Cheetah-Rific

Time to update Heather's wardrobe with Butterick 4969:


Heather is all smiles about this one, even if she recently lost one of her bottom teeth! She has already worn it at school and on our recent shopping venture.



Pattern Description
CHILDREN’S/GIRLS' SHRUG, TOP AND SKIRT: Shrugs and tops are for stretch knits only. Shrug A: cap sleeves extending from front and back, flexible trim at neck, front opening, lower edges and at neck edge of top. Shrug B: long sleeves extending from front and back, rick-rack at neck, front opening, lower edges and at neck edge of top. Skirts C, D and E have stitched "fly" detail at front and elastic casing at back. D: contrast yoke with flexible trim at pockets. E: contrasting tiers.
NOTIONS: Shrug and Top A: 2 yds. of 1/2" Flexible Trim. Shrug and Top B: 2 yds. of Medium Rick-rack. Skirt C, D, E: 1/2 yd. of 3/4" Elastic. Also for D: 1/2 yd. of 1/2" Flexible Trim.
FABRICS: Shrug and Top A, B: † Moderate Stretch Knits Only: Cotton Knits. Skirt C, D, E: Lightweight Denim and Lightweight Broadcloth. Unsuitable for obvious diagonals. Allow extra fabric to match plaids or stripes. Use nap yardages/layouts for pile, shaded or one-way design fabrics. *with nap. **without nap.

I sewed the shrug and the sleeveless knit top for my 5-year old daughter.

Size
Girls' 6-7-8. I sewed a "6".

Fabric Used
Polyester knit from Fashionista Fabrics. This is the third outfit I sewed using this fine fabric!


Favorite features
*Easy to sew
*Style appropriate for little girls (if top were a little longer).
*Easy to wear and comfortable.

Not-so-favorite Features
*Top runs short in length (waist level).
*Shrug tends to creep backward due to being narrow in the front and the nature of the fabric.

Directions
If you can sew shoulder seams, side seams and finish edges, then you can get by without the basic and straightforward directions and rely on the illustrations. The shrug consisted of 2 front pieces and a back and the top consisted of the front and the back. A serger would have simplified things greatly and eliminated the "curling" along the curved edge of the shrug.

Modifications
* Raised the top's neckline by 3/8".
* Increased the length of the top by an inch.

Conclusion
Heather wants me to sew another shrug and matching top! Next time, I plan to lengthen the top another two inches and to lengthen the shrug and add more width to its front. I also plan to sew the tiered skirt.

I highly recommend the top and shrug for those who are beginning to sew with knits.

Next project: new pj's for Heather

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As for the shopping venture...
It took some time to find the Sanrio store at an outdoor shopping mall with "high-end" outlets (i.e. Neiman Marcus, J.C. Crew, Coach, Ralph Lauren, to name a few). Heather was persistent in finding a store directory and lo and behold, there seemed to be only one, which was located at the center or hub of the mall!

Finally, we found the Sanrio or the "Hello Kitty" store. It was not as large as Heather and I had envisioned it to be. We did not find "super" deals as to be expected from an outlet store. Heather's blue Hello Kitty backpack was 40% off the $29.50 price ($17.70) which was ok. She also got a sandwich/food box with a plastic spoon and fork beneath a sliding little device, a little Kuromi plush with a moving mouth when its chest is pressed, a pencil with Hello Kitty dressed in a kimono, a Kuromi mesh tote (great for "green" shopping). I could not understand how my debit card was denied for a $52 purchase, especially after a recent payroll direct deposit to my checking account? I asked the lady to re-slide the card. Still my card was denied. So I used my Macy's Visa and it was approved. Hmmmm. I said to the lady jokingly, "So I guess Sanrio takes credit and not debit cards!"

At home, I received a call from an 888 number (which I did not want to answer). I called the number and received the message that I was unable to talk to somebody at this time. Strange. After researching on the internet, it appeared to be a fraudulent "phishing" company. Others confirmed that it was my bank's automated fraudulent prevention department. I should have checked my messages earlier: my bank had left an automated message to verify recent charges on my card and to contact the number which was silly me, the number I saw on the caller ID screen. I called the number provided on the back of my card and was on hold for quite a bit of time. The lady spoke to mentioned that the there was a hold on my card as a precautionary measure after my two online purchases (amazon.com) and my gas purchase at Chevron. Hmmmm, can't a person buy something at the mall, fill his/her gas tank and make an online morning purchase on the same day? I can understand that this is preventive measure against identify theft, but I can foresee it being very inconvenient if a person chooses to do a lot of shopping one one particular day! Fortunately I had a back up card. Macy's Visa benefitted from all this....

Plaid to Meet You!

The mad for plaid trend is arriving full bloom for spring 2009!

