Seasonal Sew Wardrobe Sewalong

One of the Facebook groups I belong to is a Sewalong group. They have previously done a monthly sewalong of a specific pattern, but earlier this year put forward a wardrobe sewalong.

The start date and format were similar to a Pattern review contest, but rather than the 2 month time frame over there, this sewalong had a more sensible (to me) four month time frame.

The general premise was that in the time period you sew up 8 pieces that can be worn with each other. No orphan garments here please!

I started with a big list of patterns that wanted to make, and then loosely decided that I would follow a 2 dresses, 2 tops, 2 bottoms, 2 toppers plan to make up my wardrobe.
I also decided I would like to try and make it all from stashed patterns and fabric.

Style Arc Toni Designer Dress

Maven French Dart Shift Dress

Itch to Stitch Hepburn Turtleneck

Hot Patterns Breton Tee

Sewing Rabbit Cowl Sweatshirt

Swoon Scarf Neck Cardigan

Style Arc Allison Skirt

Trousers from my trouser block

 With a few patterns swapped in and out over the course of the sewalong, I finished up my 8 piece wardrobe and kept to the plan!
All of the fabric is from my stash, and only one of the patterns, the French Dart Shift, was purchased after the sewalong began, so I'm calling that a win!!

This has been a fun experience, and these pieces are already getting a good workout in my wardrobe.

Style Arc Allison Skirt

I recently made up the Allison skirt by Style Arc, a pattern I've had in my stash for a while. I was intrigued by how the pleats were made so they weren't bulky.

When I finally got to printing out the pattern, I have to say the pattern pieces are odd looking!
While it wasn't at all difficult, it did require some fabric origami to achieve. Once I had that figured out, it was reasonably quick and painless.

I used a royal blue merino I've used previously, and am happy with how it came out.

Worn here with my turtleneck to create a faux dress

The only alterations I made were to lengthen the back and shorten the front, which seem to be standard alterations for me with my prominent bottom and tilted waist.

I would like to try this again in something a little weightier, perhaps a ponte.

Style Arc Mindi Skirt

Waayyy back, last winter, on our Sewing Retreat I tested out a bunch of patterns, including the Style Arc Mindi Skirt.

I went with the longer length, and decided not to insert the pocket zips, but otherwise as drafted.

As has been my experience with all the Style Arc patterns I have made, this went together beautifully. The instructions were brief, but certainly sufficient for making a successful garment.

 This is a skirt I would wear with tights in the winter, but would need to add a little length to the back to account for my prominent bottom, as it isn't sitting very level at the moment. None the less, a successful test run.

Style Arc Toni Designer Dress

This dress, though not my usual style, really appealed to me when it was released at the beginning of last year.

I right away set to shortening the pieces, and then found myself some navy seersucker to trial it.

I was going along merrily until I got to sewing the centre front seam, and could not for the life of me get the collar points to meet in the front, as shown in the illustration above.
Then the neckline facing was trying to escape out that same gap!

This was hung on the back of my sewing room door with the other W.I.P's, and there it stayed until a couple of weeks ago, when I decided to release it from it's exile and see if I could save it.
I took it in for some advice from the always lovely Maryanne, at Made on Marion, where she diagnosed my error and promptly explained what I needed to do to fix it.

After the fairly simple fix, all it actually needed to be finished was side seams and the hem sewn! 15 minutes of work, after languishing for a year. Doh!

Having now completed it, I believe the fabric to be a little too firm for this design, as it has a much more architectural look than I was hoping for.
As this was originally conceived as a pattern trial I'm not too upset, though I may take some of the width out of the 'wings', because I otherwise like the fit and colour on me.

Verdict: I would like to try it again in another more drapey fabric, perhaps a rayon, tencel or similar.

Style Arc Harper Jacket

Yet another pattern I made, that gained some popularity within the Fabric Hoarders group was the Style Arc Harper Jacket.

I made my first version from a double faced wool that upon pre-treating became slightly felted looking. I left this version with raw edges, as designed in the pattern, as this fabric did not ravel or fray.
I wore this almost constantly through last Winter, and on cooler nights through the Spring.

With the success of my first version, I made a second one over the Summer break, this time from a merino sweatshirting in a raspberry colour. For this version, I narrow hemmed the edges to neaten.

I have yet to attach the hook and eyes on the shoulders, so for the moment this only functions as a drape front cardigan/jacket.

Style Arc Cozy Cardi

I found some really lovely sweater knit at the last Fabric Warehouse sale, and decided it would be perfect for a new cardigan. It is double faced, with 'knitted' hearts on the front face and charcoal grey on the reverse.

I had a couple of different cardigan pattern options in my stash, but decided to try the Style Arc Cozy Cardi as it had been marinatinng for a while.

It sewed up nicely, with all notches and pattern pieces matching up, and the fabric was lovely to work with.
Unfortunately, it didn't look all that lovely on me! It was a bit too shapeless and a bit too long on me.

As I finished it just before I was due to visit my Mum for her birthday, I took it with me for her to try on. She of course loved it, and it looked much nicer on her.
She has been showing EVERYONE her lovely new cardi, and seems to think I lined it to make it look pretty on the insides.

Style Arc Linda pants

After seeing the success that other people were having with the Style Arc Linda pants, I decided to see for myself what all the gushing was about. 

Style Arc is an independent pattern company from Australia, that designs RTW styles, with RTW fit. They also very helpfully include a sample of their recommended fabric with their patterns, so that you have an idea of the weight and stretch of the fabric they suggest if you want to substitute, or if their recommendation is a bit 'lost in translation'.

The Linda pant is a pull-on style most often seen here (and in Australia) made in bengaline, and that is the fabric recommended here.

To keep in the spirit of what was intended, and because frankly, I find them very comfortable, I made mine up in RPL* bengaline which I found on the clearance table at Spotlight for a slightly unbelievable $3 a metre.

The only alteration I made was to add 1cm to the front waist, as that is where my extra waist 'fluff' resides, and shortened them by 3 1/2 cm. For reference I started with a size 16.

Yes, I am standing on the side of my bath!

While I am reasonably happy with the fit, there is still something slightly hinky going on with my crotch seam, which I suspect has more to do with my fluffy tummy than the pattern.

As it is, I can't complain. These essentially fit straight out of the packet, and they are acceptable enough to wear out of the house, though if anyone has an idea on how I might improve the fit, I'm open to ideas.