Seamwork Natalie...

Back in February, I was looking for my sewing mojo.  I had done very sewing at the first part of the year.  Of course that started changing in March when I moved in  with my parents for the next 3+ months.  I did not think when the covid-19 virus started that it would seemingly never end.  Back to sewing.  In February, I picked up a lovely rayon crepe with the intentions of making the Seamwork Natalie.  Fast forward and I have made many shirts between March and June.  Here is the muslin of the Natalie - here.

The Seamwork Natalie pattern is a classic campshirt style top.  In general, quick and easy.  Here's my finished version:

The pattern is very straight forward.  The only issue that I found when making the muslin was that the sleeves had to have gathering stitches to get them inserted smoothly.  Normally, I would have allowed the machine to do all the easing.  It was the same with this shirt.

Things that I changed:

1.  Eliminated the back facing and stitched the opening closed.
2.  Changed the way the hem was sewn slightly.  Instead of turning the hem and stitching, I turned the facing back and stitched where I wanted the hem, trimmed the excess hem, then stitched the hem.

The rayon crepe was a dream to sew with until I got to the topstitching.  The first attempt of the topstitching had to be removed as the fabric was shifting too much.  I ended up reducing the presser foot pressure, stitching very slowing, and using an awl to make the fabric behave.  I was a bit worried about the buttonholes and the creeping fabric but the buttonholes turned out just fine.

I am looking forward to wearing this shirt.  I also will not hesitate to purchase this type of fabric again.  I will think long and hard about using a pattern that requires a lot of topstitching.

A little about Seamwork, it is a subscription service.  You can purchase a monthly subscription or a yearly subscription.  You can read about the differences at the Seamwork website.  Using a Seamwork link will result in a $3.00 discount for you should you decide to purchase a subscription.  Most of the patterns are available for sale individually.  I will also get a small benefit should you decided to purchase a subscription at no cost to you.

Happy Stitching!