Marfy 3148 Aubergine Dream

Hey!

Lately I haven't been sewing a lot of expensive garments because I am transitioning into smaller dress sizes because I have lost a tremendous amount of weight, and so as I promised on my last video I was going to make this dress as it is stated in the catalogue of Marfy 2013/2014 and I actually wanted the dress to be in its sketched colour of aubergine because, some colours I am just attracted to for some silly reason.

Really, I am so happy to be in the demographic that 'fit' nicely into the small proffered range of sizes that Marfy has, and I know I have added on my seam allowances in the past but, in re-measuring my shrunken size I need only add 1/2 of an inch seam allowance which I will bump up to 1.5 cm because I am quite comfortable with that.
I will then sew all major seams at 1 cm except the CB which deserves the 1.5 cm for the zipper and I want more room this time.

Now, here is the "Look" of 3148 originally:

Picture from Marfy Catalogue
Centre Back seam
Massive pleats on hem line
Pleats on front and back
fabric belt and fabric rose

Obviously one could dress this up in other colours of any jewel tone especially if you're the type of fanatic that loves evening wear or cocktail/social dress stuff.

I know I am a fanatic.  I anticipate wearing these things as I see them in the catalogue so, my problem is playing the waiting game.

Now, as I have mentioned before, a little bit of planning needs to go into what you'll be sewing so I think this will work:

1. Zipper is on the CB of the garment. Invisible is most appropriate but I don't think that a silver metal teeth exposed zipper would work. It will make it look a shade bit 'cheap', plus the metal teeth are a bit heavy.
2.  Minimal handiwork...as a matter of fact...none.
3. The self fabric belt is however going to contain some bling.  How about a silvery crystal buckle baby!
4. Fusible interfacing for fabric belt.
5. As a finished look to be worn  with jewelry matching with the buckle motif.

So my job is to add 1.5 cm seam allowance on all seams and add my famous 2 cm hem allowance, use an invisible zipper, buy the lining later because I want to focus on the shell right now.  

Oh and by the way, we get separate lining pieces for the skirt  Who wouldn't love that!!!

I wanted this to be a silk crepe but I found this poly with a good drape
for the right price and weight...and the lighting isn't great... NO WAY!!!

Now what you'll need to cut out:

Front Bodice piece cut 2 on the straight grain
Bodice Back piece cut 2 on the straight grain
Side back skirt piece cut 2 the straight grain
Front skirt piece cut 1 on the straight grain* 


*(This piece is wide. You must lay out your fabric in one layer and cut 1. This piece is not symmetrical, so DO NOT cut on the fold because there are numerous pleats to do, so, it is easier this way)

In preparing my pieces, since I have a poly fabric here, I serged the edges of all my pieces because there is a significant amount of fluffage.

Layout: 

Since there are only 4 major pieces to cut here, not including the fabric rose piece and fabric belt, it is pretty self evident how it can be done the most efficiently.  

Layout of front bodice, back bodice and side skirt
DO NOT cut out fabric in the dart area!

Front skirt. Lay fabric out and cut 1, using either salvage edge for the grain line

Preparing the bodice darts:

Upon noticing that the front bust dart is a wide one, it will give you too much bulk.  So, what we must do is trim it down because later on we do not need this bulk  doubled when attaching the lining.

Prepare your dart the way you normally would.  Mark the centre line of the dart. Sew and press dart seam. Decide which amount of seam allowance you wish to leave when the dart excess is removed.  I chose to leave 1.5 cm to cut off until I hit the apex of the dart.

Cut the centre line of dart until you near the apex of the dart. Leave about 1-1.5 cm uncut from the apex.
Cut and finish the marked seam allowance to cut off excess.
Press out the uncut area at the apex of the dart so they lay flat.

Preparing front bodice dart.  

Prepare to cut the excess off from the wrong side of dart.
I left 1.5 cm seam allowance here.

Sew the centre front bodice seam.
See the finished dart and uncut portion near the apex?

Sewing the centre front seam:

Mark the notch on the centre front seam.  With right sides together, sew the seam until the notch.  There is no match point letter for the centre front seam, all it tells you is that there is a 'seaming half front'.
Press seam out.

Optional: see below
{ Insert belt instructions here if you plan to add a fabric belt from A seam to A seam L and R sides, otherwise keep moving along}

Sewing the side seam A on bodice:

With right sides together, sew the side seams for both R and L sides of bodice.  Press seam out.

Sewing the shoulder seam:

With right sides together, sew the shoulder seams from the front and back pieces of both R and L sides.  Press seam out.


Onto the skirt portion of the dress.....

Please mark your CB and A seam on your side skirt dress and on your front skirt piece.  This is very important!

