Kwik Sew 3378 & New Look 6674

I did some more sewing this week. I’m really on quite a roll and loving it.

Here is Minerva modeling the Kwik Sew 3378 top. Poor Minerva never gets to wear anything new and modern. One of my next projects needs to be to add some padding to her to match my own and to make her a nice knit “skin” so she can model more of my stuff. Her upper chest and shoulder are just about right but she has a tiny Victorian sized waist and a lot of junk in her trunk.

 

 

Here’s me modeling the same top. As you can see I am decidedly thicker than Minerva! As far as the top goes I am very happy with this pattern. The wrap is in just the right place for me (my friend Nic says it makes me look like I have HUGE boobs. Her words, not mine.) The pattern couldn’t be simpler or quicker to make. I used my serger for most of the construction seams and my Bernina 180 for the top stitching and hemming. If I had had more thread in the appropriate color (I was down to a tiny amount on a spool) I would’ve double needle cover-stitched the neckline, sleeve and bottom hems. This might also be a good pattern to try the decorative flatlock techniques featured in this month’s Threads magazine. Regardless, I am adding this pattern to the queue to make some short sleeved T’s for summer.

 

I think I found my summer wrap dress pattern. This is also a New Look pattern, similar to this dress but with a few minor differences. First of all the 6349 pattern only goes up to a size 18 and in the right fabric it would fit okay but is tight in a few key areas (arms, boobs, waist) Also this pattern has an interfaced midriff band. This gives it just a bit more definition and adds the option of a contrasting fabric which is a really slimming look. 6349 is a true wrap dress with ties that go all the way around, through a slit in the side seam and this pattern has a button on the inside and ties at the hip. Both styles have their good and bad points. The true tie wrap style is more flexible and adjustable. I cut a size 20 in this pattern and that gave me all the extra room I needed in the arms and waist. Almost too much room, I can tie the ties as tight as they will reach, but this makes the neckline nice and tight and the V-neck from being too low.

Overall I really like how this dress turned out. A wardrobe of simple dresses like this would easily replace all the shorts and T-shirts in my closet for casual easy summer wear. I’ve gotten to the age and body type now that shorts in any length just aren’t flattering on me and not fit for public consumption. The last note on this dress is the fabric. It is a woven cotton with some lycra/spandex in it. It has a great crosswise stretch that makes this dress really comfortable. I wasn’t sure about the print at first but with luck I managed to cut and assemble it without one of the ellipse shapes falling in an unfortunate spot. I do seem to have an irrational fear of misplaced prints. I do think that the patterns and colors bring to mind semaphore flags or something quite nautical. This is one of the fabrics I picked while in Michigan at Fields Fabric. I think this dress cost me less than $10!

Just a couple of quick construction notes on this pattern. I didn’t modify anything other than using my serger for as many of the seams as possible. This is a woven fabric and I’m sure this dress will get a lot of wear and washing so I wanted the seams to hold up and look good. The instructions would have you turn under 1/4” on the raw edge of the inside of the midriff band and then stitch-in-the ditch from the outside to catch the folded edge. I opted to just over-lock this edge and then stitch-in-the-ditch. This gave me more fabric to catch with the stitches when sewing “blind” and a smoother, less bulky edge at the waist line. I did do the hem and front skirt edges as instructed but I don’t think it would have been a problem to also over-lock those raw edges, turn up and topstitch. I used the woven fusible interfacing that I recently ordered from Moda. I am really happy with it. It bonds great with a hot steam iron and adds just the right amount of body without being stiff.