Altering my way back to start

A cotton jersey top.  It's a comfortable fit scoop neck tee with bell sleeves.

Now this could have been an easy and quick project but, no, I had to go about it in a most time consuming way.  The story starts with KwikSew 3295 (now apparently out of print).  Last year I tried the top in a woven making the bust area smaller and experimenting with a center back seam for shaping.  After a few muslins I decided a woven top was not for me, at least not in the cotton lawn I was considering, so the project got put aside in spite of the several days I had invested in the process.

Then one day months later I thought of the sleeves and how I liked the bell shape.  I wondered how those would work in a knit.  I pulled out the KwikSew pattern I had already altered to fit and decided to make it work for a knit.  I removed the darts and took out a bit of width in the center front and center back.  There were a few fiddly alterations at the shoulder and front armscye that I don't remember the details of but they took more time.

I traced a fresh pattern of what I had created through my alterations and stepped back to look.  Omigosh, it looked so familiar, what was it?  I thought for a while and then remembered one of my favorite patterns ever that I have made nearly a dozen times, Onion 5025 (also appears to be no longer available).

Placing my overly altered KwikSew pattern on top of the Onion pattern I saw they were nearly identical!  All that time I has spent altering and muslining the KwikSew, more days in the sewing room that I care to admit, and I just end up right where I should have started, sigh.  Moral of the story:  productive time in the sewing room does not include reinventing the wheel over and over.

The top got sewn in spite of my foolish activities with the pattern and I like the result.  I wanted to have a somewhat less than plain binding at the neckline and sleeve hem so I placed a folded strip of the fabric on the inside under the raw edge and sewed with the cover stitch machine from the front.  This was completed back in the fall and the funny thing is after all that I went through to create the top I have yet to wear it.

The fabric, unlike the patterns, is still available.   Hart's Fabrics  Plum Jersey  Soft and light but far from sheer, a lovely tee shirt fabric.

New Kwik Sew patterns

Kwik Sew has put out a new batch of patterns and, as usual, there are some excellent choices.  Not that the pattern envelopes advertise this excellence.  How unstylish can they possibly make a nicely sewn garment look?  Let's take a look at the pattern envelope photos and then let's imagine how fabulous the garments really could be.

Uptown Dresses  They put cute names on the patterns this time, I think it's a nice touch.  This Uptown Dress has tons of potential and appeal.  First of all, it's a pull over dress which means no fiddling with zipper installation.  And a pockets option, I love pockets in a dress.  The bias cut draped collar adds a bit of dress-up-ness.  Maybe the simple fold back sleeves seem a bit plain but consider them instead the detail that provides the fabric choice challenge.  This dress could be stunningly stylish in the right fabric, perhaps a featherweight Italian wool.  Sew it up in an amazing fabric, add suitable accessories and it would be Vogue magazine ready.

City Dress & Tunic  In this photo Kwik Sew manages to show with the purple top how nice this pattern can be.  The slim shawl collar is perfect and the sleeve cuff repeats the collar shape nicely.  An eye catching fabric with suitable drape is key.  They grey sack on the paid-to-smile model with the stick arms and bad hair day is, well, hideous.  

 

Pretty Pleated Skirts  The skirts are pretty, by themselves.  The way the lavender one is styled makes it look like a repurposed laundry bag.  Come on Kwik Sew!  These are pull on skirts, again no zipper, how easy is that!  It's designed for woven fabrics but I'm seeing knits, a wool jersey for the long one perhaps. Or the ever popular rayon/poly/lycra double knit which I don't like for myself but would work well here.  On the other end of the spectrum I see a buttery soft drapey suede, yum.

Ruched Neck Tops  The long sleeved view is a great on trend item.  The outdoor/casual clothing companies are making their versions in fleece, nice for places on the planet that have proper winters.  It would be interesting to extend the shawl collar into a hood which would make the neckline lie somewhat differently.   