Here comes part of the project where time is spent meticulously trying to fight the pleat monster...

Yes, there are lots of pleats on this dress, and that is fine.  We just need a way to tackle this issue without losing our cool.

Since I had a dark fabric and my white fabric pencil wasn't a good option, I used tailor's wax, and I have to think ahead here because this marker is gone after heating it with the iron, so, guess what?  I have to baste mark all of my pleating lines.  Fine. This way the pleat lines are permanent until I remove the basting thread.  I also know that there are 42 pleats to do in total not including the lining.

So, keep in mind that the directions on the pattern pieces are there in the directions for a good reason.  Basting your pleat lines will ensure we don't miss a step.

These are the 4 pleats on the Side back piece.
Direct your pleats AWAY from the CB on each side

A portion of the pleats on the hem area.  I know it's a hot mess.
Pleat directions are going in every which way. Take notice.

After completing this daunting task, secure your pleats with yes, more basting or any way you wish to secure them down.  Press your pleats as best as you can, because in the finished dress with fantastic pressed pleats is what we are aiming for.

Sewing the skirt A seam:

With right sides together, sew the A seam on each R and L side of the front skirt.  Press seam out.

Attaching the bodice assembly to the skirt:

1. Since this is a fun part of the construction, we should notice here that the CF of the skirt pattern piece is clearly marked saying 'Seaming half front' and there is a long penciled line as well. 
2. On your fabric you can make a notch or mark it.
3. As well, the dart seam should match with the centre of the 2 pleats directed towards the CF on the front skirt piece.
4. And, the A seams on bodice and skirt should match.

So, with right sides together, attach the bodice assembly to the skirt matching those key points I just mentioned.  Press seam out and then press the seam towards the hem of the dress.  


Sewing the CB seam:

Sew the CB seam, 'Seaming half back'  that will be open above the notch. Secure stitching in preparation for the zipper.  Press the seam open.

Attaching the zipper:

As always, I line up my zipper tape edge with my serging edge to line up my 1.5 cm seam allowance with the stitching on the closed portion of the CB seam.  Fairly accurate in my view.

As good practice and techniques will show you, and yes, I have made mistakes in the past, it is always a good idea to baste in your zipper first because I have used pins and they wobble and shift things around enough to make it look like the installation is poorly executed.

Attaching the fabric rose: Optional but it's good to have

{See instructions below}

Hem:

Finish your fashion fabric hem as desired.  A hand sewn blind hem will be most efficient since there are a lot of pleats!

Optional:
Onto the bling-belt :

I bought a simple buckle that has a space of 2 cm in width.  So, guess what my finished width is going to be?  That's right....

I know the catalogue picture shows a belt all the way around the waist and could be a purchased belt, but since my buckle has no latch, I want it to go from A seam LS to A seam RS.  And remember, we don't want the buckle and belt to sag when I am wearing it, so I chose to sew it the exact distance.

It should work.  I should also top-stitch the long edge of the belt, since my turning the belt right side out, I left a sewing gap.

Directions:

Cut 1 piece of area (50 x 6) sq. cm*.  
Apply fusible interfacing to the wrong side of entire piece. 
*Area cut will vary according to size you will sew and varying width you choose.

With right sides together, sew the 1 cm seam allowance on the long side of belt.  Leave both short ends open and leave a gap somewhere along the middle so you can turn it right side out. Press out. Top stitch belt to close the gap and for aesthetic reasons!

Thread the buckle onto the open belt and affix the assembly to the A seam on the bottom of the bodice placing belt just above the seam allowance joining the skirt/bodice.  Pin belt down so that it won't sag and affix your buckle to the centre bodice seam. Baste belt along A seam to keep it place.

The belt done with the buckle threaded on

Place belt along A seam to secure the belt onto the dress**

** Sew the fabric belt at the time you are sewing the bodice A seam being careful not to catch this when sewing the skirt portion to the bodice.

Lining:

What you'll need to cut out:

Cut 2 Front bodice on the straight grain
Cut 2 Back bodice on the straight grain
Cut 1 Front lining skirt on the fold
Cut 2 Back lining skirt on the straight grain

Now, the lining pattern piece for the top and hem of the front and back skirt needs to be pleated but notice how they don't really give you specific placement lines?
My guess is that you would 'pleat to fit' situation, so you may need to place the pleat where you want them to go.

Anyway, if you are still struggling and wondering....okay place a pleat at the front darts directed towards the centre front and place another pleat directed away from the centre back in the centre of the bodice back piece.  That would be the most logical place to put the fitted pleats.

Directions:

Sew the bodice the same manner as the directions above concerning the CF seam, A seam and shoulder seam.  Disregard the belt instructions.

Sew the CB seam.  Leave the portion above the notch open. Finish this for the zipper installation.

