Putting On the Glitz.

All right. You demanded details. Growl. Here are some more pictures and details on Sandra Betzina top no. 2 (Vogue 2977). I made my first in a black and white cotton jersey, which in some ways I actually like more than this top. For one thing, the print is busier than the Michigan and Chicago Avenues intersection in that it really doesn't draw attention to any one body part. This glitzy gold Liz Claiborne knit that I bought at Vogue Fabrics last year looks like a melted metal on my not-very-Dara-Torres body. It's so eye-catching, I might as well paint arrows in every direction in Photoshop and point them to my abdomen. So there.

That said, I did complete this top, which I didn't do with the first one. The initial rendition never got its twin-needle stitching - I was that eager to wear it. I'm not sure I'll ever do it, since it will be difficult given that this stitching really needs to be done before you sew the major parts together. Here's how I constructed the golden masterpiece:
1. Sew one shoulder seam.
2. Tack down the neckline with Lite Steam-A-Seam2. Twin needle stitch all around.
3. Attach my "Handmade by Mary Beth" label at the back. It's actually easier to do this part early when there isn't as much fabric to manhandle around the sewing machine.
4. Attach bottom part. Do the twin-needle stitching on the hem, setting the tension to 3 rather than my ordinary 2. Very little tunneling. Hurrah!
5. Keep the twin-needles on, and stitch down the hem on the sleeves. Take appropriate email and bathroom breaks. (This is very important!)
6. Zip up with sewing machine from the very bottom to the spot where the twin-needle stitching begins on the sleeves with my faux serger stitch on my Viking Husqvarna 735.
7. Done. Celebrate with a 99 cent iced coffee (no sugar, skim milk please) from Dunkin Donuts. Relax.
Now I've told you how I made the second version of this top, here's what I might do differently next time around to get rid of the somewhat unsightly (depending on your point of view) seam right at the tummy.
1. Draw front and back pieces all as one piece. (This was Vogue Fabrics ace seamstress Mac Berg's suggestion) In other words, take that bottom, separate piece and tack it onto the top part. Tape it together if necessary. Cut that all out as one unit. Now the drawback to this approach is that you can't do funky things by sewing these parts separately. I've thought about using this wondrous green grass/fuchsia knit from Vogue's $1.99 a yard table and orienting the bottom part in one direction, the upper half another. Think wayward traffic patterns. That's not possible with the simplified plan.
2. Line the front part with self-fabric so that I don't have to worry about using my beloved Lite Steam-A-Seam2 and making that V-neck just so. It'd be much easier to sew two fronts together face to face. Flip one section over like you're tossing a pint-sized acrobat at the Olympics. V-neck done! Perfection achieved (I think)! I'd probably still twin-needle stitch the back neckline. Then attach my label. Ego trip accomplished.

Conclusion: I adore this top, particularly the first one. It looks great with low-rise jeans. I don't have to worry about sitting down and exposing any flesh and/or underwear. I also don't have to add inches on the pattern for my long-waist, which I usually do. This top is also fabulous with low-rider yoga pants. Now I'm officially in love with this pattern (should I say we're married on Facebook?), I'm ready to make one more, then it's time for new adventures. Maybe the pull-on skirt in this same pattern? We'll see.

The Patternreview Invasion Aftermath*

Wow. Yowza. Oh my. It's so hard to believe that so many of you shop at Vogue Fabrics yet I've never bumped into you. Not once, not even to fight over a precious bit of remnant. Yet I think it's so cool that some of you (Applepiemom) come as far as Genoa, Ill. (near DeKalb) to visit Vogue. But once you've been here, we all can fervently agree this is truly Worth the Trip, in every way. So I completely understand those who come as far away as Iowa to buy fabric.

As someone who makes fabrics and notions shopping at Vogue a twice-a-week treat, I wasn't sure I should go to the special group tour. I mean, sometimes I feel like I can give the tour. Really. Bathroom? Right here near the bridal fabrics. Notions? Next to the Silk Room. Home decor textiles? Um, next to the sewing machine department.

