Finding and Following RTW Trends

Normally when I am purchasing fabric and planning projects, I make an attempt to locate something similar through snoop shopping some of my favorite RTW locations. One of the reasons that I do this is because if your goal is to make something that is current, fashionable, and cannot be readily identified as handmade...it is important to make sure that you are following current trends. Some of the things that I look for in snoop shopping are:

1. Fabric type
2. Colors and prints
3. Details like buttons and embellishments
   

For example, patterns often make recommendations for buttons that are much larger than what you typically see in RTW clothing. Also, fabric stores do not necessarily carry all the current trends/prints in fabrics. When I deviate from following the "rules," I find that I start to cross the line into "Becky Home-Ecky," as Michael Kors says on Project Runway.

My most recent project is one of the best examples I have put together lately of following the RTW trends.

Earlier in spring, I had saved to my "inspiration" folder the following shirt that I had seen on the Anthropologie website:


Then...I found some really nice cotton lawn on the FFC website:


Combine this with Hot Patterns 1043, the Vintage HotPatterns Boho Deluxe Peasant Top:


And....voila! My Anthropologie knockoff!


Unlike the newer Hot Patterns, this one has un-illustrated instructions that are separate from the rest of the pattern sheets. Even though, I found the top to be easy to put together. It is a simple raglan sleeve top, just like one of a million I have put together before. There are two options for necklines, a flat neck band with the shirt gathered onto it, or a casing with gathering. I opted for the flat neck band since it looked a little more finished to me. Be sure to make yourself a "tag," otherwise you can't really tell the front from the back!


I got impatient sewing it...and when I didn't have the right color thread, rather than wait for a trip to the fabric store I just used white thread. I think it looks fine:


As always with new Hot Patterns, I always sew a muslin. There is nothing really to show here, other than my proof that I am actually SEWING FROM STASH!


The only thing I learned from the muslin was that I needed to contour the side seams more, and shorten the top by 2 inches. It's actually pretty handy using a plaid for muslins because the grid helped me move the alterations from the top to the pattern...you always have a line or some other marker that you can measure to or from. Oh, I also learned that I am too damn old for tiny puff sleeves. No worries, though, the shirt will not go unloved...a co-worker has already laid claim to it!

Happy Snoop Shopping, All!

Another Summer Tunic, Simplicity 2365

It seems that tunics are kind of my "thing" this summer. I have already completed two others, and this weekend I finished up a version of Simplicity 2365, a tunic with shoulder princess seams and a pintucked bodice. 2365 is very similar to Simplicity 3786, except 2635 has a center back seam. I had initially purchased 3786, but noticed the lack of shaping to the back and reconsidered.


Simplicity 2365 is one of those patterns that suffer from some really unattractive pattern art...which seems to obscure the fairly nice lines of the pattern (not the one with the belt, that one is awful). Sometimes the line drawings can be so frumpy...Kwik Sew is guilty of this, too. I pass them over all the time for being old fashioned...until I see a review on PR that looks fabulous and I have to go back and reconsider.

Fortunately for me and my tunic obsession, it also seems that tunics are popular in RTW this season. For example, I found one with similar pintucks on Bluefly.com:


Bright colors and florals are certainly in right now:


Given that, I felt fairly confident that the tunic that I was making would not be off-trend for the season:


I used a floral printed dotted swiss, in shades of pink and white:


I used the sleeve option with the button tab that would hold them when they were rolled up. My grandma loved these kinds of sleeves. Think I will immediately start tucking kleenex up my sleeves and complaining about being cold?


