I have long considered joining The Sewing Workshop's yearly skill building course "Sew Confident". In 2020 with no in person learning opportunities I finally leapt in. I thoroughly enjoyed the monthly magazine, quarterly new pattern and the focus on adapting that pattern throughout the quarter. Needless to say as with most things last year I leapt in but didn't make a single thing from any of the four patterns just leafed through the pages of the eye candy magazine and enjoyed Linda's Facebook Live shows.
This year is different I feel motivated, unfortunately by sewing not blog writing but I will try to do better. I joined Sew Confident Series 10 and have now sewn month one's pattern (Maison Top) six times. Even though I bought one of the Maison kits (not used yet) none of the versions sewn is as per the pattern. For all of the versions sewn so far I threw caution to the winds and used a woven fabric rather than the recommended knit.
Sew Confident Series 10
The 2021 version of Sew Confident is quite different to previous years. Linda Lee and her team at The Sewing Workshop mastered modern technology during 2020 offering a Facebook Live session every week which whilst a bit of a sales pitch for all things Sewing Workshop I enjoyed. Now that Linda is confident in front of the camera the 2021 membership focuses on a different sewing pattern each month, supported by a Facebook Live sewing class and a question and answer live Zoom session. Both of these can be watched on YouTube after the event.
For the sewing class Linda steps you through all the stages of sewing the pattern successfully, with her tips and tricks. Not always the way I would go about doing things or have been taught in the past but it is always useful to learn new tricks and see alternative approaches.
Month two focused on the Maison joggers - not something I am likely to make anytime soon (although I did see a really nice pair of Trelise Cooper trousers with a rib cuff hem finish so maybe...).
Month three is a new version of the Ikina jacket. I have the old Ikina pattern and maybe I will make it sometime but it didn't happen in March as part of the sew along.
Month four is the Charlie bomber - which has already sparked a number of ideas. Not sewn in April...sigh. But you never know by the end of the year I may actually truly join in with the whole concept of the sew along. The earmarked fabric is ready and waiting, even ventured out to The Fabric Store to buy the lining fabric so hopefully something to show soon.
Month five is the Whistles shirt which I bought the kit for (Kit A in blue, turquoise and brown) as I just loved the panel print by artist Noelle Phares who paints images contrasting nature with modern structures. I don't like shirts however and haven't worked out how to alter the pattern to keep the placket wedges when there won't be a placket.
Month six is the Hibiscus shirt. Cute but I can't see myself bothering to alter the pattern into a non shirt style.
Month seven is the Gardenia dress and blouse. There was a fabric kit I really fancied which sold out very quickly but I have now bought the pattern so something else you might see by the end of the year.
Month eight is the pieced Eureka top and I immediately leapt in and bought the Havana kit an assortment of six fabrics in tones of teal, bordeaux, black/brown, cream and fuchsia. It was a tough choice between the Havana and Belize colourways. The Havana colourway will be a good match for the black and white striped ponte I am about to make into The Sewing Workshop Pencil pants.
So here we are in month eight and I am just blogging about the January pattern.
Maison Blue Check Linen top
The inspiration for this top came from The Assembly Line Cuff top pattern. I don't have the pattern and am not really interested in purchasing a simple kimono sleeve top pattern however I am constantly attracted to the cuff detailing which I thought would be well suited to controlling the flare of the Maison top sleeve. I have since bought the dress version of the Cuff top, something else to sew this year! With ruffles being all the rage at the moment I replaced the hem band with a pleated flounce which I prefer as a means of creating fullness rather than gathers.
This top is a real favourite. The semi opaque texture achieved with the gingham weave appealed the minute I saw the fabric at Fabric Vision in Christchurch. It has the added bonus of the texture being enhanced when it is not ironed - no worrying about wrinkly linen with this top. Sewing success like this deserves a twirl on the beach on a hot summer's day.
Common wisdom is to sew the first garment as it is straight out of the envelope but that would be too simple. The first thing I did was to make two pattern alterations for fit: a ½" forward shoulder adjustment; and added a French dart. These two fit alterations are common across all my Maison tops.
On one of the TSW sample garments worn by Erin the diagonal fold of fabric pointing to the bust was clearly visible and this was easily eliminated with the addition of the French dart to provide the necessary depth for my full bust. I chose the size medium tapering from the medium at the waist to the large at the hem.
