Marfy notes

I wanted to address the comments on my post about Marfy patterns.


       Emily said "I would love to try a marfy...but I'm never sure where to start! Thanks for the post!"
       and Rachel said "Thank you so much for showing this. I have always been scared of Marfy because of having no instructions, but actually seeing one takes some of the fear away."

Yea!  That was my hope for that post.  I hope you give them a try.  I'll walk through my experience with this one.  I really think the confidence boost for your first Marfy is to find a similar pattern or patterns in your stash and use those instructions to guide you.

       Patsy said "Wow, I'd never seen those before. I followed your link and looked at some of them. They look 'interesting' and challenging. But since they require a bunch of measurements, they might fit (me) better than some of the other brands. I always end up altering them like crazy."
They do give lots of measurements to compare, and they do run true to their sizing (unlike some pattern companies, where I sew 1-2 sizes down from what my measurements would suggest).  One downside I didn't think to mention is that they offer a pretty limited size range for most of their patterns, and grading some of them down or up could be a REAL challenge. 

       Lois said "My goodness, Marfy patterns do just about everything they can to keep people from using them!"

I know!  That page always cracks me up.  I mean, yeah, they have no directions, but apart from that, they're not substantially different from a Vogue pattern. 


       Kaydee11 said "That's going to be a beautiful dress! I have a couple of questions about your pattern. It only has the bodice pieces, so where will you get the skirt pattern pieces? Did you know the skirt pieces were not included when you ordered it?"

Yes, I did know I would receive just the bodice.  Marfy always sells single garment patterns.  There are no separates patterns.  The skirt is 1777, but I didn't buy it.  It's $14.50 and a pretty simple skirt.  I'll either use another skirt pattern I have or just make a simple A-line or gathered-waist skirt.  I haven't decided yet.

Marfy 1776 - part 1

I've started sewing Marfy 1776.

First, I want to show you how I cut it out, since the pattern pieces have no seam allowances.  I showed you the pattern here.
I SHOULD trace the pieces onto large paper, add seam allowances, make a muslin, adjust the muslin, cut the muslin apart, and use the pieces to cut out my dress.

What I did:

 Oh yeah.  I'm a rebel, man.  I mentioned before that I've made just a few Marfys, but they've all fit pretty perfectly with no adjustment.  I also have a deadline, so I just went for it.  I'm using one-inch seam allowances in case I need to make some fitting adjustments.  I didn't even trace the pattern pieces, just laid them on the fabric, held them down with cans (sun-dried tomatoes and cream of mushroom soup optional) and used a ruler to guide my cutting.

I've assembled the lining with a lightweight woven fusible, and I just added the boning (one of my least favorite tasks for some reason).

Here is the side that will be against my body:

And here is the boning:

I made the lining first to check fit, which seems good.  Now, I need to cut out the flannel underlining (after cutting out the fashion fabric, lining, and interfacing, I stopped cutting) and assemble the outer layer.  More to come on this adventure...

Have you seen a Marfy pattern?

About a week ago, the two Marfy patterns that I ordered arrived, and I couldn't help myself.  Even though I have chosen 1776

for my formal dress, I whipped up 2608
in about 4 days.  I didn't even make a muslin, which I probably should have.  I've had success with Marfy pattern drafting in the past, though, so I went for it, and it turned out great with only minor adjustments along the way.  More to come about that dress after I get photos on me today, but for now, here are quick hanger shots.

The real purpose of this post is to show you what a Marfy pattern looks like.  You may have read the description on the website, which includes in large type

"Alert! These patterns are for experienced sewers only. Expert level sewing skills are recommended for those interested in sewing with Marfy sewing patterns.
HOW DO THEY DIFFER?
MARFY PATTERNS:
• Do not have cutting layouts
• Do not have seam allowances
• Do not have hem allowances
• Do not have instructions for assembly"

I have to say that I think my sewing skills have progressed into "Advanced" territory, but I wouldn't consider myself an expert.  There are still so many things I don't know how to do, or have read about but haven't tried, but I am telling you, Marfy patterns aren't that hard!  Each online pattern description gives you a rough idea of yardage requirements and suitable fabrics, and the only other obstacle is no instructions.  You just need to have enough experience sewing to know the general order of construction.  Past that, you can use books and other patterns to help you, if needed.

Ok, on to the photos.  This is the other pattern I ordered, 1776.  Only the bodice is included in this pattern.  You would need to use a separate skirt pattern.  The pattern arrives folded in a nice little rectagle, bottom left.  That's all you get.  :-)  I store each of my Marfys in a Ziploc bag with a printout of the drawing from the website, so I can remember what they look like.

I had already opened this pattern before taking these photos, so I refolded the pieces.  It gives you a general idea of what you'd see.  If you have any individual pattern pieces large enough, a big one will be used as the "envelope."  For instance, in my Marfy 2608, shown above, the "envelope" was one of the skirt pieces.  For this bodice, no pieces are large enough,  so the "envelope" is just a rectangle of paper.

Here are all of the pattern pieces unfolded.

I've zoomed in on one piece to show you all of the markings.  They don't tell you what this piece is.  All they give you is some letters to match up between pieces and a few cryptic instructions in four languages.  The bottom and top instructions say (in English, on the third line) "fold inside" with a line.

