stylearcpatterns – Nikki Nicole Sew

Breaking with Precedence: A girl & A skirt

December 28, 2021by Kesha NicoleLeave a Comment

I’ve been going through a sort of sewing renaissance. I’ve been on a sewjo high sewing spree. Every free moment I get these days I’m sewing. I’ve temporarily broken with my pant sewing binge to sew something I hardly ever wear: skirts. That’s funny to even think about, because since I was a little girl I have absolutely hated wearing skirts. It’s is my least favorite article of clothing to wear, yet somehow I’ve found myself wearing a ton of skirts this season. I’ve been pairing them with panty hoses, leggings, boots and heels. I guess I’ve been feeling quite girly these days. Not sure how long this sewing renaissance will last since I’m coming up on my busy season work wise, but for now I’ll continue to sew away to my heart’s content.

PROJECT DETAILS:

Classic Staple: Turtleneck: Itch-To-Stitch HepburnTurtleneck. There are at least a gazillion turtleneck sewing patterns floating out there, and honestly I feel like you can choose almost any one of them and not go wrong. I however chose a highly regarded and tried and true pattern from Itch-to-Stitch based on the reviews. I was not disappointed. I loved that it fit almost to the exact specifications on the fit measurements. I literally was able to sew this pattern from start to finish in about an hour. I sewed this pattern without looking at the instructions it’s that easy to sew. Turtlenecks has to be one of my favorite fall/winter wears as I always tend to run a little cold. This one was flattering and I can definitely see myself making a couple more before the cold is done in Southern California.

FABRIC – I used this double sided patterned sweater knit jersey that I bought at the old Michael Levine (new Michael Levine has different owners) in downtown Los Angeles in the fashion district. This has been in my stash since forever and was during one of my fabric hording binges. I never could part with it, even though I have since purged my fabric storage at least four times since.

Front Button Down Skirt – Style Arc Sutton Woven Skirt. I bought this pattern on a flux. As I mentioned earlier I don’t like skirts, but something about this pattern just caught my eye. I think it’s the fact that you can make a fabric belt to match, or it’s a skirt that is long enough and hits me right where I like to wear skirts. I’m uber fussy about length, fabric and movability when I do wear skirts. I’m glad I took a chance on this pattern as it was delightfully easy to sew as well. In this case the fabric inspired the selection of this pattern. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m a big fan of Style Arc patterns. They tend to be a bit light or lacking on the instructions. I probably would not recommend their patterns to new and beginning sewers, as I feel like their patterns while excellently designed, does not sew up fast if you don’t already have a strong grasp on sewing construction as well as understand order of construction. I also love that their patterns for some amazing reason (the sewing gods rejoice!) fit me perfectly in the waist-to-hip ratio. It’s like their pattern slopers was based off someone that had my measurements.

FABRIC – While I was in Joann’s not too long ago to pick up some notions, as I literally hardly ever buy fabric from them currently, I saw this double sided faux suede fabric in their clearance section. Most of my Joann’s fabric has been in my stash pre-COVID era shopping. So I was pleasantly delighted to see this beauty. What sealed the deal was that I could not stop touching this fabric. They only had two and half yards left, so I knew whatever I made was going to have to fall into that limitation. Hence a good skirt.

STYLE – I wore a pair of my favorite boots that I only get to bust out this time of year. The rest of the year these Nine West cognac knee high leather boots reside in the recesses of my back closet hidden behind a business suit and a ball gown (go figure!). I bought them at least a good 10 years ago, and while they could use a good repair on the inside, they are still fantastic.

pants, tops

Stopping to Smell the Roses

April 6, 2020June 16, 2020by Kesha NicoleLeave a Comment

Whew! What a hell of a few months of this New Year we’ve been having right? While everyone has been shut in due to the corona virus, I’ve been still having to go into an office and work. I can’t lie, as an empath what’s going on in the world has been wiping me out energetically and my sew creativity has been super low. I’ve been having to do a lot of self-care to keep my nervous system from bottoming out and I’ve been taking plenty of time to rest. I’ve finally just got back into the mood to sew, and so I knew I definitely wanted to make a pair of pants.

PROJECT DETAILS:

PANTS – Mimi G Style Simplicity 9114 . I knew as soon as this pattern dropped that I was going to be making these. I love Mimi G patterns and the fit is always spot on, taking into account women curves. These pants are no different. They are a high waisted pants with a super comfortable fit. I have plans to make many more in all types of fabrics and colors and have actually already cut out the fabric for the next three pair I’m going to make. My only recommended modification would be the length of the pants. I’m 5’7 and they still were a tad longer than where I wanted them to hit so I increased the hem width to still give me that cropped pants look.

SWEATER – McCall 8070, View A #AidenMcCalls

FABRIC – For the pants I choose this beautiful Mood Exclusive Ethereal Verdure stretch cotton sateen Item #MD0459 from their new Serengeti Collection. It’s a dream to sew with and has great recovery. The sweater fabric is PFD (prepared for dying) French Terry that was gifted to me by a fashion company I used to work for. I used Rit Dye to dye it to this hunter/dark green.

STYLE – Shoes from Ked’s ; Sunglasses – Prescription glasses from Zenni.

pants

The Great Trouser Hunt

December 30, 2019June 16, 2020by Kesha NicoleLeave a Comment

I’ve been on The Great Trouser Hunt. In the last couple of months, I’ve been sewing like crazy and have actually made quite a few different items. The vast majority I found rather unflattering on me once made, but alas, such is the plight of a sewer. One of those many makes have been pants/trousers. I’ve been searching rather dutifully for the last year or so for my version of the perfect pants pattern. I think I finally found them! I’d been making item after item and was feeling rather defeated and disappointed with my makes which were primarily from the Big Four patterns (McCall, Vogue, Simplicity, Butterick). I know that pattern alterations are often called for, and it’s one of the many benefits of sewing your own clothes, but I simply have been at my wits end when even the simplest of patterns have been requiring a great deal of alterations. In my quest, I decided to look more at the indie pattern makers, as I’ve found that the fit of their patterns tend to be more refined, as they do way more pattern testing and take into account things like curves and the fact that not everyone is the same cookie cutter size and shape.

PROJECT DETAILS:

TROUSERS – Modified Sammi Woven Pants from Style Arc – I love pockets, and unfortunately the pattern did not come with pockets. I modified the front pattern piece for side front pockets and created two additional pattern pieces. One for the pocket facing and the second pocket lining. It was a simple and quick modification that took a matter of minutes. In all this is a fairly quick and easy sew and is designed for an intermediate sewer. My only issue I ran into was based on the finished measurements, the size I cut was actually still too big. I had to alter my pants a full size down. My next pair of these will be in a full size smaller. The great benefit to this is that Style Arc also provides you with the size above and below the size you purchase too, so you wind up with three sizes to either modify up or down depending on how things are fitting.

FIT – The fit of this pattern is the real winner. These were created in the classic traditional work trouser silhouette, which elongates your legs and provides an instant slimming look. The waist band is curved so that the back waist gap is almost non-existent and back pattern piece includes darts.

FABRIC – This delicious pebble double crepe woven fabric has been in my stash for quite some time and came from Michael Levine. It’s a nice heavier medium weight crepe, with such a beautiful drape. I only had 2 and 1/4^th yards of it, but thankfully it was 60” wide and with a little pattern tetris, I was able to eek out these pants with just a smidgeon of fabric leftover. The buttons came from Mood Fabrics.