Love Notions Rhapsody Blouse

The Love Notions Rhapsody Blouse is a very popular pattern, and I picked it up recently on their Friday $5 special offer.

I printed out the size XL which matched my bust/high bust measurement. I used the layers feature to turn off all the other sizes, also turned off Letter and had the A4 page marking. When printing in A4 its not truly trimless, but not a lot needs removing on each page.

I made the view with 3/4 sleeves with cuff and kept the 'strings' on the neckline.

I used a very fine cotton lawn which the sewing machine didn't want to sew. I need to get some sharp/Microtex needles, but until then I used tissue paper and spray starch to tame it which improved thing a lot.

I struggled making the bias tape, but this was before I'd got going with the spray starch so I'll try to remember that for next time.

The instructions in the pattern are good and very thorough though I also watched videos on You Tube.

Other than working with the fabric, my only other issue was that the cuff didn't fit onto the sleeve as per the diagram. I thought that this was because the pattern pieces for XL didn't match up, however it turns out I was confusing the 3/4 length Bishop Sleeve with the 3/4 length sleeve, so my error. (The cuff prints out with the Front body piece, so is a bonus you don't need for the bishop sleeve).

As I'd already cut the cuffs out, I altered construction, ran a basting thread around the bottom of the sleeve and eased it to fit the cuff which I folded over and topstitched rather than folding up.

I have a couple of queries on the style. 

First of all I'm not a strings person and I don't know what to do with them when I wear this blouse - loose knot, flying free, twee bow? - so I think for future versions I'd skip that and have the view with the neat neck.

The other style query is that the shoulders are quite set in (more apparent on some of the tester blouses than others) and I'm not sure if this works with my shoulders, the shoulders feel too narrow and my shoulder is sitting in the top of the sleeve instead. 

What do you think?

Updated to add, I didn't like the way the sleeves were hanging so I unpicked them, recut them with a really tall sleeve cap and reinserted them.

I've not re done the overlocking yet....

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 7 : repurpose RTW

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 7 : repurpose RTW

I discovered I had this plain RTW t shirt in the perfect colour, only I'd managed to get a purplish stain on it in 4 places (splashes from something). So I decided some sort of simple embellishment to cover up the stains would be just the ticket.

I drew the leaves on freehand with black Sharpie pen and the veins with green Sharpie pen. I only needed 4 leaves (2 on sleeve and 2 on body) to cover the stains, but I added a few more to make a more coherent design.

Then I added a simple running stitch with toning green embroidery thread on top of the black.

I might add some more hand stitching for the veins at a later date, and we'll see how sharpie stands up to laundering!

Fleece Jacket #1

In the past I've always bought my fleece/softshell/knit jackets, but as they wear out I'm finding I've got fussy about features and fit and so am looking to sew my own.

My requirements - full length front zip and zipped pockets. Front princess seams (maybe back also but that's less critical) and a short stand collar. I also wanted something which could be sewn from fabrics with minimal stretch as I wanted a skimming fit not a tight fit.

After much debate on The Sewing Place I ended up tracing off and sewing up this pattern from Ottobre Woman 5/2014 model 17.

I measured myself and fell between the 48 and 50. I cut out and sewed up the 48 and its a little big on the shoulders and bust. I didn't include my normal high round back alteration and it rides up a little at the back hem.

I followed the instructions for the zipped pockets and they worked beautifully. The key is the inner pocket is slightly smaller to accommodate the zipper tape.

I didn't like their instructions for the collar, so for the collar, front zipper and hem I followed the method outlined by Karina from Lifting Pins and Needles on YouTube which worked very well.

I hand sewed the inner collar to the neck seam as I didn't think I'd get neat topstitching through all those layers on my machine.

I then topstitched the zip and hemmed the sleeves. I also hand stitched the pockets to the zipper tape and hem as they showed beneath the hemline when I put my hands in them. This feels like a workaround and I think could be done better.

