New Look 6230

Well happy March everyone! If you are on the east coast, March is promising warmer temps and plenty of sunshine. The one good thing about February's weather was that I had plenty of time to sew due to the snow and bitter temperatures.

I was not very sure if this top was going to make it to a wearable. 

 The neck edge was too wide for my liking. Here you can see that I did find a solution and it did make it into my closet.

 While roaming pattern review, I noticed that the McCalls pattern that is like this had darts in the sleeves. So I trolled around reading up on sleeve darts and decided to try it. It worked. Now I must tell you that my sleeves are a double layer of knit. My front and back pieces are a little heavier than the sleeve fabric and I was worried that the inequality of the two pieces would be evident once it was on my body. 

 That is a 3 1/2 in dart in the middle of the sleeve piece. 

 I slashed the dart because of the double layers of fabric. I did not need all that bulk at the neck edge.

 I tried to get a close up so you could see the difference in the two fabrics. The sleeves are a soft light grey color and the front and back are white. I had to  recalculate my neck binding piece. I measured the finished edge and cut the band 3/4 of that measurement. This idea came from a tutorial from Grainline studio. The band was cut wider (2 1/4 inches).

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I made a size 14 and the instructions were very easy. The neck edge might be a game changer for some. I hope my ideas on how to make it smaller help someone out. Both fabrics were from Fabric Mart. I most likely will not make this again. I usually don't wear raglan sleeve tops. I know this style has been popular along with color blocking. That is why I tried it. Due to cold weather, I have not had a chance to wear it. 

Next  up is V8950. I am using a light and dark purple knit fabrics. 

Thanks for following along. Your comments are always encouraging! 

McCalls 6796

 This is my sewing project for January. I was not sure if I would like M6796, but once I made it, I really liked how it looked on me.

I am learning how to use the timer on my camera!! Hopefully, you won't mind the look of these pictures while I am learning.

I like the way the collar lays on my body. Now the color is a little boring, but I really wanted to sew this up. 

 Here is the back view. You can see how far the collar goes down the back. This fabric was a soft sweater knit I bought at JoAnns a couple of years ago. It is a very relaxed knit. Since the knit is soft, you can play with how the collar lays.

The sleeves are longer than 3/4 but not down to the wrist. 

All of my hems where completed with a twin needle. First I press my hems and put some Steam a Seam in the hems. Steam a Seam helps to stabilize the fabric. 

Also, I used my walking foot for all the hems. I feel that the walking foot kept the fabric from rippling while stitching with the twin needle.

The instructions are easy to understand. I did go with the recommendation of Gator Bunny to sew the collar to the wrong side of fabric neck edge. The collar seam is under the collar, but on the right side of the fabric. In the pictures below, you can see that I took about 5 or 6 hand stitches to bring the collar edges together so that you could not see the seam where the collar splits open. After I took those stitches, I tacked those stitches to the shoulder seam so that the collar would not flap around where it was split. There would be no chance to see the collar seam or have the collar shift.

I am planning to make this again. It is a quick project with great style. 

Up next is NL6230. I already have this top totally together except the hems. There are issues! The neck is very wide. I am going to be ripping a lot of seams so I can put darts in the sleeves. I hope this will help the neck problem. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

Here is look at the fabrics I used for the New Look pattern. Both are knits, but the one is a white on white paisley design. The sleeves are soft light silver grey color.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year holiday! If you are getting tons of snow, I hope you are enjoying it from your sewing room!! 

Have fun creating!!