Tag Archives: Vogue 1248

Blue-collar crime

15/01/2012 3:10 am \ 49 Comments \ Carolyn

The charge; gratuitously making for myself the same shirt, a second time. Namely the Vogue 1248 triple collared shirt. Well, how many collars does a girl really need?? (tsk tsk)
No plea entered, as the defendant is so clearly guilty as charged.
Sentenced; to wear it during a humid 37C day and attempt to look cool, calm and collected for a picture.
Verdict for that one; hmmm… what do you think?
OK, I’ve made another loose ‘n light little triple collared shirt. Again?? And so soon after the last effort? I seeeee. Shouldn’t you be starting on some of those (ahem) piles of other new patterns, awaiting your attention?
Well those three collars were just begging to be constructed in three different colours, no? I was simply itching to give it a try… and after all that Christmas shirt-making I had just the right selection of leftover scraps to piece together what I envisioned would be a kinda cool look. Not just tri-coloured collars, but a tri-colour shirt, like allover…
I really like this sort of patched look. The blocks of various blues together reminds me of those refashioned denim jeans garments that you see; made of cutting up and re-patching together old blue denim jeans to give a mixed up patchwork of varying shades of indigo. It also reminds me a little of another look I admired in Celine pre-fall 2011, below. Still going with that refashioned denim jeans vibe; I’ve topstitched all the seams in orange.
The shirt is all shot cotton, bought here. The left front and right back are Sky, the leftovers from this shirt, and the darker blue sections are True Cobalt, the leftovers from this shirt. The right front and left back are of a very pale blue named Ice; and technically speaking this might not qualify as a leftover scrap. I bought this about two years ago with the original intention of making another shirt for Craig, but the very pale baby-blue colour did not find favour… so I have gradually been using it up bit by bit for facing, pocket and lining purposes in other projects, but so far it has not been used in any publicly viewed part of a garment! I managed to cut the pieces for this shirt out of what is left after all that nibbling. So, does that make it a leftover, or not??
This cotton is thicker and more robust than the thin voile I used for my first cafe latte version of this shirt pattern, so the collars do not sit as flat together. But on the other hand, the snaps on those buttonbands feel a lot more secure, and less likely to rip the fabric. Speaking of the buttonbands; I wanted the third blue fabric to feature here, so the four of them have been constructed as separate wraparound bands that sit up over the body of the shirt. That took a bit of extra fiddling and measuring, but nothing drastically difficult.

(below right; from Celine pre-fall 2011, source)

All the seaming in the body of the shirt is flat-felled, and the raw edges of the armhole facings have HongKong finishing, using bias strips cut from the Ice shot cotton.

Details:
Shirt; Vogue 1248, different shades of shot cotton, in Ice, Sky and True Cobalt, my review of this pattern here
Skirt; Vogue 1248, cotton voile, my review of this pattern here
Thongs; ?? crappy blue and white rubber things nicked from my son’s wardrobe. I think he must have grown out of these years ago…

