Poodle Shirt

Here is my last post of the year.  Thank you to everyone who took time to read or comment on any of my posts this year.  This is still a very new-to-me adventure, but I am looking forward to growing my sewing and blogging skill sets in 2017.  Happy New Year to all!

It may be a bit too chilly to wear this shirt for the next couple of months, but I'll be pleased to have it hanging in my closet come spring. It's my second attempt at the McCall's 7247 top after I added a couple inches length in the torso.

Front view on dress form--this one is going to need a camisole

Side view

Back view

I know that the pattern calls for some sort of stretchy knit, but I didn't have any on hand.  Instead, I decided to use my poodle fabric that was waiting for the perfect project.  The poodles on this fabric are a bit stiff and seem to be painted or glued on the fabric, but are also fuzzy to the touch.

I don't know exactly what the fabric content is here, but it was basically trying to cut water with scissors.  I laid everything out on the kitchen floor and then spent a good while trying to pin my homemade paper patterns to basically air that kept slipping through my fingers.  It was so challenging, in fact, that I avoided sewing with it on a sewing machine and I decided to try sewing my first garment by hand.  There are no zippers or buttons, so this seemed like a good way to get my feet wet. I started by going back to one of the lovely resource books that I had picked up this fall when I purchased a serger.

 The book is Couture Sewing Techniques by Claire B. Shaeffer.  I know next-to-nothing about couture and I spent a couple hours reading through this book and studying pictures.  The descriptions for a wide range of couture techniques are given and there are diagrams illustrating the process as well as pictures of beautiful completed garments incorporating the techniques.  As a beginner, I chose to tryout the running stitch (to set in sleeves and as part of the hem), a french seam (for the side and shoulder seams) and a self-bound seam (for the neckline).  

I used gray silk thread that slid through the fabric effortlessly.  The poodles were a bit tricky to sew through at times, but it was nice to have something to anchor stitches to every few inches.

Shoulder seam with neckline on one side, sleeve seam on the other, and front flat in the middle

My seams need a lot of finessing for style, but I think they will sufficiently hold the material together. Let's pretend I was going for function over form.  Next time, I will try to finish the sleeve and neckline seam differently.  I do not like frayed edges as an end result.  

Neckline from the front.  

I do think the side seams turned out well.  The stitches are relatively small and regular and there are no frayed edges sticking out.

Side seam

From the side, I like the added length

From the back

Just watching the first snowfall of the year