Woven sweatshirt – McCall’s 7195

Either last year or the year before – 2020 is still a bit of a blur – this pattern caught my eye. A sweatshirt pattern for woven fabric? That might come in handy some day!

So, I’ve been going through my stash, clearing out fabrics I know I’ll never use and I came across this quite fun sheer fabric with raw-edge flowers loosely applied throughout. What was I ever thinking I’d make with this? Heaven only knows. It was in the donate pile when I remembered this pattern and thought this might be a fun thing to have in my wardrobe.

I made my usual adjustments (FBA and shorten sleeves by 1”) and also lowered the neckline by about 1.5”. I am not a fan of jewel necklines with my round face and short neck. Instead of ribbing at the neck, I used a binding. The requisite ribbing was used on the sleeves and hem.

My thought was to wear this over a white tank but, next time, I will underline the body instead. Turns out I am not a fan of layering! I still have quite a lot of this fabric so maybe I will remake it as the ribbing is also not as white as I would like but it was what I was able to get quickly online.

Because I planned on wearing it over a white tank, I bound the darts with white net. To prevent show-through elsewhere, I bound the seams with a nude net. The fabric actually behaved pretty well going through my 1” binding attachment.

Believe it or not, I found both at JoAnn Fabrics and they were perfect for this project and not horrible to work with. I also bought some white poly chiffon at JoAnn also thinking it would be okay for binding but it is just too horrible to be used for anything except maybe a Halloween costume – yes, it’s that gross – so out it goes.

I’m now working on another version of this pattern in a silk velvet devoré that has been in my stash for a very long time. I won’t kid you, it is not going together quickly as each seam must be hand basted because it simply refuses to behave, even with a walking foot. Hopefully, I will have enough time next week to finish it up as I think it would be nice to wear on thanksgiving with skinny black pants.

That’s all for today, have a lovely weekend, everyone and thanks for visiting!

Wool jersey dress – Butterick 5313

I have been wanting a Chanel style knit dress with a flounce so I pulled out this oldie but goodie pattern. The charcoal grey wool jersey has been in my stash forever and I was so happy to delete it from my inventory!

I previously altered this pattern for a full bust but knew I’d need more circumference since the wool jersey has much less stretch than the knits I used previously. I added 1/2” to each seam tapering to nothing at the sleeve hem. I also added decorative bands at each seam and finished the neckline and sleeve with bands to tie it all together.

My original plan was to embellish tue dress with black pearls but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that what I really needed was a simple, basic dress so the bands were my way of taking it a bit beyond the pattern without making it too distinctive.

This pattern is pretty easy to pass over, I know, but I’ve made View B four times now and it’s a nice, simple dress that’s very flattering, goes together quickly and pairs well with various jacket styles.