Gift for You! Free for a week

As many of you know, from time to time, I send out 'thank you' gifts for you, my loyal subscribers.  For one week, you can claim your new Fashion Leaflet 'the Princess Line Blouse'  After July 21, 2015, there will be a nominal fee for this newest Fashion Leaflet.

So many of our SFD sewists ask for directions to make a basic blouse and how do you size up for just a little more wearing ease from your finished bodice blueprint.  These directions tie all the concepts together for you.  Please enjoy!

Princess Line Blouse

You'll be using your Sure-Fit Designs Dress Kit bodice to design this great-fitting princess line blouse which can be worn open or closed.  The blouse features:

• shoulder princess line detail
• 'V'd Center Front
• CF Placket/band
• Collar & Stand
• Shirttail style of hem
• 3/4 Length Sleeve
• Inverted 'V'd Sleeve hem detail

 It's yours free for a week - until July 21 - as another one of my gifts to you, my loyal customers, subscribers & followers.

New Fashion Leaflet - Click Here 

Happy Sewing

Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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Comfortable Culottes

Yes, that's right, culottes are back.  Some never really stopped wearing them, simply because they are so comfortable, but now they are officially back.

 I first read this article in the Style & Travel section of the Wall Street Journal (by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan), but in doing research about culottes and their comeback, my guess is that it's appeared in other publications.  She says that they're back in a big way for the first time since the 1980's.  You all know that if we wait long enough, the fashion cycle just goes round and round.

This style typically features a  wide, and often voluminous leg that extends from a cinched waistline.  The hem can be anywhere from an inch below the knee to a couple of inches above the ankle.  What makes them so comfortable is that for a really good fit that doesn't bind and pull in the crotch, the crotch point needs to be dropped and extended.  The hang of the leg improves, they won't crawl up between your thighs, and they can give the look of a drapy skirt.

The photo below shows culottes that I designed and sewed for an article featured in Dressmaking with Stitches (an Australian publication).  Of course, the cross-over wrap blouse is also an SFD creation designed and sewn from the Dress Kit.

What to consider when wearing culottes?  Well obviously your height and shape make a difference.  Here are 5 tips that I'll share with you from the article.

• Shorter women will no doubt need heels (shoes or boots) with culottes; taller ladies can wear flats, sandals or fancy sneakers.

• Keep the top slimmed down if you have particularly voluminous legs.

• For evening wear, choose a dressier fabric like silk, or drapy polyesters.

• High-waisted culottes are the most flattering; low-waisted versions can make you look short legged.

• For fall and winter, turtlenecks and knee-high boots work best.

• Steer clear of fabrics that are too stretchy or clingy (such as jersey).

Here's a few of the featured culottes and though I'm not excited about the ones with the hemline boarder trim, they do show you alternative examples.

From InsideOutStyleBlog.com (Imogen Lamport) (who I've recommended many times for dressing for your body shape), she's just written a recent blog on how to dress and accessorize when wearing culottes.  Make sure you take a look at her blog since she offers lots of great photos and excellent accessorizing alternatives. (PS - I should also mention that Sure-Fit Designs is not associated with InsideOutStyleBlog in an way either for personal or business relationships.  I simply happen to believe that Imogen does an excellent job of all the information she presents on her blog).

And, aren't we lucky that with SFD, we don't have to rely on ill-fitting ready-to-wear.  We can sew our own and know they'll fit properly.  Fashion Leaflet #2 gives you all the details you need to design your own from your SFD Pants pattern.  Click Here.

You can choose this version with a 'gaucho' style of leg treatment, or the directions will also tell you how to add a pleat that drapes directly out of center front.  Either way, you win with comfort and fashion.

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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Best Pants Styles for your Body Shape

I've recommended InsideOutStyle blog to you a couple of times...and here is a good reason why.  When you're looking for information on what styles look best on your body shape, Imogene Lamport, from InsideOutStyle, is the lady to ask.

 Here's a great and very informative chart on how to recognize what your body shape is and what style of pants would suit you best.

If you'd like to read more about how to analyze your shape, please click through to this page.
And from there, you know how easy it is to get the best fit possible when drawing and designing it yourself from your SFD pants body blueprint.

Aren't you glad you don't have to rely on ready-to-wear to supply you with well-fitting clothing?

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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Vest Success!

I always love it when you ladies send me photos of your finished projects.  Most of the time, I help you with your fitting muslins, and then never see the finished fashion garments you sew.

Marlene, (Wovenflame), is a relatively new customer, who I've recently helped achieve an excellent bodice fit.  She went immediately on to a finished garment and has just sent me photos of her first project.  Needless to say, her fleece-lined vest fits beautifully.