Sew the side seams connecting the front skirt to the back skirt.

Sew the bodice assembly to the skirt assembly matching A seam to the side seams. There will be extra space for the pleats.  I only could fit one pleat per side on the bodice.  Not that much ease.

With right sides together, sew the neckline of lining to the fashion fabric.  Understitch the neckline.

Baste the lining to the zipper tape.  Use a regular zipper foot to attach the lining to the zipper tape using the ridge of the wrong side of the zipper teeth as a reference so the lining will not catch on the zipper.

Attach the lining to the armhole circumference the same way you would attach a sleeve lining to a coat. Understitch this armhole circumference.

Finish the hem of the lining as you like.  Leave the lining hem free from the hem of the fashion fabric.

Fashioning the fabric rose to the dress:

Cut 1 on the bias grain (don't have to add a seam allowance)

The only thing that I did was fold in half and knowing that the centre line was the fold line, I sewed right sides together, at the 6 mm seam line, finished the edge with a serge.  Now, with this you shouldn't press the fold line.

 Do a running stitch by hand along the sewn long side.  Gather the ends together until your piece starts looking like a flower. Secure the gather with some hand sewing.

You can also gather and roll one end to the other end and secure it down or just gather it.  Either way, it will start looking like a flower.

Tack the ends together to close the centre hole and hand sew it to the dress where it has the Z placement mark.  You can further tack this down with crystal beads if you want.


Okay that is everything that goes into this dress.  I really like my fashion belt on the front bodice...that really helped!

Pictures of finished dress to come later...the lighting sucks...really...it does...

Bye!!!

Finally, 3 days of miserable weather (snow) and now a sunny day...with snow

Finished Front

Fabric flower tacked on to the Z placement between pleats

Finished Back

Lining 

Now, this is seriously done!

Marfy 2240. Awh...not another coat

Marfy 2240

Yeah, okay, you're right..not another coat but I got to tell you that on average we always get cloudy days here 9 months out of the year, so, I need coats!!!!!

I have been putting this off like stupid crazy, but I found the fabric I was looking for and I am at peace with it.

Originally, I bought a periwinkle coloured fabric which you might have seen from this post A Roadside Flower Story and it turned out I didn't have enough metres to do this coat, so, instead I changed my mind and went with a boucle acrylic fabric of pink origin and a white cotton twill, (hmmm. who would have guessed), so this time I think I bought too much.  But that's OK!
So, yes, I am making two versions here:  The pink boucle and the white twill (with blue lining)

So let's examine the finished product shall we....





Size 46
Knee length
Lined of course even though it isn't obvious
Pleated over/under collar with lining
Centre back seam
3 pleats on lower half
Top stitching on bodice and lower pleats
Five 28-30 mm buttons third one down is a seam buttonhole
I'll skip the hat
Sleeves shows lining but that can be changed
Pleated where pocket lining is???

Cute isn't it???!!!!

This SO reminds me of the very favourite coat that Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge wore some years back.  Here is the visual:

Isn't this coat freaking adorable? I really liked the flare at the waist line. However Marfy 2240 isn't a double breasted coat but the collar makes up for that alone!

I really like that the front pleats will enhance an hourglass figure to make a waist seem smaller, and that is everything isn't it??

I got to say that any topstitching I do may not show up very much unless I get a darker thread.  Working on that. Or I can use some heavier weight Z twist perle thread and hand stitch my topstitch...hmmmm.

For the lining on the white twill, I picked out a colour that was aptly named "BLUEBERRY", which was a close fit to the picture above.

What you'll need to do:

You'll need 3.5 m of 1.44 m wide fabric and about 3 m for the lining safely

Front Bodice: Cut 2
Side Front Bodice: Cut 2
Lower Front: Cut 2
Side Back: Cut 2 (cut 2 lining)
Back: Cut 2 (Lining cut 1 on fold(altered) with standard pleat)
Pocket: Cut 4 lining only
Upper/Under Collar: Cut 1 on bias fold (same for interfacing,lining)
Upper sleeve: Cut 2 (Cut 2 for lining)
Lower sleeve: Cut 2 (Cut 2 for lining)
Front facing: Cut 2 (cut 2 interfacing)

Onto the instructions already.....geez

Since I have 2 versions I will probably toggle using both source pictures, so, you are seeing the same thing done for each, nothing has changed.

Step 1 LAYOUT  Sorry about the lighting, it's gray here a lot!!!




