Vogue 1291 Pattern Review and Me Made May 2015 Round up.

This is an oldie but a goodie! I made it back in 2013 to take to PR Weekend San Francisco. Sandra Betzina was teaching the seminar that year. I learned a lot about fitting and Sandra is such a fun teacher and person.

The highlight of that day for me was Sandra's reaction when I greeted her.  She pointed to my top and said she liked how I used a matching lace for the sleeves. She made me turn around and said that I did a great job! Her comment made my day!
Now onto the pattern itself. It's the Vogue 1291.

I used a ponte knit with a matching mesh lace I bought at Haberman Fabrics before moving to CA. I cut the size D and it fits right out of the envelope. The instructions are very clear and I sewed it up in one day. 

I did add a modesty panel to avoid wearing a tank under this top. I just cut up a triangle of the ponte fabric sewed it to the bodice starting at the base of the sleeves up to a point where my bra is not showing. 

I hemmed it on my Juki blind hemmer. I wear this all the time and wonder why I haven't made more of these.

ME MADE MAY 2015

This month, I signed up for the Me Made May 2015 challenge over at sozowhatdoyouknow's blog. Here's my pledge:

'I, Paulinakoss Bruce from www.sewuthinkucan.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15. I endeavour to wear a me made garment each day for the duration of May 2015'.

It's my first time participating and I was excited about it! I take it as a personal incentive to try and finish some UFO's! I have a huge bin of them.

So without further ado, here's what I wore so far this month. Only a few days are missing because I didn't get the chance to take pictures. Oh well!

Unblogged dress but reviewed on Pattern Review

Colorblocked lace top

Hi-Lo maxi dress

Jalie 3245 unblogged

Self drafted dress unblogged

Lady skater hack dress

The bullseye dress

McCalls 6078 unblogged

DVF inspired dress

Frida Kahlo dress

Floral applique top Tuxedo shorts

Sandra Betzina top.

Until next time.

McCalls 5621 Review: A DVF Colorblocked Top Knock off!

This is piece number 2 of my 2015 wardrobe. I am slowly but surely working toward building another summer wardrobe. This year, I am all about orange and pink and navy. 

Well, DVF set the tone with her Resort 2015 collection and I was sold! 

Those of you following me on Instagram might have seen my little sketches and all the fabrics I was able to find in my stash to create my summer color palette. 

Then, I got some more fabric during the PR weekend shopping day in the Los Angeles fashion district last month.

So, I started with the DVF knock off wrap dress and since I have some leftover fabric, I was determined to make something out of it. I went for another knock off. This time it was a colorblocked top from the same Resort 2015 DVF collection.

Out of 4 yards of matte jersey fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics, I squeezed out a wrap dress and a top. Isn't this stashbusting at its best?

I used McCalls 5621 view C with sleeves from view B which I extended. Making the entire neck band in the orange fabric would have been an overkill so my challenge was to cut the front neck band in two pieces so that only the front placket will be orange. 

The pattern instructions were okay. I did look online for front placket tutorials and found one that I used in combination with the pattern instructions. Sewing a neckband with a front placket can be tricky. My advice is to make sure you reinforce the corners of the bodice front by stay stitching or even fusing a little square of interfacing before clipping it to prevent distortion. I had to redo that part several times before getting it right. I was using a lightweight knit when the pattern actually calls for stable knits and woven fabrics. The front placket though it is interfaced is wobbly because of the type of fabric I used.

I need to add a snap so that my bra doesn't show when I'm bending. It's not too low but because of the fabric I think it tend to open up a bit when worn.

Lengthwise, the top is a little too short for my taste but since I didn't have enough fabric, I can't really complain!
The hem and sleeve bands were sewn in true DVF style, by folding under the seam allowance and stitch in the ditch between the band and the top.

Now to make some pink or navy shorts to go with it. Onward with the Summer wardrobe plans!