Someone please remind me to never attempt two finished garments in a week again! At least not when I'm working full time, trying to plan a wedding, trying to plan a sewing class, and trying to take care of all my normal life stuff at the same time. Ideally, these wouldn't have taken so long if I had done a simple Sorbetto in a woven fabric for both and didn't try anything crazy...but if you know me then you know I couldn't resist!
First up was the kimono sleeved Sorbetto variation in a jersey knit. This fabric was a PITA to work with! I found out later (after asking advice from the nice people who sold me my sewing machine) that I should have adjusted the presser foot pressure. Presser foot pressure? I didn't know there was such a thing! But lo and behold, there it is on the left side of my Husqvarna:
Larger numbers are for heavier fabrics, smaller for more lightweight. So I should have changed this over to 1 for my jersey knit. Hopefully that will make things easier for me next time!
My main issue was trying to topstitch the seam allowances down (having them flopping around inside this semi-sheer fabric just wasn't looking good). The topstitching just wasn't happening. The fabric kept bunching up, didn't want to move through the feed guides correctly, and my machine was making teensy, tiny little uneven stitches. Not good! I finally said eff it all and used seam glue to do the job. Yep, GLUE. My inner seamstress is horribly ashamed. But it worked!
I'm not terribly happy with this one. I didn't realize that the fabric was so sheer until it was too late (weird, because it's the same jersey as the stuff I used for my cardigan, just in a different color). I think it would have worked much better with a thicker knit.
In order to draft the kimono sleeves, all I did was use another shirt as a guide, add extra room around the underarm, then add seam allowances. This tutorial over at Analog Me explains the process nicely.
I really, really don't want to post this back view...the more back views I see of myself the more self-conscious I get about my hunched over spine. Ack! I honestly didn't realize how bad it was until I started photographing myself for this blog. But...ok. Here's the back:
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| This is me straining to hold my shoulders back |
Also, I didn't have enough fabric to cut the back on the fold so I had to do it in two parts and sew it together.
Let's move on to the version I really like - this one!
Ah, wovens! So much easier to deal with!
The collar was a learning experience. I started out just tracing the Peter Pan collar on a dress I bought recently, then decided to consult the web. I found this awesome tutorial from Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing and began following her instructions. What I should have done was go back and redraft the pattern based on the Sorbetto neckline. What I actually did was use the pattern I had from my dress and then followed her instructions on making the over and under collars slightly different sizes so that it will roll correctly. Note on this - make sure that when you cut out your fabric you turn your collar pattern piece upside down for one side. I cut both of mine out the same way and then was left with two left-side collars. Whoops! Then after re-cutting the collar pieces and pinning them onto my top, I discovered that the back of the collar wasn't going to go all the way around my top. Not even by a long shot. So I cut it at the shoulder seam and decided to settle for a faux Peter Pan. Then I used bias binding on the back. If I were thinking with my good sewing brain and not just stitching on autopilot, I would have done the binding first and THEN the collar...but, lesson learned. I still love it. I imagine I will be getting a lot of wear out of this one!
Tomorrow I tackle the Ava top again! I'm considering using this pattern for my Maid of Honor's dress so this top will be a good test run.Labels: finished projects, sewing, Sorbetto top, Spring Sewing Challenge, variation