Side back, Back, Front bodice, Under sleeve

Over sleeve, Lower Front, Side bodice

Collar piece which is both under and over collar cut 1 on the BIAS fold. Same for lining.
(Here I have a 1:1:sqrt(2) special triangle to make sure my fabric is folded on the true bias)

I used a 2 cm add on allowance and hem allowance in all places except the collar, pocket seams and arm hole areas.(I only add a 1 cm seam allowance)  I need all the space I can get.  My shoulders are quite narrow so, increasing that would be tragic.  All seams will be sewn with a 1 cm seam allowance thus increasing the overall size of my garment.

I have to overlock my fabric pieces because I am getting crazy amounts of fluffage.(extreme fabric dust) for the boucle but not for the white twill.

Step 2 Centre back seam.

With right sides together, sew the centre back seam where it says "seaming half back".  No match point letters here.  Just the straight edge running all the way down from neck to knee hem is your centre back seam.


Step 3 Lower Front Halves

Pleating

Mark or transfer your pleat lines for both sides on the lower fronts. 

IMPORTANT:       Mark your pocket placement line on both sides.  Mark notches where the seam buttonhole will sit.

DO NOT cut out the pleat area.  Cut piece as it is intact and whole(see piece in layout).

 Fold the pleats in the direction away from the centre front.  Note the B match point on the second pleat.  Baste across each pleat on each side for now. Press pleats. It is suggested that the pleats are edge stitched down that doubles as a top stitch.

Bring lines together towards the CB.  Baste pleats and stitch a permanent stitch

Step 4: In seam pockets

I am going to have to serge my pocket lining because I know acetate lining frays like crazy!

At first, where the placement line is on the lower front of the coat kind of threw me off because it doesn't really sit very close to the seam line so, in looking at the conceptual drawing, how are we doing this??
Well, in zooming in on the picture, and looking at how the pocket pieces will fit at the seam line, it looks as though I will have to pleat again!!!  Anyway, that is what I see and I assume I can do anything to make it work, and hence look in good and acceptable in public.

With right sides together, place the pocket lining along the T seam(front-side back). Pin the pocket lining on both front and side front. Sew the lining and T seam between the length of the A placement corresponding line on the front. (In other words, do not have a larger opening for your pocket than the length of your A placement line).

Press this seam towards the pocket and sew pocket pieces together on each side of the jacket.

Now, what to do with this A placement line on the front of the jacket?  Going back to what I just wrote, we need to bring the placement line towards the pocket edge.  The picture shows that the pocket opening along the seam line is next to the last pleat on the front.

After basting the A placement line in line with the pocket hole, I whip stitched these together because it doesn't even show from the outside and it makes for a very strong bind.

Step 5: N match point seam

This is the seam that joins the side back to the back piece.  With right sides together, match notches and fit curve of side back to the back piece. Press seam out. Remember to stay stitch if it is needed.  I don't do it if I can avoid it-yeah I am bad.



Step 6: Bodice B seam

Mark your centre front(CF) line with corresponding buttonhole placements and do not forget the seam buttonhole (third down from top)

Sew with right sides together the bodice pieces with the labelled B match point.   Match notches and curve.  Press seam out.

Bodice Front and bodice side front joined at the B match point
to make the top bodice assembly.

Step 7: Bodice assembly join to lower front halves

With right sides together, join bodice piece to lower front sections.  Press seam out. Match the B match point with the pleat with the seam line.

DO NOT forget to leave a space where the buttonhole sits on the right side of the coat. Re-enforce the stitching where you would start and stop to leave a hole.  This side you want to press seam out because of the seam buttonhole.

The left side of the left front of coat can be stitched all the way across because there are no buttonholes on this side.

Top bodice assembly sewn to lower front half.  This is the Left side of the coat.
B matchpoint seam joins with the middle pleat.

Step 8:  T seam matchpoint Front to Side Back

Now that you have the bodice L an R halves joined to their respective lower halves, now it is time to sew the T matchpoint seam. 

With right sides together, sew the front assembly to the back assembly.  Start and stop sewing above and below the pocket opening by re-enforcing your stitching. Press seam. 


Step 9: Shoulder Seam

Sew the shoulder seam by joining right sides together and pressing seam.  There is no matchpoint here.

Step 10: Sleeves.  Typical two piece assembly

Mark by marker pen or clipped notches the 2 most important parts of the upper sleeve.  There is a notch on the front area and the apex of the sleeve where the grain line is.  This will be the only grain line notch to use as a functional notch.

Mark where the FRONT of the sleeve is, otherwise, we won't know what L and R is here.

With right sides together, sew the N seam matchpoint joining lower and upper sleeves together so that the sleeve is one assembly for each L and R pieces.

Now that this is sewn together, press N seam out (Outer sleeve seam), and sew a gathering stitch between notches. (Or in my case from outer seam to front sleeve notch)

Sew the inner sleeve seam and press out.  Fit sleeve into armhole matching  front notches and apex sleeve notch to the shoulder seam.

