Smooth Landing

I’ve got a 3-in-1 post today: two Sewaholic patterns and my very first Style Arc pattern!  These pieces were part of my travel wardrobe for my trip to Sacramento (I’ll hopefully blog the wedding guest dress and other items soon!).  They were so comfy that I ended up wearing them on the plane both ways.  Knits, yo.

The fabric is an embossed scuba knit I picked up from Fabric Mart (all gone, sorry peeps!).  I bought three yards (58″ wide) intending to make a structured coat or jacket.  When it arrived I realized it was not like the scuba I was used to, and was rather lightweight.  It is also not very stretchy, so after making a pair of too-snug leggings, I decided to treat it as a stable knit/almost a woven.

First: the skirt.  I made the Hollyburn, using the knee-length view B, in a size 12, sans pockets and tabs.  This pattern has been heavily reviewed, so I’m not sure I have much to add.  It’s a great skirt, with awesome drape and movement.  I love how it swishes when I walk!  I also used an exposed zipper in the back, which I LOVE!  The only thing is that the zipper is a bit too short (only 5″), but thankfully the small amount of stretch in the fabric allows me to get it over my bum.  I sewed it up pretending it was a woven (down to topstitching the hem), the only difference being that I used a narrow zigzag stitch instead of a straight stitch.

Second: top option 1.  This is the Fraser sweatshirt from the Vancouver activewear collection.  There are more pictures later on in the post.  I haven’t seen too many reviews of this pattern.  I like it because of all of the contrast neckline variations it has – I will definitely have to try those out later on!  I cut the size 10, version B.  I actually finished the whole thing, tried it on with the skirt, and then ripped off all of the bindings to re do it.  The sleeves were too long, so I shortened them by 2″ to make them more what I consider to be 3/4 length.  I also took 3-4″ off the length of the sweatshirt to make it more cropped.  It just looked way better with the skirt.  The neckline binding wouldn’t stay flat, so I ripped that out, shortened it by 2″, and reapplied it.  It lays pretty nicely now.

I made the whole thing on my serger (technically twice).  I don’t mind the fit overall, but the shoulders are a bit wide – I don’t know why I don’t just automatically do a narrow-shoulder adjustment.  Ah well, next time!

Third: top option 2.  Until recently, turtlenecks always reminded me of 5th grade picture day.  After making this top, though, all I can see is chic sophistication.  I cut the Alexi skivvy in a size 10 (I fall in between sizes, so I went with the smaller one since it’s for knits).

I made it up in one afternoon, and really what took the longest was matching those stripes.  Totally worth it!  The fabric was a (slightly less than a yard) remnant from JoAnn’s, and it’s a soft, thick rayon blend knit.  I constructed it on my serger, and then topstitched the hem and cuffs with a twin needle.

You can see that my photos have a variety of backgrounds.  I’ve been trying to rely on myself for blog photos recently, but it really takes some getting used to.  I’m using my iPhone with a mini tripod and remote.  I basically ran all around my backyard today trying to find good spot with decent lighting.  Also: photographing black fabric is HARD!

First I tried a sunny spot in front of the fence:

Then I tried a shady spot:

Then I tried standing on a stump:

Then I went to the basement walk out to try to hide from the sun and wind:

Then I went to San Francisco:

Here are some detail shots, if you’re into that sort of thing:

Stripe matching!

I finished the sleeves and hem with a twin needle