Simplicity 1539 Pattern Review: Part Deux
Success!! I finally completed my second go around of the Simplicity 1539 pattern and I have to say that I am in love with this shirt! I finished it last night and wore it with jeans today. I was going to wear it with a skirt, but it is a rainy day and I did not want to deal with wet legs and/or feet. But the beauty of this top is that it looks like it can go with just about anything! I picked a lovely medium blue knit fabric remnant that I got on one of my many trips to Hancock. For the little top bow part, I used this lovely stretchy see through lace fabric that I got (3 yards for $5) at Hancocks on a big sale table. I already made a breezy shirt out of it and had tons left over, so it seemed destined for this top.
The shirt itself was easy to construct, but I switched it up a bit. Instead of using a zipper, I made the back piece one solid piece by cutting it on a fold instead of cutting 2 pieces and stitching them together. There seemed no need for a zipper; it's a knit. Slide over your head and enjoy! So I skipped the zipper and went for the pull over version. Also, I made version E, but I didn't have quite enough remnant fabric for the 3/4 length sleeves, but I did have enough for the shorter sleeves from version B. I like a nice 3/4 length sleeve, but I am diggin these shorter sleeves.
The peplum hangs nicely and went on well with only one small hitch. Apparently the circumference of the bottom of the bodice was a tad larger than the circumference of the peplum, so when I went to sew them together there was a weird wrinkle. I unstitched the top and peplum apart a tiny bit and sewed an improvised dart on the part of the bodice that was too big, making it slightly less big. I resewed the 2 parts together and voila! No more wrinkle!
I am a big fan of knits because of the stretchy-ness, but also because 9 times out of 10 they do not need to be hemmed. Or at least in my mind they don't. So my lazy self did not hem this anywhere. No neck hem, no sleeve hems, no bottom hem. And I like the eased sleeve look. It kind of gives the top a little bit of flare. The only complaint I have is that the bow knot moves around a bit, so I'll just give it a tack down on the underside and we should be good to go! Not only was this shirt comfortable all day, but I felt dressed up, too.
I know the pic sucks, but my dummy at home is covered in unfinished stuff. Better pics to come soon. :)
And I was also happy that I finished something off my pile of forgotten projects. This one was a simple mistake that left me frustrated. I sewed the sleeves shut. Simple mistake, seeing as how this has that weird overlay part. Instead of sewing the overlay to the shirt front, I sewed it to the front and back at the armholes. All I needed to do was to unstitch the stitching, which was a simple baste stitch, but I was so frustrated (with who knows what at the time) that I simply walked away and didn't touch it for months. Stupid, I know. But for whatever reason, if I am not having a good day and I decide to sew to make it better, if I make a mistake during that time, its like the whole day was riding on that sewing project and the mistake pushed me over the top. Like I'm mad at the clothes for not sewing properly when its me who made the mistake. So I have tried to not sew at all if I am having a bad day. I think that's how my pile got so big. I tried to sew everyday, which is usually not a problem. But I have learned that sometimes its good to take a break if you're not feeling it. I'd rather have a night without sewing than come in to a huge pile of unfinished stuff and then feel anxious about finishing them.
I also realize that I need to take more pictures of my mistakes. That way, if someone is reading this and sees what I was talking about, like with the weird wrinkle, they can store that info in their heads and come back to it if they ever encounter said problem in their sewing. I am hoping that with our house buying also will come a renewed sense of organization. I am usually organized, but we simply do not have the space. We live in a very small duplex and while we don't have a ton of personal belongings, its enough to fill our tiny home. If we buy a normal sized house (I'm still talking small, here) then we should have plenty of room for all our crap. That should allow us to actually have a place for our computer instead of sitting it on our kitchen table, which we cannot use for eating purposes because it has our computer and printer on it. If the computer is in a more reachable place, I might be able to keep up with this blog more regularly and photo document better as well. So here's to finding a place to be organized in!
The shirt itself was easy to construct, but I switched it up a bit. Instead of using a zipper, I made the back piece one solid piece by cutting it on a fold instead of cutting 2 pieces and stitching them together. There seemed no need for a zipper; it's a knit. Slide over your head and enjoy! So I skipped the zipper and went for the pull over version. Also, I made version E, but I didn't have quite enough remnant fabric for the 3/4 length sleeves, but I did have enough for the shorter sleeves from version B. I like a nice 3/4 length sleeve, but I am diggin these shorter sleeves.
The peplum hangs nicely and went on well with only one small hitch. Apparently the circumference of the bottom of the bodice was a tad larger than the circumference of the peplum, so when I went to sew them together there was a weird wrinkle. I unstitched the top and peplum apart a tiny bit and sewed an improvised dart on the part of the bodice that was too big, making it slightly less big. I resewed the 2 parts together and voila! No more wrinkle!
I am a big fan of knits because of the stretchy-ness, but also because 9 times out of 10 they do not need to be hemmed. Or at least in my mind they don't. So my lazy self did not hem this anywhere. No neck hem, no sleeve hems, no bottom hem. And I like the eased sleeve look. It kind of gives the top a little bit of flare. The only complaint I have is that the bow knot moves around a bit, so I'll just give it a tack down on the underside and we should be good to go! Not only was this shirt comfortable all day, but I felt dressed up, too.
I know the pic sucks, but my dummy at home is covered in unfinished stuff. Better pics to come soon. :)
And I was also happy that I finished something off my pile of forgotten projects. This one was a simple mistake that left me frustrated. I sewed the sleeves shut. Simple mistake, seeing as how this has that weird overlay part. Instead of sewing the overlay to the shirt front, I sewed it to the front and back at the armholes. All I needed to do was to unstitch the stitching, which was a simple baste stitch, but I was so frustrated (with who knows what at the time) that I simply walked away and didn't touch it for months. Stupid, I know. But for whatever reason, if I am not having a good day and I decide to sew to make it better, if I make a mistake during that time, its like the whole day was riding on that sewing project and the mistake pushed me over the top. Like I'm mad at the clothes for not sewing properly when its me who made the mistake. So I have tried to not sew at all if I am having a bad day. I think that's how my pile got so big. I tried to sew everyday, which is usually not a problem. But I have learned that sometimes its good to take a break if you're not feeling it. I'd rather have a night without sewing than come in to a huge pile of unfinished stuff and then feel anxious about finishing them.
I also realize that I need to take more pictures of my mistakes. That way, if someone is reading this and sees what I was talking about, like with the weird wrinkle, they can store that info in their heads and come back to it if they ever encounter said problem in their sewing. I am hoping that with our house buying also will come a renewed sense of organization. I am usually organized, but we simply do not have the space. We live in a very small duplex and while we don't have a ton of personal belongings, its enough to fill our tiny home. If we buy a normal sized house (I'm still talking small, here) then we should have plenty of room for all our crap. That should allow us to actually have a place for our computer instead of sitting it on our kitchen table, which we cannot use for eating purposes because it has our computer and printer on it. If the computer is in a more reachable place, I might be able to keep up with this blog more regularly and photo document better as well. So here's to finding a place to be organized in!
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