Thursday, April 08, 2010

Project: Simplicity 8018

Simplicity? Um, no. Finished? Finally. This shirt was the bane of my existence for weeks. After having an easy time choosing the fabric and getting the supplies together, I was super excited to get started. I love this faux silk stuff. It has a nice tooth to it and it actually seems pretty sturdy. But wow was it a pain to cut. Plus I was trying to be all nice to the vintage pattern (1977) and preserve the lines for the other size (never again, from now on I will whack away -- I'm not a vintage pattern library). What a challenge this whole thing was!

First, I didn't have enough fabric. I thought maybe I had them cut the wrong amount but after buying fabric to make another of these (I'll get to that later), I am thinking that the width of it must have been less than the normal 44". I'm not sure but after playing Tetris will all the pattern pieces, I know something was up and I've already started blocking that from my memory.

The zipper was easy to put in. I used this tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew. Definitely take care to put those teeth right at your seam. It's very important. I had a couple of problems with the collar and need to make some adjustments for some issues that you can't see in the photos. I'll have to rip part of it out and re-sew. It shouldn't take long. The sleeves in the original do not have the extra gathering detail you see in the photos. The directions expect you to ease the fabric -- even though they list several potential fabrics, few of which actually "ease." I solved the problem by adding the gather. Since I have small shoulders, a little poof on the sleeve is a good thing. I am proud of myself for making that work.

The most challenging part of the construction was the hem. Again with the ease! This fabric does not ease so I ended up cutting more of the interfacing fabric using the same pattern pieces, put right sides together and stitched it up. Then I clipped my curves like a maniac, turned and topstitched as directed. I ended up going in with my pinking shears and cutting the extra way down to about 1/4" because it was hanging funny.

Finally, the pattern for the belt did not make it long enough for my taste. My MIL suggested that I sew in a little snap and do a fake squareknot. I think that's a good idea but I doubt I'll actually get around to it. Overall, I love the this top. I think it fits perfectly, is very slimming, and very comfortable. And guess what? After all that hassle, I'm actually going to work with this pattern again. More on that tomorrow.

Thanks to Mr. Lemon for taking these pictures of me. We walked across the street because I thought the color of our neighbor's wall would look good with the shirt.

Zipper detail here. Pattern here. This project was inspired by the Pattern Challenge at See the Seitz. See the sidebar for a link to the information.

8 comments:

Sabra at Sew a Straight Line said...

Oh, i really love the fabric and the sash at the waist. From the pictures, it looks perfect. and that's all that matters, right :)

Beth Lemon said...

Thanks! I am really happy with it and just took it out of the wash. It washed very well. I'll just need to do a quick iron around the seams.

Sarah Seitz said...

So even though it was a total pain in the butt....it turned out GREAT! good job at sticking with it! sometimes it's so easy to just give up before you finish, but I bet you're happy you did it! Nice work, you are a pattern diva!!

Nishant said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Michelle said...

Hi, I was very excited to see this post. I was hoping to see your second time making this pattern but I am having trouble accessing your older posts(since I ago), is there anyway you could send me a link or post a link in your reply?
I have the pattern pieces already cut in a vintage fabric from one of my relatives but no instructions. It appears a zipper goes in the top of the back? Is the back of the collar separated by the zipper? Any help, even if it just more pics of your second project would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you so much!
Michelle

Michelle said...

(should read since it was over a year ago!) I should have previewed :)

Beth Lemon said...

Here is the post: http://lemoncadet.blogspot.com/2010/04/project-top-week-shirt-finished.html

Here is a link to some flickr pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemoncadet/4564600448/in/set-72157605825146644

and more of the original pattern: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemoncadet/4461500750/in/set-72157605825146644

Hopefully that will help! I altered the pattern a great deal the second time I made it.

Michelle said...

Thank you!!!