Finally! Simplicity 3692

So, I finally found a T-shirt pattern that I think might work for me. It's an out of print Built by You (Wendy) from Simplicity. I bought all of these when they came out and have had varying levels of success. I made a super cute dress from this pattern when I was in business school and it still serves as my "I need a black dress right now" go-to dress.

I made some shirts from this as well, but they seldom got worn because they were too big. (The dress was made from a double knit with little stretch, so the bigger size kind of works in its favor.)

Here is my muslin. I need to move the gathers toward center front a bit so they are above the ladies and not so much to the side. This is some awful rayon blend fabric that I got super cheap to make muslins with. I ended up loving the color and the fit wasn't so bad, so I added a little embroidery to the yoke. (The pattern is from Sublime Stitching and I just added some lightweight tear-away stabilizer to the back so the fabric would not stretch.)

Close up:

It's not the most awesomest shirt in the world, but it is certainly good enough to wear around the house or to the ceramics studio. I have some more knit fabric coming, and I'll be curious to see how this will look in a nicer fabric.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US! (And to our travelers, soldiers, and expats abroad.) I would like to send a special shout out to the men and women who managed to get our power on an hour ago. I get pie. mmm. Pie. (I am especially Thankful for my wonderful daughter and my husband who managed to thaw out our well so we can have water. )

baby baby baby

I've been off meeting my new goddaughter Coco, so no sewing. But I don't mind. She's pretty cute.

I Will Get Motivated!

Yeah, I lost my motivation these last two weeks. I've sewn nothing. I am taking a pattern making class at the New York Fashion Academy (which is kind of a silly name because it is in Seattle) so I don't feel like a total slacker. (The classes are a lot of fun btw. It is a bare bones operation, but my instructor Terry Horlamus sure knows her stuff, and what you get out of it directly correlates to how much effort you put in. I'll be taking her sloper class next. I have a sloper, but the fit can always be better.)

Part of my loss of inspiration has to do with the frustration I've been experiencing over trying to find a knit shirt pattern that I feel flatters my figure. I'm not a big knit fan, but it sure is convenient not to have to iron everything. I don't mind ironing, but sometimes I just want to wear a shirt. I am currently working on OOP Simplicity 3962. I have a dress from this pattern that is pretty cute; we'll see if I can get the fit better for the shirt.

I've decided to focus on tops right now, because I need more shirts that go with jeans. (Where is Faye and her Month of Tops Inspiration when I need it? I will channel her for awhile! She is working on her Lady Grey right now. I can't wait to see it!)

First up, I am going to work on muslins for Simplicity 3789 (maybe the wrap shirt)

And Simplicity 2447 (View C, but maybe with collar.)

Hopefully I'll get some of my motivation back.