I’ve made another skirt and top set for Cassie :
Patterns; the Tshirt is the Named patterns Inari tee, and the skirt is Vogue 1170. I’ve made several of these skirts now, and quite a few are now owned by Cassie. The only alteration I made was to lengthen it by about 5cm, and leave off the pockets. Oh, I also made a few fitting alterations… even though I’ve made the pattern several times and I really like it; however the fit is actually not very good. Fortunately though it’s an easy fix, taking in each of the side/back seams… my alterations to the skirt seams are pictured with my original review of the pattern here, and basically I have to make very similar alterations for Cassie
Fabrics; both from Spotlight.. I spotted this cute cotton jersey with its wonky rows of houses during Christmas shopping, and while I’d already bought her Christmas fabrics I just couldn’t resist! Cheerful, cherry red background, and those cute little white cottages with pink and teal rooves! And by the way, what’s with me and pink and teal this year?? I’ve made four things so far this year and they have all been deep blue and/or pink. Weird! Anyway, the print is cute and young and fun and just right for her colouring, all round just perfect … and I knew she has lots of skirts and jeans that would be perfect with it…
Then I vaguely thought maybe a navy blue skirt would make it a nicely complete set, and she desperately needs skirts for work too … and lo and behold what should be lounging languidly about in the very next aisle but this teal blue suedette, which is a PERFECT colour match for the rooves. BAM! DECISION MADE. Lugged them both to the counter without a second thought, brought them home, tossed into the washing machine.
About this time, I saw that happylat had also made a Tshirt from this very same fabric. What can I say, but great minds think alike!
I lined the waistband with some of the house fabric… not because I had run out of suedette or anything, but I just thought it was cute and I wanted to tie the two pieces together!
this is on grain, I promise!! the print is just naturally, and charmingly wonky
The suedette “looks” nice and perfectly suede-y, but it frays like billy-o. I finished all the raw edges on the overlocker, and the lower hem with a bias cut binding cut from a scrap of purple/blue micro fibre. tutorial for this bias finish is here
The Tshirt is made up just like the pattern, except for the neckline… I’m lazy with my Inari necklines and have pretty much finished them all off like this! Just overlocked the raw edge, turned it under and topstitched from the right side. Since it’s quite a wide neckline and doesn’t stretch out when you put the Tshirt on and take it off, the stitches won’t snap and this kind of finish works perfectly well.
The lower hem is finished with my twin needle. Lisa asked about channelling with a twin needle.. all I can say is that I’ve never had channelling and what’s more I have no idea how I’ve avoided it so far either!! Only thing I can think of: I always finish the raw edge on my overlocker, then topstitch with the twin needle, and that’s it! Maybe the overlocked edge stabilises the fabric and that’s what stops a channel forming? That’s the only reason I can think of anyway. 🙂
red threads on top, white in the bobbin; white overlocker thread
So! New outfit for her. I think it makes a really cute ensemble and will get lots of wear, both together, and also separately a lot too, probably. See, in my experience deep blue skirts are just about the most useful things a girl can have in the wardrobe… and she practically squealed when I brought out the Tshirt! so I knew that was a winner too. Truly, she’s happy, therefore I am too 🙂
Later edit; at the time of making, she was pretty adamant that she didn’t want it lined so it would be cooler to wear in summer… however! the suedette is a little clingy! so, to give her the option, at least, I quickly ran up a simple little half-slip for her to wear underneath. Vogue 1247 with the pieces spliced to simplify it as much as possible, navy blue, polyacetate lining fabric. . A skinny 1cm finished width, uninterfaced waistband, a finished slit at CB and no zip, and with one small snap for closure. Easy peasy!
Details:
Top, Inari tee by Named patterns, cotton jersey
Skirt; Vogue 1170, lengthened, suedette
Petticoat; Vogue 1247, pattern pieces spliced, navy blue polyacetate lining fabric
Shoes; Melissa
This is such a perfect set! I love it!
a lovely model with very nice set ! bravo
Ok, now you’re making me want to give suede-like fabrics a try!
Thanks for being candid about the shortcomings of the skirt pattern.
All I can add is that as always Cassie looks incredibly cool and stylish. 🙂
Gorgeous!
Channelling happens with a twin needle when the tension is too tight – loosen it off a bit and all should be well.
that makes perfect sense, thanks Clare!
Cassie looks so much like you! This is a fabulous outfit.
I’m always shocked at how much that faux suede frays! It’s a really cute set, and I bet Cassie will get a ton of use out of both pieces.
