Pattern Review: In House Patterns Blossom Blouse

The In House Blossom pattern had been languishing in my stash for well over a year but after recently scoring a yard of Nancy Ann Liberty of London fabric, I knew I had to try it out.

I love Liberty Tana Lawn fabric but due to the cost, don’t get to sew with it as much as I would like. As soon as I saw this fabric on eBay, I remembered where I had seen it before…on Mad Men!

I may not be as beautiful or famous as Betty Draper, aka January Jones, but I think my interpretation came out well!  If you ever have the opportunity to try In House Patterns, give them a whirl. This is actually my second In House pattern. The first was the Cool Cowl reviewed here and I think you will find their patterns to be easy to follow and fairly quick makes.

Pattern Details: Size ranges from 32 to 42 bust so I graded up to a 48. I also increased the waist and hip pieces by grading out the side seams. All In House Patterns are pdf only which in my opinion makes grading much easier.

Things I liked about the pattern:

1. Instructions were very clear and logical
2. Grading was easy due to the pattern piece layout
3. No FBA required because the pattern can be printed in A, B, C, or D cup sizes!!!

Things I struggled with:

1. Sleeves! Since my upper arms were far outside the size range, I initially tried to grade up with zero success.
2. I later tried tulip sleeves but could not make them fit comfortably so I finally gave up and made some bias tape from my remaining fabric and opted for a sleeveless version.
3. The front curve at the neckline ended up a bit wonky due to my less than perfect cutting. This type of neckline requires PRECISE cutting to remain even. My solution was to make some ties so there is a keyhole detail instead of a simple vee. I actually ended up liking my final version better than the original so my “design feature” worked out!

Sewing Mojo, UFOs & a Giveaway!

I had a few days off at the first of July and spent the time organizing my sewing space. I went through my fabric and pattern stash, happily making plans to get both under control. After completing several items though, I feel like I really should finish all of my UFO’s before starting something else. I am not looking forward to fixing all of the issues that prevented me from finishing each garment in the first place so I keep putting them off. The pile is growing and at my current rate the UFO pile will be bigger than my fabric stash soon! Any ideas on how to keep my sewing mojo (or sewjo as  Lizzy calls it!) going while also reducing the UFO pile?

As an added incentive for both you and me, I am going to give away a pattern of your choice from my “willing to share” stash to the person with the best idea for keeping my sewjo going and conquering my UFO pile. The giveaway will close on next Wednesday, August 14 and I will announce the winner next Thursday so get those ideas coming!

My current UFO’s include:

Colette Crepe in vintage navy dotted swiss. This dress has been in the UFO pile since early 2012. I got as far as adding the piping then got stuck. The dress has a sweetheart neckline so it requires some finesse to get the piping and facing to lie flat. After trying a couple of times, I got frustrated and tossed it. In order to finish the dress, I would need to unpick the neckline and restitch the piping then sew the sides seams and hand hem.

Colette Ginger in embossed suede microfiber. This was my second attempt at this skirt and has been in my UFO pile since mid 2012. The first one is a tad too tight in the hips so it rides up. In an effort to correct that issue, I cut a larger size expecting to simply add a few back darts so the waist would fit appropriately. Unfortunately the fabric is so thick and stiff I can’t get the waistband to lie flat and get all these weird puckers. In order to finish the skirt, I would need to unpick the waist darts and figure out how to get the waistband to fit properly. The skirt also needs to be hemmed.

In House Patterns Blossom in Amy Butler sketchbook voile. This blouse has only been in my UFO pile since early spring but the fabric is so lovely it is a shame to have it languish. There are a couple of issues with getting this one finished. First the back neckline gapes so somehow I need to find a way to “tighten” it up without removing fabric from the shoulder area. I also didn’t have enough fabric to grade up the sleeves as the pattern is written so I opted for a tulip style instead. I got the first side on correctly but struggled with the other sleeve so much I put the whole blouse away and never came back to it.

Colette Hawthorn in minty green eyelet. Not so much a UFO as a hard to get started. I have all of the pieces cut out but can’t seem to wrap my head around how to line and add the facings. The fabric is scalloped along the button edge instead of the hem so any ideas on how to get the facings and lining stitched without losing the scallops would be most appreciated!