Here's a series of photos with comments from both me and Marlene so that you can see what she did.

 

The vest front is fitted with this lovely princess line.  Since the photo is a little dark, I used Photoshop to show you exactly where this design line is.

Her muslin needed a back shoulder dart to accommodate for her rounded shoulders.  Since she didn't want the dart in the vest, Marlene designed the back yoke and incorporated the dart into the yoke shaping.  Again, see my 'white' lines.  This was an excellent option to give shaping where needed, but not use the standard dart.

These two show the back princess line going into the armscye.  I know you can't really see it on Marlene, but there is no side seam - it wraps from front around to the back.  The instructions tell you how to do this.  Marlene also says she added 2" extra in length so that the vest would hang just past the fullest part of her hips.

And even though you can't see it up close, she's trimmed it all with hand-made black bias binding.

Didn't she do an excellent job?  If you'd like to read Marlene's blog comments about her experiences, please click here.

And if you're interested in obtaining this relatively new downloadable Fashion Leaflet - the Reversible Vest, you can click here.  In case you don't remember, this is what my version looks like.

 

Marlene, thanks so much for sharing your accomplishments with all of us.

Kindly,

Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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Skirt Styles to Suit Just You!

In the survey from a couple of weeks ago where I asked what Sure-Fit Designs can do for you to help with your fitting and sewing, a number of ladies asked for information on how to choose the best style of garment for their body shape.

Enter in Inside Out Style and Imogene Lamport.  She does a remarkable job of teaching you what your body shape is and what styles will look best on your frame.  I wouldn't even try to duplicate her expertise when she does such a good job.  I actually introduced Imogene to you a number of months ago, but this is definitely worth repeating, particularly for all our newcomers.

A couple of days ago, her blog post was titled 'The Best Skirt for Your Body Shape'.  I'm going to encourage all of you to take a few minutes to scroll through her blog site...there's more where this came from.

This is an informative blog and as you get into her Body Shapes page, you'll discover all kinds of valuable information on analyzing your body shape and learning what styles look best on it.

She doesn't always talk about specific garment styles for body shapes, but I always find her blogs of value.  If this is a topic of interest to you, her blog is definitely worth following.

Thanks so much, Imogene, for sharing your vast knowledge on this topic.

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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Reversible Vest - New Fashion Leaflet

In your recent survey responses, so many of you asked for more downloadable Fashion Leaflets.  'Just keep 'em coming' one lady said.

So here's the newest...a Reversible Vest.  And while it's still winter in our northern climates, you might want to use fleece for either the fashion fabric or the lining.  I choose kind of a puffy, textured fashion fabric (fiber content unknown - thank goodness it didn't melt when pressed!) and lined it with fleece.

By way of designing this vest, I used Princess style lines, but show you how to eliminate the side seam by drawing a modified princess line in the back and connecting to the front side panel.  The SFD Dress Kit bodice is the base pattern for this particular design.

It requires a reversible, separating zipper which you should be able to find at your local fabric store, and if not, I'm sure you can get them online (though I didn't need to do that search as my local Jo Ann store had just what I was looking for).

The collar, armholes and hem edge are bound with double-wide fleece binding typically used on quilts and baby blankets.

You can pick up your downloadable copy at www,surefitdesigns.com - Downloadable Leaflets.  It's in a handy PDF format which is easy for you to print out.  Click Here

Happy Designing & Sewing!
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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SFD with a New Look

You know I always encourage you to use your commercial patterns as a stimulus for your own creations.  And that's exactly what one SFD customer did.  Enter Nadine who used New Look 6243 for her basic dress inspiration.  She had an upcoming wedding and wanted a special dress for the event.  Here she is.  Doesn't she just look lovely in it?

I'd worked with Nadine over the previous months to make sure her bodice was fitting her to perfection.  And now the wedding was getting closer.  It was time to choose the fabric and go for it.  Here's what she did to her SFD bodice pattern.
For the sheer neck/shoulder piece, she simply sliced off her SFD bodice in mid-armscye on both front and back.

Then with the remaining lower bodice, the bust dart got transferred into a princess line style.  The bodice back was also shaped with a princess line.

She drafted a half-circle skirt and made sure the waist lines on bodice and skirt matched.

All these beads...yes, she lovingly stitched each one on individually.  Nadine used 3 different kinds of glass bugle beads...dark plum, abalone and amethyst.  They added just the right amount of  'bling' without being too showy.

