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.