I also used french seams throughout so that it would look cleaner when the sleeves were rolled up and also so a serged seam would not show through the light-weight fabric. I even managed a french seam on the armscye...something that I hadn't attempted before. Starting with that skinny seam allowance actually made easing the sleeve cap a lot easier, I may just start doing this all the time:


I ordered a couple more lawns from the recent sale on cottons at Fashion Fabrics Club, one could be a ringer for the navy and white Anthropologie tunic pictured above. Hopefully I'll get a few more summer shirts out of the way before it gets too hot. I also have been working on some alterations to the Hot Patterns Summer in the City shirt...stay tuned...it is massively different than the first version! I also need to put together a few pairs of drawstring pants to slouch around in...so I'll have quite a bit of sewing on my plate the next few weeks.

New HotPatterns Shirt

This weekend I completed HotPatterns 1108, the "Weekender Sunshine Summer in the City Shirt, Tunic and Dress." I made the shirt version. Here is the pattern art:


And here is the description from the HotPatterns website:

"Easy, breezy and totally gorgeous shirt style, this works best in drapey shirt weight fabrics like soft chambray, rayon, crepe, silk twill, washed linen, voile, or even a knit jersey.

Semi-fitted shirt has classic collar and stand; front and back are gathered onto a yoke. Choose from 3 lengths...shirt, tunic or shirtdress, all finished with a shirt-tail hem. Shirt offers 3 different short sleeve options... rolled up with buttoned strap; elasticated; and ruched with self fabric drawstring.

Perfect for casual weekend looks but also great for low-key day or evening outfits, this beautifully relaxed style is a must-have addition to your HotPatterns wardrobe...wear the dress version belted for a casually chic outfit; try the shirt version tucked into a slick pencil skirt and wear the tunic version over slim or relaxed-fit cropped or rolled-up pants."

From my experience with this pattern, I can say that you must follow the fabric recommendations. I think that mine might even have been a bit stiff. I'll launder it a couple of times to see if the gathers calm down, but I pressed the gathers down on the back to keep it from "pouffing" (of course, if you watch the video posted on the website, Trudy's pouffs on the back, too).

Number two, there was a little oddness when attaching the shirt fronts to the yoke. If I matched the notches exactly...this is what I ended up with:

The portion to the left in the image is the shirt front (button placket to the top of the image) and the yoke is to the right. You can see there is a bit of offset at the end of the yoke. So, I did this:


And that seemed to work perfectly fine, the end of the yoke seam is hidden in the collar stand, and the collar stand fits perfectly. Here is the finished shirt:


The sleeves look a bit forlorn just hanging there on the mannequin, but in reality they are quite cute. I guess you could say they are kind of a modified Kimono sleeve.

Here is the shirt from the back:


You can see that the back is heavily gathered. The gathers are a much softer look than pleats.

And here is the shirt ready to go to work:


You can see the length since I opted not to tuck it in. This is the shirt length. I found the shirt to be a bit roomier than what I normally wear, being a bit heavy I normally try to avoid extra volume in my clothes. To minimize the volume I ended up belting it to wear it to work today.

There also seems to me to be a little too much fabric under the arms...I know that with a kimono-type sleeve there is always going to be fabric folded under the arms, but I thought that I could minimize that in a second version (I started the alterations this evening after work, which everything was fresh in my mind).

When I make it again I will make two changes:

1. I will use a significantly smaller size. I cut a 16 based on my measurements (and this is why you should always make a muslin, of course, I didn't) and I have a LOT of extra width, which bunches up under the arms. I realize that with the drop shoulders this is going to happen regardless, but I just feel that it is a bit too much. The neck is also a touch big, so I think I might go down as far as a 12 for a second version.
   
2. I will eliminate some of the fullness in the back and contour the side seams more. Right now, the shirt cannot be worn unless it is belted or tucked in...although if I get pregnant this will be my "go to" (banish the thought, I'm too old and my eggs are expired). Not that this is necessarily a problem, I have lots of shirts I only wear tucked in...but if I were to make the tunic length it would be intended to be worn out...not tucked. And right now the fullness is fine for the dress or for the shirt, because either of those would be tucked in or belted.

Overall, a nice addition to the wardrobe for the summer...not to mention, I used fabric as well as buttons from stash...Yay for not buying more stuff!