Specific alterations for this version were to remove 6" from the bottom of the bodice and add a 7" pleated flounce with a rolled hem edge. The 1¼" pleats were made using a dinner fork (instructions can be found in the V&A Mary Quant Georgie dress pattern instructions). One inch was added to the sleeve hem to allow for a 2" hem with 1¾" elastic inserted. I measured the hem of a knit sleeve to determine how long to cut the elastic.
This top was constructed on the overlocker, with only the neck binding and sleeve hem sewn on the sewing machine. Fold over elastic was used to bind the neck edge.
Maison Pastel Dots top
The Sewing Workshop describe this semi-sheer chiffon crepe polyester fabric as "soothing colours blend together like tiny fish swimming in a pastel reef. Seafoam green, mustard, and light pink are the foundation for blue and black bubble-like dots floating on the surface. This flowing fabric is suitable for many different garments; shirts, skirts, dresses, and even flowy pants."
This top was just wonderful to make, using exactly the same pattern alterations as the Blue Check linen version. I can wear different camisoles underneath and it gives the fabric a slightly different look.
Maison Bonne Chance top
As soon as I saw this black and white striped lurex ribbing I knew I had to have some. Then all I needed was the fabric and pattern to pair it with.
Both the Bonne Chance cotton sateen (a design by Lisa Congdon for Nerida Hanson Fabrics) and the black and white lurex ribbing came from Miss Maude in Greytown. The ribbing was the icing on the cake for the bright colourful Bonne Chance fabric.
The alterations for this version were to remove 2" from the bottom of the bodice and 2½" from the bottom of the sleeve. The neck edge was lowered at centre front by ⅝" tapering back to the original width at the shoulder seam using a french curve.
Unfortunately the top is a little short. I thought the 7cm ribbing would more than compensate for the 2" removed from the bottom of the bodice but it doesn't have enough length to blouse over the ribbing. It also shows skin if the arms are raised with just normal arm movements. I haven't quite worked out how I'm going to fix this yet or even if it will be fixed. One option is to add the black and white striped cotton jersey I used for the neck binding as a yoke front and back. Or I could change it to a set in sleeve like the Spotted Gingham top version.
The top was sewn with french seams, with the neck binding and ribbing attached using the overlocker. The neck binding was then folded over, stitched in the ditch from the right side and trimmed.
Maison Pink Pastorale Floral Raw Emotion top
This sewing adventure was inspired by Trelise Cooper's Raw Emotion top for AW21. Love the fabric and top design the price not so much. As the Maison top had been twisted and tweaked quite successfully already this was the natural pattern choice to be adapted into the Raw Emotion top style.
The pink pastorale cotton woven fabric from Fabric Vision was irresistible and well matched with the pink nylon organza. In the original Trelise Cooper top the organza is a flat piece under the pleated flounce fabric. For my version I decided to pleat the cotton and organza together for the flounce. The rolled hem on the cotton and organza was done after the pleating when an organised person would have done it before. The rolled hem came away in places on the organza layer and the top is awaiting some remedial work to replace the organza in the bottom frill.
As with the blue check linen version 6" was removed from the bottom of the bodice with a 7" cotton and 8" nylon organza pleated flounce added. The pleats were once again made with the dinner fork and are 1¼" deep.
The sleeves just have the pleated organza added to the hem. I also forgot to roll hem the organza for the sleeve before I pleated it and once it was pleated the organza strip was too narrow to roll hem so a few threads were pulled for a frayed edge. The frayed edge was stopped from unravelling further with the addition of a small amount of fray check.
The inspiration top had set in sleeves and I wanted to replicate this in my version. The set in sleeve was achieved by measuring across the back pattern piece and marking the shoulder point plus seam allowance. Using my favourite woven back armhole template it was matched at the shoulder and swung out to meet the side seam. The back shoulder seam was then matched to the front and the front armhole template used in the same way.
Here is the new front pattern piece overlaying the original Maison top front pattern with the armhole template on top.
Sewing was done on the overlocker with only the fold over elastic used for the neck binding sewn on with the sewing machine.
Maison Daisy Raw Emotion top
I was so pleased with myself and the outcome I achieved for the Pink Pastorale version this black white and mustard daisy fabric was purchased from Fabric Vision with a gold nylon organza to become my second Raw Emotion top, this time more appropriate for the imminent Autumn season (it was sewn back in March).
The original Trelise Cooper Raw Emotion top has a high low hem which I replicated for this top by adding 2" to the length at centre back curved to the original side seam using a french curve. This was after I had shortened the bodice by 6". The flounce rayon layer is 7" deep and 8" with the organza. The organza flounce on the sleeve is 1" with ½" deep pleats.
