Craft Thrift Camisole

 The previous post, showing what I got from last Sunday's visit to the creative re-use thrift store, included a small length of a lightweight light green woven (which the burn test suggested might be a cotton silk blend?  maybe short staple noil-y kinda silk?) and a copy of Simplicity 8085 from 1987

which I did not purchase with intent to use together, but the combination suggested itself very quickly.  Having thread and buttons that matched (somewhat) prompted me to go ahead and try it.

I did not have any suitable lace, and I ignored other aspects of the instructions, too.  As I usually do.

The main difference was that I applied the front bands my usual way, pressing them lengthwise before sewing them to the backs of the front openings, then flipping them around and edge stitching on the pressed folded edge to secure them.  I also added a bit of interfacing, because three layers of this fabric seemed like it was not going to be enough for buttons.

I tried it on and marked the fullest point, to put a button there to prevent gaps (I hope--different bras, different results.)  Where that button needed to be didn't work out with the spacing for the six buttons the pattern calls for, so I went with seven.  Hooray for marking buttonhole placement with the expanding sewing gauge, and the sewing machine buttonholer for consistent buttonholes, and the presser foot that holds buttons for sewing them on relatively quickly.

Add the soft fabric to my lack of experience with pin tucks and multiply by my lazy marking--a snip at the top and bottom of each pin tuck line--and the sum involved ripping out and re-sewing a few pin tucks.  The fabric softness, though, meant it was fairly easy to pull the stitching out, even with good tension making balanced stitches.  And I pressed everything a lot.  Many things are still uneven, but they're better than they were.

Also, to apply the front bands the way I did, I had to sew the bias bands to finish the neckline before sewing the bands.

This is the first time I wonder if maybe I should actually have stay stitched the neckline like the patterns have been telling me to do for decades...

French seams!

Because I was feeling too lazy to change the serger thread!  The side (and shoulder) seams on this pattern are extremely straight, so french seams were fairly easy.

I pressed the bottom edge up 5/8" (pressing the front pieces before sewing the front bands) and folded the raw edge to the inside and pressed again, stitching close to that pressed edge from the inside, not worrying about whether or not it would be perfectly evenly spaced from the lower edge as seen from the outside.  This is intended to be tucked in so it's not an issue, which is why I didn't pick anything out when I had to re-stitch an area where the needle had wandered off of the fold.

All views of this pattern use the same back piece, even though view 3 has no buttons, so I can probably put this on without unbuttoning it?  Not that the weather will be warm enough for this until several months have passed.  We'll see if I've made anything else to coordinate with it by then!