Fitted Blouse with North American Smocking

I started working on this shirt on the opening day of the Fitted Blouse Contest on PatternReview.com and I finished on Saturday.  That means it took me 22 days from beginning to end. Not bad.  Not bad at all.  And I am oh, so pleased with the North American Smocking effect on the midriff.

The fabric is a medium wright stretch linen from Fabric.com.  The pattern is Jalie 2322 Women's Shirt.  Essentially, I eliminated all but the horizontal bust dart, and instead used the smocking to shape the waist.  The side seams are slightly curved for added shaping.  I added about 3 inches of length so the shirt would be too short after the smocking ate up its requisite 20%.  And I added a bit of length to the sleeves as well.  I've made this shirt before with the same fabric in reversed colors and I found that it shrank quite a bit with successive washings.  The closures are cap anorak snaps in antique bronze.

I saw this smocking technique for the first time on the Lilacs and Lace blog.  Laura Mae used it to make an evening bag, and I thought it was just amazing.  I was stunned by how beautiful, useful, and simple this technique could be.  I did a small trial sample with a scrap piece of shirting that was lying around.  I intentionally chose stripes so I could see just how the fabric was being manipulated.  Genius.  Absolute genius!  The tutorial for this can be found at Le blog de Gédane in both English and French, but the pictures are pretty self-explanatory.

What I learned from this is that there is an approximate 20% loss in both width and height of the smocked area.  But here's the cool part:  the smocked area is elastic!  Obviously, you don't get the full width or height at maximum stretch, but you get some.  And of course if you pull too hard, you'll snap the stitches that make the whole thing work.  But it still has some mechanical stretch.

What to do with this marvelous discovery?  Obviously, it was time to make a shirt.

I started by cutting the fronts and stitching the horizontal bust darts.  Then I marked the wrong sides with the grid and lines for stitching the smocking.  I left about 1/2 inch unsmocked for the side seam (this pattern uses 1/4 inch seam allowances) and enough room at center front for the front facings.

I actually removed the front self facings.  As you will see, the smocking is going to gather along the center front.  Separate facings were necessary to handle all that gathering.

Here it is partially complete.  It takes a few rows to see the basket weave begin to form, but once it does, it is so exciting.

The front is complete.

Now on to the back.  You can see in this picture how the smocked area appears recessed in relation to the rest of the fabric.

 Inside the shirt you can see the bajillion little hand stitches I took to make this thing work.  I haven't decided what to do with the thread tails yet.  Next time I do this I'm going to secure each fold with a lockstitch.  That'll get rid of all the thread tails and work just as well as long as I leave enough thread between each stitch to allow for the mechanical stretch.  These knots are simple square knots that have then been secured with Aleen's Jewel-It embellishing glue.  It's intended for glueing rhinestones and such to fabric, but I find it just makes a good glue.  I like to use the Aleen's because it's not scratchy at all and has a lot of flexibility.

After all this it was typical shirt assembly.  Had a bit of trouble with the stretch linen in the collar and cuffs, but just the normal stuff you'd expect with a stretch woven.

I like how well the shirt goes with my cargo pants of last year.

The areas of smocking meet at the side seams for a continuous band of smocking all around the waist.

I could've hoped for a slightly better transition between the two pieces at the side seams, but hey! for an experiment I think this is pretty good.

If that bit of extra length in the sleeves doesn't shrink out, I'm going to smock a few basket weave bands on the sleeves, too.  But I'm virtually certain the dreaded shrinking will occur.

North American Smocking -- A Quick Sneak Peek

So, here's a bit of a preview of the Fitted Blouse with North American Smocking.  The fabric is a medium weight stretch linen with woven pinstripes with the opposite color scheme of the fabric pictured -- it's the dark tan with lighter pinstripes.

 The pattern is Jalie's Women's Shirt.  This is truly a great pattern and I wear the linen shirt I made back in the fall all the time.

