FO: Green Banksia

I'm on a bit of a roll with patterns I've intended to make for years lately. After making a Sassy Librarian Blouse, I got the idea to also make a Banksia. This pattern is actually what got me into the online sewing community when I saw the example photo on Pinterest back in 2011 or 2012. I wanted that shirt! I had no idea anything about the technical aspects, plus I wanted it as a t-shirt, but I tracked it down and discovered Megan Nielsen Patterns and the sewing community at large. It's all history from there. In spite of my initial love of this design, I still had never made it up. Craziness! I've had this cotton lawn earmarked for this top since I bought it back in 2015. I finally sewed up my first version a few weeks ago- et voilà!

First off I'm not happy with this outfit - I wanted to take pictures with my brown skirt, but it was in the wash, so I grabbed an old skirt that worked. I will certainly not be wearing it out like this. Ahem. Anyway, the Banksia top has a functional button placket and a peter pan collar with the rest of the shape being very simple. I prefer how this version looks tucked in (as above), but all the other shots are untucked so you can see the whole thing.

I made this version using a Robert Kaufman Classic Cotton in green. I can't remember the actual name of the fabric, but I know it had "classic" in it. I've always assumed it was a lawn as it is very light weight and slightly sheer but still has a crisp hand. Who knows. I snagged it at a Sewing Studio sale and I was in too much of a fabric buying frenzy to pay close attention. The fabric works well fort this design though, and I really like the color. This shirt is definitely a wearable muslin since being my first version ever, it is far from perfect. Interestingly the darts are too short for my bust by about 1.5" or more, causing some strange drag lines as the fabric tries to compensate under my bust. Also it's not loose enough over the hips, so next time I would add more width there. I'm pretty proud of my placket though - first one! The pattern gives two options: the "easy" way and the traditional way. I went for the traditional way so I could have experience with them for other designs as well, and it was pretty persnickity. There is a tiny bit of puckering at the bottom edges of the placket, but I'm able to iron them down pretty well. It won't keep me from wearing this, but it is worth noting.

The back has a strange fit issue I've never encountered before - look at that fabric bunching up at my shoulder blades. Isn't that weird? The picture would make me say it's too tight across the back, but it doesn't feel tight at all when I wear it - it's actually perfectly comfortable. I have no idea what that would be from. Any ideas? Also I had a bit of an interesting time with the collar. I cut everything out, fused the interfacing and sewed it together only to notice a spot on the fabric immediately after. I tried washing it out, but it was no use. Luckily I had enough fabric to cut another complete collar and try again. The collar seems to want to flip up a bit at the edges in these pictures, which I another baffling thing because I understitched that beast and cut away 1/8" from the under collar to pull the top around. So clearly I have things to work on with this pattern.

Here you can see how short those darts are. I did make a pretty big change to the sleeves. The pattern includes elbow length sleeves that do not taper from the bicep. I love the example photos, but when I sewed this up it looked like a big tub on my arm, plus it flipped out in a strange way too. I didn't know if I should just taper the sleeve a bit or if it just needed shortening. I took to Instagram asking for advice, and in the end I agreed with the consensus of shortening. This got a little complicated though because if I just shortened it evenly, the sleeve looked crooked on my arm (meaning the hem was not straight with my arms at the sides). I played around with folding different amounts up and creating an angle so the sleeve hems would be straight - I took off 4 or 5 inches total (not sure exactly how much because I did it a few inches and then cut more later). I'm happy with the length now, though I would like to figure out how to make the longer sleeves work on my frame. Also I got really lucky with my buttons - I only had these 3 left over from making my sad green Melissa skirt and they match perfectly!

So that's my first Banksia :) I should also note that this is the original printed version of the pattern bought and traced before the update with extended sizes and options - they were super generous and offered a free copy of the digital update with proof of owning a physical copy, so I do have that and perhaps I will try out the new version sometime to compare. I made the XL of the old version (the largest size) and added a bit to the hip (apparently not quite enough - though it's not that bad with other skirts since that line on my tummy is from the skirt riding up at the waist). I do like this top in spite of its fit problems on me, and I do plan to make more in the future. I'm a bit stumped on fixing the back, but I have ideas for the other fit issues and I have a few other cotton lawns I've bought over the years with this shirt in mind. I also have concocted a plan to make this in a knit. I'm thinking I could use the Renfrew pattern for the body since I already like the fit of that and just add the placket and collar. One of these days I'll try that. For now I'm just happy to have finally made this up and I will enjoy wearing around even if it's not perfect.

Summary:
Fabric: 2.5 yards of Cambridge Cotton Lawn by Robert Kaufman - $8.00
Pattern: Banksia Top by Megan Nielsen Patterns - Free (gift from husband long ago)
Notions: 1 yard Pellon SF101 fusible interfacing - $1.50, 3 green buttons - Free (leftover stash), green thread - $1.50
Time:
Total Cost: $ 11.00

The Classier Parisian (Alterations For The Win!)

Well, it looks like all I needed to get my rear in gear with altering my Almost Classy Parisian top was to blog about it, lol. I wrote the post on Friday, scheduled it to go up on Sunday, then took it apart and fixed it Saturday after work. This was technically fixed by the time anyone reading my blog saw it. If only I hadn't posted those highly unflattering photos, lol.

To see the top before alterations, click here. I went into this alteration just knowing it was too big. I put the top on, pinned up the excess length, then pinned in the sides to follow my curves. I unpicked the bottom band, then sewed up on side seam to my new adjustments, and put it on to discover it wasn't just the body that looked sloppy - the arms did too. I ended up taking in the entire body of the shirt by 5/8" (sleeves, body, sleeve bands and hip band), making this top now a size Medium as the pattern is drafted. And it's still not tight tight, just "fitted". Now that the rest of the shirt fits well, I can see that the upper chest could come in to remove those wrinkles at my underarms and the collar is a smidge wide, so next time I make this it will be a medium all over. Me? A Medium? This is the first time in several years ...

See the difference in the sleeve? I still see that blasted crease in the fabric even though I steamed the heck out of it, lol. Oh well, maybe when I actually wash the shirt. No more bagging around the tummy though!

And there's still bra-back-fat, but you can't have everything in life. Not a wrinkle fest in the back! Huzzah! I ended up shortening the top by a full 2 inches all the way around and it's still a fine length. And I have a long torso! So strange. 

These are the pieces I cut off. It doesn't look like much, but man what a difference, huh? This even helped with the issue I had of the fabric clinging to the edge of my bra. Who woulda thunk!

Ta Da! A fitted shirt that no longer looks dumpy. This is much closer to how Julia Bobbin fitted this top, which is the blog post that lead me to purchase the pattern in the first place. I have two things that I really want to reiterate with this post though. 1) If something doesn't fit, it's not that big a deal to take it apart and try again. Seriously, I pulled apart the entire shirt except the collar and it only took about an hour to get it wearable. And 2) Fitted clothes are more flattering. It took me a long time to accept this, but no matter what your size, you will look slimmer if your clothes hug your body a bit. Covering yourself in too long/too loose clothes just makes you look bigger! So hug a few curves and show the body you have to its best advantage. 

I really think being more "fitted" like this looks better with this style of neckline and collar, don't you?

"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