Dinosaurs and other gifts

This is a low energy post for a low energy evening.  I'm shattered but want to start clearing the backlog of my sewing photos.  I really like having a record.  But sometimes the words are just too hard!

I bought a few iron on embellishments from Ali Express quite a while ago and used them to jazz up some plain tees my little person was gifted.

I also sewed up a few baby bibs for friends and family

And two little elephants too...

AliExpress sewing related purchases

I've tried to be more considerate in my sewing related purchases recently.  Bizarrely that's also meant buying individual items on Ali Express and I'm not sure I ended up either where I expected to be or wanted to be.  However, these were great buys that I wasn't able to buy locally.

Top: multi coloured zips with a big zipper pull.  Officially called closed ended resin zippers pull ring ;) e

I got 10 40cm zips for $10.94 NZD from MeeTee Official Store.  These were for learning how to use zippers for my little person's quiet book

Bottom left: Adjustable buckles to replace a broken one on BM's trench (which I love!).  I ended up mismeasuring the first set and having to buy another lot.  But I replaced the buckles at the waist tie and on the cuffs and it looks good.  Score as it means the coat stays in circulation longer.  On the down side I had to buy lots of 10 so have a tonne of these left over and also had to wait ages for the first set to arrive, realise it was the wrong size and reorder, and wait again.  A quick fix when they got here!  From Kinoko.

Bottom right: ok this was a late night impulse!  Some bias binding in a cute fabric.  I've bought some white before and it was of shocking quality.  This is good stuff though.  $4.66NZD for 1 inch wide and 5m long. From Palmybest store.



I also bought some iron in labels with my little person's name on them.  There's a variety of different dinosaurs.  In hindsight, I've learnt that naming your child's clothing isn't the safest thing to do as then random people know their names so I'll finish these up and get another set made up with something they will associate with but not give away info about them.  These were 84 for $21.55 from L&L-Handmade Store.





I've also purchased a variety of iron embellishments so they'll be popping up at some point...

Cashmerette montrose and Colette sorbetto

Ok, settle in (or skip it).  This is a long post.  About sewing failures.



It started off well enough - with my desire to make a few work appropriate tops with short sleeves for summer. And in case you're in the Southern Hemisphere, you might guess that my lack of posting indicates things did not go as planned.  I had some fun fabric from the Fabric Warehouse popup shop so very happy to make muslins out of them but also liked them and would be very happy to get something wearable too.



The first pattern off the blocks was the Sorbetto top by Colette. Its a woven top with sleeves. Now with somewhat extended sizes.  Its a free pattern and I wanted to make it, first to make the top and second, to see what their top block looked like on me in the extended size range.

Frumpy AF is the answer. I made a few changes to the printed pattern to get it graded between sizes and made an FBA too.  Unfortunately while the yellow fabric was fun, it was a mission to get the darts at the front to sit correctly. 



By the time I finished the neckline was very stretched out.



Meh!



That ended up in the donate pile and I moved onto a hopefully better base pattern.

The second pattern off the blocks was the Cashmerette Montose - a woven top pattern which comes in multiple bust sizes.  Sounded a lot more promising.



But the end result was also a big Meh!



I messed up the neckline with my bias tape and it doesn't sit flat.  But as I'm not convinced about the rest of it, I didn't bother to fix.



I needed to do a larger FBA despite selecting the 'correct' bust size as the pattern pulls slightly up.



That said, I did wear it a bit and making some changes to the hip/waist curve made it work better.

To be fair to both patterns, they fit as well as some sleeveless tops I've purchased but given that I can customise them to fit my bust etc. I am looking for a better fit.  The top below is a RTW top without sleeves - so I'd prefer a better fitting sleeved version but so far I'm coming up short on what I could do to get the top patterns a little closer to what I'd like to wear.











Here's the Cashmerette top again and it looks ok but I don't feel it when wearing it.



Especially from this angle!



So its OK but honestly, with sewing I want better.

So I moved onto round two of the Montrose in a chiffon (again *I think* from the fabric warehouse).



Better make but my chiffon sewing skills were lacking.



I just don't think this top works for me. And I'm not sure why.  All very irritating and all very soul destroying.  Thankfully, all these makes were a while ago - but I'm a great believer in recording the process for later analysis.  I have a top shell on my to do list for the next few months and in the mean time I'll be donating this version too (once I've ironed it - that hem is crazy bad!).



Fingers crossed my next forays in to top production are more satisfying or at least more enlightening.  For now, I'm giving the Sorbetto a very hard pass and Montrose a probably not, but maybe if I can figure out what's the issue.

Muse Hipi Top

Fabric: Levana stripy merino - very lightweight and quite see through  - I think it was a meter.
Pattern: Muse Hipi Top  Knit fabric pattern with three front and three back panels and an optional hem band.
Adjustments: The pattern has a central panel and two side panels for the front and back.  I traced a 42 for the neck and shoulders and cut a straight 42 for the central panels graded to a 46 at the side panels essentially removing the waist curve.  I added 1 inch to the central panels around the bust point and pivoted it out in the side panels. I traced and cut 42 sleeves. Muse tends to have longer sleeves so the fact that I shortened sleeves by 1.5 inches shouldn't be super suprizing. I also cut the 'longer' version which is then hemmed but added the hem band to this as it felt a bit short to just hem it.  I should have trusted my gut as the neck band is a little loose for my liking - my feeling is this is as a result of the fabric I used rather than the pattern piece and it would have been good to shorten this too.



I also made use of my coverstitch and really like the finish it gives (though to be honest its nowhere near as useful as my sewing machine or overlocker).



The fabric is nice in the abstract but I'm not really feeling it for this pattern.



The stripes look great here but I didn't get the fit right on my version. Its not a top I feel great in.  Though its very comfortable.



The hem band is a nice touch.



I think from this photo I need to add about an inch to the centre front length and grade it out to the sides. 



The back is far too oversized for me and the next version I think I'll try to take excess fabric out of the central back panel to make the top a little more fitted.



The sleeves are fun and I think look well from the front.  I used my serger and cover stitch for the sewing and its a quick and satisfying sew.  The instructions are nice and clear.



But the excess fabric at the back is annoying (which could very well be the way I cut it out and my grading between sizes as I haven't seen this issue with other people's versions).



Yup, still see that lift here.  Definitely need to account for my larger bust a little more.  Muse is designed for a B cup so this wasn't unexpected.



Verdict: a comfy top that doesn't quite make me happy to wear it.  Its snuggly and comfortable and the fabric is warm for this type of year but its a bit Meh! on me.  My friend Sarah was here when I made it and she loved it so I've already cut out a version for her and need to sew it up over the next few weeks (its summer in Ireland so a merino top won't be high on her list of wears for a while!).

The fabric is so lightweight that I'll have to wear something underneath it but I have a tonne of tank tops so that's not a problem!

Not sure if I'll make more for me but I might.  The only thing holding me back is the other things already in my queue! I think I'll play around with the back pieces and maybe also the side shaping as it seems a shame to have blended that almost completely out when merging the sizes together but its also probably reflective of my body shape - as indicted by a fairly similar change I made to the Cashmerette Ipswich swimsuit.

Tester notes: I was given a tester copy of this top and a final copy of the pattern for my comments on the pattern. I know Kat and she is one of the most awesome sewing people and really great to test for.  I wasn't expected to write a review or provide photos of the final garment and as you can tell from the above, my review is honest!  I don't have affiliate links and won't receive anything for writing this review.