Two piece sleeve assembly for the R and L sleeves.

Step 11: Collar

This part was a bit confusing when I first looked at it, but after looking at the drawing, and reading the directions on the pattern piece I realised that I only needed to cut 1 on the fold.  It says to "Fold in Double" and what I did was to create the under collar, I just needed to fold lengthwise along the middle to create the finished collar.  So, let's look at what to do:

1. Cut with seam allowances, 1 piece on the bias fold.  Do the same for the lining and interfacing.
2. Transfer all pleat lines onto the fabric and lining.
3. Fuse or sew interfacing to the wrong side of the over/under collar piece
4. Press pleats on fabric and lining separately. For both sides and ends pleats are pressed towards the CB.  You will need to form mirror image pleats on both sides of your fabric and lining.
5. Baste pleats temporarily until you are ready to sew it to the coat.
6. Sew with right sides together, the collar and lining together leaving one long end open to turn right way out.(Or sew 2 short sides but  long ends are basted)
7. With right sides together, pin the collar/lining assembly to the coat matching CB, notches ending at front of the coat (C matchpoint). Sew and press.
8. DO NOT Press the centre fold line along the long side PLEASE.  The picture shows it kind of fluffy and bouncy.

The pleats are folded as mirror images on L and R sides of the far end of the collar.
The middle length is your fold line
Pleats are directed towards the centre back of the collar(middle).

Basted long end is joined to the coat. (Remember that the non pleated area is the CB)
The end of collar assembly should end at the C matchpoint of front jacket

Step 12: Pockets Front Finish A Placement Line

In finishing the pockets  we have to do some more pleating.  Now, as mentioned before, the placement line A was quite a distance from the T seam line opening, so I think there may be another way to do this, but you can alter things if you see fit.

Take the placement line A and bring this line towards the T seam. Baste the pleat down along the opening, press and sew down within the seam allowance.  This should hold the A placement pleat.
You can sew it down carefully not catching the other side and sewing shut the pocket opening, so what I did was whip stitch it into place.  I did this only because I know it is a sturdy stitch or you can slip stitch it, which evidently bugs the crap out of me.

Step 13: Facing/Lining

Fuse or baste interfacing to the wrong side of both right and left sides of the front facing.
I would suggest to serge or zig zag the edges to keep fabric from fraying.
Mark a corresponding buttonhole placement on your facing to join to the seam buttonhole.

I marked the position on the facing where the seam button hole is on the fashion fabric.

The lining for the front section can be done in 2 ways.  This is the only other piece that is drastically different from the rest of the pattern pieces and this was not in the package, so what I did was use the front bodice piece and sew it to the lower front but had to omit the pleats.  Using the existing pattern piece(facing) and side back, the difference in area would be the newly assembled front lining, which was done the same as in Marfy 9609.  You could also draft an entire single piece including both front pieces but that I didn't want to do.  Either way, you will need to cut 2 of each piece for the lining.

The pieces for the modified front lining.  I assembled them in 2 pieces
but you can draft an entire section as one piece.
Notice how the front pleats are not needed here.

With right sides together, sew the front lining to the facing and press with the seam towards the facing.

Step 14:  Lining Centre back pleat

Since the back piece for the lining is cut on the fold, form your desired pleat width for ease of wear and sew down in 3 places along the length of the centre back pleat.
I chose 3 cm for my pleat distance on either side of the centre fold.  It is really up to you what you want your lining centre back pleat to be, although you can still mirror your fashion fabric directions and sew a centre back seam.  I do suggest to make a pleat only because it allows ease of wear and increases the comfort level a bit.
Hey, if you have the energy, you can hand sew a small chain here because I have seen that in higher quality overcoats.

Step 15: Lining Back Side Back

Sew the N seam matchpoint is done the same for the fashion fabric.  See step 5.

Step 16: Lining Side back to Front Assembly

Sew the lining as you did in step 8 except sew the entire length of the T seam.  This will trap the pockets between the fashion fabric and the lining.

Step 17: Lining Shoulder seam

Sew with right sides together, the facing/front lining shoulder section to the corresponding shoulder seam on back piece.  Press seam out.

Step 18: Lining Sleeves

Assemble the two piece assembly of the lining sleeves just like the fashion fabric as in step 10.  Fit sleeve lining into the armhole area.

Step 19: Lining Collar attachment

With right sides together, sew the facing/lining assembly to the basted collar and fronts. Press and topstitch the facing the centre front from the collar matchpoint to the hem area.  This can be optional but may give it a nice look.

Trim the top corner area and clip the curves making a better look.

