Punk Sewing: A pair of jersey tops

Today I bring you a pair of tops, one is a wearable toile (a sizing test that I liked enough to keep), the other is the so-called Dead Kennedys top.

The pattern was a freebie from Simply Sewing mag, the first I have used of theirs. For my views on the pattern and instructions, keep reading.

For the toile, I used some black jersey I had in the stash. This was bought from amazon a long time ago so I’m no longer sure of the composition, but I’m fairly sure it was a viscose elastane. Very, very drapey and super comfortable to wear. The circle skirt I made with it was a disaster as you can imagine as the hem ended up being horribly uneven.

I cut a straight size 18 with no adjustments (I mean it’s jersey, who could be bothered?) and sewed it up in a couple of hours. I’d been painstakingly sewing the Mimi blouse at the same time and just wanted to finish something quick. The recovery is awful and I suspect it will be in the bin in 3 months time, but my goodness if it isn’t the most comfortable, practically pajamas work top I’ve ever had. Despite being tent-like in proportions, I think it’s also somewhat flattering too.

‘scuse pic quality

So, onto the second iteration, what I’m referring to as my Dead Kennedys top. Check out the print – check it out perfectly lining up with my copy of Fresh Fruits for Rotting Vegetables. Check it out also blending beautifully with Stations of the Crass. This fabric is punk, it belongs here!

There’s nothing quite as punk as stitching up a sensible stretchy top to wear to the office *cough*. Anyway…this time I opted for a 16 as the waistband on the 18 was very baggy. I was fully prepared for a different finish here as the black and white fabric is significantly less drapey with a much better recovery. I have no idea what the composition is, but it’s 4 way stretch  and much thicker than the viscose. This was a remnant purchased off ebay.

I had no issues putting it together except that I have a horrible feeling that the needle that was put back in the ballpoint needles box was not in fact ballpoint. I had to re-thread the machine about 30 times as the thread shredded itself to pieces, still making do is kinda punk right? I’m not some corporate monkey, using the correct needle for the fabric is for crypto-fascist warmongers, me and Jello Biafra refuse to follow your rules! You don’t see the Subhumans pressing all their seams, Penny Rimbaud scoffs at those who pre-wash their fabric!

Reflections

These were easy as pie to make but I should note that the instructions were a bit sparse. I know it’s obvious that you need to sew, but the instructions went from: ‘pin X and Y together’ to ‘give it all a final press’. It also didn’t mention anywhere the need to stretch your neck band, waistband and sleeve bands to fit the bodice – it’s obvious if you’ve worked with jersey before but if you hadn’t you might be thinking you’d cut the wrong size pieces by a significant margin.

I in fact forgot about the stretching rules at one point and have ended up with a gape on one side – don’t tell anyone k?

As much as I’d like to imagine myself as an anarcho-syndicalist living on a commune with Crass, I do in fact work for the ‘man’ (or woman in fact), so in that vein I’d highly recommend following the rules of engagement for knits here: use a ballpoint needle, don’t struggle through for heaven’s sake like I did. And I really, really should have done a few tests to get the tension right first rather than arsing about with a seam ripper for half the night. Oh yeah, and it really isn’t punk to finish the seam allowances on jersey, so why did I waste my time doing that?

All in all though, I’m pretty chuffed, they are comfy, the maternity vibe is not so strong here, and anyone who knows me knows that I can;t resist a boat neck – so I’m happy. One visible bra strap good, 2 visible bra straps better.

Final word:

Q. How many anarchists does it take to change a light bulb?

A. We don’t want to change it we want to smash it!

Tilly & the Buttons Mimi Blouse

This weekend I finally finished a project that has been hanging around in the pile of shame for a loooong time. I’ve been working on this Mimi blouse (from Tilly’s book, Love at First Stitch) for several months.

There are several reasons why this has taken so long. Firstly, fitting. I always make toiles as a rule, this blouse needed 3. I cut a straight size 7 overall fist time round. While this was fine on the waist, it was way too tight on the bust. Next I tried an 8 tapering to a 7 – still too tight. So I needed to attempt a full bust adjustment. I’m afraid the reasons are lost in the mists of time, but I couldn’t (or wouldn’t?) use a slash technique for this and instead used a slidey-pivoty technique as explained here: Maria Denmark

3 toiles down and I was finally happy – although I was so focused on getting the front right that I missed a vital fitting issue on the back as you will see later.

The only other adjustment I made was to shorten the bodice as I wanted this to hit just below the waistband of my jeans/skirts, I don’t do tucking-in.

The second reason for my tardiness was the fabric. It’s a Liberty Tana lawn and at the time of purchase was the most expensive fabric in my stash. I even prevaricated over pre-washing it in case I wrecked it.

Close up of Liberty Tana Lawn – known as Gallymoggers!

The print is a gorgeous Alice in Wonderland pattern as you can see. I only bought 2 metres which caused even more delay. I realised that there was no way to get all the pattern pieces out of this fabric and a contrast yoke and facings would be necessary. Cue a 2 week wait while a hastily picked selection of plain dye lawns made their way over from India via ebay.

I lumped for the black in end, thinking it would make a nice Rockabilly/bowling shirt effect – the 3 blues that came weren’t quite right.

So, on to cutting, finally. This was nerve-wracking as I was determined to make sure each piece was the right way up! Simple you would think but I have done dafter things. I only have a tiny table for cutting so have to do things a piece at a time.

Construction then took another 6 weeks. In the time this was hanging next to the machine I churned out endless jersey tops, skirts and a dress but Mimi just hung there, folorn. First it was a lack of decent black thread. Then not having enough buttons. Then deciding I hated the sleeves (we made up in the end).

This was one of those makes that really didn’t look like it was going anywhere until it was finally done.

Finally, late Monday night I took the plunge and used my machine’s automatic buttonhole setting for the first time. I liked it so much I went a bit daft and put not 8, not 10 but 9 buttonholes on the blouse where I’m sure 6 or 7 would have done fine. Ah well. They are lovely black glittery buttons again from ebay.

And here she is:

cheerfully posing on the balcony

The only other major design change I made was to insert black piping in the collar. I wanted more black accents to match the yoke and realised too late that I could have just cut the collar facing a bit larger and rolled the seam to the outside – ho-um, I think this looks pretty natty.

Reflections: It took an age and I lost faith many times but overall I’m really pleased with this, It’s good for work and looks lovely layered with a cardigan (I’m almost never without a cardigan).

See, great with a cardi, as are we all

In terms of fitting, I think the front of the blouse has come out really well. The back however…I know this is meant to be ‘blousey’ but there’s just too much excess back there.

Look at that excess fabric on the back! No don’t look, I can’t bear it

I’d never come across the word ‘swayback’ before I started sewing and never thought for a second I’d need to make such adjustments, but the acres of spare fabric back there are telling a different story. Under a cardi it’s not such a big deal, but I may consider adding darts for next summer.

I may also swap out the sleeve facings for black to complete the accents, not sure yet!