Quick (?) Sew: Floral-Velour, Cowl Neck Knit Top (M6078)

I've still got some work to do on my latest version of McCalls 6078.

Pretty though, don't you think?

It's always so interesting working with knits. I really have to think about drape and fit on each unique project. Once more I'm needing to take in and reshape the side seams. It's a relatively quick sew, but not just zip-zap and she's done. Still need to put a little extra thought and time into it.

This is a remnant leftover from my V8323 Katherine Tilton Princess Laurel Tee. Since I've worked with this fabric before and found it not to be super stretchy or fluid, I would have expected not to need to alter the fit at the side seams. But that is just not the case! Right now I've got the sides safety-pinned and I plan to double check that I'm happy with the fit before I stitch them up. I also still have all the edge finishing to do (armhole, neck and hem).

Yup I'm looking forward to wearing this cutey. She's the kinda sorta-quick project that keeps me....

Enchanted by Sewing!
Project UPdate

I'm so glad I got my floral velour cowl neck tee done in time for my sewing day with my buddy Susan out Discovery Bay way (that's in the San Francisco Bay delta). Is there anything better than having a new thing you made yourself, to wear when you get together with a buddy? Boy, did we have fun! Can't wait for our next meetup. I interviewed her too and will be using that interview in this month's Enchanted by Sewing audio podcast. And thanks for taking all those photos Susan, so I could get the perfect one 

Spinning Straw Into Gold - My Rumpelstiltskin Cowl Neck Knit Top (McCalls 6078)

My  Rumpelstiltskin Straw-Into-Gold Top looks best tucked in!

Oh I love wearing this straw-into-gold wool jersey top! Yes, you're right. The longer hem that worked for my polka dot cowl, is too long for this fluid wool jersey. I may hem it shorter, but I've ended up tucking it in most of the time anyway. What a difference the hand of a fabric makes, eh?

Do you recall a few weeks back, when I finished my reworked Retro Polka Dot cowl-neck knit top? I'm just starting to buildup my pattern wardrobe of tried-and-true patterns, and I love having a pattern I can turn to late one night, and finish off before breakfast.

I pulled out my version of M6078 (the version I traced, altered and know fits me) and a light weight, gauzy , golden wool jersey knit from my fabric inventory one night last week, and the next day I had a great new top to wear. I didn't stay up late making it either:-)

I can spin straw into gold.  I know just how that German gal  in the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale felt. You remember her? She was the one-time commoner who found a husband by practicing her domestic skills with her spindle and a hunk of straw.*   

This is already proving to be a great top for our not too cold, California cool season. It's good under a long sleeved top, or on it's own. I can wear it with jeans, a denim skirt or my brown stretch-velvet jeans. And yes, I'm tucking it in :-)

I'm so ready to make more. Sewing tried-and-true is the kind of thing that keeps me . . . 

Enchanted by Sewing!

* Honey, I highly recommend a degree in Computer Science as a better option.

Web Resources

My Retro Polka Dot Knit Top  (also blogged about as "Why I don't love Lucy") http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/11/terminado-retro-polka-cowl-neck-knit.html
Who's Rumpelstiltskin? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpelstiltskin

Terminado! Retro Polka Cowl Neck Knit Top (M6078)

Hey! I got that remake of my retro-style polka dot knit top finished!

It's McCalls M6078.

I blogged about my experiences altering this pattern, and sharing my attitudes towards I Love Lucy:-) in  Reworking a Retro Style Polka Dot Tee

I've been focusing more on wardrobing in my sewing. (How about those red accents!) I talk about wardrobing and my pattern alteration experiences, in the October episode of my Enchanted by Sewing Audio Podcast. 

Ench By Sew-025: Restyling

Hey! 

The latest Enchanted by Sewing Podcast has been published!

Listening Option I) You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on this link

http://traffic.libsyn.com/enchantedbysewing/FINALCastOct2014RestylingEnchantedBySewing.mp3

~ OR ~

Listening Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes 
( https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/enchanted-by-sewing/id566370325)

This month’s show  is  Restylin’.
It all came about when I started shaking the dreams from my hair. Restylin' is about my transition in sewing and wardrobe style . It involves looking at patterns in a new-to-me way, and working my brain around ways I want clothes to fit me.