Shawl Cardi & Vest  For "firm stretch knits".  That could translate into one huge fugly mess.  I my opinion this pattern needs fabric with some softness and drape.  Anything stiff and cheap will make this look like a stiff and cheap uniform piece of the kind that one will only wear if getting paid to do so.  In my fantasy world where I wear vests in this style I would use an alpaca knit.  The jacket in a cashmere knit. 

Dolman Sleeve Jackets  Super simple and really cute...if worn right.  Lucky Magazine would know how to make this the most awsome piece in your fall/winter wardrobe.  Without some thought this could look like you just snipped the shoulder pads out of your fave 80's jacket.

Jelly Roll Jacket  I'm not a quilter so I'm missing the jelly roll reference.  What I do see is a very nice basic jacket with princess seams, a flattering collar, and interesting sleeve cuff treatments.  This is a multi season and multi purpose jacket as it could be sewn in just about any fabric for any occasion.  Embroidered silk for the opera, wool gabardine with metal buttons for winter casual, fleece for chilly days.

Thanks, Kwik Sew, for giving us new patterns!    

More testing

Two more KwikSew jackets muslined.

The boyfriend blazer muslin looks just like the pattern photo and I think it is a good update from the 1990's broader shoulder version. There is no collar stand which is a little disappointing but that makes the collar somewhat less fiddly to sew. There are separate upper and lower collar (bias cut) pattern pieces. A lining is included. This should be a fun project.


The biker jacket muslin ended up fitting and looking exactly like the white jacket on the pattern envelope, somewhat roomy and boxy. I like the pattern, everything is proportioned well and it sews up easily but I want more shape. After pinning out some width and length in the bust area for my shape, curving in the side seams, and pinning darts in the back I think it looks very promising. I'll have to think about this one some.

My flesh pink muslin fabric is almost used up, waaahhh! I have enough for one more jacket. Maybe I should just keep going and muslin 3623.


Update: Made a muslin of this double breasted jacket. Not my style really, but a good casual jacket style. Now I'm out of muslin fabric. Time to choose my next project.

Testing, one, two, three...

Testing KwikSew 3334. This might suit the daughter person. I tried the muslin and I might like it for myself. It feels snug in the waist area and a little roomy in the shoulders. Then I got curious and wondered how 3466 compared so I made another muslin.

This pattern has similar lines with the shoulder princess seams in the front and center seam and darts in the back. The difference in cut is subtle but significant. This military looking style has higher armholes and is closer fitting around the shoulders. The sizing is consistent, something KwikSew does well, it is the style that demands the differences in the pattern.

Now I am in muslin mode, why not just make tests of more KwikSew jacket patterns and then I will know how they compare. I have traced 3715 so it is next.


The boyfriend blazer, a (hopefully) updated version of the 90's classic. I had a wool flannel one by J. Crew in that era that I wore all the time. This look and length worked well for me then, we shall see if it can be translated into a current look.

While I'm at it I think I will test 3764 as well.


I like the red illustration. I have a deep red cotton sateen in my stash. I may have do some shaping with this pattern if it is truly as boxy as that white sewn version in the photo.

Soon I'll have a whole wardrobe of muslins, hah! The fabric I'm using is a fleshy pink cotton linen blend that I got from Fabric.com some time ago. It is extra wide, like 90 inches wide, and was about a dollar per yard. Yay for the super sales at Fabric.com!

More KwikSew

More KwikSew hoodies. This size small one in a skulls print french terry for the daughter person. A very cute, good quality fabric from Lucy's Fabrics. I made the hems narrower and sewed them with the coverstitch machine. The hems are two inches wide on all the sizes. I think it looks better with narrower hems on the smaller size.


A plain looking one in a cotton spandex for myself, also in a size small to suit the stretch of the fabric. The name of the color is "raisin" but prune juice would be more accurate. Probably wouldn't sell as well with that name though. The hems are a little narrower on this one as well since I used the coverstitch machine and trimmed to finish. A very nice fabric from fabric.com.


