Style Arc Marni Jacket Muslin

It is FINALLY warm enough (meaning just scraping 60 degrees F) to take photos outside again. I thought I'd seize the moment and get photos of my Style Arc Marni jacket that I just finished and a summer dress that I whipped up in a crazy moment in late December.

Let's start with the Style Arc Marni, shall we? This pattern was part of my Christmas riches Style Arc haul from the beginning of the year. I want to make the jacket up in the fabric you see here:

. . . but I wanted to make a muslin first to check the fit and to test my long sleeves (I've OD'd on 3/4 length sleeves this year, and I needed something different). I used a ponte knit from Hancock's that I know will likely eventually pill like her sisters did, but it seemed good enough for a muslin. And then I was so pleased with the result that I went back and finished the seams to make it a bit more finished.

Adjustments: I sewed the side seams with a 5/8" seam allowance instead of 3/8". I took an inch off the length of the bodice (this was a surprise to me since I usually have to add length, but I wanted it to hit at my natural waist). I lengthened the sleeves to full length and omitted the sleeves cuffs (not sure I'm a big fan of the cuff).

I struggled a bit with attaching the collar in the back/shoulder, but third time was the charm. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to attach the collar facing, so I borrowed the construction steps from my Jalie 2921 (more sausages!). I want my next version to be a bit more fitted, so I think I'll sew the princess seam with a 5/8" seam allowance and the side seams/sleeves with a 3/4 -1" seam allowance. I'll also add an inch to the peplum length, since I had to do a teeny-tiny hem on this one since I'd chopped off so much length in the bodice. I didn't do the button on this jacket as I wanted to wear it will a belt, but I think I might go back and add a snap or two so that it stays more in place. If you follow me on Facebook you know I found some lovely buttons at a resale shop recently and I'm sure one of them will be perfect! I like this pattern a lot and I can see making multiple versions of it since it can be casual or dressy. And did I mention cozy? The pattern calls for ponte knit or a stretch woven and this version is a soft (if pill-y) ponte.

I used the edge stitch foot and moved my needle to the left to do the topstitching along the princess seam and the collar. I bought this foot about a year ago and only just now put it to use. Dumb. This thing is fantastic for getting a straight line!

And now I've gone on too long - you'll have to come back in a few days to hear about the dress!

Style Arc Darla Peplum Top

Yep, more pattern hacking going on in my sewing studio! In my last hack, I took a top pattern and made a dress, and for this one I'm doing the reverse. I took Style Arc's Darla dress and turned it into a peplum top!

This was partly done out of necessity. I really loved this fabric combo but I didn't have enough of the polka dot to make a dress without more piecing than I wanted to take on.

Rayon double knit from GorgeousFabrics.com and magenta polka dot from GirlCharlee.com

And I also love peplum tops - perfect for those of use who need a little waist definition. To make the peplum, I traced off the top 10 inches of the skirt pieces from the Darla pattern as I wanted to continue the color block through the peplum. I divided each piece into two or three sections, and did a slash and spread, adding 2 inches to each spread.

Center Front and Side Front pieces - I did a slash and spread and
then traced off the new pieces.

I'm going to write a review on PatternReview.com with changes to the facing instructions based on my experience and the help that I received from Anne at The Clothing Engineer. I also want to give a shout out to Chloe at Style Arc. She listened to my feedback and is going to change the instructions - how's that for good customer service!

I also wanted to go through my thinking on color blocking this pattern. The other versions I've seen all have the contrast color at the shoulder yoke as well as center back & front. I opted to not have the contrast fabric at the shoulder yoke as I was pretty sure this would emphasize my shoulders, and I try to downplay them as they are the widest part of my body. I think using the contrast fabric at the shoulder would be a great option for ladies with a narrow upper body who want to balance wider hips.

Next up in personal sewing is the Style Arc Marni Ponti Jacket. The fabric I have picked out will look perfect with this top and I'll have a nice combo for Spring.

Speaking of Spring, this is what I saw when I looked out the window this morning:

Luckily all this snow melted off by late morning and we might actually get a little taste of spring today!