The Enchanted by Sewing Podcast is, an extension of my regular sewing blog - Me Encanta Coser, which,  roughly translated means, Enchanted By Sewing 

My blog is written in English. The name celebrates the historical and modern use of the beautiful Spanish Language in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, where I live. 

This month I’m working on creating two tee shirts M6078 and V8323. The details are in these blog postings from MeEncantaCoser.blogspot.com
V8323 - Princess Seamed - Katherine Tilton Tee http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/10/princess-seamed-tee-shirt-pattern-work.html

M6078 - Retro Style Polka Dot Cowl Neck Knit top - Reminiscent of I Love Lucy http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/10/reworking-retro-style-polka-dot-tee.html

1) Pensamientos Primeros
– (Sewing) For my wardrobe’s sake (How about those red accents!)
2) Technicos  
Reworking my sewing style/methods. Pattern alteration experiences.
3) Pensamientos Finales
Transitions - Restyling  

David Crosby sang, 
“I almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day . . .”

4) Epiologue 
Redefining what I want to create

Vogue - Sofía Vergara http://www.vogue.com/865250/sofia-vergara-dangerous-curves/

* * *
Restyling has me  shaking the dreams from my hair.   That’s just one more thing that keeps me . . . 
Enchanted by Sewing.

Reworking a Retro-Style Polka Dot Tee

 Way back when (OK it was a little over two years ago) . . .  I made the fitted, cowl neck tee shirt above. I journaled about my attitudes toward polka dots, as well as my attitudes about retro style inspired by I Love Lucy.

I'm a firm believer in not picking fault with my own sewing projects. So, at the time, I focused on what went right with my polka dot tee. I'll fess up now, however, that I wasn't perfectly happy with the project. Though I took it out of the drawer several times, finding both fabric and cowl neck appealing, I actually wore it only occasionally. And I'm glad to say that, because I had plenty of leftover fabric, I've got a chance to rework the tee. I started doing that this last week.

With my new tee, I'm working to improve the following:
a) The original tee shirt is just too short. It's OK tucked into my black trousers but it doesn't look quite right over a pair of jeans.
FIX- I added two inches to the length. The pattern showed lengthen or shorten at the hem.
b) There's something not quite right about the shaping on the side seams. It had a very slight drag. OK, I always noticed it because I sewed it. It wasn't that noticeable.
FIX- I'm so pleased I had written notes on the first version of the pattern I traced and used. Apparently I had reshaped the front using a Burda pattern, but I didn't reshape the back in a similar way. I don't know why I did that, but at least I know what happened! The adjustment was more sharply inset than the actual side seam I expect to use. This time I added extra at the side seam, even though I think I don't need it. I'd rather mark in the size I think I want, possibly reshape it a little more - both front and back!- and cut off the extra.
c) I didn't really like the look of the white fold over elastic I used. This time around I've bought black fold over elastic :-)
d) The cowl neck is self-lined. It didn't extend high enough, so that the spot where the lining hit showed when wearing it. 
FIX- I fixed this on the original garment by adding a strip of selvage. That worked fine, but since I'm remaking it I'm  extending the pattern for future versions.

So far . . .  I've traced a new master pattern, made the alterations and cut out most of the front out of an inexpensive commercial tee (as a muslin). I say 'cut out most' because the commercial tee isn't as long as I need it to be for the actual garment , but it will work for testing the pattern.

McCalls 6078

My version is style 'A'

1. Retro Inspiration: Sewing with Polka Dots

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2012/06/part-1-retro-inspires-sewing-with-polka.html

2. Retro Polka Dots, Why I Don't Love Lucy

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2012/06/part-2-retro-polka-dots-why-i-don-love.html

http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m6078-products-10889.php?page_id=980

Whoops! Reworking a Retro-Style Polka Dot Tee

Whoops!

I made a mistake when posting my regular weekly/weekend sewing blog and posted here.  I have readers who subscribe to this blog, and get emails about new postings, so in case you visited thinking I did a podcast about retro polka dots, I didn't :-)

I did write about my experiences reworking this pattern in my regular Sewing Journal - Me Encanta Coser. You can click on this link if you want to read that posting.

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/10/reworking-retro-style-polka-dot-tee.html