Finished Project: Merino Plantain Top

This is fabric piece #4 of 5 of my beloved merino stash. When I originally purchased the other pieces my main goal was to make warm activewear for winter running. But I couldn't resist buying this extra piece, which color was called 'Seattle Grey'. Living in Vancouver, only 3 hours north of Seattle, that reference to our most common winter weather totally spoke to me.

Instead of activewear, this time I wanted to make a simple every day top, so I decided to try Deer and Doe's free pattern Plantain. I liked the A line shape and the wide round neckline.

I cut a size 36 everywhere except for the hem, where I cut along the size 46 line (which added about 3.5cm to the length). The fit was good right off the bat, although I think I could probably use a bit more ease around the bust.

Other than that, I added 2.5 cm to the sleeve length (long sleeve version). The sleeves where still feeling a little short even with the added length, so instead of hemming them, I added a small sleeve band, which also created a slight gather at the wrist. I like the result.

I've had some issues with my previous merino makes, to get the hem to sit properply and not get all wonky after a few wash - mostly due to the stretchiness of the fabric. This time thanks to the A-line shape, the hem doesn't need to stretch over the hips, so I actually added stay tape to the hem. It worked perfectly to keep it nice and clean (at least much cleaner then without tape).

The pattern came together super easily, nothing difficult about the construction. Overall, a pretty simple to make, easy to wear shirt, with the added bonus of warmth without bulk, as merino fabric is incredible that way.

I've only got one piece of merino left (but quite a bit of scraps which I could probably make underwear out of even), destined to be another running top. But that probably won't happen until later this year as I'm now in the process of making myself...a pair of wide-legged super comfy sweat pants...

We took the photos at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls near Chilliwack, BC, a pretty scenic setting for an otherwise

Finished Project: Knit dress

This is Vogue 1315.  I found the pattern in the $1 bin at Fabrics, ect... in Vancouver. It's a loose-fitting dress with elasticated dress, with pleating and slouchy pocjet design which make it a bit more interesting than just plain knit dress. I bought it thinking it would go into my stash to be made at a later time, but when I saw this fabric on the top of my stash, I thought it would be a could match, and an easy project to complete.

The fabric is a wine-coloured cotton jersey bought at Gala Fabrics shortly before they closed down.It's a medium weight with a good balance of body and drape.
The most complicated step when making the dress was figuring out how to fold the pleat on the skirt before attaching the pocket. The instructions where pretty straight forward but I mistakenly made the pleat on the wrong side, which I only realized later on when trying to line up the sides of the dart and they didn't match up. Fortunately I was able to reverse the darts without having to undo all the pocket seams.

The top was a no brainer. The only thing I modified was the neckline. The neckline is supposed to be finished with two ovelapping bands with raw edges, which, when using the proper fabric weight/content, end up rolling down. I liked that design detail but my fabric would just not roll (it was either too heavy, or maybe 100% cotton doesn't roll the way lycra does?). Anyways, I didn't want to waste the pieces so I ended up sewing both bands together along their longer edge. Since one was narrower than the other, when folding in half lengthwise, the seam did not end up on the fold, but on the inside, which was perfect to conceal it.

I then attached the band to the neckline and finished it with a pretty stretch topstitch.

I attached the sleeves to the shoulders first, then sewed the sleeve seam and side seam in one go. Adding the elastic at the waist was easy,. The casing for the elastic is created by folding the seam allowance from the bodice down towards the skirt and top-stithing in place. I finished the hem with the same stretch topstich as the neckline.

Confession: I haven't actually finished the sleeve hem yet ( I was too eager to wear it). I don't think I will leave it raw, but because I like the look without any top-stitching, I might try to use an invisible hem.

Fitting-wise, I made the following pattern alterations:
Added 2.5 cm (1 inch)  to the bodice length
added 2.5 cm to the skirt along the cutting line, as well as 7cm at the hem (and boy am I glad I did, the original length would have been a tunic on me).
Added 2.5 cm to the sleeve length.
I also took out about 1inch at the armhole, tapering to nothing at the elbow and waist.

If I make this dress again I might try to cut the bodice in a size 8 instead of 10, or maybe remove 1.5-2cm from the center front and back, to make the necline slightly less wide and bring the shoulders closer to center.
Overall I'm quite happy, this is a very comfortable dress, easy to wear, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a regular in my clothing rotation.