Mini wardrobe finished

Yay, I have clothes to wear! The mini wardrobe is finished. I suppose it counts as a Spring 6-PAC. Or rather, with two skirts, four tops, and a cardigan, it’s more like a 7-PAC. Anyway, here come the pictures and details:

The tops are all prints I ordered last year from Michael Levine but by the time they arrived, I was back to sewing solid colors. And so they waited patiently until the time was right. I had actually started with Jalie 3352, the dolman top pattern, because I wanted cut-on cap sleeves. But the neckline was just too plain for me and I decided I wanted some drape in that area. Enter Burda 6695 – exactly what I had in mind. It’s an easy pattern that takes just under 2 hours from flat fabric to finished garment. (Probably less if you’re not fiddly with your hems and such.)

I made only a few alterations to the pattern: shortened the back and lowered the back neckline to account for my erect posture and low neck base, and shortened the hem 1″ all the way around. I left the front neckline as it was because 1. I didn’t want to fiddle with the complex-looking piece, and 2. it’s going to drape anyway. Once I made the first top, I knew I had a winner so I just kept cutting and sewing.

The fabric that is mostly red is a poly/lycra ITY jersey. I actually made two tops using it, same pattern. It’s comfortable and feels nice, if a little bit swimwear like. The other three prints are rayon/lycra jersey. I don’t know what rock I’ve been living under that I never knew about this fabulous material. It’s awesome! I’ll be ordering and sewing up more.

The skirts are my own frankenpattern of BWOF 3/02 #125. I copied the shape of the part below the waist, then brought it in a bit at the waist using a curved ruler and some guessing. I used the existing darts in the back and left the front plain. The waist is finished with elastic. I was going for the same concept as Pamela’s Magic Pencil Skirt, only without her pattern and without any tapering at the hem.

The skirt fabrics are both denim. The black denim is a cotton/lycra blend from JoAnn’s. It’s very comfortable but it does seat out a bit after spending an hour or so in the car. I don’t mind it much; it was a test version that turned out very wearable. The red denim is a cotton/poly/lycra blend from EmmaOneSock and it’s awesome! It has excellent recovery so no seating out. I have ordered more.

For the cardigan, I wanted to use Simplicity 1945 view A but when I compared it to the top pattern, it was clear that the batwing sleeves were just much too big. So more frankenpatterning ensued: I took the BWOF 3/02 #125 for the back and most of the front, then merged the waterfall part of Simplicity 1945 into it. I think it worked out quite well. In the next iteration, I will bring the shoulder seams closer to the neck by a half inch or so, to keep the neckline from feeling too wide.

The fabric for the cardigan is a lightweight wool jersey from Elfriede’s Fine Fabrics in Boulder, CO. It feels like forever since I visited it. The jersey is perfect for this cardigan – just the right weight and warmth.

Well, this is all I can remember right now. I have a bunch of other fabrics in the queue, just waiting to join this mini wardrobe in the closet. I’m really loving all the prints and the comfy skirts so there will be more of them. I’m thinking about making some solid tops with patterned skirts to see if that works just as well. If not, I’ll go back to printed tops and solid skirts. We’ll see.

Happy sewing!