i know, i know. this should have been relatively easy, sewing 101. but i confess i struggled a bit. if you've visited with me here before, perhaps you remember this post. i've yet to do anything with what remains of the garment. this time, i was determined to finish and have something to show for it. and i desperately wanted something cute and fresh to wear this summer, something i made.
and so i persisted and i'm rather pleased with the results.
it's the shearwater kaftan by make it perfect. a friend has made it before. and it looked super cute.
i struggled to topstitch around the small half circle at the bottom of the placket until i chalked a line around it to follow.
and i gave up trying to serge the raw edges on the inside. i've never taken a class. i need to to learn how to manage curves and seams, especially curves within the seams. i discovered this nice small zip zag stitch on my sewing machine instead.
i did learn how to machine sew double fold bias tape thanks to youtube. i liked it so much i hemmed the sleeves and bottom with it! you'd better believe i'm going to be using this method again and again.
overall i'm super pleased with myself. there are imperfections, especially for this perfectionist. no one but myself will know them.
most importantly i got over my fears of armholes and fit. the measurements are spot on. this was a good beginning pattern, for sure.
i did make a few changes to suit me. for example, i decided against the tabs to roll up the sleeves and shortened them by a good 7 inches instead. i like three quarter sleeves the best. and i shortened the length by 4 inches. it's not too long and not too short.
another lesson well learned. i'm ready to dive into my next apparel piece!
