Matchy-Matchy | Ottobre Design Woman 05/2016 no. 9 Classic Leggings

How could this lycra/spandex fabric be resisted when it held the colors of my shoes, top and favorite hoodie?!  And just like that, a new pair of leggings was made.

I've made the Ottobre Design Woman 05/2016 no. 9 Classic Leggings so many times now, it's nice to sort of sew on 'automatic'.  One pattern piece for both legs that wraps around with only one inner leg seam.   Sometimes I want to cut this pattern in two, for an outer as well as inner leg seam.... but so far I've not gone to the trouble.   You can see some of the others I've made here and here.  Btw, want to add, that right now I am not purchasing anymore Ottobre Design Woman pattern magazines.   Every.single.time I placed an order, either through her Etsy shop or through her Website, even using PayPal, for some reason my credit card company classified it as a fraudulent charge and froze my account.  It was one great big pain to unfreeze the card and I do not want to go through all that hassle again and I cannot purchase these magazines locally or even within my country, to my knowledge.  It's also interesting that a few folks on PatternReview.com have also spoken of their credit card companies doing the same to them.  So I'm sewing from the older issues I have and enjoying these.

Anyway another lycra/spandex picked up at the local textile outlet warehouse All About Fabrics that is only open once a month.  These sort of knits make the best leggings with their 4-way stretch, luxurious feel and great recovery.

Of course sweet Suzi always coordinates well in her classic black.  :)

Happy Sewing All!   :)

Top:  Simplicity 4192

Hoodie:  Burda 01/2017 #103

Quick and Easy Twisty Top | Burda 02/2018 no. 107 Offset Jersey Top

Do you want a super quick and easy make?  Do you want a quirky, fun, unusual top to wear that is oddly quite flattering?  Then Burda 02/2018 no 107 Offset Jersey Top is the one for you!  Only I call it the 'Twisty Top'.

Burda shows both their versions paired with slim fitting pants, but I found that mine also works well with the Ottobre miniskirt.  This is what I wore to Ladies Bible Study this morning and what fun to show the ladies my quirky twisty top!  I'm the only one who sews among the group, so it's really quite a joy when they ask about the clothes I'm wearing.  This top got lots of attention this morning!  And..... a little off topic here.... but if you look carefully at the Tulip Poplar behind me, you can see the beginning of new green leaves.  Spring!!!  Yay!!!  :)

I do have to say, that it takes me a full 5-10 minutes to get used to the top's 'feel' when it's first put on, as the twist is in both the front and the back with the arms sort of draping as the neck sort of 'cowls'.  At least this is how I am wearing it.

Burda's line drawing is definitely attention grabbing!  And let me say that what you think is some sort of funky shoulder seam, is really a raglan sort of seam.  I had such a hard time getting started but thanks to Allison's instagram feed showing how to begin the first 2 seams, it was then easy to figure out.  By the way, she also has a fabulous blog showcasing her beautiful makes.  :)

Photo Credit:  BurdaStyle.com

I had a little over a yard of lycra-spandex recently purchased at All About Fabrics, the local textile outlet only open once a month, and it was enough.  I think I may have shortened the sleeves a bit, but not much.  Be sure to follow Burda's instruction on placing the pattern pieces on one layer of fabric, right side up this way.  The aqua sticky notes are holding the sleeve pieces onto the bodice pieces as I don't like to use tape as I'm afraid I'll iron it by accident if I want to use the pattern in the future.  After a pattern like this is made and I'm through with it for now, it gets folded up in a labeled white manila envelope for storage.  And speaking of the fabric, my poor Bernina did not like this stretchy, lycra-spandex fabric at first, but a stretch needle, coupled with the walking foot pleased her to provide nice, even stitches.  Seams were serged after stitching the seams on the Bernina.  Double-needled stitched the sleeve hem and bottom hems and did not serge them first..... and they came out fine with no channeling.

It was fun to post this photo below on Instagram and ask what pattern I was working on!  Everyone knew at once!!  This top was made FAST!  Fabric chosen, pattern traced and all cut out in one afternoon.  Thus I added seam allowances to the fabric when cutting out, instead of adding to the paper before cutting out.  I may do this more often as it was really fast.  My only concern was that I wasn't sure my eyeballing the seam allowances were that accurate..... but realized in this funky top it probably wouldn't really matter.  Anyway, sewed up in an hour or so the following afternoon.  I cut a size 36 knowing that my fabric had a nice 4-way stretch and would be forgiving around the hips.  I'm usually a 38 in the hips when making a Burda pattern.

Thought it might be nice to share my visual of how to begin this top.....  Step 1.....  line up the number 1 and sew to pattern marks that line up.

..... Step 2.....   line up the number '2's then sew to end of seam.... and you're off and running!!!  Be sure to mark the back as once it's made, it's almost impossible to figure out!

What is so interesting is that as you look at the front of the top, there is a seam on my left, but not on my right.....

.....and from the back there is a seam on my right, but not on my left.  Cool!   Love all the twistiness!

 Below I'm wearing it with the Ottobre leggings and I do like this look too.

And I have decided to join in with Hila, who blogs over at Saturday Night Stitch, in her 2018 Burda Challenge invitation.    I've been subscribing to Burda for 2 years now, always having good intentions of sewing at least one thing from each issue, but my good intentions never seem to realize.  So this seems to be a good motivator and it's been great to see all the Burda makes coming through my IG feed, that that in and of itself is inspiring.  Instagram now allows you to subscribe to hashtags, so the #burdachallenge2018 is what folks are using.

My personal Burda Challenge for 2018 will be to complete at least 1 pattern from each month's Burda magazine giving myself permission to use my older issues at will.  This is my March make for the Burda Challenge.  Not going to worry about missing January and February.   ;)

We've had a couple of Red-Shouldered Hawks hanging around our property lately and found this beauty near the chicken coop.  We've been keeping the ladies cooped up in their coop because of the hawks so no worries (hopefully!) there.  Thrilled my camera captured such a glorious picture!  And if you want to see more South Carolina nature photos, or just more photos of some of the outfits I am wearing, I've recently revived my old Lisa's Carolina Photo Journal and am posting a little more frequently there.  No pressure on myself, just a place to post extra photos I take.  You can also subscribe through Bloglovin for the feed if you are interested.

Happy Sewing All!  :)