The significance of this project is that I eliminated all the vertical darts (but kept the horizontal bust dart) and replaced them with a band of North American Smocking, which gives the fabric a basket weave texture.  The technique is surprisingly simple once you know how, but the proper execution takes some practice.  I can tell which of the three pieces I did first, since the longer I worked at it, the better I got at making the folds turn out exactly the way I wanted them to.

Here's a peek at the shirt back smocking. Isn't this absolutely awesome?  Pics of the finished shirt to come.

Quilting Sabbatical -- Cause We Need Some Clothes!

Much as I've been enjoying my quilting journey, I've got to move on for a while and get some clothes made -- before we're all stuck in that famous condition:  I've nothing to wear, dahling!!

Raven in the Window is nearly finished -- I completed the quilting last night so all that's left is the binding.  I'll get you all some pics in the next couple of days.

This weekend, I'm going to try to get some clothes made.  Daughter needs two or three dresses and Youngest Son could use a couple of button down shirts.  I've already got the fabric -- it just needs to be washed, dried, and ironed and it's ready to go.

Daughter already got a new dress this week.  The pattern is my self drafted knit wrap dress.  The fabric a lovely drapey charcoal rayon/cotton interlock with dusty pink roses on it.  A very pretty fabric that works well with the pattern.

I'm going to try and make her another this weekend using this Kaufman jersey.

 And perhaps a second one using one (or more!) of the organic cotton wovens I've gotten in the last few months.

For Youngest Son, I have a yummy royal blue broadcloth that's going to make a handsome shirt that will go nicely with his wool suiting vest.  He likes to be well-dressed, and who can blame him?  Jalie Men's Shirt Pattern will do nicely for that.  I'll have to trace out a new size since I know he's grown alot since the last time I used it.

For me, well I can start on my Jalie Women's shirt for the PR contest as of Saturday.  I think I'm going to use a tan pin striped stretch linen.  Oddly enough, it's the negative of the fabric I used for my last PR contest.  Instead of light tan with darker tan pinstripes, it is the darker tan with light tan pinstripes.

So, wish me luck!  As always, I've got lots of plans, and sometimes I even get it all to work.

Mini Wardrobe -- Finished Contest Entry Safari Style

So here it is:  My finished contest entry.  Safari style extravaganza!  If you're a PatternReview.com member, you can vote for your favorite mini wardrobe.  Check out all the entries.  So many people have done such a fantastic job.  It was a real pleasure to chat with them on the message board for the whole trip.

The tank top is a modified Kwik Sew 2517.  It would have to be -- that pattern is actually a dress.  I've made this tank top lots of times and I really love it.  For this one, I used the original armhole curve, but I've also modified the pattern to make a racerback tank top as well.

The pants are Jalie 2908 stretch jeans.  For these, I added expanding cargo pockets to the back and thighs and narrowed the pants legs so they'll fit smoothly into my boots.  I love these pants.  I wore them all day yesterday and they are oh-so-comfy.

The button down shirt is Jalie 2322 done in a stretch linen.  Also a comfortable fabric.  I wish I'd bought more than just enough for one shirt.

And the vest is Butterick 5616 made in the same stretch sateen as the pants.  With extra pockets.








I am really loving all of these outfits.  Different shoes give a whole different look to them, too.

First Wardrobe Piece -- Jalie 2322 Women's Button Down Shirt

Okay, so I'm a little slow moving on this wardrobe contest thing.  But I am making progress.  Though, I have to confess, I don't think I'm going to get all four pieces done in time for the contest deadline.  Don't get me wrong, I haven't given up hope.  I still intend to keep working away.  I might be able to make it yet.

I do have the first piece done.  It's Jalie 2322.  I've made this pattern once before and I wear that shirt all the time.  This one is also likely to get a workout, because I really like how it turned out.  It's made with a soft stretch linen with an oh-so-subtle pinstripe.  Comfortable because of the design and the stretch of the fabric.  And Jalies fit me so well without having to do any altering, so I can wear it right out of the envelope. 

