A couple of Style Arc knit tops that aren't quite....there yet

Winnie and Freya by Style Arc are not doing much for me. I started these in January, and am just getting around to writing about them because I barely wore them.

It's not for lack of trying on my part. I assembled the PDFs and cut them out weeks ago. I sewed the Winnie up early February, and I thought I blogged about it then.

Apparently not. So here we are. On my usual PDF palaver. 

With a little planning, you don't have to print out all the pages.

You want to find the page layout page, which shows you how the pattern pieces are spread out over the paper pages. The pieces are numbered, but not according to their order in the combined PDF page count.

(The keen eyed will have noticed that in the custom page choice window above, I have an error in my page selections when I screenshot this page. I corrected that and printed out pages 6,7,11-20, 23-27 and 30-32.)

The ones I don't need (short arms, short torso) will be redrawn to the length I need without the extra pages being printed and are crossed off on the print layout. 

I do have to re-number the pages to print the correct ones (the pattern pages are numbered for laying them out, but because of the first non pattern pages, they aren't the same numbers that I need to choose for printing)

After that, it's the usual print/assemble/whine/tape procedure. Yes, it isn't instant gratification, but it's also not whining about patterns not being in stock at the store. There's no magic wand for any of it.

The tough part for the Winnie was that I had to do some piecing to make the sleeves fit the fabric (I didn't buy quite enough). I laid more over the bottom of the left sleeve, basted the extension on with Wonder Tape and stitched it on. This was the hardest part of the project. And again, it's Lady McElroy knit crepe, which is super fiddly to work with.

Somebody stop me from buying this again.

The pattern does not repeat the way you think it does, and I wasn't going to get a perfect match. And you can't see it on the finished sleeve. After I cut the second sleeve to size, the rest was just simple assembly.

I did not sew over that pin.

The print is really pretty. I love the colors.

Yes, it has a funnel collar

And in this fabric, this is the only way you're going to know that. The fabric has no body and just collapses on itself. I will try something stiffer, it's a nice collar assembly (it just folds in on itself without a neckline stitch, stitched on the side seams, leaving a raw interior edge. I'd show you on this shirt, but.....that's not possible with this fabric)

Folded over to the inside and stitched just to the collar side seam

So I assembled and cut out Freya the same night, and only finished stitching it up a month later, in a fit of "this WIP pile is not going to finish itself" fury.

The

The cowl neck is a separate piece on this model. I did not make the sleeves as shown (just did boring regular ones without pleats at the cuff)

Yes, I trace the pieces off. Cutting out a knit with printer paper is just too much, and tracing it off means I might use this pattern again.

You could make this one in a woven. It's not very fitted and the cowl is big enough.

Look familiar?

Mort is the one in the turtleneck that always covers his face.

I used a 'ponte' (what we used to call poly doubleknit in the olden days - aka the 70s) that I had purchased for something else that it didn't quite work for. As you can see in these photos, the cowl neck has a life of it's own in a heavier fabric. Perhaps I should have switched one for the other.

And speaking of the other fabric...

This is a sample of another print of that other fabric after it's been washed and worn a few times. It's so so so pilled all over. I washed it in a wash bag, inside out, laid flat to dry. Only ran it through the dryer ONCE as part of the prewash abuse cycle. I really can't wear this again; the pilling shows up really badly on the black. It's so sad. Lady McElroy knit is just a beautiful fail for me, and I swear I will never buy it again. It's been nothing but hard work and short lived results.

On the positive side of sewing with knits....

 Linda Lee's Sewing Workshop video series on YouTube this week is really sharp, and it's all about Tee Shirts (not their tops precisely, but they are mentioned). Also a quick 'how I got into selling patterns' bit as it's her 30th year in the business.

You don't have to buy any of her patterns to enjoy and appreciate the cook's tour of t's she presents. She has grown on me over the years, and this series has sealed the deal. It's casual, it's not edited, it's like a fun trunk show on YOUR time

You can watch it on YouTube :   https://youtu.be/E7jKipvs4WY