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SewLibra: Simplicity 3786. I bought this OOP pattern on ebay last year. I love the pintucking and plan to shirr the back instead of the short elastic they suggest. I'm going to put in the bishop sleeves and see if I like them.
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SewLibra: Years ago I went to an ASG fabric sale and bought this 2 yard piece of rayon challis for $4.00. It's fairly sheer but the pintucks in front will help, along with a cami underneath. The tiny dots are reddish-brown.
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SewLibra: I have some leftover woven burgundy stretch crepe and am playing around with the line drawing, thinking of color blocking the collar and cuffs. If I can pull it off I'll add flat piping at the sleeve seams. There's alot of gathering there though!
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SewLibra: I'm fast forwarding just to say that after I cut my real fabric it dawned on me that I didn't want to be mistaken for a bartender or Dixieland banjo player with sleeve garters! Lol. Nixed that idea and will make it plain.
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SewLibra: The finished measurements are on the pattern pieces, so I was pretty sure a size 14 would work without an FBA. I used my princess seam sloper to compare and was confident it would work.
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SewLibra: I finally finished up that ugly print rayon and had to finish with cotton muslin fabric for my muslin/toile. The sleeves are too long and too voluminous for my taste. Hubby said it looks hippie and "groovy". Haha!
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SewLibra: The sleeve bands were too large for my wrists as well. I was going to reduce them by 1 1/2" but ended up doing only 1" to make sure I could fit my hand through, and it was the right decision.
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SewLibra: Shortened the sleeves 1 1/2" by taking 3/4" from the upper sleeve and 3/4" from the lower sleeve. Made a vertical fold on the lower sleeve of 1 1/2" (for a total of 3") to reduce width. Reduced the sleeve cap ease by making a 1/4" fold above the notches
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SewLibra: All three bodice pieces were shortened 2 1/2". The pattern's back waist in size 14 is 16 1/2", and my neck to back waist is 15", so I folded out 1 1/2" at the waist, and another inch at the hip.
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SewLibra: My fabric is thin and soft, and has been washed at least twice. I could tell when I bought it at the ASG sale, and I also washed it before storing it. It slipped like crazy so I pinned along a line of dots before cutting my pattern out.
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SewLibra: A member on Patternreview.com, manecoarse, wrote a tip about using a laser level for lining up your pattern pieces on the grainline. I bought one and what a help it is! So cool!
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SewLibra: My Ryobi laser level has a suction feature I don't need or like, so I cut a piece of foam to keep it from sticking to my table. This way I can easily move it. It also makes a noise when it's on. If I find a better one hubby can have this one!
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SewLibra: On the front section above the pintucks, I traced with an air erasable pen since no way was my rotary cutter going to do that. I used the rotary cutter first for everything but that edge, then used scissors.
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SewLibra: Here I'm marking the pintucks right before sewing them. I tested the air erasable pen first to make sure the ink would disappear. I love those pens!
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SewLibra: The first thing I do when making pintucks is start at the side closet to me and press the tucks on the lines. Just press the edge of the fold so you don't "unpress" what you've already done.
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SewLibra: All ten tucks are ready to be sewn now. A clapper is handy to make the folds crisp and stay in place.
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SewLibra: On this pattern all the tucks are the same length. I used a pin at the end of the lines because I had a hard time seeing it right on the edge there! Also, I always use an edge stitch foot set at 1/8" to ensure the stitching is even.
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SewLibra: I took this pic to show how different the tucks look on cotton vs. rayon. They are marked and sewn the same, yet the rayon's tucks are so close together! It really took me aback as I didn't expect that much difference. Note the tucks are pressed away fr
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SewLibra: If you don't want to wait for all the air erasable ink to disappear, you can dab it with a wet towel to speed it up. The ends of my tuck lines had blobs of ink and patience is not one of my virtures. Haha!
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SewLibra: Instead of using a 4" piece of elastic at the back waist as per instructions, I'm going to sew three rows of shirring. I found the center back and measured down 15" (my back waist) plus 5/8" SA and used a ruler to draw my sewing lines.
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SewLibra: Yeah, I have a messy corrected line there, oops! Here I am shirring a line, pivoting, going up 1/4" to the next line, repeat. The lines are 7" wide are 1/4" apart.
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SewLibra: After my shirring was done I zig zagged on each end to make it extra secure through washings. I did hand wash and partially machine dry this top after it was finished, and all was well.
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SewLibra: Here is the finished shirring in the back and I have to say it looks way better than a little piece of elastic in a casing. I made my shirring lines 7" long and they ended up 3 1/2" long.
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SewLibra: Since my fabric is delicate I stabilized the shoulder line at the 5/8" SA with Design Plus fusible stay tape.
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SewLibra: I pressed the shoulder seam allowance to the back and topstitched it in place with an edge stitch foot. This is not in the instructions but it's a good idea to keep the shoulder smooth.
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SewLibra: For the mandarin collar interfacing, I'm using Pellon Sheer-Knit SK135. You can use stretch interfacing on wovens but not the other way around. I love it for wovens because it gives structure but stays pliable.
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SewLibra: Step 8 and 9 say "single notched edge" but it's the double notched edge. There is no single notched edge and the illustration is correct.
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SewLibra: I'm going to press under 3/8" on the interfaced collar piece. Having a heavily padded board is a must for me. I pin into on every single project and then remove the pins as I press. It's very quick!
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SewLibra: Now is the time to sew on your label if you use them, on the facing that is NOT interfaced and make sure it won't be upside down when done. I fuse the label first with a small piece of Stitch Witchery to keep it in place, then sew it on.
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SewLibra: Tip: To make sure your collar ends wil be the same, mark the seam allowance as a guide on the curves. I'm not great on curves so this helps a lot.