December 2021/January 2022 Sewing Makes!

[@ChristineSewsALot]

Such a productive couple of months. The pants fitting/learning and the very cute tops. So many options for the McCalls blouse I am also a big fan of all Rifle Paper.

[@faithmathingsdal79]

Girl, you are a CHAMP for persevering with your pants fitting adjustments!!! It'll all be worth it in the end, as they say! They look great so far!! Personally, I love the Persephone pants and am about to make another pair in dark brown corduroy...undecided. How many Persephone's does one gal need?! The tops look beautiful and I agree, the Cielo could easily go down a size. Probably wouldn't look as oversized in a drapier fabric, but the cotton really makes those sleeves come alive! So nice. Looking forward to warmer weather for all of us so we can start wearing our memade tops without having to cover them up under jackets!

[@MaryEllenMakes]

Thanks Faith!! Good point about the Cielo top, I should try it in a drapier fabric! Agreed-warm weather can't come soon enough!

[@wolfgangshuman]

great makes, well done.

[@sewfarm7266]

Lovely makes! Pants/jeans fitting takes perseverance for sure. I’ve been sewing for 7 + years but I dove right into sewing jeans and have made many many pairs…I can crank out a pretty good fit now but at first it was either a total failure or “meh”. So far I haven’t made either of the patterns you’ve made. I may look into it now but I can tell I’ll have to tweak the fit quite a bit to get them to look right on me. I’ve learned to make my jeans really snug fitting because invariably the Denim stretches out….although it is key to be able to get them on in the first place! And in my experience each pair fits a little different due to the varying denim. Now I really like to get the cone mills denim from La Finch fabrics, the prices are reasonable and the denim is high quality. I look forward to future videos! Kirsten

[@MaryEllenMakes]

Thanks Kirsten! I'm so glad to hear you can get a good fit after all the pairs you made! My second pair is better, but still kind of "eh" I'm determined to get that "just right" fit! I'm coming to the realization that I'm going to have to do a looooot of grading between sizes. I'm up for the challenge! I'll have to check out La Finch, Cone Mills used to be about an hour from my house (Greensboro, NC) ! I think they closed that plant in 2017. So sad! But I will check out that selvedge denim

[@jadedici8793]

Belles réalisations 💓 avec un gros coup de coeur pour la dernière blouse présentée à fleurs 100% coton, elle est adorable ! Simple et chic à la fois, bravo 👍

[@janicestuff1089]

Thanks for update. I know pants fitting is a steep curve. Interesting that you selected a quilt cotton for the Mccalls blouse pattern, it looked great.

[@susanrudolf6132]

I’ve looked at the McCalls top pattern and couldn’t decide but I think I will get it next time there is a sale. The collar looks especially cute. I would love to see your next version in a print.

[@MaryEllenMakes]

Thanks Susan!

[@tammymasson2343]

I may have missed you saying it, but how much of an adjustment did you make on your shoulders? I know we are all different, but I think I would benefit from knowing. I’ve been thinking I need to start doing that adjustment because most of my things do ride up on my neck in the front like you described.

[@MaryEllenMakes]

I believe I made it an inch. That may be too much, though. I think I'm going to try a half inch on my next top. The first time I did it, I believe it was an inch and it worked beautifully! Not sure why I tried to increase it

[@tammymasson2343]

@@MaryEllenMakes thanks for the reply! After my first comment I looked at myself more closely and saw that my shoulder seam was definitely too far back, behind the center of my shoulder. So I measured from the seam (near the sleeve cap rather than near my neck) to the center of my shoulder. It was 3/4 of an inch off center! I’ve been reading the Palmer Pletsch fitting book, so I believe I am going to give this a go!

[@MaryEllenMakes]

@@tammymasson2343 Of course! I've read that a forward shoulder adjustment is common to go with a upper round back adjustment, but I didn't think about trying it out on its own! I've noticed my shoulder seams do not lie straight across my shoulder, but rather point towards the back of the garment