It's about exploring and sharing my creative adventures (mostly sewing these days) ~
~those activities that sometimes obsess, usually inspire, occasionally frustrate
~and always provide a delightful maze to wander through.

Monday, July 11, 2011

A Pintucked Sorbetto and the Absent Summer

With the promise of an actual summer, and in a joyous fit of optimism, I made 4 sleeveless tops in the last few weeks.....I mean, I do live in 'sunny' California, but still....given last summer's weather (cold & windy), & what appears, so far, to be a repeat of last summer, what was I thinking???


I could move inland, or south, or even back to Hawaii, where the weather is always perfect.  Of course, I'd have get to sew a whole new wardrobe......

But I digress.   Here's my third Sorbetto, (Get your Free Colette Sorbetto download here!) and the lessons learned:

Sticking with my unwritten plan of learning something new with each new project, I decided to do some pintucking on this top.   After I'd cut it out.   (This would be lesson #1 - pintuck before cutting).  While waiting for the pintuck feet to arrive, I tried to figure out how to get everything to fit while pintucking post-cutting, & I ended up putting this project (along with 3 others) in the "Wait & Let It Stew Awhile" area.   (I've been doing a goodly amount of sewing, but the production level....not so goodly....)

Finally I decided to go ahead & sew the seam that creates the pleat in front, and then simply pintuck through the two layers of the pleat.....no measurement necessary!   And it worked.   So far, so good....
This pic shows the top of the pleat folded back, showing the flip side of the pintucks.
I used a perle cotton in the bobbin for the tuck filler.
I decided to use a variation of Melissa at Fehr Trade's bias edging method.
I cut my self bias strips, folded them in half & pressed, then placed a clear ruler
over the strip, lined up the folded edge, and made a fresh cut on the raw edge, so that
the whole strip was an even width.  (Yay!   Did this one right!)
Bias strip pinned in place, on the Wrong Side of fabric.
(to be flipped over, with the edging showing on the Right Side.)
This is actually where I made Mistake #2.   or maybe #3.  could be #4......  I should have
stretched the bias strip just a bit....I didn't.  I just pinned & sewed.  
Bias strip sewn on, raw edges pinked.

Bias strip folded over to RS, pressed and pinned.

Top Stitched.  Not too bad....could be better, but I am improving!

I just loved these vintage buttons from my stash on this fabric!
I only had two.   Two is a good number :)

Just for fun:  One more lesson. 
Do NOT attempt a self-portrait-in-the-mirror when the mirror is smeary!  
(I really had no idea it was this bad!   It's sort of like those little threads that don't show up until you take the picture...which, I notice now, are present in this top....)


The fit is OK, but not great...see Lessons Learned #2.

The Lessons Learned:

1.  If you're going to do some sort of embellishing that changes the size of the fabric, do it BEFORE you cut it.
2.  A not-so-drapey cotton is going to behave differently than a soft, drapey silk.  Just because you have your pattern sized right for one fabric, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't check your fit along the way when sewing it again.  ESPECIALLY when using an entirely different fabric. *sigh*
3.  I keep ending up with bias edges that are a little wave-y, or gape-y.  One of these days I'll remember to give the strip a little nudge of a tug as I'm sewing it. *sigh...again*
4.  Use glass cleaner occasionally.   Your photography just might improve.
5.  If you're going to sew for tropical weather, you might as well plan a vacation to the tropics, so that you can wear what you've sewn.   At least for a week or two.

Anyone (in the tropics) want to do a house exchange?   Must love cats.




18 comments:

Anna Christina said...

Great details to make your shell more interesting. Thanks for the tips, and your cats are adorable.

shams said...

Awwwww, what a cutie!

Yes, I fit every thing I make on my body (no dress form) even if I've made it before because every fabric behaves differently.

You know, your skills are zooming ahead *because* of all the risks you take! Most impressive!

And, I agree. It is FREEZING here today. Very windy, in the 50s. The fog was so heavy this morning that the road was wet and it sounded as if the cars were driving through a rainy street. SO.COLD. It's that penetrating kind of cold.