Yet I learned so much about Vogue that I didn't know before. I don't need to see every corner to appreciate this place (yes, I'll take a pass on the basement which was flooded recently). Who knew that you could become participate in the associates of Vogue Fabrics program, which essentially means the store can link up to your blog? I can benefit (so can you once I get more details from store manager Charlotte), and so does Vogue. Or that the store employees will gladly put out the royal welcome mat for any group visit, even one with as few as 10 people? And the goody bags! I recognized virtually all of the stuff (polyester ribbons, a little stuffed dog, scalloped lace embellishments, a button birthday card, and much more). I especially liked the 10 percent discount on just about anything in the store (save naturally the sewing machines and other hardware). I applied my savings to a plush pink piece of stretch lace from the remnant department - those fabrics never go on sale.

First, a little bit backtracking. I knew folks were meeting up in the notions department. I looked for a line by the Burda World of Fashion magazine rack. Nothing there, apparently you all must have that issue or scoured it and took a pass. I peered further back to see a whole group of women (no men, darn it!) sitting at the pattern table, they were so quiet I didn't know what to think. Were these ladies really studying the McCalls, Vogue, Burda, New Look and Kwik Sew patterns? Then I recognized Deepika and I knew I was in the right place. Phew! Deepika is much prettier than her Patternreview profile photo, and much shyer in person than online! She showed us her gorgeous lace for a skirt (see above).
Deepika and I were both blown away (not physically, just metaphorically) by this student's dress. (I'm sorry I forgot her name already) We made her model it. Yes, we forced her to go into the Silk Room bathroom and change into her work of art. Aren't you glad we did?

The back is just as cool as the front. I love the lacing; one day I will attempt this.

After we got the "tour," we all scattered to the five winds to buy, buy and Buy! Deepika purchased fabric to line her skirt. My Chicago neighbor, Terry, just about cleaned out the $1.29 a yard table with her assorted finds. She also managed to find a remnant of the famous Paisley Panel jersey made into clothes by Cidell, Gigi, and others. (Terry's fabric is in a blue colorway, not the green/pink one plastered all over the Internet right now). Josephine, I forgot what she bought, but it was nice to meet someone who actually knows where the Portage Park Theater (current site of the Silent Film Festival) is.

Of course, no group fabric-buying is complete without eating out afterwards. We went to the Lucky Platter where at least a half-a-dozen of us got a homemade Cream Soda (just writing about makes me want another one now).
* I'm wearing my second version of the Sandra Betzina Vogue 2977 top in a gorgeous gold knit (it's not as heavy as it looks) in the top photo. I'll write up more about it in the future....

Vogue Fabrics Here We Come: The Patternreview Invasion

I feel like a little kid who knows she's going to the Museum of Science & Industry tomorrow on a field trip. I can hardly sleep. In my mind I'm already on the bus, up the stairs, inside the museum, aching to see all my favorite exhibits yet again, especially the mammoth train set with a miniature Chicago. That's precisely how I feel about visiting Vogue tomorrow. I go to this store at least twice a week, Monday nights for the free sewing demo and some other random day to pick up notions and/or fabric. But tomorrow night is different, way different. Deepika, founder of Patternreview, will be there. Other sewers who I only know from their thumbnail-sized photos will be there. Usually we just comment on each other projects online: "Nice job. Where did you get that fabric???" and "Wow. That looks like something you could buy in a store." or "I hate this pattern. I'm tossing it out NOW." For the first time, I will be able to put a face with a name (or handle) on Patternreview. I'd like to think we won't have any of that "first date" awkwardness: "Uh, what do you do?" or "Why do you sew?" or "Did you make that?" I imagine we will just chatter away like we known each all our Internet lives, or at least as long as we've been on Patternreview (three or so years for me....). I look forward to seeing what you've sewed, what you plan to sew. It kind tickles my funny bone (which is located right by my navel) that I will be part of the group tour that gets a private tour of Vogue Fabrics when I know the store layout better than my own storage unit. I'm actually quite curious about where the store employees will take us. I'm guessing we're not going upstairs to the break room, which I went for the first time in my short life last year after I got stung by a wasp in the store's classroom. I am certain we'll get to see the main room where there are all sorts of fabulous deals on knits and cottons, like what you see above. That lovely lusciously soft and drapy pink print is $1.99 a yard. It's on the Spring Knits table (or it was on Saturday, they tend to move around fabrics a lot in this store) right across from the cutting table if you need some guidance. I've been waiting long enough to buy this, but I keep putting it off. I see it as a wrap dress or as Valerie's top. You, however, could benefit from my buyer's reluctance and snap it all up.

