The Don't Stand So Close To Me Sorbetto

Well, here's my first completed Sew Weekly  challenge garment for the year. I call it the "Don't Stand So Close To Me Sorbetto" because frankly,  it looks better from a long...long, long, long, long, long... distance away.  

Do you love my dopey "I love having my picture taken" face?

I was going for something like this (the divine Katharine Hepburn), simple, casual, elegant:

And really wanted to have something to wear with the vintage costume jewelry necklace I got from my great-grandmother Echorst when she passed. She was an incredibly stylish woman her entire life and had loads of 1960s and 1970s jewelry--mostly plastic and fake gems--that we kind of divvied up between us. I took this piece because it had a distinctly Art Deco feel to it as well as a little bit of sparkle and texture. 

Here's the nitty gritty:

Fabric: Some cotton-rayon blend from my (pitifully small) stash

Pattern: Colette Sorbetto 

Year: 2011

Notions: Self-made bias tape

Time to Complete: A ridiculous 24 hours

First Worn: January 9, 2012

Wear Again: Absolutely not

Cost: $0 baby! 

I had some serious issues with this pattern. For starters, my main fabric--the black fabric--wasn't wide enough. My pattern hung over the edge by about two inches. No problem! I figured the easiest way to fix it was going to be to modify the pattern; I could simply cut off the top portion to create a yoke out of a complementary fabric. With some measuring, some minor math (not a strong suit) and some support from lovely ladies over at Sew Weekly and my amazing seamstress of an aunt (find her over at Sewliloquies), I took a deep breath and cut the pattern apart and used scrap paper to add a 5/8" seam allowance to the bottom of the yoke and the top of the body piece. So far, so good, right? 

Here's where I think things started to go amok.

I attached the  yoke front and back to each other at the shoulders per directions from various internet sources and the aforementioned aunt, attached the yoke to the body piece, and sewed the side seams. When I tried it on, thinking that it was going to be a super-awesome fit, I was... flabbergasted by the fit. The neck was way too wide and garment itself was very loose and boxy, yet the arm holes gaped open in the front. This gaping, if you didn't know, is an indicator that there isn't enough room in the bust area and that the pattern should be further modified with a FBA (Full Bust Adjustment). If I had been smart and whipped up a toile prior to cutting out my "for real pieces" I probably would have identified these issues and fixed them accordingly. But I didn't, so I had to creative problem solve.

First I tried taking in the side and shortening the straps. That helped with the looseness, but not the gaping. So I ripped out all the adjustments with my seam ripper... and tried again. And rinsed and repeated these actions over and over and over until I was quite delirious. I finally accepted the inevitable: I needed darts. So darts I sewed, and ripped out, and sewed again, and ripped out again, and... well, you get the picture.

All this seam ripping wasn't the worst of it, though. The pattern calls for bias tape. As Mr. Retro and I are on a tight budget, I was determined to make this garment out of whatever I had on hand. So I researched some more and decided to try Sarai Mitnick's (owner of Colette Pattern) continuous bias tape tutorial which can be found here as well as in The Colette Sewing Handbook. I don't know what happened (not true: I do, but let's not talk about my inability to think in three dimensions), but whatever it was it was a hot mess and, as a result, about four yards of self-made bias tape died an ignoble death wadded up on the floor. After some colorful words and some scrounging about, I found some old bias tape (old as in inherited-from-my great-grandmother-and-who-knows-when-she-got-it old), attempted to install it, and screwed up and installed it on the wrong in the wrong way. Out came trusty Mr. Seam Ripper and to work he went. Except... this bias tape was apparently as fragile as tissue paper and ripped before Mr. Seam Ripper even had a chance to do his job. Seriously, you just looked at this tape and it just disintegrated into tatters.

At this point, we're on hour 18 of making the damn thing and I've run out of black fabric with which to make bias tape. So I scrounged some more and came up with some white fabric. I tried again, screwed up again, got pretty angry and had to walk away for an hour or so until I pulled my big girl pants on, took a deep breath, and salvaged what I could. Few hours later, viola! We're in business!

Long story short, installed the bias tape, ironed everything, and threw on some pants. Unfortunately, it was dark out by the time I finished (around 9 p.m. at night), hence the low quality picture. No amount of futzing on Picasa or Picnik could make it right. 

I won't wear this again... it looks a little too "homemade." However, I'd like to point out what I DID like about this project: the process. I employed some techniques I haven't used before including making bias tape and inserting sleeves. I broke out my serger and serged. Better yet, I serged CURVES (not as scary as it sounds). I modified a pattern, albeit in the most simple manner possible. So over all, while this isn't a wearable garment, the whole undertaking wasn't for naught. And really, for me, that's what the spirit of this little year-long endeavor is all about.