PR Wardrobe Contest 2020 Round up

Well the PR Wardrobe Contest was done and dusted in November of last year and I am very happy to say that I got my entry completed!  Sometimes the reward is in finishing a goal you set yourself.

You can find my contest entry here and it links to all the reviews of the individual pieces.  

My most favorite piece is the bag.  

I prefer sewing clothes to bags but I am really happy to have made this bag and use it all the time.  When I show my sewing buddies they are surprised to hear I made it myself!  The "suedette" it is made from has also proved itself to be very easy to clean, which is good as the light colour seems to invite marks to happen.  Review is here.

The next favorite and most worn is the StyleArc Nova dress.  It was a very useful piece in the wardrobe over Christmas and had a few outings.  Review of the Nova is here.

My least favourite is the Ottobre tee shirt.  The shirt fabric is too stiff for the swing style and the print maybe a bit too childish for my comfort zone.  It is in my re-model pile and I will probably turn it into a tank top.

It wasn't in my original plan either but I subbed it as a quick make to get finished on time.

All the other pieces have been in use and I am glad to have taken part in the contest as it did push me to make a bunch of coordinating pieces in a short time frame.

Thanks for following along.  My sew-jo has been firing lately and I have sewn a few new items since the contest and have participated in another contest - the Fabric Stash contest and have managed to bust 9m out of my stash!  I will post soon about some of my favourite pieces from that sewing.

Ciao for now!

PR Wardrobe Contest - item 3 of 10 - StyleArc Vicki top

Third piece in the wardrobe contest - a lovely summery swing top - the StyleArc Vicki top.

I cut my usual StyleArc size 16 and am very happy with the fit.  The fabric is a rayon crepe (I think) and acted like every seam was on the bias so a bit painful to sew but it suits this top.

My notes on this make:

• I lengthened the top by 3" at the hemline.
• I topstitched the seam where the front joins the back to emphasize it.
• My binding is turned completely to the inside and sewn down with the result that no binding shows. I did this as I was not going to get a good finish with the described binding method. I think I would need to cut the binding slightly wider to achieve that finish (at least with this fabric). However I am very happy with the finish as I have sewn it and would probably do it again like that.
• I did not follow the suggestion of sewing a bar tack to hold the seam open at the top of the centre front seam as it would have stood out on this single colour fabric. I just did a hand tack inside at the neckline to hold the seam open.

I love this style and really want to make a ton of these tops!  So I think this pattern will get a workout in the future!

I am currently making piece 4 which is the Stylearc Charlie skirt.  I love sewing the top stitching but am a bit nervous about how a slimline skirt in a stretch woven will fit/look on my self, but hope to finish it soon! 

PR Wardrobe contest - Piece 2 of 10 - New Look 6212

I have finally finished my second item for the wardrobe contest.  New Look 6212.  I have made this one before - here. 

This one took some time to get sewn.  The things that took time were - 

...playing pattern tetris to layout it out on my fabric, 

... those pleats!

...and the beautiful Liberty fabric is really unforgiving so putting in the sleeves meant the quick unpick came out a few times.

I am not going to outline all the details here but you can read more in my review here, if you are interested to know.

Ciao for now, kittens!

#SewVintageSeptember - Simplicity 6804 - 1985 blouse sewing pattern PART 3

I have finally got my modelled photos of the blouse I made for #SewVintageSpetember.  It is Spring here and we have had some lovely days and today when I planned to wear my new top to get photos it is cold and blustery and winter is back!  So the photoshoot was done and then back into winter clothes afterwards. (boo!)

So not many words but photos ...

The obligatory shot of the back (with the wind whipping up my hair!)

Tea anyone?

Ciao for now...

PR Wardrobe Contest 2020 - Piece 1 0f 10 - The StyleArc Richie Knit Tunic Dress

I decided to start with a relatively simple sew to get some momentum going.  Nothing like a finished item to make you feel you are going to make it to the end! 