*** At this point, the coat should sandwich the collar between the lining.  This small stretch along the collar area when I attached it was a huge pain as the number of layers caused my machine to literally come apart where the needle housing is attached to the shank.  I may suggest to use a thinner fabric to lessen the burden.

Baste the collar assembly to the neckline but don't finish these edges.
Sew the lining over this to sandwich the collar between neckline and lining
See how it is folded like in the picture?  DO NOT press the long centre front fold  line.
It is supposed to look fluffy!

Hem

Normally when I look at the pictures of the finished product, I would imagine that the pattern would generally stop there and you would add the hem allowance.  Well, I did add 2 cm, but as it turns out, I really didn't have to because even without the allowance the piece went WAY BELOW my knees and I have to trim off 5.75 inches!  I then gave myself a new hem allowance of 1.25 inches, and I know I should be metric but this coat is LONG and I am 175cm tall!  Therefore, this coat is sitting at 7 inches higher!  WOW! And that is still below my knees a little bit!

Anyway, having trimmed the massive excess away I serged the bottom of my hem and attached the lining.


Also, attach the lining to the sleeve hem as you see fit.  I think the length of the sleeve could have been a bit longer or adding a french cuff would have been nice.  I probably could draft one but I am way too lazy right now!


Buttons and Buttonholes

Machine buttonhole where your buttonholes will sit on the centre front line. The pattern pieces have this clearly marked.  The seam button hole was a bit tricky in that I had to make a separate buttonhole on the facing and I then secured it to the seam opening inconspicuously .  The other 4 were straight forward.

Hand sew the buttons on the corresponding left centre front line.  Remember us girls!  Button holes are on the right side, buttons on the left!

I chose an off white 28mm laser cut button that looks like this:

And that is it!  See you for the next post!



Bye!!!!

 After making this coat and its silly pink doppelganger, I do urge you to think about using lighter softer coating fabrics as the bulky layers of the collar presented a massive huge problem for me personally as my machine is showing its limitations and age.  This was not a hard problem to overcome it was just that I got so frustrated by wasting pointless hours when I could have been reading??!!! 

Marfy 2155 Blouse. Where draping matters

Well sorry about the white blouse syndrome that keeps going around here.  I just thought that a Marfy sewing tutorial should be underway.

To all those who may have been paying attention, I have been belly-aching about the yokes on women's blouses, and yes, the design feature still sucks.  I also have this pattern that DOES NOT have a yoke but draped short sleeves that kind of looks difficult on first glance.  This may be why I put it off for another day, but then the right sale comes on and you find a bolt of fabric that is 'the one', then by all means start the damn project.

So, this is our end project:

Since there is draping on the sleeves you must choose a fabric that drapes!
Also has 4 buttons
Top stitching details (optional)
Vent on side front-side back seam.  (Adds flare or hourglass shape enhancement)
Seam joining front and back sleeve to where draping starts
May need to apply a bias binding to underarm area

Now, this blouse has a really good shape.  I also see that if you are the modest type then this may not be the blouse for you, simply because the U shape neckline is quite low.  But, I will remedy that problem in a jiff..wait until the finished product...then you will see...

Now, I will still show you step-by step how this is done.  Remember to take this as a guide only!!!

Please be aware of my short hand words, notes or symbols

CB- Centre back
CF- Centre front
R-right
L-left

Step 1:

Prepare to layout your pieces almost like I did.  It may not be the most efficient but I didn't waste too much. Remember to add your seam and hem allowances like I did leaving enough space between pieces.
I have a 1.5 cm seam allowance on side seams , CF and CB seam whereas I use a 1 cm seam allowance on all non-required size adjust areas such as armhole neck band etc
I also must adjust to cut 1.5 cm away on fold with the collar, under collar, neckbands to compensate for CB seam.  I also added a 2 cm hem allowance on required pieces Front, front facing,  side front, side back and back.

Decide on your seam finish technique:

French seam
Serge shut
Zig zag
Pink sheared
Flat felled seam...may seem awkward and may not work with drapey fabrics

SLEEVES MUST BE CUT ON THE TRUE BIAS!!!!! (45 degrees from selvedge edge)
Refer to trigonometry if you have to.

The first 3 pieces Back, Side back and Front

The next set is Upper sleeve, Side Front, Collar/under collar and front facing

The last set is the neck band pieces, and lower sleeve

Yes, I am sorry I don't have a proper cutting table.  For now I have the floor! I have to wait until I get a larger place.

Step 2:

Cut out pieces marking notches at this point.
Prepare fusible interfacing for the front facing, under collar and neckband facing.  Mark or baste the centre line where the buttonholes are to go on the RIGHT side of front piece.  I wouldn't choose a button larger than 15mm.

Body of blouse

Step 3:

With right sides together, sew the centre back(CB) seam where the pattern piece states " Seaming half back".  There is no match point letter here.  Press seam out.

