In the past few years, I’ve become more and more interested in the idea of making clothes. Now, I’m not talking about an entire wardrobe or anything, and I don’t think I’ll be trying pants or fitted dresses or anything anytime soon. But I’ve become rather enamored with the idea of making tops, t-shirts, skirts — that kind of thing.
I’ve tackled a couple of these items in the past with mixed success. Pajama pants were easy enough, and this a-line skirt turned out really well (although sadly-but-happily it is now too big for me and I can’t wear it). I like my Sailor Top, but don’t wear it often because the quilting cotton wrinkles too much and I hate ironing clothes. And while it was for Emma instead of for me, the best clothing item I’ve made date is probably the Trolls dress I sewed last summer.
That said, I’m trying to branch out. And y’all, it is hard.
I want to make clothes, but I also get extremely frustrated if the item I’ve spent time and effort on doesn’t really work for me in the end. With quilts, I’m confident enough in my skills to know that I’m going to be reasonably happy with the end product no matter what happens along the way. But with clothes? Not so much.
And so, here are two things I finished this weekend.
(Side note: These photos aren’t the greatest, but they’re good enough. The series can alternately be titled “Charlotte insisted on coming outside and standing next to me, but then didn’t want to turn around and face the camera.” The subtitle is “Also I still can’t fully smile because my stupid gum graft is still healing.”)
This is the Free Spirit Tank by Patterns for Pirates. I bought the fabric for this one last summer and had cut out part of it, then stopped because I made a mistake on the cutting layout and thought I was short on fabric as a result. But when I laid it out again on Friday I found I had juuuust enough to cut the back, so I jumped back in.
This is the first thing I’ve made with knit fabric, and I’m actually fairly pleased with the result. The knit is from Joann’s and has a subtle shimmery purple motif. I have a serger, but I’m not comfortable using it, so I used the stretch stitch on my Brother Innovis machine to do all the seams and topstitching and that seemed to work pretty well. (Although I tried to use my twin need for topstitching and it would not work at ALL. I tried several different tweaks but kept getting skipped stitches. Argh!)
Attaching the neckband and armbands was a bit of a challenge for this newbie, but they turned out ok. You can see there is some waviness in the shoulders that I think is probably due to me stretching the fabric while sewing, but it’s not too bad.
I chose the size based on my measurements, and ended up using an XL top graded out to an XXL hip. (In store-bought tops, I wear a L or XL.) I’m quite happy with the fit overall! My only complaint, and it’s a slight one, is that the armholes are cut a bit too close in. If I make another one, I will extend the bottom of the armhole by about 1/2″. I think that’s all it would take.
The tank is designed to be flowy and in looking at these pictures, it may be a bit too flowy to be totally flattering. But it is very comfortable, and I think I’ll get some summer wear out of it. Overall, I’m pleased with the result, and I want to try more garments made with knit fabric — and also learn how to use my serger for them!
The other item I finished on Friday is this Bondi Top by Sew to Grow. The fabric is Mariner’s Cloth by Alison Glass which I thought would be great for a cute striped top, and I even cut the back yoke so that the stripes would run vertically, while the rest ran horizontally. But in retrospect I don’t think it was the best fabric choice. I didn’t know what the texture was like until the fabric arrived in the mail, and it’s a bit rough and bumpy and stiff. As a result, this top doesn’t quite have the ease/drape I was hoping for.
It is rapidly becoming clear that the biggest things I need work on when it comes to sewing garments is fabric choice! When I think about all the store-bought items in my closet, there are very few made from quilting cotton — it’s all knits and rayon and various blends. I definitely need to expand my fabric repertoire if I’m going to be successful.
(Caption: Charlotte, why won’t you turn around? Ah, 2-year-olds.)
Anyway, on to my Bondi top. I did make a muslin of this using leftover backing fabric from the onesie quilt to test out sizing and fit. My muslin was an XL and came out pretty roomy in the shoulders and bust, so I retraced the pattern using L at the top and grading out to XL at the hip. That helped, but I’m still not fully satisfied with the fit. My biggest complaint is the neckline, which is just too big for my tastes. This surprised me a bit, since the photos I saw of this top didn’t appear to have such a wide neckline.
I had this same complaint about my Sailor Top, and am now wondering if perhaps it’s a sizing issue that affects me personally, just because of how my body is shaped. I am 1-2 sizes smaller on top than I am at the hip, and probably would be better served using the neckline from a size M. I did a bit of googling and found several tutorials showing how to alter the neckline on a shirt pattern, so I plan to give this pattern another try with that modification and a different fabric. (I bought some cotton lawn a couple weeks ago and I’m betting that will work better.)
The other issue I ran into is on the hem, which came out wavy in spots. It’s not too apparent in these photos, which makes me think that it’s less of a mistake and more of an annoyance. I think the waviness was also related to the fabric, which did have a bit of stretch to it, but it could also just be poor sewing technique on my part.
(Oh hey! Charlotte decided to turn around and smile after all!)
When I looked at both garments in the mirror, I felt like the Free Spirit top was more flattering and the Bondi top looked too shapeless, but in these photos I think the Bondi looks pretty good. Interesting…
I plan to keep and wear the tank, but I will probably cut the top back up and use the fabric for something else; I just don’t think I like it enough to wear it regularly. I’ve seen people using the mariner’s cloth in quilts, but I personally find it a bit too rough for a snuggle quilt. In a wall hanging or mini though, it’d be fine — and the stripes really are nice.
So! Two tops with mixed success, but I’m staying positive and hoping to get better and better with each piece of clothing I made. On to the next!
Gretchen says
I also have a Brother Innovis, and I also have trouble with the twin needle skipping stitches. Hmm….
Sarah says
Hmm, interesting! So I tried the twin needle on cotton cotton and it worked fine. Then I tried it on the some scraps from cutting out the tank top and it worked fine. But it absolutely would NOT work on the actual tank top.
The only explanation I’ve managed to come up with so far is that 3 layers of fabric was 1 layer too many, or that somehow the motion of me turning the curved neckband through the machine (rather than being able to feed it straight through without any turning) affected the needle. It was frustrating!
Jennifer says
The Bondi top looks great – fits you well and very professional from the photos. The tuck in the back is a nice touch.
The tank looks a bit tight in the bust and not as fitted through the waist as the models. I don’t think it’s as flattering as the Bondi, but that could just be my taste. I’m not hugely into flowy tanks.
Sarah says
Yeah, I tend to agree — the tank is a tad tight on top. I’ll wear it around the house, but probably not out and about very much. I think the Bondi would be a keeper if it were in different fabric.
I think I need to start using some of my best-fitting store-bought clothing to help me really nail down the sizing/shape on some of these patterns. Or maybe just put together my own pattern from one of my store-bought faves.
Sarah M says
Finding the right fabric for adult clothes is difficult! I made myself a couple sundresses that I never really wore because they looked and fit weird once they were done – so much time and money down the drain. Kids clothes are easier!
Have you found the ikat bag blog? She has a lot of information on drafting and getting your handmade clothes to fit correctly: http://www.ikatbag.com/2010/11/drafting-epilogue.html