I have a very warm and cosy fleece jacket and learned a lot from doing it. The fit isn't quite there yet but I learned so much and have made a wearable jacket.

Needlebook for Sewing Machine Needles

Not as precise as other machine needle storage but this was made with what I have to hand and has to be better than scraps of fabric with needles stuck in them!

5 felt pages and a cover

the back 5 pages

the front 5 pages

The book with the pages splayed out

the book closed

The needle labels were embroidered with the sewing machine (it does letters).

The book cover is made from home dec fabric and plain cotton lining cut 10.5" x 5.5" then sewn round with a 3/8" seam, turned through and topstitched.

The book pages are felt cut to 9" x 4"

I plan to use the book to store needles which I've used for one project but could use again for something else. Unused needles will stay in their boxes as before.

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 6 : co-ordinating bag

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 6 : co-ordinating bag

I used part of a woven polyester shower curtain to make this rucksack style drawstring bag.

It co-ordinates with the trainers (sneakers) rather than matching exactly, but I think it works quite well.

The main thing to remember with this style of bag is that you need the side seams on both sides and a lot more cord for the drawstrings than you expect!

Here's how all my emerald pieces are looking so far!

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 5 : Contrast neckband

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 5 : Contrast neckband

I had a remnant left over from a previous top which was just enough to make a second top.

I added an emerald green neckband to try to bring out the emerald parts of the print.

The pattern is one I made by tracing a favourite RTW top.

Here's how the different ideas work with the shoes

Palazzo Trousers New look 6438 - version 2

I've revisited the Palazzo trousers. I kept all the alterations but chose a dark navy viscose fabric. I did add larger side pockets as the first pair felt a bit mean.

Here they are flat on the floor, shows the shape of the leg really well

Here they are on a hanger which shows the drape of the fabric.

I am much happier with this pair and plan to make some more for the summer in some of the viscose fabrics I have.

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 4 : Add embroidery

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 4 : Add embroidery

Butterfly Sweatshirt

Apparently the nineties are back. I still have some of my patterns from then, so thought I'd give this one a go. The pattern is dated 1992 and I probably bought it in the mid 90s when I first got an overlocker as it specifically says "Focus on Overlock (Serger) Sewing"

The fabric is a cream coloured french terry which has been in my stash for several years.

Pattern Description:
Sew News Pattern
Misses' unlined cardigan, vest, tunic and pants - for stretch knits only: very loose-fitting unlined cardigan or vest has dropped shoulder, shoulder pads and top-stitching details; very loose-fitting tunic, with collar of self or ribbed knit neckband, has , has dropped shoulders and optional shoulder pads; pull on pants have partially stitched front pleats, side seam pockets, foldback waistline casing with elastic and optional button-on self fabric stirrups.

Pattern Sizing:
Single sizes in X-Small to X-Large, my pattern is a Medium (14-16) which is the size I was in the 90s. These days I'm larger but the garment is so loose fitting it was fine!

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I made View C, shortened by 7" so it was high hip rather than tunic length.
As the fabric was rather plain I measured carefully and used my embroidery machine to add some embroidery to the front before construction. Afterwards I tore the interfacing away around the design to avoid it being too stiff on the front.

The embroidery design is intended to use different colours to this, but I replaced them with various shades of emerald, aqua and blue.

I plan to wear this with self sewn jeans and of course my emerald green trainers (sneakers).

Rich Resources

I bought some fabric (from Pound Fabrics)

Left to right

Poly-viscose jersey in ivory and black 3m of each

Striped rib knit fabric in green and pink 2m of each

Polyester elastane turquoise print 2m

Plain grey bengaline 3m

Nylon viscose mix fabric in Light stone and black 2m of each

Polar fleece in wine 2m

And was gifted a bag of zips 

I also donated a bag of patterns, trims and fabric which I won't ever use to a local charity shop, gave some curtaining to the person who gave me the zips and made some items for a friend. So the sewing items out exceeded the items in (by volume at least).