And one in a thick cotton sweatshirt fleece. This is a size medium, a little oversized and comfy in the heavy fabric. This was a lucky buy from fabric.com. Another sweatshirting in the same category was pretty wrinkly and wimpy. I finished the edges of the hems with the serger and stitched them down with the sewing machine.

I shortened the pattern bodice three inches for all the hoodies. KwikSew 3693.

A KwikSew Break

While I figure out which interfacing I want to use for the Marfy shirt and wait for a delivery from Snap Source so I can finish the New Look, I made a simple hoodie using KwikSew 3693.



It's drizzly and dark here today, no sunny daylight to show the warm colors in this french terry. Those dots are tiny hearts. If you are a fabric.com fan you probably recognize this fabric. I made view B and shortened the bodice by 3 inches. Doesn't the picture on the pattern make it look like the edges of the fronts end at center front? The draft actually overlaps the fronts enough to add buttons if one wanted. It doesn't change the look of the garment, I just thought it was an interesting fact.

A brown hoodie is not my style, it is for someone else. The dress form is about the same shape and size as the intended wearer and I'm hoping it fits the real person this well.

KwikSew 3338 - The Review

Pattern Description:
Close-fitting pullover tops designed for stretch knits.

Pattern Sizing:
XS-XL

I made a size S with my personal measurements being at the very top edge of the pattern's size S. I find the fit on me to be close and needing a knit that stretches easily but not so tight that it is a body conscious type fit. My DD prefers a closer fit in the rayon lycra fabrics so I chose a size smaller than her "correct" pattern size for those tees.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes, very much.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
The instructions are clear, simple, and easy to follow. The crewneck and the scoopneck have different neckline finishes. I made view B and C with the scoopneck but chose to use the neckline finish KwikSew suggests for crewneck view A in this pattern.



What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I like everything about this top! It is feminine and flattering in all the right ways. The scoop neckline has a nice open curve and isn't overly low and revealing. The shoulders feel great and it is very comfortable to wear.

Fabric Used:
The print is a lighter weight rayon lycra from Gorgeous Fabrics. This top is a size S.



This gray one is a midweight rayon lycra also from Gorgeous Fabrics. This top is a size XS.



I also used an all cotton interlock with just enough stretch, an organic cotton baby rib knit, a polyester lycra blend, and a cotton lycra blend. My favorite is the organic cotton baby rib knit (from fabric.com).

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I added length to the body and sleeves, two inches for me and a little more for my longer limbed DD. It is such a luxury for both of us to have sleeves that are long enough. We will never make do with RTW again.

I also curved in more at the side seams around waist. The pattern has a bit of shaping there but DD and I both need about 1/4 inch more taken off each seam.

With the extra length and shaped waist the tee fits DD perfectly but the front looked too long and droopy on my small busted self. I ended up simply cutting off 1/2 inch at the shoulder on the front pattern pieces. This worked perfectly. The neckline sits a little higher but I like that. I moved the shoulder point on the sleeve back 1/4 inch when I sewed the sleeves on and I didn't have any problem putting the sleeve into the somewhat smaller armscye. Knits are very forgiving that way!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I have sewn about twenty of these and I will definitely keep sewing this pattern.

Conclusion:
Excellent tee shirt pattern!

KwikSew 3338

I can't stop sewing this pattern! I am on tee shirt number 13 right now. The pattern is beautifully drafted in a plain tee shirt style and the pattern pieces fit together nicely. All the shapes and notches line up, no nasty surprises in the envelope, a relief after my recent experiences with some other pattern companies, you know, the companies that use that brown rippy tissue and sometimes don't bother to label the pattern pieces at all.

Typical of KwikSew the illustration on the pattern envelope is pretty plain. And typcial of KwikSew this is an excellent pattern.



















The photo of a real shirt on a real person at the KwikSew website shows exactly how the pattern fits. 3338