"Sailor Moon" Jasmine Top

Guys, an amazing thing has happened over the past week with me - I've suddenly really wanted to finish some ridiculously old WIPs! This doesn't happen often, so when I get the urge I just go with it. The item that started it all was something I can't even figure out when I originally began making. I know I lived in my current house, so it was at least within the last year and a half. I'm guessing about a year... 

After my first attempt at the Colette Jasmine Top, I foolishly thought I had the fitting kinks figured out and decided to cut right into my "good fabric" and make the version I really wanted. I quickly realized that I had no idea what I was doing fit-wise ... again. The first failed muslin (pictured in the link above - ugh) was made up in a size 18. I was so worried about not making it big enough that I figured I would just take it in to fit instead of trusting the pattern measurements. This was my first time using an "indie pattern", and I knew the sizing didn't have as much ease as the bigger pattern companies. This time around, I laid my "altered" finished muslin on the pattern and decided to go with a size 14 - big difference, folks. The fit was much better off the bat from this simple change. Maybe one of these days I will stop thinking I'm larger then I actually am. Maybe.

So before I tell you all the actual problems that made this top take a year to finish, let's look at the OK finished product, shall we? I seriously love the design of this top. The sleeve cuffs and collar are awesome. That notch at the sleeve is so cute :) I know it's hard to see in the pictures because if the lighting, but the base fabric is actually a pale gray-blue color. The fabric is a wonderful chambray, which can we please wax poetic a moment about chambray? It is delicious stuff. It's wonderfully light weight and comfy for Florida weather for one thing. I'm excited to make something else with it in the future :) The collar and cuffs are in a not-quite-navy-but-not-quite-royal blue cotton poplin. Both of these fabrics were purchased at Hancock Fabrics way the hell long ago with this shirt in mind. I could've sworn I blogged about the fabric at the time, but I can't find mention of it anywhere. It was definitely back in 2012 though, and I vaguely remember it being on sale - maybe like $4 - $5 a yard? It couldn't have been much more than that since I'm notoriously cheap, lol.

Ah the back - you can start to see my fitting issues here with all these wrinkles. Yeah, it's like that all the time. I even stood up very straight and smoothed out the back before I took this pic - no dice. At least I don't have to look at them when I wear it, lol. I'm still not 100% sure what to do to fix this in the future - maybe go up a size on the back pieces? I'll play with it before I make the top again.

Here's a look at the collar without all my hair in the way. The collar is one of the parts I'm most proud of to be honest. I finished the body of the top as well as putting the collar together last year before I stopped working on this, I just hadn't actually attached the collar to the shirt yet. That is where I picked this up this past Thursday. I had a few hours to kill while my husband was at a meeting and I suddenly decided I was tired of shuffling all the cut out pieces and pattern around my sewing room all the time and thought I could tackle it before he got home. I was delusional in the amount of time I thought I needed, but I did end up finishing it that night :) The collar is not perfectly rounded at the shoulders and I apparently couldn't be bothered to switch to blue thread (seriously, white thread in a blue collar? What was I thinking?) I can see the stitches at the points sometimes, which kind of drives me nuts, but I wasn't about to take the whole thing apart. I was moving forward with this, not back!

So the first thing I had to do after basting the collar down was tackle the neck facing. I decided to get clever all that time ago and cut the back facing similar to ready to wear shirts - a.k.a. so you can't see the annoying facing while on the hanger. I thought I knew how to do this - I thought wrong. Instead of using the facing pattern piece and drafting it longer, I used the back pattern piece and just cut it about 1/3 down the piece. This was fine in theory, and it worked at the actual neckline, but not anywhere else. Tell me, past smarty-pants-Megan, where you supposed to encase that bottom edge of this facing, hmmm? Yeah, this pattern doesn't have a yoke. So I ended up using pinking shears along the edge. I also completely forgot to catch the sides of the facing in the sleeves when I set them in. This was a modern-Megan duh moment, but oh well - I was not about to unpick the sleeves and redo them since I had to set them in twice each just to get them like they currently are. So I tacked the edges to the sleeve seam allowance by hand. I also hand tacked the facing at the shoulder seams and behind the loop at the front point. There is nothing in this world that I hate more than a facing that wants to pop out all the time, so I stitched as much as I thought I could get away with. It definitely helped, though it still pops out when I put the top on. Oh well.

Now for the official problems (yeah, I bet you thought I'd already started them, huh? That was nothing, lol). The sleeve cuffs stick out like little wings on my underarm. The weird thing is ... this is how the pattern is drafted. Anyone else out there have this happen on this pattern? I was super careful to follow the weird zig zaggy line on the sleeve just as pictured in the pattern booklet. I'll be addressing that on future versions for sure.

