Sharon Sews

"Wow! You look hot!" My hubby is not one to toss around insincere compliments, so when his eyes lit up as I modeled this  outfit I knew I had a winner.   I'm calling this a peek-a-boo top as I have no idea what the correct terminology would be.  Drop me a comment if you know and I'll update this post. The top pattern, McCall's 8003 , is a close-fitting knit top with a cut out on the upper chest.  I choose to sew that portion in a stretch lace remnant I had purchased from SR Harris. Boy, was that a poor choice of fabric for the contrast!  The instructions have you hem the lower portion of the contrast. Well, that looked crappy in lace. I ripped out the stitches and tried turning it under once stabilized with clear elastic. Well that looked even worse! I settled on using a purchased binding, and I think it's just right. I used the same binding for the neckline instead of using the pattern piece provided. Not my best work, but I'm okay with that becau...

This Sandra Betzina color-blocked dress design was exactly what I was looking for when I wanted to showcase a peacock panel from Emma One Sock. On rare occasions, Emma One Sock will post a bundle of coordinated color fabrics made up of small pieces.  The bundles typically sell very quickly. However, a few months ago I managed to purchase one made up of blue fabrics.  The pieces ranged from 11" to nearly 1 yard each, some with areas partially cut out.  I was especially thrilled to find almost one full panel of a peacock knit panel that I had sold out before I was able to make a purchase. I knew I wanted to sew a summer dress with this fabric as the focal point, but didn't want it to be overpowering. I choose Vogue 1336 (c. 2013) and was able to find two other pieces of fabric from the bundle that worked well together. The only adjustment I made to the pattern was to lengthen the bodice piece by 1" as I wanted to make sure the seam fell below my bust.  ...

"Oooo, that collar on your top is fabulous!" exclaimed a fellow church-goer as we exited the morning service. I have to admit, I feel the same way. I love the collar on this top!  This is Vogue 1515, a Sandra Betzina design that was released for fall 2016.  The pullover top is described as loose-fitting with an elasticized collar that forms a ruffle. Fabric suggestions are boiled wool, low pile fake fur (hmmmm....maybe), and silk dupioni.  I, of course, didn't bother to check the fabric suggestions and choose to sew my new top out of this highly elasticized knit floral print that raveled whenever I gave it a sideways glance.  The other challenge with this fabric is that, while it stretched (a lot!) it did not have a lot of recovery.  I fused bias tape to the neckline and armhole edges as soon as I removed the pattern pieces to ensure they didn't stretch out of shape. The top has a boxy shape and is very loose-fitting. I sewed my normal size for Today's ...

Did I ever share this one with you? Vogue 1018  I didn't think so.  This is the Sandra Betzina skirt I began (and finished) this past December . Seriously love this skirt. As in capital L love. Although I might not love it as much as Shams .  She's made it five times already. I'm only now starting to think of sewing my second. It'd be a great summer skirt. Assuming, of course, that this winter will actually end. Because there have been days when I'm pretty sure warm weather will never again enter my life. But I digress... The skirt's a little out there for my work environment, but after some experimentation I believe this basic sweater/cami/skirt combo is tame enough for my office. Because black is so hard to see details, I tried lightening the photo a bit.  Did you notice I now have gray hair? The shape comes from the side tucked drape overlay as well as the small tucks near the hemline that create a ruching effect. Those small tucks w...

Feelin' the love again for Vogue's Today's Fit by Sandra Betzina patterns. After the last one one I sewed (Vogue 1197) I came to realization that they just might not be designed for my body type.  I haven't reviewed that finished knit top yet, and until I do you'll have to trust me that I had to do some major seam tweaking to make it look decent. Oh, but I'm loving this one! Maybe because it's a skirt and as of late I seem to seriously addicted to sewing skirts. It's a 2007 skirt design - Vogue 1018 -  that is already out out of print (OOP). I managed to purchase it almost a year ago right before it was discontinued. At the same time I had purchased enough black polyester crepe ( Fabric.com 's $1.95 sale blogged about here ) to make the skirt. It's been cut and ready to sew for a few months now and this weekend was it's turn to come to life!  It's about half sewn and with my busy schedule this week I likely wont' have time ...

Not feelin' the love on this one. I should be, after all it has three elements I look for in a casual wear-with-my-jeans-on-the-weekend top: 1) It's a knit 2) It has a scoop or v-neckline. This one has a cowl with is even better. 3) It has shoulder/sleeve interest Like I said, it's not working out too well. A photo of the top in progress: Here's my analysis: 1) It's a raglan style. Not a good look in a knit top for someone with my body shape (narrow shoulder combined with large bust). 2) The sleeve shirring is not visually widening the shoulder area as much as I thought it would. 3) It's difficult to see in the line drawings, but I found this to be rather boxy in shape. So far I took the side seams in by almost an inch each. I now find that I'll need to sew a shaped seam in the back and remove a lot of fabric - 6" inches or so - around the waist line to get more of the shape I'd like. 4) The instructions provided for the sleeve shirring didn't ...

I sewed this Betzina design ( Vogue 1109 ) last June and blogged about it here . Can you believe this is the first time I've actually worn this t-shirt? Not only that but I captured the moment with our digital camera. Well actually we were capturing the Mother's Day moment but as long as I wearing the t-shirt I wanted to share it with you. Isn't it fun? I really should purchase some more striped knit and sew myself another one. Those are my two darling children. Rob's the one you've all been faithfully praying for as he continues his battle with brain cancer. With his hat on you'd never know he has cancer would you? He's looking pretty good and says he's feeling good too. More good news - his radiation and chemo will end this Thursday! ***********************************************************************

It's done. Vogue 1109 - another Sandra Betzina design. She calls it a puzzle t-shirt - and has a beautiful version on her website (scroll down to view it). Using stripes, as shown on the pattern envelope, certainly showcases the unique seaming on the top. The sleeves are pleated near the elbow and the sleeve is two pieces. The top of the sleeve is the continuation of the neck band. Now I know you're going to leave comments asking me to model it. The knit is so soft that it shows every bump and bulge and since this is tunic length I need something with a flat front, not the jeans I had envisioned. So, sorry dear readers, I won't be modeling it yet. It's a cool top with all the crazy seams and stripes but until I find something to wear it with, it's destined to languish in the back of my closet.

Yeppers. Vogue 1109 is underway. Granted it's taken me almost two weeks to get this far but at least something is happening in the sewing studio. Woo-hoo! And y'all are the best! Thanks for all of your input on my last post regarding the appropriate fur for the 60s era dress. I learned that the mink stole is best saved for a fabulous fifties suit.

It started with the shoes. Navy blue with baby pink polka dots. Sigh... Eager to wear them, I scanned my closet only to realize that I do not own a single item of navy blue clothing. However, a quick glance at my fabric stash revealed a beautiful piece of navy blue knit with a nice hand and weight. Perfect for a knit dress. Or maybe a tunic and a slim skirt. Or maybe a short flippy skirt. Or maybe a dress. But that flippy skirt sure would be cute. But I wouldn't have anything to wear with the skirt. I finally put a stop to this internal debate with a "Stop! Pick a pattern already and get sewing!" With a scant 1-3/8 yards (60" wide) to work with, my choices were very limited. Vogue 7055 was chosen. It's an out of print (OOP) Sandra Betzina design from 1999 that I had never taken the time to sew. The dress appeared to be a fairly classic tee-shirt dress so, before I could change my mind, I laid out the pattern pieces, cut and began sewing. The dress, with it...

Vogue 1060 , Sandra Betzina design, unlined coat with shawl collar and dolman sleeves. I've already added a full review of the pattern on PatternReview. You can read it here . The coat is rated Easy. Mine was bit time consuming mainly because the fabric I was working with unraveled every time I glanced at it. That meant every raw edge needed to be finished. I was also a bit surprised at how fitted it was at the waistline, but as I noted in my review, that probably had more to do with my not-quite-accurate-sewing of the waist darts. I know I should have been more careful, after all with 12 darts, being a fraction of an inch off on each dart will obviously change the fit of the garment. What makes this coat easy? Easy reason number 1 - As mentioned above, the coat is unlined. Easy reason number 2 - The main body of the coat is a front and back with a cut on sleeve. So there is no need to set in a sleeve. Speaking of sleeves, these have a nice shape to them. They are bell sha...

1017GraySBTop Originally uploaded by Sharon Sews After two weeks, I finally got around to sewing the buttonholes and buttons on this blouse sewn from Vogue 1017 - a Today's Fit by Sandra Betzina pattern. I realized a few weeks ago that I have plenty of "going to work" clothes and plenty of plain tees and "work-out" clothes but that I had nothing in between. Nothing to throw on with a pair of jeans for a casual Friday at work or for an evening bonfire with friends. You know what I mean. Something that's casual but stepped up just a notch from your basic crew neck tee shirt. I choose to use a gray men's cotton shirting purchased years and years ago to test out this pattern. I really wasn't sure if I would like the style on me so I didn't want to invest in one of my "good" cotton shirtings. To help add a bit of interest I topstitched the blouse with hot pink thread. The pattern went together nicely and, as usual with Sandra Betzina patt...

Finally! A few hours of sewing time was squeezed out of the day. I figured with so little time to sew I'd work on something quick - something I could cut out today, sew today, and wear tomorrow. Hmmmm, what should I sew? Oh! I know! I've been wanting to sew something from this bold knit - Fuschia Orbits - purchased from Fashionista Fabrics. It needs to be something simple and something versatile. Ah, yes, a skirt and matching knit top. That way I could mix and match the two with other pieces in my wardrobe. Remembering a spread in a Vogue Patterns Magazine, I pulled out Vogue 2911. Without that photo spread in the magazine I would never have thought about this skirt pattern. It's a great bias skirt pattern. It has nice wide (1-1/2") seam allowances, plenty of ease, and a separate elastic waist band. The skirt can be sewn in an hour or less easily. Well, except for the hem because it's bias and you need to let it hang in case the bias stretches - but you alre...