Saturday, August 18, 2012

Alma Fail

Riding high from my previous Alma blouse (which I still love and have worn way too many times in the last week), I thought I'd try the long-sleeved version.  I've had this particular piece of fabric, two yards of Anna Sui silk from Vogue, for a while now and I was waiting for the right pattern.  I thought this was It.  Since my muslin went so well, I just plugged right along, completely finishing it before trying it on.  Zipper, hem, the whole shebang.

Yikes.

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Why does it look so...bad? I can't even pinpoint what's wrong, it's just...ugly. And limp. And it makes my gut look bigger than my boobs.

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It has to be the fabric, because I seriously feel SO cute in my navy Alma blouse. I don't even want to wear this one out of the house. I unhemmed it (it was pulling like crazy because I think I made too wide of a hem) and removed the collar. I couldn't even take a picture of the sad little collar for you guys. Interfacing is necessary with silk. Lesson learned, yo. I re-made the collar, but the I decided at the last minute to leave it off. I think that was the wrong choice. What is UP with the neckline? It's so crooked. And it poufs out on the left side.

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I have also never in my sewing life had to do a swayback adjustment, but it sure looks like I need to here. My other Alma lays nice and smooth.

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The saddest part is that my sleeves turned out really sweet. Look how sweet:

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Except that when I raise my arms to show you both, my stomach shows. WHY is it so short? My other one is not too short!  WTF.

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I don't know what the hell happened. I am so tired of looking at this blouse I don't even want to try to fix it. I might have to set it aside for a while and assess whether or not it's worth salvaging. It's so depressing when a project fails, isn't it? So that no one else is depressed, I'll leave you with a picture of a silly little project I made.

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Felt taco cat toys make everything better.

10 comments:

  1. Hey Amy,

    That is such a shame! It had all the potental to be super cute, too. I hope you work out how to selvidge it, all that effort shouldnt go to waste.

    Freya May
    passingforgrownups.blogspot.com

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  2. I think you *can* use this! I would suggest always pairing it with a high waist skirt. This will eliminate the poochy belly look, swayback problems and will focus more on the very cute sleeves!

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  3. The fabric is cute, its a shame it didn't turn out.

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  4. It sucks when you think something should work because you've used the pattern before only for the fabric to mess it up. So frustrating! I hope you come up with a way to make it work, Katie's suggestion of tucking it into a skirt sounds like it's worth trying.

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  5. Hmm, what a mystery! Can you add a belt to cinch in the waist a little? Great work on those lovely cuffs xxx

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  6. The sleeves and the fabric are really cute, maybe you can pair it up with a sleeveless bulky knit cardigan, with a waistbelt?

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  7. Worth saving! That printed silk is so cute. It seems like some of the fitting issues could be fixed just by sewing deeper into all the darts (bust, front, back) to remove some of the excess fabric. Good luck!

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  8. I think you should take it apart, do the other keyhole type collar (I know it's not a keyhole, but you know which one I mean...), and although the sleeves are beautiful, the print is just too small for them. You should go with a shorter sleeve, I think all the way short!

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    Replies
    1. Changing the neckline is a great idea! I have a plan for the length tonight (cutting it off at the waist and making a peplum) so I hope I can salvage this baby.

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  9. I heard you spotted my sister?! So cool! And it reminded me that I somehow haven't been on your blog in way too long and really needed to remedy that. I'm sorry you weren't happy with how the blouse turned out, but you look great (+love your hair & the colored pants!).

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