I love absolutely everything about this pattern.  Starting with the paper it's printed on.  Heavy white paper that's easy to trace and doesn't tear if you look at it too sternly.  The instructions are printed a little inconveniently, but Jalie solved that problem by making pdfs of the instructions in English and French available on their website.

 I very much like the way Jalie does their darts.  Just three dots and a measurement for how far from the edge you should sew for the center dot.  Somehow, when I do darts everybody else's way, no matter how carefully I try to mark them, I always get the alignment messed up somewhere along the line.  I don't have that problem with this method.

I like the folded over self-facings for the front closure as well.  Much nicer than sewing on a separate piece.  And the three layers give you built-in interfacing, too.

All the  pieces fit together like a dream and even the sleeves went in without a sliver of protest.  The curved hem is flattering as is the very subtle waistline shaping.  The collar has a nice shape, too.  Not to big, not too pointy.  I'm really picky about collar shapes and I'm always grumbling about them as I cut them smaller.  This size of this one is just right for my taste.

The only thing I'm on the fence about is the seam allowances.  I'm used to 1/2 or 5/8 inch seam allowances for woven fabrics, and the 3/8 inch seam allowance on this pattern was a little hard to get used to at first.  After working with it, though, I think I might even prefer the smaller seam allowance.  The collar stand was so easy to attach to the shirt, and it might have been part of the reason the sleeves were so easy to install as well.

I just finished the last buttonhole and button placement this morning and I couldn't wait to wear it.  It goes nicely with my favorite forest green Nautica cargo pants.

As for the rest of the wardrobe, the tank top is also nearly done.  I just have to change the threads on the coverstitch machine and topstitch the bindings around the neckline and the armholes.

Half way there.  Too bad I saved the hard parts for last  :o/

I Love Getting Fabric in the Mail

This is my first fabric order in a really long time.  I haven't done much sewing lately, so I really couldn't justify any fabric purchases.  But now that I'm sewing again...well...I just couldn't resist.  I got all these from Fabric.com, of course.  They're easily my favorite place to go for fabric.

This one is for my husband -- I'm going to make him a long sleeved button down shirt.  It's a silk/linen blend that arrived a little stiff, but should soften up when it's washed.  It's actually much nicer than it looks in the picture.

This is another fabric I was thinking might work for my husband, too, but the checks might be too small for his taste.  The pattern is woven into the fabric, so it's textured, too.  A very cool piece.  If he doesn't like it, I'm going to snatch it for myself.

This one is a stretch lace that I'd like to use to make a cardigan for myself.  I got this is two different gray colors, but they're so similar it's hard to tell.  I also got a piece in a peachy color for Daughter, thinking she might like a pretty cardigan or scarf herself.  No worries.  She does :o)

And the last is two pieces (I got pieces from two different manufacturers to see which was better -- they're both pretty good) of royal blue broadcloth.  Because Youngest Son looks great in blue.  It's definitely his color, and he needs a few button down shirts.







Now I just have to work on my Mini Wardrobe.  I'm making slow progress, but progress all the same.

Mini Wardrobe Contest -- A Small Beginning

 I know one thing for sure: I definitely want the stretch linen button down shirt.  And I definitely want to use my TNT Jalie pattern to do it.

The linen is a sand color, with a darker tan vertical pinstripe.  It's been washed and dried on the hot setting, so it's pretty soft and comfortable.  I find linen to be a little itchy at times (am I the only one who finds it so?), but I'm hoping that this piece won't be too bad.



So that's what I'm sure of.  What I'm not sure of is the rest. Should I make the skirt, pants, and jacket combo?  Or should I make one of these dresses in the luscious, flowing plaid wool twill I found while I was hunting out the fabric for the other pieces? 
 

I tried to take a picture of the fabric, but I just washed it and hung it to dry so it's not photographing well at the moment.  But it is primarily a reddish chocolate, with some black and gray.  That doesn't describe it very well.  I'll have to snap a photo once it's dry.

Doesn't matter.  I have plenty of time to decide.  But let me ask you this:  Would you wear a pinstriped shirt (like the fabric above) under a plaid dress like one of the ones on the bottom?