Even though the fit of the size 14 was much better, it still had issues - most notably with it gaping away from my chest. I know now that I need a "hollow chest adjustment" on anything I sew, but I had no idea at the time. I just sewed it together, pinned in the excess wedge at the neckline, sewed it again, tried it on, and repeated. I got it to lay against my chest in the end, but I just couldn't make it not crease oddly mid-boobs. I have two creases that don't ever go away when I wear this. I now know why this is - hollow chest adjustments need to be made in the pattern. You remove the wedge, then re-true the center line so it is straight. Straight center line = no creases over the boobs. Essentially the way I sewed this would have worked if my boobs were box shaped, but they aren't. Thus, I live with creases. I don't think it's something anyone will ever mention when I wear it, and I'm sure some people have this happen with most rtw tops. It just drives me crazy when I look down. At least the collar looks good from above. Maybe that will distract my eye :)

It does look nice on the hanger though :) Shame we have to wear things and ruin them, lol. I love that I can't see the yucky insides or a funky facing when it hangs too. I will certainly be perfecting the concept of the longer back facing in the future. It's just so nice to have everything enclosed. Very professional. Also, I was a good girl and followed the directions this time with the inside of the sleeve cuffs. I hand sewed them! And I didn't want to shoot myself. Always a plus.

And it just wouldn't be right to make a nautical shirt and not include this picture. I wore this top to work the day after I made it, and while I didn't get the dreaded, "Oh, did you make that?", I was told two other equally annoying fun things: "You look just like Sailor Moon!" and, "You look just like a stewardess from Catch Me If You Can!" The Sailor Moon comment was from my husband, who seems to forget that Sailor Moon had a WHITE shirt with RED stripes on the collar (my sister later agreed with him though, so the name stuck in my head). Admittedly I did wear this with a navy blue pencil skirt, so it looked very much like a uniform, so I can "get on board" with the stewardess comment. If only I had a pillbox hat, I would totally live that one up. Instead you just get a photo of me acting ridiculous. I can't wait for people I know to think that this is a serious/legitimate photo pose for me, lol.

In the end, I still love the style of this top and I love this color combo. I just wish the fit had turned out better. I know I will make this again sometime, but I will certainly do myself the courtesy I never have before - make a legitimate muslin. I just need to get a few things straightened out and then I will have an army of these. Wouldn't this be cute in a knit?! Maybe then I won't have to make that muslin. Hmmm ... lol.

Summary:
Fabric: 2.5 yards pale gray-blue chambray, $12-ish; 1/2 yard navy/royal blue cotton poplin, $3-ish
Pattern: Jasmine by Colette Patterns, Free (birthday gift, woo hoo!)
Hours: There's really no telling, but I spent about 5 hours on it on Thursday

FO Friday: Say Hello To Princess Jasmine

Well, I actually managed to finish something this week :) That's one of the glories of amigurumi - they're fairly quick projects!

I finished my commissioned Princess Jasmine! Isn't she cute? The pattern certainly had its issues, but I love the design and I was able to make it work out.

Her earrings are sewn on, but her headband and necklace are removable. Also the hair is just tied back, so the hair can be let loose. I will say, the hair is kind of a pain to arrange correctly, lol. But if you perservere it will eventually lay right.

I just love her eyeliner! Also, the straps of her bodice move - all little things that make her more play-with-able for a kid, I think.

Not a great picture from the back, but it gives you the idea on the hair. To make Jasmine, I used Vanna's Choice in Beige for her skin and in Mustard for her gold accessories. The black is Everyday Soft Worsted and her clothes are in Red Heart With Love in Jadeite. I think they came out very true to the animation colors :)

Here is one thing I did change and I thought I would mention it here for anyone else who wants to try this pattern. The pattern tells you to just make an oval shape for the shoes and not do any additional sewing afterward. This would have lead to a hole in the top of the foot - it looked like a weird boat, frankly. So, I did a whipstitch across the top and it smoothed everything out nicely.

So, that's one Disney Princess finished, and two still to go :) I'm really excited to finish them all and send them on their way!

That's it around here this week :) Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what other fun things people have made.

WIP Wednesday

This week has been a bit more non-knit/crochet focused than my weeks have been in a long time, lol. I still managed to get some projects worked on, but I'm in kind of a strange transition period. I'm not really sure what clicked, but all of a sudden I am desperate to get my house organized. I've been sorting through our junk room that has remained untouched since we moved as well as putting everything where it goes/making a large pile for a yard sale in the near future. And I still managed to get some stuff made! lol I'm pretty impressed with myself, I must say :)

Anyway, I started on a new commission this week just for a change of pace. Want to see her?

It's Princess Jasmine! lol She is the first in a series of 3 Disney princesses I will be making over the next few weeks. They will be for a little girl in Japan!

I already have all of Jasmine's other pieces made and ready to put on, so I'm hoping to finish her up tonight :) I just have to fix her hair and put on her jewelry. I used the Jasmine Amigurumi pattern by Sahrit Feurd-Weinstein (specifically requested). I will say, this pattern is definitely not for a newbie! The pattern includes both written row-by-row instructions along with diagrams of the stitches - believe me when I say that I there were many times that I had to look at both to figure out what the designer is trying to say. The wording can be pretty confusing, so I would have to check the diagram and go from that. Also, just the eyeliner and the hair took me a solid hour to finish! And I had to add quite a few more hair strands than the pattern recommends to get her hair to look full (translation - so she didn't have any bald spots, lol). In spite of the issues, I am really happy with how she's coming out. I can't wait to get her finished!

