Pullover, Santorini Tank top, Cargo shorts update

Summer sewing.... worked slowly through a few project this week:

• ITS Santorini tank top
• 
  Jalie 2212 pullover
• Jalie 2107 cargo shorts

Finished the 'summer weight' pullover. (Jalie 2212)

It is too heavy for summer weight! Darn! But it looks nice.

I used fold-over elastic for the sleeve and waist hems; this looks nicer than the bias binding I used for the green version. (See this post) which folds up to the outside after wearing. I used the pattern piece labelled for 'lycra band' for size which makes it quite snug. Getting it sewn onto the sleeves in the round, though, was very fiddly!

I constructed the garment with the serger. Had to resew a hole where I had not lined it up nicely. Lots of topstitching with this pattern. And I found that the topstitching left the seams wavy. I don't remember that being a problem with the previous version.

I made a couple of the same adjustments as I made to version 1. I created a zipper guard and 'garage', and I added a stabilizing 'tape' to the neck edge (to hide the seam there.)

I tried to use the Juki walking foot. FAIL! I am not sure what is wrong with it. So where I needed a walking foot I went back to the Elna. Otherwise I DID use the Juki (with other presser feet. The 1/4 inch one, I think? How quickly we forget!)

I also think the sleeves are a bit on the long side, and if I do make a lighter one (in actual cotton jersety) I will shorten them.

Foldover elastic for sleeve end

Zipper guard

Looks awfully like Uof O colours!

ITS Santorini tank top

A couple of muslins later.... I did finish it.

For muslin two I lowered the bust apex by 1.5 inches, and traced the next size. Only to find that the bust was now too low! The fit was more comfortable, though.

So I raised the bust apex to only 0.5 inches below the original and made a muslin of the front only, and decided it was fine.

So I sewed it up in the Ghanaian wax cotton that I had received from MG. This was an awkward print to work with. How can I describe it? It is kind of divided into panels. If you look at the photo you can see horizontal and vertical patterns which surround a central print. I was not sure how to make the most of that placement, so I placed my centre front piece strategically. Then I kind of randomly placed my side front pieces. When I placed my centre back and side back pieces I was more strategic. I knew I could not entirely 'match' the patterns, due to the angled princess seams, as well as the nature of the print, but I placed them to suggest continuity. 

I sewed up the back and was pleased with this. When I went to sew the front I realized that the side fronts looked pretty bad. I had enough to cut them out more strategically, but this meant waste from a few fronts. First, the wasted cut-out fronts that I would not use, but second, the proper placement was kind of smack dab in the middle of useable fabric. So I WON'T be making a pair of Closet Core PJ shorts with the remainder!

(I see that the back wrinkles a bit, and that I should have taken out some length in the back. Oh well...) But if you look at the seam line near the shoulder blade, you can see that the straight line of the centre 'square' is offset, It is also offset at the bottom of this join, but in the other direction... meaning that if I had wanted to keep the square intact I would have had to make a square garment! 😁

Another error, or nearly a comedy of errors, was an error I made with the Hong Kong bias binding. First of all I made the binding with lefotver black kimono silk remnants; I figured this would be the least bulky to place on those princess seams. (I had already vetoed a French seam at the princess seams). I really NAILED my continuous binding this time (so often the lines don't match up...). 

I sewed the binding to the edges, on the right side, folded it over the edge to the wrong side then stitched in the ditch to hold it in place. It ends up looking like the photo at right.  Such an elegant inside finish. I sewed the first side back piece to the centre back piece, then went to sew the second one, and realized that I had sewn the bias binding on to the wrong side. (Fortnately, or perhaps not, both sides of this fabric look like the right side!) I unstitched both lines of stitching and re-did it. Afther I had the front sewn and the shoulder seams sewn I noticed that I had actually sewn the first side back the wrong way. I was NOT going to unstitch three seams to correct this error which only I would see! So one of the inside seams doesn't look QUITE as nice as the photo. (And no, I will not be posting THAT photo!)

Last year on Pattern Review I discovered a fun technique for finishing the edges of an interfaced facing. Sew the interfacing to the right side, then flip it over, flatten it all then fuse on the interfacing. What happens is that this folds up that edge, without having to fuss with folding it up by 1/4 inch by hand! (You can kind of see this in the facing edge in the above photo). I think that I should have chosen a lighter interfacing though, because the facing is fairly stiff, making the top of the shirt look a bit stiff, and showing off that the front is just a bit wide for my chest.

Now here is where I ask myself, in retrospect, do I really get the most out of my muslins?! Should I have noticed that width? Should I have paid more attention? I also note that the armhole is just a bit snug. I did not finish the neck and armholes in the muslins, so did not have the opportunity to notice this. I also did not use a fabric that closely resembled the hand of my 'fashion fabric.' So I am left with less than perfect fit in those areas...

Jalie 2107 cargo shorts

These got slowed down. The fit was off, and I am not very experiened in adjusting pant fit, in spite of my jeans making. So no photos at the moment.

The waist pulled back when he sat, so I had to look up what the problem might be, and how to fix it. I ended up 'scooping' some of the centre back seam, and also lengthening the rise, and made another muslin. I think it is better. The waist is too big though. I think I am going to go ahead and cut it out, and make take in a bit more with the darts, and add an elastic across the back. 

I also looked at the instructions and found that the fly insertion technique was difficult to figure out. I thought I would look up other methods, but these all require other changes... either to the pattern pieces, or construction order. I then found a link to a Jalie tutorial for this fly, which I understand much better.  

Today (Sunday) I made progress on these. Cut them out, and sewed a great deal. Struggling with top-stitching thread. That may have been a mistake! I am using a top-stitching needle, and a long stitch length, and looser tension on the upper dial, and all-purpose thread in the bobbin. It is sewing okay, but having trouble with the neds. And did I use a discrete colour? NO I used a contrasting grey (on the black). Fingers crossed it will come together well!

 I will also have enough of this black textured cotton to make myself another pair of the ITS ANgelia shorts (which I made last year, and which, for some reason, are too big around the waist. WHAT is wrong with my sewing?! Why did I not notice this last year?)

 and a little knitting project

I like to make dish cloths! I bought some hemp yarn a couple of years ago, and have been making dish cloths using a free pattern I found online called 'Angkor wat'. I am thinking that a photo of the texture reminded her of images of this site? Not sure... it makes me think of rice fields! It is knit as a "seed stitch" on the diagonal, adding  a stitch at the end of each row until the middle, 2 rows with no increase or decrease, then (you guessed it) decrease at the end of each row.

I don't finish it as she does (with something called an icord finish... too complicated for me!) I just do a single or half double crochet around the edge with this light green cotton yarn I bought for another aborted project.

Some of the other cloths I had made are quite worn, so it was time to make some more.