Letters from Wetville

There may not be a photograph. I made a muslin of the Blank Slate Novelista pattern out of an old sheet.  I've discussed my learning on shoulders here .  All week I've looked forward to two things: drinking Captain Cooker beer with my husband on Friday night and finishing my Novelista shirt. It's finished, and all mistakes are mine and not the pattern.  How can there be so much to fitting?  My new shirt, which is definitely a triumph in terms of new sewing skills, fits across the bust in terms of no gaping buttons.  But above the bust is a disaster - there is far too much fabric just where everything should be smooth.  And the collar looks enormous on me.  At the back, everything blouses out and I lose all back waist definition.  Sometimes I read that even an ill fitting blouse fits better than a RTW one.  But in my case, I can't do a fitted RTW blouse up, and this is the next step in terms of ill fitting but functionally wearable. Ba...

I spent many years sorting out full bust adjustments.  I still spend a long time on most patterns making full bust adjustments, but I'd branched out into other fitting challenges.  When sewing up some Jenna cardigans this summer (not yet photographed or blogged, but I'm wearing the yellow one as I type), I kept narrowing the shoulder on every iteration.  Finally, the blue version had a good shoulder fit, but it still fell off my shoulders if I didn't pull it on firmly. That made me think some more about items which DO fit on my shoulders.  I have a favourite Max brand green merino hoodie top.  I measured the shoulders on that (they fit perfectly) and they were tiny shoulders.  But because of the style of the hoodie, it didn't slip off easily.  My Sewaholic Nicola dresses are slightly wide in the shoulders, but because of the little cap sleeve, they look fine. Then I decided to have a go at a button through top.  At first I was all set to go ta...

I love these trousers.  I bought them as soon as they came out.  I made a test shorts version and thought they were a little snug.  That's until I realised I had sewn 1.5cm seams when I was supposed to have sewn 1.2cm seams.  Cake Patterns have a great personalised fit and I chose the 35" waist and the 45" hip.  This meant going down from my actual waist size and slightly up in the hip.  I'd made Cake Patterns' straight skirt pattern last summer and knew this was the sizing I wanted from then.  The fit is fantastic.  The photos don't do justice to the fit, as I'm on wonky ground and didn't bother to smooth the trousers before the photo.  I'm making some more as soon as I find the mid blue, heavier weight linen which I covet for the next version.  It's fabric shop sale season coming up, but most unfortunately my children need new shoes and school uniforms instead.  Ah well. The top is the Muse Patterns Gillian top, which I made last...

 After spending weeks on two shirtdresses, these were super speedy and satisfying makes by comparison.  The Myrtle is made from some not very stretchy cheap knit which I didn't know what to do with.  I'm wearing this dress now and it is very comfortable.  It's not work appropriate as much is revealed when bending down.  I could see it being more practical in a winter version with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath.  I made a FBA on this dress, and then found it was a bit more than I needed.  So for the next version I've altered the pattern to take out 1 cm at the front and back shoulder and a sway back chunk out of the back bodice.  I've straightened out the curve made at the side seam by the FBA and taken 1 centimetre off the bottom of the front bodice.  I've added 2 inches to the pattern (yes, I use whatever measurements work for me in a mixed up fashion for sewing.  My cutting board is organised into inches which makes adding length ...

This is my second version of the Sewaholic Nicola pattern and I love it.  My first version is here .  This time, there is no bra showing, and I'm really happy with the fit.  I adore the fabric.  If I was a dedicated blogger, I would have had a shower, done my hair and moved the photo shoot down to the beach.  I'm not, though there is a slew of pictures/posts coming because I did persuade my husband to photograph various recent makes.  I don't have a lot to say about this make, as the changes from the first make are documented in the first version.  I did learn a lot from making this dress, and am even feeling like I might be an intermediate sewist rather than an advanced beginner now that I can do yokes, collars and buttonholes.  I've discovered that I can put this on over my head without recourse to the buttons, which is useful in a hurry.  It does require ironing but I think it's worth it in order to wear such lovely fabric.  I don't ...

Eight months since I posted last...  I have had the sewing machine in action in that time though, especially lately. Brighid in a Kitschy Coo Mini Penny Pinafore dress.  This is really nice and easy to sew. Brighid likes it long, but I think a shorter version in a beefier knit would be great for winter, possibly sleeveless so it is a genuine pinafore. The Sewaholic Nicola.  Even though Sewaholic explicitly designs for a pear shape, I could see the potential for making the bodice work by rotating the FBA to the shoulder pleats.  At first, I didn't like the finished result, but it is so comfortable, and I'm getting kinder to myself on the imperfections, such that I'm now thinking of making a second.  I've got some beautiful fabric put aside for this. Usually I have to narrow the shoulder of everything, but this one I did not.I cut a 16 almost everywhere except the skirt, which I cut a 16 in the back and an 18 in the front.  I added a 1 1/...

So, I had a go at an FBA for this dress, and it does fit better.  I don't think it is a perfect fit, but I'm not sure that I'm up for more changes and another round at the moment.  I found the fabric at Fabric Vision in Christchurch recently for $15/metre.  Two aspects of this dress are particularly attractive from the sewist's point of view: it only uses two metres of fabric, and it sews up quite fast. When I made the fit changes, I dropped the triangle insert and because I wanted this dress to be work appropriate, I sewed up the part above it.  It has successfully ensured that it is work appropriate, but looking in the photos, it does change the style lines of the garment.  That was not so noticeable to me looking at it in the mirror.  The Muse Gillian pattern is much easier to fit on me (wrap dress, so no surprise), but it is a longer make and uses more fabric. I like the fabric, but it is all polyester and I've realised it is going to be qu...