOW that top has to be somewhere in the hourse! Grrrr.

Anyway, I made View A this time, in my new forest green bamboo jersey. Love it. all the pleats are a little fussy, and I really don't like how the instructions say to stitch down the length of the pleat. Why is this necessary? Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I don't like how that looks. I spent about 45 minutes carefully picking out all those stitches after I'd sewn the whole thing up.

And now for something completely different.

I was poking around on eBay the other day, and I came across the Matilda Jane Wendy Dress. What a fantastic use for all those knit scraps I insist on saving and never use (except for undies)! I spent about 10 minutes grabbing various knit scraps that looked long enough for the tiers, and then used the Farbenmix Uta dress as a base for the pattern. I love how it turned out. I still need to wash it so the hems (which are all unfinished) will curl nicely.

Pattern: Modified Farbenmix Uta

Leggings Pattern: Ottobre

Thanks for looking!

PS - all that lovely bamboo jersey is ON SALE at Bamblue Fabrics for Labor Day! Just use coupon code LABORDAY and you will receive 15% off anything in the store, including sale items.