Christmas FO: Mint Sequin Shirt

One of the final gifts I made this year was this shirt for my mom. I could never decide what to make for her, so I hemmed and hawed for a while before realizing I should not reinvent the wheel. I've made my mom the Plantain Tee before and she wears it quite often and says it's super comfortable, so I presented her with making another one. I pulled out several pieces of stash fabric for her to choose from (we were just over 1 week from Christmas at this point, lol, so stash was a necessity) and she chose this lovely combo I plan to make up for myself exactly the same (luckily there should be just enough fabric to squeak out another - muahaha!). 

So this is the Plantain by Deer + Doe, which I've made more times than I can name off hand. They recently released an update to the pattern, which included larger sizing and a few other tweaks, but this is the original pattern with my own alterations already added in - I use this pattern as a nice basic block to make other shirts fit better all the time since I've got it right where I like it. Technically this is the Plantain shirt with the Renfrew neckline since the original is just a touch too low and wide for my taste. My mom said the one thing she would like different is to drop the arm scye just a touch as her first version can feel a bit tight there throughout the day - so easy. I just folded the corner down at the arm pit area when cutting. I also had to make a few changes due to the fabric. This front fabric is a rayon jersey that is covered with sequins, making it not as stretchy as it would otherwise be, so I added 5/8" to each side seam before cutting on the front and back pieces. This simple change made all the difference and it fits great now if I do say so myself :)

 Since it really wouldn't be comfortable to cover your entire body in sequins all day long, I used the sequin fabric only on the front piece (thus having more to make myself one) and I cut the back, sleeves, and neck band from a cream colored cotton interlock (a very lucky find at a thrift store). Now that my mom has worn this a few times, I've learned that I should've done something to the sleeve or the side seam below the arm to protect from the sequins. She says it's not a big thing, and it would happen with an sequin shirt, but throughout the day your arms can get a bit rubbed from the sequins - totally understandable and I can't believe I didn't think of that before because I have a few rtw shirts that do the same thing. When I made this for myself I will either make the sleeves longer (which will cause the seam line on the sleeve to pill quite a lot :/) or maybe piece a strip of the cream colored fabric onto the side of the bodice under the arm scye, angling out to nothing at the hem. I'll have to play with it, but I'll definitely do something along those lines. My moms sleeve has pilled from the friction already, but sadly it's kind of unavoidable.

I really love this interlock fabric. This stuff was a major score and I got several colors at the time just thinking it would be fine for muslins, but I've used this stuff a ton and wear it all the time. I'll be so sad when it's gone, lol. I love it because it's beefy enough to hide lumps and bumps as well as not being sheer at all, but it's also drapey enough to look nice in a design like this one. Also it's comfy and washes great. It's basically magical fabric. 

And here's a closer look at that lovely sequin fabric :) I snagged the last bit of this at The Sewing Studio sale a few years ago - it was a garment factory remnant and the entire thing is covered in very cool sequins. The sequins seem like normal circles at first glance, but they are actually a strip of 4 circles all together in a bar shape. They are stacked on top of one another to make the floral design and then stitched down with clear thread. Even the cream colored areas are sequins - so cool. I was a bit concerned about sewing through this stuff at first, but my fears quickly subsided. It's funny - I always read blogs about how people have to pick all the sequins out of the seam allowance before sewing them, yet the two times I've sewn with sequin fabric it was absolutely fine and I had to do no such thing. Maybe it's because mine were knit fabrics? I don't know, but these lay perfectly fine at the side seams and have given no trouble on the insides either. I even hemmed it as normal with woolly nylon in the bobbin and a twin needle. No special equipment or techniques needed - yay!

And since we were taking pictures, we had to add a few fun shots, lol. Can you tell we're related? Wait, how about in the next photo?

Yep, I definitely came from her, lol. These pictures also show how nicely this drapes away from the body below the bust - definitely our family favorite fit.

And she had to do the blogger pose, lol. This shirt is another fav and Kelly has already asked me for one.  I'm just glad I was able to make another special piece for my awesome mama. Isn't she cute? I hope she gets to wear it for a good long time. Also you will probably be seeing another iteration of this shirt sometime in the future when I make it for myself :)

Summary:
Fabric: front piece from cream rayon spandex knit with floral mint sequins all over, 1 yard cream cotton interlock (thrifted)
Pattern: Deer + Doe Plantain with Sewaholic Renfrew neckline
Notions: knit stay tape, thread
Time: 3 hours

Christmas FO: Black Sequin Striped Shirt

My sister, Kelly, requested that I sew her a t-shirt for Christmas - which I was more than happy to oblige since I so enjoy sewing them :) The request got pretty specific - she wanted me to recreate a shirt that she liked the fit of, but in black rayon jersey. "No problem," I thought. I'd just have to find some rayon jersey that wasn't too expensive. Then one day I came across a perfect refashioning specimen at the thrift store...

Sorry for the terrible picture, but it was dark out and I had to get sewing it so this is all I have of what it once looked like. The shirt was a size 2X faux-twin-set by INC. It was designed to look like a sequined striped tank top with a drapey shirt over top, but the tank top was actually just the front of the shirt and it was all sewn as one. Surely this would be enough fabric to make Kelly's shirt, and it would be much cooler than just a boring black top! I tried to feel her out about the sequins and decided to just go with it in the end. So I got to cutting!