On the Importance of Stretch

I made this top up a couple of weeks ago but had to wait to finish it because my coverstitch/serger was in the shop. One of the air threading tubes got clogged. I tried my best to clear it on my own but in the end I had to pay for a service. I don't like being thwarted by the machines . . .

I found this wool jersey at the Great Textile Discount Outlet when I went there last fall with Gail.  On a previous visit I found a teal version of this stuff, and was so excited to see it in this raspberry/violet color. You may have noticed that I have a thing for jewel tones, especially those in the magenta-fuchsia-raspberry-purple family. I love that family.

I was going to buy 2 yards of the stuff until I heard the price, "Did you say $2.95/yard?!? Then I'll take 5 yards, kind sir!"

Since I have 5 YARDS of this, I decided I could afford to whip up a quick long-sleeve version of my peplum top (drafted using bodice from Sew U Home Stretch plus slash/spread of skirt - see here for the first couple versions of this top and the steps for how I did it).  What I didn't take into consideration was that this fabric has some crosswise stretch but NO (zip zero nada nothin') lengthwise stretch.  When I first tried on the bodice (before adding the peplum) it was silly short.  Empire waist short.  So I decided this version would have a bodice band and I cut a 2.5" wide rectangle and slapped a double layer of it between the bodice and peplum. Why a double layer? I'm not sure, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

Then the sleeves ended just where I wanted, leaving nothing to hem.  (They were also a tad tight, but with a 1/4" seam allowance, there was no fixing that.) I thought about leaving the sleeves raw or doing an explosed serged/roll hem stitch.  But in the end, I went for binding the sleeves just as I did the neck (1.5" wide bias strip). I've been wanting to experiment with using the coverstitch function on my serger to finish the neck binding, and so I tried out two different versions on this top.  Stitching on both sides of seam:

And below the seam:

I think I like the stitches best when they straddle the seam line of the binding.

And now for a little accessorizing show:

Zebra belt - thrift store find

With necklace - see below for info

Infinity scarf made from leftovers from the wrap dress -
will probably end up in my Etsy shop

So the necklace is something I bartered for with my friend Julie.  She is an artist, and she makes art tile necklaces from images of her art.  You can see more of her work in her Etsy Shop - JulieFreeneyDesigns.  I love this necklace and I was so glad she asked me to hem a tablecloth for her!  (I think I got the better end of this deal.)

Lesson learned about stretch!!

P is for Perfect

And it is also for peplum and I am in love with this style top!  Oh, Peplum, where have you been all my life???

I can't believe it took me this long to make one.  I could have been wearing these tops for at least a year now!  I think they are just pefect for us inverted triangle shapes - boosts the hips, nips the waist just like I like it. 

This is the first one I made.  The fabric is a ponte knit I bought from Fabric.com ages ago.  I like how the peplum forms with this weight of fabric.  This is the second version of this top - I first made the peplum with a 3/4 circle skirt but it was too full for me.  So I ripped that seam out and re-made the peplum closer to what I had in mind.  I kept things simple and finished the neck and arms with black fold-over elastic (stretching just a little as I sewed).

I had to add back darts to get the back to fit well in the upper back, but hey!  They worked!

And the next day I made another one . . .

This one is made from a crepe jersey I purchased from GorgeousFabrics.com (yes, it's also the fabric I used in my Garnet Hill knock-off, and yes I might just have enough for one last top).  This time I finished the neck with neckline binding using a bias strip of fabric.

I extended the bodice on this one and it's a little too long in the back.  I should rip and re-stitch, but we'll see.

I used the bodice, skirt, and sleeve patterns from Wendy Mullin's Sew U Home Stretch.  To make the peplum, I traced the top 10 inches of the skirt pattern, then drew two slash lines (dividing the skirt into three sections, two equal sized sections and one half as big at center front/back).  I spread each slash 1.75 inches and the new pattern pieces look like this:

You want to see the pieces with the slash & spread?  Yeah, sorry about that.  I crumpled them up and tossed them in the trash before I thought about taking a picture.  Oh, well!