Step 4:

With right sides together, sew the B seam.  This seam connects the BACK-SIDE BACK. Press seam out, and trim at underarm area if needed. You may wish to stay stitch this area if you want to reduce stretch.

Step 5:

With right sides together, sew the E seam connecting the FRONT-SIDE FRONT.  Press seam out.  You may need to stay stitch this before hand so it takes out the stretch.

Step 6:

With right sides together, sew the D seam connecting SIDE FRONT- SIDE BACK.  Stop sewing at the lowest notch and leave open if you want the vent.  If not, sew all the way through.

At this point you should finish your seams.  I always serge shut these blouse seams.  Press all seams towards the CB, with the exception of the CB seam, which can be pressed to the left or right side of body.

Step 7:

With right sides together, sew the shoulder seams press and finish. Press seam towards the CB.


Collar and Neck Band

Step 8:

Apply the interfacing to the wrong side of the ' over collar' piece, not the 'collar'.  With right sides together, sew together the over collar to the collar leaving the top open. Press out collar. Baste the top edge of collar together if you wish. You may wish to topstitch the collar.  I suggest an edge stitch or 6mm from edge.

Finished collar with a basted open top

Step 9:

Prepare interfacing to the wrong side of  piece labelled 'Collar strip' that has the O-M match point.


Step 10:

With the uninterfaced piece of the neckband and collar piece sewn together, with right sides together, match CB of shirt to CB of the long side of neckband piece(notched edge) having the seam allowance extend past the O-M match point with the CF of shirt. Sew this together and press seam towards the top of neckband piece.



Step 11:

With the uninterfaced piece labelled 'inside of collar', this is also known as the neckband facing.  Press under the seam allowance to the wrong side.

Seam allowance on long side pressed to wrong side

Step 12:

With the collar done as in step 8, with right sides together, baste together the short side(unnotched edge) of uninterfaced neck band to the collar piece.

Baste together collar assembly and uninterfaced neckband
Right sides together, pin to the interfaced neckband.
Notice the seam allowance extending beyond CF

Step 13:

With right sides together, pin the assembled piece from step 12 to the unnotched edge of the interfaced neck band piece. Sew the entire length including sides. Since the ends of the neckband piece are pressed under the seam allowance, match edges together by basting them so when you turn the neckband piece right side out, it will have a matched, even edge.

Sew through all 3 layers and the neckband seam will be flush with the CF
Make sure not to catch the collar assembly unnecessarily

Front Facing

Step 14:


Prepare interfacing to the wrong sides of left and right piece of front facing.
Press under the seam allowance to the wrong side of long straight edge of facing.  Edge stitch finish.

With right sides together, sew the facing to the CF of blouse stopping at the point where it joins to the neck band piece. Clip corners.  Press seam towards CB.

Hand sew remaining distance to the where the shoulder seam and end of facing meet. Any stitch you choose is fine but slip stitching is not visible, it may be most suited for this task.

If you don't want to slip stitch, sandwich the facing between  neckbands
baste across and edge stitch all layers.

Sleeves.  This is it folks!

Step 15:

As we can see the seam in the picture, we may guess where this needs to match up.  You got it!  The shoulder seam.  If the sleeves looks confusing, I don't blame you, it looks like a Mobius Loop.  It is actually a modified cap sleeve.

i)

MAKE SURE TO MARK LETTERS FOR FRONT AND BACK PIECES OF SLEEVES AND MARK ON UNDERARM SECTION WHERE THE NOTCHES ARE.

We already have eliminated D here from step 6. Mark on the body of blouse the
C and H match points for both R and L sleeves. Points B and E will match with sleeve

ii)

With right sides together, sew the A seam joining the front and back sleeve pieces.  This seam will match with your shoulder seam on the body of the blouse.  They should be mirror images of each other indicating the left and right sides of the body.

A match point seam that will join to the shoulder seam

iii)

Finish the arch seam A
Please note that at this point your sleeve halves look like the front crotch area of a pair of pants or bloomers.

iv)

Next, along the top of the armscye of your sleeve seam, sew a gathering stitch to fit the armscye between B and E match points having the sleeve seam match with the shoulder seam. I know this arch does not match up with the armhole area, so you have to fit it down to size

Here I have sewn a gathering stitch along the top.

Next, with right sides together, place arch seam A at the shoulder seam, the E match point on armscye at the E seam sewn from step 5, and match the B seam from step 4 to the end of arch seam A match point E.   Gather to fit. Turn back the facing on each side and baste this seam at this point.