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, top, Vogue 1248

A sleeveless top, con latte

12/11/2011 2:19 pm \ 46 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made a new top!
This is the little top from Vogue 1248, made of a light cotton voile the colour of pale milky coffee, and with miniature metallic silver polka-dots dotted sweetly all over like a starry starry sky…
the most interesting feature of this top is that it has a triple collar. This, I love. How cool and easy is this idea? so simple and so cute and yet you don’t see multiple collars very often, if at all. When I was planning the top, I thought how wonderful it would be to make the collars in different colours to really show off this feature but couldn’t find matching weight fabrics in colours I liked, and I vetoed as being too wasteful the idea of dyeing tiny little collar-sized pieces of fabric. So in the end I took the easy route of just using all one fabric. Next time… and yup, I am already plotting a next time, mwahaha (watch this space!)
The top also has snap-opening plackets both front and back, and I chose silver snaps to match the tiny silver dots on the fabric.
I’m not thrilled with the snaps… because my fabric is very very light and just may be too fragile for snaps, yikes! Undoing the snaps I am veeery carefully and slowly prising them apart, absolutely terrified of ripping the fabric. But this is completely my fault for not putting in heavy-duty enough interfacing to stabilise the plackets enough, something to bear in mind.
Another unusual feature about this little top; the two fronts and the two backs just go into the collar; with no shoulder joining seams, or any shoulder at all, for that matter! So really my calling it a sleeveless top is not going far enough; it is more specifically a shoulderless as well as a sleeveless top. I just went with “sleeveless” because; well, “sleeveless and shoulderless top” up in the blog post title is not super-succinct but is a bit of a mouthful and would have just befuddled and confused and had y’all going, “wha’?? no sleeves and no shoulders, well how can there be any top even left?”…. but yeah, one’s shoulders are bare too. This will a good feature for summer in a hot hot climate like ours; just as long as one remembers to slather on that suncream before heading out.
Following the “finishing off as well as I can” policy; the princess seams are flat-felled, the side seams are French seams, and the armhole facings are edged with self-fabric HongKong seaming but with the fabric reversed so as to have the silver dots hidden inside.
(left; inside the top and clockwise; HongKong seaming around the facing, flat-felled princess seaming, French side seaming: at right; that interesting triple collar)

Details:
Top; Vogue 1248, pale coffee cotton batiste with tiny silver polka-dots
Skirt; Burdastyle 10/2010, 136, made of black suiting, details and my pattern review here
Shoes; Misano, bought from Labels boutique

Pattern Description:
Top: fitted front and back snap closing
Pattern Sizing:
4-10 in this envelope, I made a straight size 10
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?
yes
Were the instructions easy to follow?
yes
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I totally adore the triple collar feature!! Sooo cute! Will be doing this one again for sure, and using different coloured fabrics to highlight the three collars next time…
The length is a nice one which allows the top to look equally good out loose as well as tucked in.
Fabric Used:
very lightweight cotton batiste
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I didn’t make any pattern alterations, but I did flat-felled seams on the princess seams, French seams at the side seams, and applied self-fabric HongKong seaming on the armhole facing edges.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, I am already planning my next version in multiple fabrics, to show off that adorable triple-collared feature…! I do recommend this cute and slightly unusual little top pattern to others too.
Conclusion:
Initially I was a little skeptical about this top pattern, as I tend to shy away from clothes which require special undergarments, but well, logically if you own a halter neck bra then you should wear it at least once in a while, no? And I do love this cute little top, I think the shape is flattering, feminine and quite unusual. My husband likes my shoulders on show like this, and I think the high neckline still gives the top a modest flavour and doesn’t make me feel too exposed so it is a win all round!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, pattern review, Sienna, top, Vogue 1248

Do you like big pockets…?