Next up: the Silk Room, so named for all those fabrics there created by silkworms. Now there's other stuff besides the silks, like the Soft Touch Jersey (above), which as you can see by the neon orange sign is on sale. The assymetrical skirts I've made came from this fabric. The selection's a bit picked over now, so all the incredibly vibrant hues are gone, but there's still plenty of other likeable stuff. I've thought about picking up a yard or so for a beige full-length slip trimmed with matching stretch lace. Let me know if you need help finding these jerseys, I'm not above clambering on bolts of fabric like a scene out of a Jackie Chan action movie. Wait! I could pretend that these are logs in a water, and spin them as I walk across them, and do my best not to fall to the ground (although I much rather fall into the water, but this isn't physically possible inside Vogue.)

Also in the Silk Room are these big bold OFK (One oF Kind) jersey knits, priced at $8.99 a yard. I especially like this one with its grand geo print and incredible color combo: Orange! White! Beige! This is a very "Look at Me Now!" print that I could see as a totally tubular, ankle-grazing summer dress much like the one Adriana made. This is across from a cutting table toward the back of the room, right by the exit (not that's where you want to go, I'm just telling you). Again, I will happily show you the way, even help you bring the bolt over to the cash register. I will try my best not to hit you in the head or in the rump with it. I must say I'm a bumbling shopper, given to tripping on my own hem, and hitting myself in the noggin with fabric. You see why Vogue Fabrics likes me so much? By the time I actually get about credit card out, my head is spinning and I can't remember what I've gotten, so I actually end up getting more. Now you know why closet is bulging with fabrics, most of it from Vogue.

Back to the tour. Beyond the Silk Room is the Notions Room, where we're all meeting. If you need a copy of Burda, maybe there'll be a copy of one there. There wasn't on Saturday. But as we all know in the wonderful world of sewing, tomorrow is another day with all sorts of surprises (mostly good!) including overnight deliveries of great sewing magazines such as Burda World of Fashion.

If you're sew inclined, there's the Home Decorating Fabrics section just beyond the Notions Room. I almost never go there, in fact the employees in that part tell me, "Aren't you in the wrong part of the store?" I mean why sew clothes for unappreciative pieces of furniture when you could make dresses, skirts and tops for humans who will most certainly appreciate what you do! Take that unappreciative window!

That's all for now, folks. See you tomorrow. Me? I plan to wear another version of Vogue 2977, stitched up in a golden Liz Claiborne knit bought you-know-where.

Robin Hood Meets Black and White Brushstrokes* Part II

Thanks LindsayT, Everyday Sewist, Christina and Sewer-Sewist for the kudos on my Robin Hood Meets Black and White Brushstrokes top. I still have to hem it, which got me thinking (which is hard to do on this day after the Independence Day weekend): Should I make a matching skirt or is that going to be just too dizzying? Vogue 2977's pull-on skirt C has elastic at the waist and free floating panels. Ann Smith did a great job on her matching top and skirt. Then again, I already have a dress in this fabric - am I ready for a third garment in this stretchy, cottony jersey (which, by the way, is very comfortable in our hot and humid weather)? Part of me is ready to move on like the fabric's old beau, but then again, another chunk of me is curious about how black and white would look full-blown from neck to knee. Would it just be an invitation for a graffiti artist to embellish me with a spray can of paint? Or would somebody just hand me a paint brush and tell me to stop goofing off and get to work? In any event, this fabric is LOUD and demands attention much like handsome Hamlet does when he wants to go outside. But my knit doesn't bark, whine, jump and scratch the door. It just simply hangs there, which is understandable because it is inanimate or it was the last time I looked at it. My other thought is to stitch up the top in this jewel blue-toned zig-zag fabric that I bought at Mood Fabrics a couple of years ago. I suppose I could scan that, then I could get your opinion, but I feel lazy right now.