 

The StyleArc Richie dress in a jersey purchased from Spotties recently.  I had planned to use a pretty aqua rib knit picked up from a bargain table, but the fabric was narrow so the pieces would not fit no matter how much I tried.  The fabric I ended using is this one.

It was on a 30% sale and I would call it denim coloured rather than navy.  It feels like it will be quite hard wearing but has a soft cottony feel on the inside.  The pattern only called for 1.25m but I bought 1.4m so had enough wriggle room even with lengthening the dress a little.  It curls like the dickens so a lot of pinning and then sewing on the sewing machine before overlocking.  

Their is an option for a chest pocket and I decided to add it as the fabric/ dress combo could be very plain otherwise and decided to add a further bit of bling by cutting some heat transfer vinyl on my Cricut machine into a heart shape with the words be kind, a good thought to use on this dress made during Covid times.

Neckline...

For the moment it will be only shots on Diana but as the contest gets toward the end I hope to do a modelled photo shoot of all the pieces.

Frock...

Ciao for now!...

PR 2020 Wardrobe Contest - Part 1 - The plan!

I had started planning a new wardrobe to sew for Spring / Summer when I saw that Pattern Review are hosting a 10 piece wardrobe contest.  I took the plan I was putting together and used it as a basis to fit in with the Contest rules.

The official rules are:

1 -Sew 10 unique garments during the contest period. The garments must be as follows:
Make 1 Topper
Make 2 Bottoms
Make 2 Tops
Make 1 sewn accessory 
Make 4 Free choice (top, bottoms, topper, maximum of 2 dresses or 2 jumpsuits or 1 of each, maximum of one additional accessory)

2 – All of the items must form a cohesive wardrobe.

It took a bit of thought and planning but over a few days this is the plan that came out.

Some of these patterns I have sewn before and others are new to me.

The fabrics are mostly from stash.  I did buy some fabric to make the bag (that's the blob in the top row!)  Some are remnant pieces so I may have to sub other fabrics in if there is not enough.

The photo below shows on the top the knit fabric for the cardigan. The next row are the fabrics for my three tops  (Liberty print, blue rayon crepe and a floral print rayon) 

and the last row are the bottoms (denim-look bengaline, light beige ponte and dark brown bengaline).

In this photo is the topper fabric again with the two dress fabrics.

I know things are going to change as I go along.  I have just noticed the aqua fabric for the Style Arc Richie tunic is quite a narrow cut so it may be the first one subbed out.  At the moment I am preparing the pdf patterns (cutting and sticking).  The contest starts on the 17th so more mad sewing to happen soon...

Anyone else considering joining in or sewing along?

#SewVintageSeptember - Simplicity 6804 - 1985 blouse sewing pattern PART 2

 I have finished the 1985 vintage blouse started last post - Simplicity 6804 from 1985.

Notes on the make - 

• I made it two sizes smaller than the pattern sizing indicated on the pattern.  No finished measurements were given on the pattern so I flat measured at bust height and determined my preferred size from that.
• I shortened the pattern by 3 inches.
• I didn't love the way the shirt tail hem was finished.  Front and back finished separately then side seams sewn.  To get it all to match you need to mark the start of the side seam / start of the hem curve better than I did.  I had to fudge it a bit.

Other than that I am pretty happy with it and of course the weather has got too cool to want to wear a short sleeve blouse so modelled photos will come later.

So not much more to say, here are the photos...

Front shoulder yoke gathers...

Back shoulder yoke gathers... gathers for miles...

I did not have green buttons but had fun with the thread instead...

So I live in hope I will get modelled shots some time.  If you are on the hunt for your own vintage pattern or just love looking at them then please check out my Etsy shop for vintage and OOP patterns - SusysSewingEphemera.

I think the Wardrobe Contest on PatternReview.com will be my next sewing challenge...

Ciao for now kittens...