More Saturday sewing

With some help from my sewing buddy,



I successfully made the buttonholes for my shirt:




It is done!


(thanks to Jimmy for being my fashion photographer for this pic)

I like it a lot, and I will definitely use the pattern (Simplicity 4077) again.

I wanted the inside of the garment to look nice. I really hate zigzagged seams, so I did French seams for the side seams and darts. For the shoulders and cuffs I used Hong Kong finishes. I made my own bias strips from a light-weight yellow cotton fabric. It was more work, but very satisfying.

Some Saturday sewing

I've been spending the past few Saturdays working on a sewing project. It's a shirt, or blouse, if you will. I'm using Simplicity pattern 4077, which is the most complicated thing I've ever sewn that I think I will actually wear. This one is a test so I'm using some fabric that I found at JoAnn Fabrics for cheap. It's not quite done yet, but I have only one more thing to do, which is to make the buttonholes and sew on the buttons. I'm kind of scared about making the buttonholes. . .

These are the buttons I'm going to use. They are waxed cherry wood, made from tree branches by The Hickory Tree. I wanted something rustic.



I'll show more details when I'm completely done. Even if the buttonholes don't work out (though I'm hoping they will), I feel like a had a sewing breakthrough. This is the first time I made a full bust adjustment to a pattern, so that the shirt will fit properly in the bust but not be too large in other places. Here's my modified front pattern piece, on art-school tracing paper (good thing I saved that stuff after all these years. . .)



A few weeks ago I hardly knew what a full bust adjustment was! Thanks again, you people of the internets!

A top

I broke out my sewing machine and made myself something to wear for the summer:




The pattern is the Anna Tunic by Amy Butler, size Medium. It was very well-written and not too tricky technique-wise to make. It was exactly what I wanted since I hadn't done any sewing in a few years.

The fabric is some cotton I bought at the World's Worst JoAnn Fabrics. I'm not super in love with it, but I think it works well for this pattern. The lining is just some unbleached muslin I had lying around.

I found some cute vintage buttons on etsy for the back:



I'm happy that my half-assed method of modifying the pattern actually worked. I cut out the front and back pieces, pinned them together, and put them on to see where the waistline fell on my body. It was about 2" below my actual waist (you know, 'cause I'm short), so I cut the pattern at the waistline, brought the waist up so that it was where I wanted it to be, and taped the pattern back together. The rest I left as is.

I took me two Saturdays and a few short sessions during the week to make this. Much faster than knitting!