Since I've officially abandoned the crochet skirt pattern (but I could return to in a triple-step heartbeat if I found a great yarn deal), I'm mulling my next knitting project. I'm really loving this Knitpicks cloche pattern. It looks so easy - strictly stockinette from what I can tell, but still somewhat challenging. It calls for Timtex for the brim. From what I can tell on Ravelry, no one else has done this particular pattern. Yippee! I love being the first (or at least apparently so - someone could have tried the pattern but just didn't review it online) to test out a project. The yarn output is small, so the cost isn't a big deal. Of course, I would use something soft, like the suggested Andean Treasure alpaca. Now do I buy it online? Or go local if only get the live help if I need it? This does look sufficiently simple that I should be able to wing it on my own for the most part with some intermittent SOS calls on Ravelry. It also appears this hat doesn't need to be blocked the way the "Romantic Handknits" ones do. (I'm chickening out on hat blocking because my headform block is buried somewhere in my storage locker and I don't want to go there now.) It's either that or a knitted bolero jacket that I could really use and would look great over this dress or paired with jeans. I just don't know. Maybe the cheapest, easiest project win! Aaack!

Robin Hood Meets Black and White Brushstrokes*

This pattern, Today's Fit by Sandra Betzina, has been described as looking on Pattern Review as something like Robin Hood might wear. If you look at the envelope cover, yes, the short-hair model does look like she might be Robin's female alter ego: short hair, a grass green top and matching skirt and brown boots. The only thing that's missing is a hat with a feather.

However, don't let the sketch scare you off. This top, Vogue 2977, is my new winner. Sandra likes to talk about how the waistband is great for camouflaging a tummy that isn't quite flat. And she's right. You can eat all the sushi you want in this top, and hide it easily. You can all the $1 ice cream fudge sundaes at McDonald's and no one would know. Finally, you can eat a blue cheese burger and salad with blue cheese dressing at Moody's Pub (my favorite) and wash it down the sangria, and not a soul will notice.

So that's what the pattern has going for it: some visual tricks. Here are some things I really liked about this particular selection:

* Betzina's suggestions in the instructions are wonderful. Why can more pattern directions be more conversational and less technical? Before today, I would peel off the paper on my Steam-A-Seam2 and it would get all over the place. Betzina suggests otherwise: place the fusible strip on the fabric, iron, then peel off the paper. Fold over fabric, press again. My life just got easier, now I'm less prone to walking outside for an appointment with bits of fusible interfacing on my clothes. Phew!
* She talks about using a woven fabric for the bodice, and stretchy one for the waistband. I haven't done this yet, but I think it would be a really striking combination. I imagine a flamestitch fabric like this with some of my favorite jersey. I think it would be very ingenious to make a skirt that matches the waistband of this top, so you would get lots of coverage, and virtually no possibility that your tummy will show even when you sit down.

What I don't like:
* The letter sizing on this top. It was a little bit confusing to be cutting out a size B on the top (34" bust) and to have an actual pattern labeled B. (By the way, I did cut out a size C on the waistband, which translates to a 38 1/2" inch hips on the pattern. I'm actually a little larger there but the streeeeeetch happily and comfortable accomodates me.)
* The facing pieces. I ditched them from the get-go based on this pattern review. I simply turned down the raw edges of my neckline and tacked it down with Steam-A-Seam2. Then I screwed on my stretch twin-needles, set my machine for a straight stitch and dropped then tension down to 2 to lessen any tunneling I might get. I also put teeny notches at the V, so the fabric would lie flat.

That's really about it. Two pluses and two minuses, adds up to a 0 and a fantastic kimono-style top in my notebook! I didn't have to make any adjustments for my long waist. I'm not completely done just yet with this top just yet - I still needle to fuse the the hem on the sleeves and the waistband bottom. I'll put the twin-needle (Schmetz Stretch Twin 130/705 H-S ZWI) when I'm ready to head home on this baby.
* Finally the fabric. You might recognize it from this dress.