Such a lovely outfit, Cassie is so lucky to have you make her beautiful things, but then again, you’re lucky to have a daughter who appreciates them!
A very lovely set. The boxy tee works so well with the fitted skirt. Curious to know if you have had any issues with static electricity in the suedette? I made a skirt from a similar fabric, also from Spotlight and it clings terribly, despite using anti static spray and other remedies.
thanks Sew Jean Margaret! IN answer, yes; the suedette does cling pretty bad, she was adamant that she didn’t want it lined because she thought it would be more comfortable in summer. However I’m making a half slip for her to wear underneath because I’m pretty sure she’ll change her mind! It’s basically a separate lining, just a very simple, skirt in polyacetate lining fabric with a slit in the centre back and a snap closure. I’ll show pictures of it sometime 🙂
gorgeous outfit – did you ever make the top from the vogue pattern? (I just looked up that vogue pattern – its gorgeous). perfect fabrics, really lovely
thanks eimar! yes I did make the top from this pattern here => a pretty silk blouse it’s quite a nice pattern, I wore it a few times but found the folded knot at the front made it impossible to iron adequately. I recommend a fabric that doesn’t need ironing, or that you don’t mind a few wrinkles. 🙂
Very pretty outfit! Thanks so much for sharing how you used your twin-needle and overlock to hem the top. I’m gonna apply those tips to my next knit top project. Happy Sewing Carolyn.
This is fabulous, and thanks for sharing your tips for making. You are so accomplished, but also so practical in your finishing! Your approach to sewing reminds me of my mother. It takes years of experience to figure out where effort is needed, and where good enough is good enough.
Love the combination!
This is very cute! I do love the lines of the skirt – and your leatherette version is awesome. I’ve been wanting a little top just like this for myself, and actually just purchased some fabric for it last week in a similar colour to Cassie’s. I better get onto it before summer is over!
Very cute outfit!
Great outfit. Spotty’s got some real diamonds in the rough at the moment!
Lovely outfit – Cassie is very lucky to have you to make such pretty outfits. And those little houses are so cute.
Very beautiful pieces. Both suit her so well.
I love it when they ‘practically squeal’. It is music for my ears and always makes me smile. What a fun ensemble. The finished skirt looks better than on the pattern envelope. Great job!
Beautiful pieces and love they how they look together.
Love both pieces!
How lovely! Good to see that a sweet print like that can look perfectly grownup on the right garment. Also, thank you for using ‘rooves’ – one of the endangered plurals! (Greatly enjoyed your use of the correct ‘palate’ in a recent post, too, but your blog wouldn’t let me comment; let’s see if it works today…)
Really cute house fabric, and the skirt´s construction is cool! 🙂
I have some suedette exactly this weight/drape in teal, and I’ve got a Chado Ralph Rucci 90% done (in fact, one you’ve sewn in blue silk) in this fabric. I’m having a heck of a time with the topstitching. I’m using a top-stitching weight thread in my top, regular poly in the bobbin, and when I go over the interfaced sections to topstitch, my tension is getting wicked bad and wonky – there’s no rhyme or reason, it seems – it was more or less fine when I topstitched the parts w/o the stabilizer…so I can’t rip it all out and start over – I’m wondering if you have any pointers or if you had any issues with it like that? I’ve gotten so frustrated, I put it in holding … 3 months ago. I’ve futzed with the tension and everything I can think of…swapped out needles and needle size… argh.
Oh, I hate it when that happens! Sometimes I get that when my machine has topstitching thread in the needle and regular thread in the bobbin, it’s just something my machine occasionally struggles with too. It sounds like you’ve tried lots of different things, here are a few things I might try in that situation… Have you tried using a denim needle or even a leather needle? the suedette is a very dense fabric and it maybe that your regular needle, even a new sharp one, is having trouble “stabbing” through. Another thing to try is to unthread, take out the bobbin case,and give the machine a good brush-out and clean, removing all fluff from the bobbin casing and from under the feed dogs, I’ve sometimes found that can help. Finally, try giving your machine a service, following the instructions in the manual. I hope this helps! 🙂
Oh! another last resort suggestion: if you still find it’s just not working no matter what, get some regular thread in the same colour topstitching thread you’ve been using and just use that for the interfaced sections that have been giving the trouble. If it looks TOO different from the other sections where you’ve used topstitching thread, maybe try doubling it up to get that same “thick” look that topstitching thread has? I’ve never tried this myself, but it’s just a last ditch suggestion… I’d try it on some scrap first. 🙂