 To help myself visually see where everything goes, I fold along the lines per the instructions.  Once seam allowances are added and sewn together, you can see this will actually be a tube.

 I always lay out my Marfys to see what's going on.  This helps me know how to cut everything out and what kind of seam allowances to add.  By the way, the instruction "whole half-front on the grain" means "cut on the fold."  "Whole" in this instruction is a verb.  You are supposed to "make whole" this pattern piece which is "half of a front."  Clear as mud?

Here are all of the pattern pieces laid out, letters matched.  The piece I folded above is laid on top of everything so you can see all of the pieces...

 ... but it actually goes here, forming the lovely little bust shelf.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not really the right term.

The point of this is to show you that Marfy patterns aren't that different from what you're used to.  They just don't have instructions and you have to add your own seam allowances.  I love Marfys for their interesting patterns, and the challenge they can present.  Go on - check them out.  They are more expensive than $4 Vogues at JoAnn (which I love as much as the next seamstress!) but I think it's worth it for some variety. 

Just in case you're wondering, this isn't any kind of ad to get you to try Marfy.  I don't get anything for you checking them out.  Marfy has no clue who I am.  :-)

Vogue Pattern Picks!

It's new Vogue Patterns time!  Woohoo!

1271 looks quite a bit like another Kay Unger pattern I have (and haven't yet made), but I do like the sleeves on it, too, so I'll be getting this at some point.

1267 is my top pick.  Come to mama!  Enlarge it to look at the interesting seams.  I want to make this TODAY.  I have the perfect green wool fabric.  This looks like the kind of pattern that gives you lots of wow factor for you sewing energy.

8775 looks like a cool coat that would be pretty easy to sew.  I have a black and white herringbone that would be nice in this pattern.

That's it for me!  I've gotten a little more picky with my pattern purchases since I organized mine and realized how many I have.  These are the ones that I like and will actually probably sew... at some point. 

Black cropped pants - finished!

Finally, here are my finished cropped black pants, last mentioned here.  You may recall I had button problems - bought the wrong size and couldn't find the right ones in stock then.  Anyway, I eventually gave up after checking for the buttons three separate times at the store.  I decided I don't care if the pant leg buttons don't match the waistband buttons.

 I could call these the cursed pants (because I don't want to call them the I-kept-screwing-up pants).  Very near the end of the process, I somehow broke the zipper.  I briefly considered ripping out all kinds of fiddly fly seams and finally decided a button fly was in order.  :-)  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  These are really not my best pics. I think it's time to enlist Hubs' help for the photos instead of doing them myself.

 Another problem is my contrast waistband facing and pocket bags.  I was trying to be all cool with the contrasts, but they show in some places.  :-(  Most annoying is the rear pockets.  The floral fabric shows a bit at the pocket opening, and not in any kind of good way.  You may also notice the contrast in the first photo, at the center waistband.  Luckily this isn't really a problem when I wear a longer top like the one above (pulled up for the photos).

Well, there you have it.  I'm really happy with the fit, which I perfected in the Sawyer Brook sew along, but not 100% thrilled with some of the execution.  However, all the bad stuff is camoflaged with a long top, so you can guess how I'll be wearing these pants.  Expect to see another pair soon so I can redeem myself!

Baby Quilt

If it seems like I'm jumping from one project to another without actually finishing much, um, you're right.  What can I say?  Old habits die hard and I want to try out everything my new machine has to offer.  Wednesday was our one month anniversary together and we're getting along swimmingly.  I even had my first class about my new machine last night, and that was so much fun!  I pretty much never meet fellow seamstresses, so it was cool to meet some other ladies, too.  I can't wait to have the next one next week.

Here is a baby quilt top I made with a specific recipient in mind.  I pieced it together a couple of weekends ago, and it went really quickly.  It's about time to put on some borders and quilt it if I'm going to have it finished before someone's big arrival!  I'm going to dabble in a little free-motion quilting as well as copious amounts of stitch-in-the-ditch.  I always thought free-motion quilting sounded impossibly difficult, but we did just a smidge of it last night and it's not that bad.  Just takes practice, and I doubt the baby will mind if I use his blanket for that.

I used my embroidery module to do the applique embroidery parts, and I strip-pieced the 9 patch squares.  I used a pattern in a book, which I'll tell you about when I finish this sucker.

Braid-Embellished Tee

I finished the quick top I alluded to yesterday, and I wore it today.  I'm not sure if it's the color or the style, but I received quite a few compliments!  I think it's a keeper.  The inspiration was a top I saw at Target but can't find online.
Oh, and I got my hair cut a couple of weeks ago.  :-)

 I really like this bright, royal blue color.  The fabric is a linen/cotton knit from fabric.com I purchased at least a year ago.  I just had to wait for inspiration to strike.

 Here you can see I continued the neck treatment around the back.  Simple to do when you're making your own.

Here is a closeup of the neckline treatment.  I just slapped it on a neckline of my usual OOP Butterick 3344 tee shirt, after machine-stitching a quick rolled hem to finish the raw edge.  The neckline consists of two steps:  1 - a strip of fabric about 1.5 inches wide that I pleated and pinned on and then machine stitched in the middle all the way around, and 2 - a braided piece of trim which I hand-stitched on top of the pleated strip.  The hand stitching took about an hour, but I was watching TV and didn't really mind.