Tag Archives: shirt

Rainbow Flight Attendant

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This shirt is based on the bodice of the Lekala S4108 pattern. This was my first shirt, and since I almost exclusively wear button downs, I figured I should just start with a button down. This only used 1 yard of fabric (from Joann), which was really cool. It’s kind of a firm satin? Not as slippery as the purple geode, still a bit flowy.

This, of course, was my first foray into collar making. I cut out the collar according to the pattern, but it ended up being so short that it didn’t wrap all the way around the neck opening. I didn’t have enough fabric to make a new, bigger collar, so I decided to go for a tied collar strip thing (I have another shirt like this so I figured it would work). The improv collar worked great and is the basis for the name since they used to wear those little scarves.

It was also my first time doing sleeves! It’s a bit tricky to sew a sphere-ish thing to a.. 2D/circle thing, but I used a lot of pins. I also skipped some directions which, after consultation with a friend, I should have followed. You’re supposed to “stay stitch” around the sleeve curve so it doesn’t get all out of whack and stretched when you’re sewing, which did happen a bit. But the extra bit of shoulder puff isn’t unwelcome and is pretty subtle.

It was not my first foray into buttonholes, but it was the first time I had to measure and space out my buttonholes. I put the shirt on and marked out where it felt natural for buttons to go, and saw a separation of about 2″ is a good distance. The bottom was just a bit over 2″ after the last button but I decided to not install a button so close to the hem.

I wore this on a date and it absolutely passed my wearability test, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t introduce the piece to my roommate as “am I a flight attendant now?”

Project completed March 18, 2019.

Purple Geode Dress Set

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I made this top + skirt for a friend’s wedding. I got the fabric from Spoonflower, a site that takes designs and can print them on many different fabrics. I chose a polyester satin that turned out to be a bit slippery. I used tissue paper to stabilize the fabric and ensure it didn’t fall down the hole in the machine where the needle goes through or stretch out. It worked super well, but was kind of annoying since I had to sandwich each seam in tissue paper, sew, then rip the tissue paper off.

I modified the Lekala #5446 Classical Blouse pattern again, and sewed 3 circle skirts together to get the full volume of the skirt. With the blouse, I constructed the entire thing save for the collar, since I wasn’t sure I wanted to go down that road and have it turn out weird (again). I used buttons that I was able to cover with the same fabric as the shirt (they have a separate back and front, you wrap the fabric around the front, stuff it into the “bowl” of the button, and click the back into place, securing the fabric).

  • Shirt in progress
  • Trying to decide on the collar
  • Decided to fold the top in to make a V-neck
  • Custom / improv fitting with darts

I used improv fitting while the shirt was on my body to create darts that (a) flattered me and (b) ensured there wouldn’t be wrinkles when I tucked the shirt into the skirt. I pin inside out so that I can sew the darts directly, which assumes my body is symmetrical, and no one’s body is, but it’s close enough.

The skirt used about 5 yards of fabric. A basic circle skirt is just that – a circle of fabric with a circle cut out for the waist (more of a doughnut, really). I cut out three doughnuts by folding the fabric in half, and in half again, so I only had to cut out a quarter circle. Then I had three doughnuts, and I cut each one on one side so I could have 3 vertical seams on the finished big doughnut. Now, I had planned to have the inner radius be my waist radius, but I forgot to divide by 3 before I cut out the doughnuts… But it just so happens that knife pleats divide the length by 3, so I added pleats all along the waist to bring it back to the right measurement. This also gave it a bit of poof and volume, which was great!

A hopefully effective way to explain pleats – the red-green-purple section turns out to be the length of just the red section aka 1/3 the length

Originally, this project was supposed to be a dress, but I realized that I wanted to wear the skirt separate from the shirt, so I decided to not attach the shirt to the waistband. I installed a zipper with the waistband, and included some elastic after learning from the Skirt of Projects Past. I wore a tulle petticoat underneath to fluff it out even more than the 3 circles and pleats were fluffing it.

The ever important “twirl”

Project completed July 6, 2019.

Of Projects Past

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It’s impossible to buy exactly the amount of fabric you need for a project. There will always be scraps, unless you’re making a perfectly rectangular item that uses up all the fabric straight off the bolt. For every other project though, there are bits and pieces of various sizes that aren’t used in the item itself. Or just leftovers because I bought more fabric than necessary.

I decided to use some of these old scraps to make two different projects – the Skirt of Projects Past and the Shirt of Projects Past.

I liked (a) not buying new fabric and just recycling and (b) making something super colorful with weird, wonderful patterns. Most of this fabric I bought a year ago to make ties and neck warmers, and they generally have the same size print. And it was all cotton from Joann, so I wasn’t worried about weird shrinkage or anything.

The skirt is made with strips sewn together, alternating print and black (from the Trapper Keeper). Then I cut out approximate semicircles, which created a front and back. I sewed one side together and installed a zipper on the other side. The waistband isn’t as sturdy as I’d like, in projects after this I used elastic inside the waistband just to hold it closer to the body.

I used a modified Lekala #5446 Classical Blouse pattern for the top. I added a pocket using foundation piecing, adding layer after layer to get a pocket sized piece of fabric. I love the overall look of this top, but the collar opening leaves something to be desired, it’s a bit stiff and falls open strangely when buttoned.

Shirt completed March 30, 2019. Skirt completed Jan 10, 2019.