Rebecca said...

I love that fabric! I think I may need to download the Sorbetto pattern. :]

shams said...

LOL. You know, I have the stripe and the animal print too. ;)

Jillybejoyful said...

You HAVE that stripe?????? That stripe that I really really REALLY want another yard or two of??????? *ahem* [koffkoff]

Tanit-Isis said...

I really like the pintucked pleats! Good job figuring out how to work them in anyway :). Also, I totally feel you on the inadequate summer. We had a few gorgeous days last week and I got hopeful, but are now firmly back in throw-on-a-jacket-before-you-leave-the-house territory. /sigh.

shams said...

hehe. Whatcha wanna do with it? I was going to use it for the Sandra Betzina dress but Ann got there first. I'm still mulling over how to use it. :D

Jillybejoyful said...

hehehe..... What, me? I have no shame. I was late to the Betzina party, but when I saw Ann's dress I went nutz. Nutz. I already talked to her about it, and there's only a teeny little part of me that feels guilty about copying her idea. But I'm short on fabric, so I was planning on color blocking it.

If I tried making anything else out of that fabric, I think I would just yearn for That. Dress. I mean, face it. She rocked it!

Andrea said...

Jilly,
The fabric - love it! Where's it from?
Beautiful job on the top. I've seen so many variations of is top, and I think the pin tucks really make it lovely, my favorite variation so far.
Those darn bias bindings....sometimes too stretched, sometimes not enough. What to do, what to do?
The weather here is mighty hot and humid. So much so, I'm considering a shorty haircut. Rain and thunderstorms most every afternoon around 3pm. Not too far from the beaches. We welcome visitors, but must love dogs! The only time we bring jackets is when we are headed to a restaurant, because most keep the air
freezing.
I hope you get to wear your new tops soon!
Andrea

Dixie said...

Love the colors and print. Your pintucking looks great, too. I'll try to send you some New England heat, to warm your summer!

shams said...

lol. Loads of folks bought it from FabricMart and fabric.com. I bet if you post a wanted you can get it. I am still deciding what to do with mine, but I did not buy tons of it. :)

Jillybejoyful said...

Thank you everyone, for the comments & compliments :::blush:::

Andrea the fabric was an Emma One Sock purchase from, I believe, last year....sorry but long gone from her site.

shams that's a good idea to beg I mean post a wanted....I (drat) missed the Vogue sale at JA's, & then the BMV sale, so I may actually drive up to Vallejo & hit the Hancock's on Wednesday if we get a hospice volunteer in. When I spread out the pattern I'll figure out what to do. I actually figure that if I'm happy with color blocking it, at least it might offer a different enough look from Ann's that people won't notice how much I plagiarized it ;-D I'm so stoked about it that I want to move it WAY up on the To Do List!

Jillybejoyful said...

And Dixie I'm thrilled that you're here! shams you MUST check out Dixie's new blog - you will LOVE her creations!

shams said...

Oooh, you are right, Jilly Be! I just became a follower.

Jillybejoyful said...

Oh. Andrea....it just occurred to me that you might mean the pile of fabric by the cat? That's all a FabricMart haul! I've become a huge fan of Fabric Mart - great fabric at REALLY great prices! fabricmartfabrics.com

gwensews said...

Nice job on the Sorbetto. Love pintucks. Aren't the pintuck feet wonderful?

glorm said...

Great looking pintucks. I have been known to use them when the neckline comes out a tad too wide.

And *I* am knitting sweaters--heh, heh. In fact I'm wearing a sweater today.

Jillybejoyful said...

I tried to do "real" pintucks...lord knows I tried..... but oh my gosh when the pintuck feet arrived and I played with them for awhile, I thought I'd found SM foot nirvana! SO easy, and SO much bang for the buck! Or, result for the output...something like that.

I'm looking for all sorts of excuses to pintuck stuff... wide neckbands sounds like a great one!

glorm there truly are times when I wish I had the knitting gene....like now, for instance. But I didn't get it. So I sew.