The top was sewn with french seams. Both the bodice and sleeve flounce were attached using the overlocker. Black velvet fold over elastic finished the neck edge.
With the problem I had with the rolled hem pulling away on the organza of the Pastorale top I added a 1" strip of fusible washaway stabiliser to the hem edge of the organza before sewing the rolled hem. The settings on my Bernina 800DL overlocker for the three-thread rolled hem were: right needle 4; upper looper 5; lower looper 7; stitch length 1.8; cutting width 2; differential feed N. The washaway stabiliser was removed once the top was sewn by soaking the flounce in cold water. This seems to have resolved the problem of the rolled hem pulling away from the organza.
Maison Spotted Gingham top
Another sewing pattern provided inspiration for this Maison top version - The Sewing Revival Fantail shirt and sweatshirt. This is a New Zealand pattern company which names its patterns after (New Zealand) birds for a really cool reason. If you are intrigued you can find out why here.
I do have one or two of their patterns but not the Fantail - even though I love the bird. The pattern has raglan sleeves which I find difficult to fit so I used the features that I most liked about the Fantail and adapted the Maison top. The fit proved less than ideal and the elastic has now been removed, with the plan to chop off the shirt tail and hope that there is enough left-over fabric to make a 4" deep pleated flounce. The pleats will be about ½" deep based on another Trelise Cooper top Happiness Blooms.
The pattern alteration for this top was the addition of a shirt tail hem using the shape of the Megan Nielsen Dove blouse back pattern piece. The front bodice was shortened to match the back at the side seams plus a deep enough hem to form the casing for 40mm wide elastic.
This was sewn entirely on the sewing machine in my Wellington hotel room with french seams. The neck was bound with a sparkly pink fold over elastic. For the shirt tail hem a basting stitch (longest stitch length on my Bernina Activa 210) was sewn ⅜" from cut edge. The double fold hem was achieved by folding the cut edge to the basting stitch then folding again over the basting stitch. Once the hem was sewn the basting stitch was removed. This produced a really nice narrow hem with no torquing. Pity I didn't like the finished garment.
This top was originally made using the Maison top sleeve. After wearing the Bonne Chance top and realising it was a bit short I thought altering the sleeve to a set in sleeve would solve the problem, and it did. A modification was needed for the set in sleeve to have the same hem width as the original Maison top sleeve. The pattern piece was slashed from the hem to the armhole seam and the pattern pieces spread apart until the desired hem width was achieved. This resulted in a curved hem and a hem facing pattern piece was drafted wide enough to form the elastic casing. The alterations to the sleeve were necessary to achieve the gathering when the elastic is inserted. With a bit of reverse sewing the original sleeve was removed and provided enough fabric to cut the new set in sleeve. There was enough left over fabric from cutting out the top to cut the sleeve hem facing.
This top was made from fabric left over after cutting out a Merchant and Mills Trapeze dress which makes it a zero cost top apart from all the sewing effort trying to get it to the point where I will wear it!
The pattern
Unlike Sew Confident 2020 where each quarter's pattern was included in the membership, with Sew Confident 2021 the pattern is purchased separately. The Maison top and joggers was the pattern for January and February, with the top made first then the joggers.
The Sewing Workshop describe the pattern for the top as "a very loose fitting top slightly eased onto a hem band at the hip, bound neckline, and full ¾ length sleeves."
I was in two minds about purchasing this pattern as joggers are really not my thing - I have only owned a pair as part of my school sports kit and don't see myself embracing the trend this time round either. The Maison top on the other hand had some interesting features and I decided to bite the bullet and purchase this PDF downloadable pattern. A big thing for me as I really dislike assembling the multiple A4 pages into the pattern. This dislike may be alleviated by Papercut Patterns offering an A0 pattern printing service printed on their signature newsprint for those of us living in New Zealand.
The pattern cards
Outfits of the day
These tops have been on many a trip away over the summer so I found numerous outfit pictures but there is definitely a theme with the trousers. The blue jeans are the Untouched World Pure straight leg jean; the black jeans are the Andrea Moore Boyfriend jean which are much loved and starting to show their age; leading me on to the yellow jeans which are a poor attempt at mimicking the Andrea Moore Boyfriend jean using a highly modified version of the Megan Nielsen Flint trouser pattern.
Even the shoes are not demonstrating much variety. Top left and right, middle left and bottom right are the P448 Skate Pailettes Stroil Sneakers; top middle are the Ernest Wyler Keesha booties in Sunflower; middle right and bottom left are the Camper Right Nina Mary Jane Flat.