07/10/2011 8:05 am \ 40 Comments \ Carolyn

… if so then this is the skirt for you! I have never seen pockets to rival these, ever. I knew (intellectually) the pockets were big by the picture on the pattern envelope, but the (realistic) first sight of the pocket pattern piece was still a bit of a shock. Seriously about as big as the skirt pieces, and the skirt pieces are big. Lol!!
But of course, the pockets are not mere pockets at all, but a clever design feature to enhance the pouffiness, the floatiness, and the gathered, over-the-top loveliness that is the hallmark of this beautifully feminine skirt pattern. Side note; my husband commented spontaneously that he loved me in big floaty skirts like this; double WIN! since I love it too.
Funny little anecdote about the pattern… I first saw this on shams’s blog and knew I just had to have it. Those shirt sleeve cuffs on the ends of the sashes; so adorable!! (salivating) must have…
I immediately visited Fabulous Fabrics and asked for the pattern… no, they didn’t have it. I was actually hoping against hope that it was miraculously hidden in the back of the pattern drawer since I had already looked through the Vogue catalogue and noticed it wasn’t there (eek!) I assumed its time had come and gone. I then started trawling ebay, looking for somebody getting rid of their old copy… no dice, although I did fall victim to must-have-itis for a maxi-dress pattern… the product of which has also recently exited my sewing room and been welcomed into the wardrobe… But I digress…
So, in a masterstroke of going to every extreme to get that pattern by hook or by crook, I did some more detective work and eventually discovered and joined BMV where I was amazed to see I could get it for a price that was an incredibly delightful surprise; $3.99. This is about a fifth of the usual price of Vogue patterns in Australia… no, I am not kidding nor exaggerating!!) The cheap price just reinforced my belief that it must be an old pattern and I was lucky to have found it… My pattern arrived and I was supremely happy. Then, get this, the last time I was in Fabulous Fabrics (er, yesterday, hehe… yup I am a regular, on a first name basis with staff) I had a quick flick through the new spring Vogue catalogue, and you guessed it, there was the pattern. It is actually new season, like this season! To us southern hemispheries, that is… thus all finally became clear to this very behind-the-times seamstress why I hadn’t been able to get it before… doh!
I used a very light cotton voile, which I sometimes use as a lining fabric, and the same fabric for both the skirt main and for the lining. I completely love the long long sashes with shirt cuffs on the end, a fun and quirky touch that drew me to the pattern in the first place. Because of this little feature, to my mind the skirt just had to made of white cotton. Nothing else would do… Those shirt cuffs just wouldn’t have the same witty flair unless the style directly referenced the Classic White Shirt. Plus I just adore big white floaty skirts for summer.
And those pockets…? well, they are graaaand, in every sense of the word. I don’t think I could actually really put anything in those pockets, really. Stuff could get lost forever in there…
I have some more fabric to make up the little top as well, but for now, below is my review of the skirt pattern…

Details:
Skirt; Vogue 1248, white cotton voile
Shirt; self-drafted, navy and white stripe cotton jersey, details here
Shoes; Country Road

Pattern Description:
Skirt, gathered, flared and lined, with fitted contoured waistband, centre back zip closure and long attached side sashes with shirt cuff features. HUGE gathered pockets.
Pattern sizing;
I bought the AA 8-12, and cut a size 10.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?
Just about exactly, since I used white fabric too!
Were the instructions easy to follow?
yes
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
The pattern is great. Vogue patterns are always accompanied by clear instructions and detailed illustrations. The pattern pieces went together beautifully.
There is one small thing I would change… the instructions stipulate to gather each skirt piece individually, before joining them together along the side seams. I find I get a much better and smoother gathering result when the whole skirt is gathered as a whole; that is, you join up the skirt pieces at the side seams, THEN run the gathering stitch around the skirt top in one long go. This is because I find that the first and last few centimetres of gathering do not gather as evenly or as ideally as if they were part of one long continuous line of stitching and if the skirt is broken up into several sections you have several of these gathering stitch stop/starts. I would recommend to gather the skirt as a whole. And also to gather the lining skirt as a whole, too.
Fabric Used:
very lightweight cotton voile
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I took about 5cm (2″) overall off the waist band pieces. Also I gathered the skirt as a whole, as discussed above.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, I think I might sew this again, I love it! I highly recommend this skirt pattern to others. Just bear in mind it needs very lightweight drapey fabric, because of all that gathering. I have some fabric to sew the little top, so I will review that separately.
Conclusion:
I just love this skirt! Firstly, the silhouette is delightfully feminine, and the floatiness and frothiness of all those light gathered swathes of fabric floating about you is highly satisfying. I feel just so darn feminine in a skirt like this!!
Secondly, the shirt cuffs on the ends of those sashes are completely adorable and what drew me to this pattern in the first place. Such a witty and unique little detail, that really makes the skirt stand head and shoulders above your average everyday gathered skirt. Not to mention those pockets, which must be the biggest in known history! Another fun and interesting feature…
I’m going to love wearing this skirt over this summer!