Ottobre Woman 05/2011 #1 Sunday Morning & #2 Sweet Dreams

I've slowly been conquering my "to-do" list one thing at a time.
Yesterday I looked at a pile of fabric in my sewing room and spied a lovely lightweight, semi-sheer cotton with cute yellow flowers.  I instantly knew what I wanted to make with it.

These are the first two Woman's patterns I've traced and sewn from my Ottobre magazine stash.  I guess I'm testing the waters on sizing with these two.

# 2 Sweet Dreams
My measurements put me in a size 44 for the bottoms so I traced and cut that size.
These shorts have an elastic waist and a drawstring.  As I was sewing I was a bit nervous because the rise looked very large.  I like things to sit waaaay below my waist. Nonetheless I put them together as stated.

I followed the instructions to the tee.  Every step was laid out nicely.
I opted to put fusible interfacing over the drawstring buttonholes even though the pattern called for fabric there.  I serged all edges.  I didn't add picot-edged elastic to the leg holes because it would bother me; plus I'm really not one for frills (now I know where my daughter gets it from).  I used pre-packaged bias tape for the drawstring because it saved time.

After I finished I tried the shorts on and the rise is very high for me.  Next time I'd lower the waist by a full 1-1.5 inches; these sit about an inch below my waist. They are also pretty big on me.  I think I may need to go down to a 42 next time.  I usually wear a size 10 in RTW.

I like the shorts and they will be comfy for bedtime so it's a win.

# 1 Sunday Morning
My measurements put me in a size 40 for the top so that is the size I traced and cut.
Most of these pattern pieces are cut on the fold with exception to the straps and button band. It is a bit of a fabric hog because of this.
My fabric is semi-sheer so I added a nice light cotton lining to the bust area.

I also followed the instructions for this tank and they were well written.  I used a small bit of the pre-packaged bias tape for the button band to match the shorts drawstring. At first I wasn't sure what length I needed to gather the center bust band too, however I soon realized I was fitting the button band into that spot.  Next time I'll most likely use some elastic tape so it is a nicer gather.

I forgot about the underbust elastic and casing made with the seam allowances when I serged those seams.... It made for a very tight elastic casing but I made it work.  I didn't want any picot-edged elastic on the tank either so I used 1/4 inch elastic and attached it as I would for a swim suit, or underwear - zigzaged the elastic on while stretching and then flip and zigzag again.  I had to make sure I created more stretching on top of the bust cups because the pattern states to extra stretch here to "create shape for the bust."

At this point I tried on the tank and realized the bust part was way to big for me... :-( boo They were both big width-wise and height-wise.  I tapered 1/2 inch off each of the sides and then flipped the top elastic down again.   It works now even though it is slightly big still.  Next time I'll have to try a size 38 - I usually wear an XS to a S in RTW tops.

I sized the straps according to the pattern instructions and added cute little vintage buttons from my stash.

Overall I'm pleased with both and most likely will attempt these patterns again in different sizes.

Fabric: Picked up from Hancock's Sept 15th, 2012; It is a beautiful Ivory and has yellow flowers.  Very lightweight and semi-sheer.  I grabbed it because it looked so "vintage" to me.  They only had 2.5 yards left so I snatched them all up at $1.19/yard; I used pretty much all of it so my pajama outfit cost me $2.98 total. LOL that ROCKS!

~ Happy Sewing! ~ Kristin ~