For the elbow-length sleeves I morphed the short sleeve pattern and the long sleeve pattern in the book to get the look/fit I wanted.  I can't really describe this process.  I just played around with the two pieces, tracing them and re-tracing them until they looked right (ie., looked similar to the Silhouette Pattern #195 sleeves that I often use as a base).

I like this look so much that it might inspire me to try a dress with a full skirt, something I've long avoided.  Who knows?  This could me a turning point in my wardrobe and next thing you know I'll be making one of these:

Vogue 2960

I do love this.  And I actually own dear Vogue 2960.  I just can't see myself actually wearing this to anywhere except tea with the Queen.  And as of yet, I haven't been invited.

What's Up: Bits 'n Bobs

Please remember that you can vote for my PoldaPop Flower Button Coat in the VintageModern Design Challenge through Thursday, March 22!  Click here to vote.


This week was a bit of a downer after last's week high level of productivity.  I had some small things to finish up but nothing all that exciting or showy.  And my energy level took a dive after all the late nights of the week before.  I love losing myself in intensity, but I generally have to pay for it at some point!

But I do have a few things to show.  I helped out the Maiden Street School of Irish Dance by finishing off six skirts for their St Patrick's Day show. 

Can't you just imagine a whole army of little girls marching in a St Patrick's Day parade with these?  They were going to pair them with black turtlenecks but I'm guessing they had to go for something lighter with our unseasonably warm weather.  I earned myself some free classes for Cora and the owner is now going to refer new students to me so that they can get a matching skirt made for performances, so my good deed has certainly been rewarded. In the middle of the project I had to run to Hancock's to get more of the binding they had chosen for the waistband.  This trip highlighted why I get so irritated with Hancock's.  They were all out of the item I needed (black blanket binding), and when I asked one of the clerks (one that I like - I certainly know who to go to and who to avoid) if they had more squirreled away somewhere.  She looked for me, and when she came up empty-handed explained, "We're always running out of the black."  SO WHY DON'T YOU UP YOUR ORDER??????????  I know their trick of not having much of something the moment there's a 50% off sale (see if you can find any neutral colored invisible zippers when zippers are on sale), but this was full price.  Humpf.

I got to re-visit Eileen's skirt from last summer as I needed to take it in a bit.  This is one of my favorite skirts:

I made this skirt with a combination of Valori Wells fabrics from her Wrenly collection.  And it came out the way it did as a happy accident.  Eileen wanted the vertical stripe fabric for the background ruffle. This was my first peplum style ruffle, and I didn't think about the fact that the stripe would become diagonal and then horizontal because of how the peplum is cut.  Luckily Eileen liked it this way!  One of the things that I love about sewing is how often a problem becomes a opportunity to be more creative. 


And now for my first experiment with knits.  I decided that I didn't have the right fabric for the dolman banded top and I was worried that the wrap top would ride up too much (Thursday's post) so I decided to make up my own style.  I used one of my existing jersey tops as a guide, shortened the length, lengthened the sleeves, added a looonnng tie, and ta-da:

I wore it to Devon's reading and got a lot of compliments (even before people knew that I had made it!) so I think it was a success.  I used a cotton interlock that I bought on clearance at fabric.com ages ago, so I wasn't worried if it didn't work out (I've got some jersey I paid $12/yard for but I'm saving that until I feel more confidenct).  I used interfacing on the shoulders and faced the neckline to give it a nice edge.  I used a rolled hem for the sleeves and hemline and while I kind of like the scallop-y edges, I need to figure out how NOT to do that, too.  I think I'll tweak it a bit more then put up a tutorial for it, for those of you who want to D-I-Y.

This week will be a little light project-wise.  I'm attending the Original Quilting and Sewing Expo in Schaumburg from Thursday through Saturday (thank goodness the girls have willing and doting grandparents) so I plan to finish up a few more leftovers then get my learnin' cap on.  I so hope I can bring home a batch of new skills and ideas!