****This must be done right with the B and E match point on sleeve with the body of the blouse. ****

Just know that B is for the back and E is for the front.


v)

Finish the facing edge of the C or H side of the sleeve pieces. You can turn under and edge stitch or which ever way you want to finish a hem.

Marfy also says to pleat along the bottom hem line of the sleeve.  I don't believe that a gathering stitch would accomplish a nice drape and make it look all pretty and knotted, so, pleat your hem area of your front and back halves of each sleeve piece. I would direct your pleats towards the letter C for the back half and towards H  for the front half. This way, it should cause less grief for each R or L sleeve.

***When forming your pleats, try to keep them within the fold lines.***

We see that the pleated hem edge of the front and back piece need to fit into the area on the SIDE BACK and SIDE FRONT underarm area, so readjust your pleats to fit the space from C match point to B(arch seam) and pleats to fit the space from H to E(end of arch seam).

Loop the back C pleat on itself creating a single loop structure. Baste pleated edge right sides together matching C-B distance. Do the same for the front except feed it through the single back loop.  This will give you your knotted sleeve.
With right sides together, baste this pleated edge from H to E distance

Here on the back of Left side, I have 4 pleats covering the C-B
length until it meets up with the end of the armscye seam above that.
Then, loop the front half through back and do the same for the front aspect.

vi)

Sew entire distance that you have basted, from C to H.  Press seam and finish.  At this point you may want to attach your bias binding but on my fabric, it would look wrong and droopy, so my method to finishing the underarm is to turn back the seam allowance at the notches and sew a edge stitch.  This would complete the arm hole area.


Buttonholes and buttons

Step 16:

This material is so light and summery that I can turn on my machine and let it go.

I have 4-12 mm buttons that are white plastic.

Place machine to set buttonholes where you have marked them on the CF line on the RIGHT side.  Marfy clearly has the button hole placement mapped out on the pattern piece

Sew 4 buttons into place on the LEFT side of CF of blouse


Hem

Step 17:
With right sides together, sew the hem allowance from facing edge to CF facing seam.  Turn this right side out and press.

Press under your desired or added hem allowance to the bottom of the shirt.  Finish hem to your liking

Bottom of front facing sewn to hem

Voila, we are DONE!!! (Sorry I blue-bombed this shirt with my water fade marker)

Here is your solution to 'covering up'.  Get some fashion jewelry statement pieces!
(I have 3 different necklace themes here)

That's it take care!!!

Marfy 9263 size 48 Completed!!! Attack of the Dog Roses

Another project done....well I actually finished this project a year ago (July 2011) but didn't get to document it until now because of 2 failed hard drives and lost data but we are getting it back slowly.

Okay, so, as you know Marfy patterns aren't for beginners but skirts are quite easy to put together if you

1. Follow and match points of letters to letters and notches from each piece
2. Add all seam allowances and hem allowances
3. Use the company's visual reference picture
4. Translate the concise instructions of the pattern piece if you can
5. Rely on your experience to put it together or consult some books if you want

I love skirts and this style was sooo cute and summery I just couldn't resist it.  I believe it may only be available by email request now through Marfy alone.  I don't know which year this was catalogued in, but check it out, it may stll be available (as of 2012).

Here is the visual reference from the company:

(I had to scan my printed file here because I did lose this original file)
*Now, looking at this reference, you got to hand it to the company for having an imagination for trendy awesome clothing. I see here in the seam of the top half and the flounce that there is a idea to stitch on a chain stitch, feather stitch or fly stitch, not to mention a hand stitched running stitch for aesthetics*

Now, I am aware that some newer and specialized machines can sew a running stitch which would save time, but doing it by hand is just as effective and costs pennies.

Can you imagine I may have done more than that?  You bet I did.  Not only did I sew a running top stitch, I also hand stitched a heavy chain stitch along the seam line and embroidered a mess of wild roses growing into each other along the flounce hem line.  What's a life without challenges?

Anyway, here are the pics:




Heavy chain stitch with perle thread

Wild roses on the first third of the flounce

Wild rose of white variety on the back of the flounce

Rose of local variety at home(R. nutkana) on last third of flounce



Finished skirt!!!

Well, along with this skirt came a waist band.  I used sew-in interfacing as I always do.  I also made this skirt out of a light plain weave cotton that isn't that opague in one layer,so, I have to wear a slip for modesty reasons. As for the colour scheme except Rosa nootkana, I had to make several photos of wild roses at the college so I can get my colour blending to meet certain criteria, and hopefully at the smaller size to look somewhat real.

And, don't forget the invisible zipper in cream colour sewn into the left side.  I only used a 1 cm allowance here.

Well, that is this Marfy skirt completed in 3 weeks.

Thanks!
(BTW, I know this skirt is wrinkled.  I have been wearing it a lot with the few hours of whole sun days we have every year)