Like I said, after I finish Jasmine I will be making two other princesses. I think I will leave them as surprises on here :) So stay tuned for more Disney cuteness!

I also made some progress on my Myrna over the weekend - gotta love travel knitting! I managed to do all the waist decreases and I'm onto the ribbing. It still looks like it's going to fit right! Hooray :)

I really love how the waist shaping looks - so neat and tidy :)

And here's the ribbing thus far. I've pretty much accepted that I will not be able to complete this sweater for the Outfit Along because of all my other projects I need to finish by the end of the month that are for other people. It's kind of a bummer, but honestly I have come to terms with the fact that I've got to majorly cut back on my knitting/crocheting if I want to get other things about my life organized, and I am ok with that :) As fun as it is to participate in the online knitting/sewing/crocheting community, real life is more important. Plus, I've got the sewing bug again, lol. I've been desperate to try out Simplicity 2444 for a while and that desire is major amped up since I got those awesome printed cottons lately. I've already traced the pattern and cut out a muslin - in actual muslin! Novel idea, I know. I'm not sure when I'll actually get to sew it up and tweak it, but steps have been made and that's exciting.

And since I've worked so hard on this, I will show you my junk rooms even though they are incredibly shameful, lol. The photo to the left is what used to be the "room of doom" - so much so that you could barley walk in the door. As much as I was embarrassed by it, I wish I had taken a before photo just to show how far it's come. The middle is my freshly organised closet in my sewing room. The buckets now are organized by type/size of yarn (one of Caron Simply Soft, one of wool and blends like Patons Classic and WoolEase, one of Bulky, one of "fancy yarns", and one of sport - fingering) and the drawers are all my acrylics I use for amigurumi. The drawers are now organized by brand of yarn (one is Vanna's Choice and Everyday Soft Worsted, the other is Red Heart With Love and Super Saver). I have another drawer unit out in the room that is all cheap thrift store acrylic like Caron Sayelle. I also organized all those boxes at the top with sewing notions, trims, etc. It's been a ton of work. The final pic on the right is my pile thus far of "things to sell" - some will be ebay or craig's list items, but most will be in a yard sale. It's coming along!

So that's been my week :) Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what others are making too!

WIP Wednesday

Well, I'm afraid I have to bore you with seeing my giraffe again lol. I do have a few other wips to show now too.

 I now have 2 legs totally finished for my Not So Itty-Bitty Giraffe and another more than half way done. The legs have been the most boring part about making this. They seriously take me several hours each and it's just knitting a tube - snooze-ville. Hopefully this justifies why I will make a leg or so and then start a crocheted animal to pep me back up again lol.

I also have decided I want to learn to knit continental style. Not only does my typical English style seem to take a long time, it is also totally killing the pinky finger on my right hand as that is how I keep the tension. This decision is easier said than done though. It's like learning to knit all over again. While I am certainly better with my hands than I was last June when I learned to knit, it's still very cumbersome for me to knit continental. How do you people do it? I am able to hold the needles correctly now, which is a far cry from before, but it's still very hard for me. I pressed on though and went back to my tried and true Knit Lab Craftsy class and watched the section on how to do the stitches again and just mimicked Stefanie Japel's style. I was able to do it a little and you can see my results above. It doesn't look bad in the photo, but it is very loose - much looser than my English knitting. Maybe this is why I can never get gauge right now? Everyone else's stitches are done in a way that makes the looseness normal. Anyway, I will keep trying and hopefully pick it up so I can be speedier. Purling is crazy hard for me - I just can't pull the yarn in the right direction with my left hand, and I keep having to grab the yarn with my right finger and pull it down anyway which seems to kind of defeat the purpose of trying to go faster. Anyway, we shall see...

I've also started another Colette Jasmine Blouse :) This one is in a lovely pale blue chambray and the cuffs will be a bright navy blue. After my weird fitting problems last time showing me in the end that I just cut out way to big of a size, I figured I could just cut the right size from the start and avoid the problems. Not so, folks. Apparently my boobs are not as full as "the norm" for how wide my bust measurement is, because I had to seriously adjust the curve of the bust. And by adjust I mean basically remove it completely.

Those are my seam lines, lol. I had to revert to the old put it on, pin, sew, put it on again, repeat method. It still isn't perfect, but at least now it doesn't create a weird right angle at the apex line and it doesn't gape away from my upper chest. I'm still working on it. I'm just hoping I don't have the problems with the collar not fitting right this time because of my adjustments.

So that's what I'm working on this week. To see everyone else's, head over to Tami's Amis' blog and look around :)