I traced off Kelly's beloved shirt and made a pattern, then cut apart the thrifted top. This is where the changes started occurring, lol. Kelly's shirt was a boatneck, and I hoped that since it was such a large size that I would be able to still make the higher neckline happen. Sadly, the scoop was just too far and since Kelly wanted me to make this new shirt longer, I couldn't do the boat neck :( Womp womp. So the shirt that I set out to make "to order" is now nothing like what she requested, lol. I just used the existing scoop neckline and recut the front and back pieces, then I opened up the sleeves and recut them as well. I used the existing hem on all of those pieces as well as the scoop front neck band - the only finishing I had to do was to add a makeshift neckband piece to the back of the neckline, and I cut that piece out of the scraps. I still have the two drapey pieces from this project that I didn't manage to use.

I have to say that I am quite pleased with how this refashion turned out :) As in I borderline wanted to keep this shirt and make her a different one, lol. It was ridiculously difficult to photograph those sequins, but they are a nice little touch that makes the piece look more ready-to-wear in my opinion. As someone who has correctly sewn knit tops, I will confess that it does bug me that the hem and neckbands don't enclose the side seams as they should - but I'm not hung up on that and absolutely no one notices that there is anything different about it. My sister has worn the shirt very frequently and she says she gets compliments on it all the time :)

A little better view of the sequins for you :) I had hoped to get pictures of Kelly wearing the shirt, but we are all busy people and I didn't want to put off posting this forever. To anyone concerned about sewing with sequins - don't be. I did nothing special to work with this fabric. The original shirt had the sequins stop before the side seams, but I just sewed right through them as I took the shirt in and I had zero issues. Kelly says the shirt is comfy and she loves it. Definitely a successful Christmas gift!

Summary:
Fabric: thrifted INC black with sequins shirt - $3.00
Pattern: copied from RTW shirt - free
Notions: knit stay tape - $0.50, thread - stash
Hours: 2 to 3
Total Cost: $3.50

Mending Monday: Taking In A Skirt With Pleats and a Side Zip

Yes, I'm aware it is actually Tuesday, lol. I had this ready to go but didn't get to take an 'after' picture until this morning. So here goes!

I know the title is a little intimidating, but it will make sense as you read on :) This skirt has been in my possession for around 3 years now. I got it at a thrift store and wanted to adjust the fit. At the time I didn't realize how complicated this alteration would be, but didn't have the know-how to do it. So, it has hung in my closet ever since.

Cute, huh? It's actually just a Mossimo brand skirt from Target, but it is surprisingly well made. Anyway, what needed to be changed you may ask?

It was a size 20W! Not that I'm a size 6 or anything, but this was way to big on me - it wouldn't even stay up at all, lol.

To figure out how much to adjust it, I put the skirt on and held it up where I wanted it to sit. I pinched the excess together and stuck pins into the seam where the new seam would need to go. Then I took it off and measured the distance between the 2 pins. I know the picture looks like 4.25" in the picture, but the fabric was a little ripply there - it actually needed about 5" taken out! Now, when I bought this I thought that I knew that it had a side zipper, so I thought I would just take it in at the other side seam and call it a day. This would have been a fine plan ... if the skirt didn't have pleats across the front. If I just took it all from the one side, it would have shifted the pleats and looked ridiculous. So, I decided to take the plunge and rip the seams open and get to work doing things the right way.

The more I dug into this skirt, the more interesting/complicated it got. The zipper cam out no problem, except I did slip and rip the fabric - but it was in the section that would be cut off anyway so it was ok. Once the actual side seam was open, I had to rip out the enclosed waistband. The waistband not only functioned as a waist band, the seam there is top stitching that holds the paper-bag style skirt on. So it had to look nice when I put the stitching back :)

Next came marking my new stitch lines. I had to divide 4 so that I could take it in evenly on all the fabric edges. This meant that each side came in 1.25" from the previous stitch line. I marked it in chalk, put the zipper back in one side and then sewed just the front of the waistband on the opposite side. I tapered the seam down from my new stitch line to the old stitch line at the sequin section so I didn't have to worry about cutting into the sequins. Next I had to figure out how to get the waistband enclosed again, lol.

I started off at the zipper. I cut off the excess, pressed about 1/4" under and sewed the very top (to make sure the zipper tape top wasn't visible) and then at the old bottom of the waistband (this held the skirt up as well). I left the edge along the zipper open on the back to be done later.

I stitched the whole side of the skirt down from the paper bag section and tapered down to the sequins again. I had to stitch at the top a few different time and then check it until it ended up exactly the same length as the waistband so there would be no puckering.

I also wanted to reinforce the top of the seam now that it had cut edges that were folded under, so I just topstitched around the entire top.

The nice thing is that the topstitching is a normal feature on ready-to-wear clothes, so it looks like it was always there :)

 The only remaining thing to do was to stitch down the opening I left inside next to the zipper. Since I didn't want to have to remake the entire waistband, I just tacked it at the top and bottom with the machine, meaning I needed to hand stitch this part.

 It was short, so it wasn't a big deal. I hid the end of the thread in the opening and just stitched it down like a blind hem. You can't see if from the front at all.

Then I had to re-attach the hook and eye (I put the zipper a smidge low, so this wasn't an option). Technically it was finished at that point.

The last step for me was just a silly one. The tag still said 20W, but the skirt no longer was, so I just used my seam ripper to pull out the embroidered number...

And it was now just a skirt with no official size :) Easy-peasy.

I know it's a crappy picture, but it's all I could manage before work (and I really wanted to post this!). Now the skirt fits! It's a miracle :) I've worn it several times already and it fits great. This is yet another testament to how much I learned in the Tailoring Ready-To-Wear Class on Craftsy. I'm such a nerd with it too, every time someone compliments my skirt I just want to turn over the waistband to show them what I did, lol.

I am now addicted to altering skirts. It's great because you get all the satisfaction of making something from something that was unusable before without having to cut out the fabric (my sewing nemesis).

I love my new skirt and am so proud that I did it!