New Kid on the Block

Hello Everyone,

I am a long time lurker and first time poster.  I have been reading the posts on the Monthly Stitch for well over a year now, but have never worked up the courage to post.  That changes today.  Without further ado, My name is Melinda and I sew (alot).

Since I am just dipping my toe into posting nothing seemed more fitting than the New-To-Me contest. My New -to-Me Indie company is Papercut Patterns.  While I have known about them for ages, and loved many of the patterns for ages, I had never gotten around to forking over my cash.  Thankfully, Papercut had a sale and all those pesky thoughts of budgeting went flying out the window.

The Dirty Details:

• Indie Pattern Used: The Saiph Tunic by Papercut Patterns  (which can be found here Saiph Tunic ) It is a very simple tunic/dress, with two french darts and two hem variations.  View 1 has a straight hem with 2 pockets while view 2 has no pockets but a beautiful circle skirt.  Since I am me, and am pretty much unable to resist a circle skirt I went with view B.  While my measurements sort of straddle  the xs and s sizes, with such a loose garment I didn’t think I needed to worry too much about grading.  I choose to cut out a straight size S
• Fabric and Notions: Did I mention that I work at a fabric store and that it is sooooo hard to keep your pay check in your pocket when you are surrounded by gorgeous fabric everyday?? My struggle is real and the moment that we unpacked the bolts of Bamboo Knit I knew I was a goner.  Since Bamboo knit is not cheap, I was looking for a project that wouldn’t use too much yardage and Saiph was just the ticket.  I purchased 1.5 meters of this lovely stuff (50% off too because I was able to restrain myself) and got to work. I found a cute little gold button in my stash and used a short piece of black elastic cording for the neck closure. I think in total I paid roughly $11.00 for this little number
• Pattern Alterations: I did make two fairly small alterations: I lengthened it by 2 inches and also cut the skirt to the XL length.  I had seen many, many blog posts mention how short the tunic was and as a person with a decent amount of legs to my name I had a feeling that we would be entering the danger zone.  Additionally, I was not really the biggest fan of the length of the long sleeves.  After having tried it on with the sleeves un-hemmed I made a quick decision.  I cut 6 inches off either sleeve.  Folded the 6 inch pieces over and sewed them on each sleeve as a cuff.   I have to say, that in my humble opinion it was a roaring success!

The Knitty Gritty

My first experience with Papercut was pretty great.  I do have to confess that I am at that point with my sewing that I don’t often follow the instructions.  Mostly I consult them for seam allowances and then forge blindly ahead. While I did pull up the pdf on my computer, most of my construction was self directed.  Sewing this up in a knit made an already easy pattern even simpler.  I used my serger for most of the seam; sewing the darts, the neckline facing and the hems with my machine.

I did make a couple missteps when attaching the circle skirt.  Usually when making a knit dress I use clear elastic to support the waist seam.  I thought that I should also do this for the Saiph Tunic.  Bad call on my part, the elastic and serged seam was incredibly stiff and bulky, which meant that the circle skirt kinda just stuck out oddly.  Seam ripper time!  After removing the elastic, I serged the skirt on again. Apparently I never learn, the seam was still much too stiff. More quality time with the seam ripper.  Finally, I used my sewing machine to attach the skirt and left the edges raw.  The third time was the charm, finally the skirt fell beautifully.

As drafted the Saiph has an neck facing, which I have to say I am not that much of a fan of.  Even with grading and under stitching, my facing would not stay hidden. It just likes to periodically remind me that it exists.  I finally had to slip stitch it down.  However, I very much like the back seam slit.  It jazzes up a fairly plain dress nicely.

Finishing a curved hem is not often anyone’s idea of a great time.  Before even starting on my hem, I tried my dress on and went to show my roommate.  Looking at it, we both agreed that perhaps hemming was unnecessary.  It would take my ‘dress’ back into danger zone again and the raw edge looked pretty cool.   So I left it as it was.

I have to say I am extremely pleased with this dress.  I wear this dress constantly.  It is super comfy, basically secret pajamas.  I have already made it again in a black rayon blend with tiny gold dots. I could see myself making many different iterations, however I think if I only ever wore this dress people might begin to notice!