Her fabric choice was the Casa line (from Jo Ann) in poly crepe with a poly chiffon for the sheer yoke all in a beautiful eggplant color which looks so lovely on Nadine.  Of course she made the matching wrap in Casa satin.

She's gained so much confidence in following through with this entire project.  And in her words, 'I am sooooo happy!  I've been smocking and sewing formal dresses for all my daughters, but now to add in the ability to fit myself...my dream come true!

I'm sure Nadine would love to hear your comments.  You truly have done a lovely ensemble that you should be so proud of!

Thanks so much for sharing with all our SFD sewists.

Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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T-Shirt Tactics

Everybody loves to wear T-shirts.  For some they are a wardrobe staple - for others they are only occasional wear.  Whatever their place is in your clothing needs, you have choices within the Sure-Fit Designs fitting and designing system as to how you approach this style of garment.

Typically, the T-shirt is relatively close fitting and does not have a bust dart and is sewn from a knit fabric.  The no-bust dart feature does present a problem for you full-busted women.  You all know you will always achieve a superior fit when your pattern has a bust dart.

The Sure-Fit Designs pattern kits provide either the darted bodice pattern from the Dress Kit, or the undarted pattern from the Shirt Kit.  Most of you already know that the Dress Kit bodice has 2 1/2" (6.4 cm) ease in the bust circumference, whereas the Shirt Kit has 5-6" (12.7 - 15.2 cm) ease in the chest circumference.

Which kit to use for your T-shirt?   Since the T-Shirt is usually undarted with a closer fit to the body, you'd use the Dress Kit bodice (with the bust dart).  If you use the Shirt Kit, you'll have a looser fit and a much deeper armscye.

Ah Ha!  In comes my new article, T-Shirt Tactics, where I offer an alternative which uses the Dress Kit bodice and I show you how to remove the dart!  The result offers a fit that is closer to your body, the armscye is not as deep as with the Shirt Kit, and this process generally provides an excellent T-shirt alternative.

Yes I know it doesn't have a bust dart anymore, so you full-busted ladies will inevitably end up with some folding in the armscye that points toward your bust.  And no doubt, the shirt will likely hike up somewhat in the front because your don't have that bust dart shaping your bustline.  But since you are going to be sewing with a forgiving knit fabric, usually these issues are minimized.  But at least, you have 3 great choices now to design your favorite T-shirt with the Sure-Fit Designs patterns.

• Dress Kit bodice with dart

• Shirt Kit pattern - no dart - deeper armscye

• Dress Kit bodice without dart

To download your copy of the T-Shirt Tactics article with instructions to remove the dart, please Click Here, then simply scroll toward the middle of the page where you'll see the link for the .pdf file.

Just for fun and for interest, I finished my T-shirt with a self-fabric 2 1/2" wide band at the hem level, scooped the neck edge 2" all the way around and then filled in with a 1 1/2" self-fabric band.  A small tab was inserted at CF while applying the neck band and finished with a decorative button.

And another great benefit is that it can be 'Made in a Day'!  It's just one more quick project for you.

Give it a try and send me your comments and photos.  When you send your photos, I'll put together a T-Shirt collage...and show off all of your work.  Please send photos to info@surefitdesigns.com.
Enjoy,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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Sally's Back

Remember Sally Silhouette?  She's your convenient croquis to use when drawing the garment designs you'd like to sew.

After I gave you Sally Silhouette's front view back on April 8, 2014,  I had a number of you ladies ask for the back view.  And doesn't it just make sense.  Often times there will be design details that carry through to the back of the garment as well as the back may just simply have unique design features you won't want to forget.

As a Christmas gift to all of you, here is Sally's Back.

As I mentioned before, the great part is that you don't have to have artistic abilities.  Just sketch the style lines you're seeing in the garment directly on Sally's silhouette.  Plus there's space at the bottom to jot down those special design notes.

Why sketch when you can simply take a photo with your phone?  You can do that too, but with the process of actually sketching the lines you're seeing, you help to reinforce the process of what you will need to draw on your actual pattern.  Go ahead...take the photo...but don't rely on it completely. 

Sally's Back come in a full size of 8.5"x11" (or A4 for our international customers) and a Purse size Sally, which is great to tuck in your handbag when out browsing ready-to-wear.  Just go to this website page - Sure-Fit Designs Learning Center Free Stuff - to download both sizes.  They are in PDF file format.

Enjoy this complimentary gift...and Merry Christmas to all of you!
I hope you all have a joyous holiday season with your family and friends.

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!
(PS - You're welcome to make as many copies of Sally for your own personal use.  But if you want to share 'Sally's front or back' on your own sewing sites or blog, please acknowledge the source by giving a link back to Sure-Fit Designs Learning Center Free Stuff).

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Asymmetrical Zippered Jacket - Fashion Leaflet

It's finally done!  I know a lot of you were excited to hear that this new jacket design would be available to you.  It's one more unique design that you can draw from your SFD Dress Kit.  You can purchase this Fashion Leaflet from this page - Downloadable Fashion Leaflets.

Exposed zippers are ever so popular.  This jacket features a separating exposed zipper, a shoulder yoke that wraps from the front over the shoulder to the back, and of course, ever-flattering princess lines in both front and back.

The collar is super easy.  I used the Mandarin Collar pattern piece from the new SFD master pattern Collar Collection that is now found in the 5th edition Dress Kit.  If you don't already have the new Collar Collection, you can order it from this page - Collar Collection & 5 edition Dress Book.

 

I also used the basic Sleeve pattern (with elbow dart).  I wanted to keep this part simple, but if you were so inclined, you could always draw the 2-part, more tailored sleeve featured on pages 34 & 35 of the new 5th edition Dress Kit Instruction book.

 Wear open or closed.  It works either way.  Most of you already know I sewed this from a stretchy, squishy, sticky, spongy fabric...I wouldn't do that again.  It looks like leather but isn't.  Though in sewing, I needed to treat it like leather.  I got one chance to sew it right as the needle left holes in the fabric just like real leather.  This is a jacket I definitely recommend sewing a test mock-up of.

Remember I showed you this jacket on Imogen Lamport (Inside Out Style).  I don't know what fabric was used.  It's possible she didn't sew it.  But you can see that it's a style suitable for any season.

You can get your downloadable copy of this new jacket - Asymmetrical Zippered Jacket - on this page - Downloadable Fashion Leaflets.  $5.99.

Have fun...
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

 

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Easy Front Inset Pocket in a Stretch-Woven Cropped Pant

I was given a remnant of fabric - just enough to sew a pair of cropped pants with an easy front inset pocket.  Since it was a stretch-woven, I did size down my body blueprint 1 measurement dot.  This seemed like enough at the time, but as can happen with stretch knits and stretch-woven fabric, I still basted the seams first - did a try-on - and ended up slimming the hip line even a little more.  You just never know how much it's going to give and how it's going to feel on your body.

Always do a stretch test by picking up 10" on the crosswise grain and stretch it comfortably.  This stretched up to 13" meaning it's a moderate stretch knit.  It should only need to be sized down one dot, but what this doesn't account for is the fabric's ability to rebound or recover.  This particular piece didn't have great recovery.

Now on to the easy inset pocket in the pants front.  The upper and under pocket is all one piece of fabric.

Then you fold the pocket lining - in this case - the beige fabric - up so that the lower cut edge meets back up at the waistline.

If you'd made the pocket lining out of the same fashion fabric, then you would not need to face the 'under' pocket.  But that's not always suitable or practical if the fashion fabric is too heavy.  In this instance, the next step was to cut a shaped facing piece and sew it on to the right side of the waist edge of the under pocket lining.

 

You can also see that the inside edge(s) of the pocket bag have been sewn/serged together.  (Likely best to sew the topstitching on the pocket opening before sewing this inside bag seam).

 

Topstitch the pocket opening if you wish.  Then with the pocket in position, baste through the pocket bag and the side seam and the upper pocket edge to the pants front at the waist edge to hold it in place during the remainder of the construction steps.

This very easy pocket designing and sewing technique is found on page 22 & 23 of your Sure-Fit Designs Pants Kit Instruction Book. It's a Jeans style of pocket without the fuss of a separate upper and under pocket.  If you haven't yet, try it to see just how easy it is.

Kindly,
Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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Celebrate September - National Sewing Month

There's no better way to celebrate our love of sewing than to sew something.

This year, for National Sewing Month, I'm introducing another Made in a Day project.

 

I was challenged with how best to name this new top without becoming too wordy.  So let's just call it a Blouson Cap Sleeve Top.  The big foldover pleat is actually added at center front neck point, but then tapers down to nothing at the hem level.  It's super simple to design from your SFD Dress Kit.  And of course it gives you the same good fit no matter what position you choose to transfer the bust dart to.

 

As you can see, there are a number of variations to choose from.  And if you don't like cap sleeves, or you want to make this more for cool-weather wear, then simply don't make the changes for the cap sleeve and add a sleeve in the length you desire.

I hope you enjoy drawing and sewing this new design as much as I did.

Click here to obtain your copy - it's a PDF download.

Happy Sewing,

Glenda...the Good Stitch!

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