Grainline Archer - not for me

I had my doubts about the Archer, given its lack of shape. But I wanted to try making a 'proper' shirt, and I'd already bought the pattern. Inspired by the Craftsy course on shirtmaking, I went for it.

This one is actually Archer #2. I made another plaid one for my mom as a Christmas present. This one was supposed to be first, but I ran out of time. I totally have not sewed the buttons on yet, but the plaid should line up across the front.

These cheap flannels from Fabricland though were hard to work with. Kept twisting way off grain - so frustrating! I ended up making new pattern pieces for anything on the fold line, since I absolutely had to cut in one layer, or I'd have lost my mind.

Yeah, it's kind of...shapeless on me. I think I need darts, or something. Even with the sleeves rolled up, and the shirt hanging open, which let's face it is how I will wear it, the look is not great:

Here's the back view:

Yeaaaaaahhhh. I need some waist definition.

Anyway, I'm pleased with my work. I flat-felled all the seams, including the armhole, which was a pain but ultimately worth it. My mom really likes hers, and it was a good experience.

Less-Cool Cowl - the 2nd attempt

I made the In-House Cool Cowl again, this time reducing the cowl substantially. I also took around 2 inches out of the length, and brought the armholes up quite a bit, since there was a lot of my bras showing under the arm in the previous version.

I still had to tack it slightly at the neckline.

Love this fabric! The shiny bits are actually embossed metallic bits. Super fun! I wear this top a lot, especially under cardigans. Wait, is that a thread under my arm!?!

Back view is better. If I ever make this again though, I would change the armhole shape even more.

Mabel and Cool Cowl - the Orange Sherbet outfit

I bought these two fabrics together at Fabricland, and yes, they are hilarious together. I rarely pair them, but I do get compliments.

The In-House Cool Cowl, I think I bought this because she is a local pattern maker, and I wanted to support that. I do like it, but wow is the cowl scandalously deep. In another version, I reduced the cowl substantially, but this one is as-is, and I had to tack it together at the neckline for modesty.

The Mabel is good. I screwed up the kick pleat, but had trouble unpicking, so I left it that way. :) I need to fix the hem stitching. For some reason my twin-needling was unravelling.

But I do like both of these pieces.

Why yes, that does look like a giant scarab beetle climbing up my chest!

I took care to center the pattern at the front, but it's a giant fail at the back. Oh well!

Belcarra, or Grandma's Curtains

I found this cotton at Fabricland and fell in love with it, but my friend and colleague Sheila thinks it looks like her Grandma's curtains. Apparently this is meant as a compliment, but I dunno...

So, Belcarra. This was largely a success. I did unpick the neckband, and resew the front raglan seams, taking in more than 2 cms on each side. I took a small tuck in the back as well. I think it fits quite a bit better this way, and the neckline isn't so wide.

My main complaint with this pattern was how wide the original neckline was. I think this is a grading issue, honestly, since if I look at it the larger sizes come out quite a bit. Do bigger women have giant necks? Not really!

No back photo, although I think the fit is OK.

This is another of my go-to tops for work. Comfy and it only took 1.75 m of fabric! More of these definitely in the future.

One of several Sewaholic Renfrews

So, last year around March, I had the urge to sew a garment. I sewed quite a bit as a teenage, but very little as an adult. Oh, I picked it up fitfully. A skirt here, a dress there, but I never really got back into it. Until last year! What was different? Space, I think. In this apartment I have gobs of it, much more than the old house I owned.

And now I've even converted the spare bedroom into a sewing room. Fast forward 10 months, and I am even embarking on a Ready-to-Wear fast for the year. I've been mostly off RTW since last spring, but the odd piece here and there. I don't plan to retroactively document everything I made, since that would be tedious. But I thought I would create some posts for my favourites, and keep going. (Also, I bought a tripod after Christmas, which helps enormously.

Onwards!

This Sewaholic Renfrew was I think the 2nd of 4 so far, with another on the cutting table right now. The first was a purple one that was part of the ridiculous purple pyjamas, which I will never photograph, but still wear.

This one, the 2nd, was my foray into pattern matching. It was...somewhat successful. I look at it now and cringe, but honestly I wear this quite a bit.

Yes, the paisley is defintely off-grain. And the neckline is wonky. Sigh.

Since then I've made a cherry red one in organic cotton that I wear as another pyjama set with my matching Sewaholic Tofino pants, using this paisley as the piping and tie.