For the little ladies from Juicy Couture:

From Nordy's, a plaid wool jacket for $358.



From Neiman Marcus, a cropped jacket for $148.



Heather eagerly chose this jacket from the children's section in Burda WOF, January 2009.



P-P-P-P-Plaid to the Bone!



Since Heather is working with rhyming words in kindergarten. I associated "plaid" with "mad" pointing to a popular 80's song that came to mind, "I'm Plaid (Mad) About You...."


I just completed sewing Heather's new peacoat. She adores it!

I'm Mad About Plaid! Plaid About You!!!!!!!!!!!!


Pattern Description
"Her favourite new jacket is not only comfortable and easy to mix and match – its decorative jeans-style topstitching and the double-breasted front also look great."

Size
Height in cm: 104, 110, 116, 122. I sewed a 116 based on her height. In terms of fit, the jacket seemed two sizes larger for her. After looking again at the Burda models, the jacket seemd drafted to be unstructured and slouchy.



Fabric
Tahari glen plaid from Fashionista Fabrics.
a Tahari Glen Plaid dress from Overstock.com



Favorite Features
*Well-drafted. The pieces went together nicely.
*Peacoat style
*Raglan styled sleeves (two-piece sleeve)
*Back yoke with pleat just below it.


Not-so-favorite features
*Confusing directions for the welt pockets
*Aligning the plaids.

Directions
Directions were easy to follow (except the convoluted ones for welt pocket for another pattern in the same issue), especially if you are familiar sewing a raglan shirt or jacket.

I paced myself, setting a goal for each day I have available to sew. I have a habit of wanting to finish everything in one day!

Day One
* Traced and cut all pattern pieces including the pieces to be measured such as the back loop and the welt and pockets.
* Interfaced the two center fronts and one collar piece.

Day Two
* Cut the fabric and lining pieces (side front, back, front sleeve, back sleeve.
* Prepared and attached the welt pockets to the side fronts, using Kenneth King's method described in "Modifications" section below.




Day Three
* Basted the back pleat and prepared the back loop and basted it to the center back.
* Sewed the back yoke to the the lower back portion containing the pleat and the loop.
* Sewed the front sleeve to the upper curved portion of the side front and the back sleeves to the upper curved portion of the back.
* Joined each front section to the corresponding back section at the seam underneath the sleeves and the at the sides as one continuous seam.
* Sewed the interfaced center front to the sides front.
* Prepared the collar and basted it to the neckline.

Day Four
* Prepared the lining in the same way as the visible jacket, sans the yoke.
* Attached the lining along the front edges, neckline, and lower edges. Instead of leaving an opening on the bottom to turn the jacket inside out, I left a 4" opening at the side through which to gently pull the garment through. Then I carefully slip-stitched the opening.
* Stitched the 6 buttonholes and attached the buttons.
* Finished the sleeve lining edge with a 1/8" seam allowance, tucked under an additional 3/8" seam allowance, and handstitched it to the sleeve's finished edge.


Modifications
* Instead of at the beginning of construction (just after cutting the fabric pieces), stitched the center fronts to the side fronts just before attaching the collar.

From Olliebollen, a Catimini wool manteau for $149 The welt/pocket flaps are downward.


*Used Kenneth King's method for "Foolproof Single-Welt Pockets" from his "Cool Couture" book. I situated my welts upward instead of downward on the markings so that the pocket flaps will face downward after stitching, slashing, sewing the pockets and turning them to the underside of the side fronts. After scrolling down a little, here are more information and pictures that provide an overview of Kenneth's nicely detailed method that started on page 89. I highly recommend this book!

*Omitted all topstitching.

*I was remiss in omitting the lower hem allowance for the center front and front facings. So the jacket ended up being about an inch shorter in length.


Conclusion
Can you sew them, sew right through them....It doesn't matter what they say, even if the fabric frays, hey, hey, hey... Our Seams are Sealed

I made one final press of the collar and the center front to maintaing the crease for the lapels.

My first impression of Heather's new jacket was "That seems to be 2 sizes large for her!" However, it did pass the "grandma" test. Grandma (my mom) adored the style and asked me to make another one for Heather! Now I appreciate that the jacket really had that retro "swing" style. I later noticed its cape-like style which makes it more endearing.

I am not sure if I will sew this again, but if I do, I would probably use a lightweight denim for a casual look. It really is simple to sew, although time consuming due to details such as welt pockets, collar, and lining. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this as a first time Burda WOF lined jacket because it is very well drafted and the directions are concise and clear (except for the welt pockets borrowed from another pattern) in comparison to other BWOF patterns.

More "affordable" RTW from Nine West:


From Macy's for $129:



From a high-end online store for $149: