Heather: April Makes

A pinch and a punch...! It's the first of the month so time for my April sewing roundup. 

The month started with a bit of 'selfless sewing' for my lovely sister-in-law, Jenny, who visited on the first weekend of the month. I've made a few items for her before and had promised to make something new for her to take on her holidays later in the year. We had a good look through the stash and found a piece of blue floral jersey that I had purchased at last year's NEC sewing show and then promptly forgotten about! She picked the Simple Sew Lena Wrap Dress and we left the boys to cook dinner whilst we set about making her dress. I've made a wrap dress for Jen before but it was a bit revealing over the bust so,  following various advice from other sewers online, I decided to do a full bust adjustment which I've never done before. This actually turned out to be a complete waste of time because this pattern is massive! I was working to the finished garment measurements but still ended up taking nearly 4 inches out of the bust and waist. Thanks to the trusty overlocker this was finished in less than 4 hours, and I think she liked it, as she told me she wore it twice the following week!

My next make is one that I am going to unashamedly describe as my 'masterpiece'. I am so, so thrilled with it. 

This stunning 'Art Nouveau' print viscose was just £4.99/m at the NEC Sewing Show. "£4.99 per metre for this beauty? I would have bought the roll" I hear you cry. I hear you, because I was yelling it to myself when I realised I had only purchased 1.5m, and that the absolutely-perfect-for-the-job Threaders pattern I had got free with a magazine needed 2.5m. 

Never one to be defeated by a piece of fabric, I set about making a wearable toile, made a few adjustments to the bodice length and shortened the sleeves by about 6 inches. I also drafted a front facing piece as I didn't want to line the dress. Once I was happy with the fit I used the muslin pieces as templates to make sure the pattern placement was perfect. I knew I wouldn't be able to match it up perfectly, but good pattern placement is just as important.  It took me a whole evening to cut everything out perfectly but it was totally worth it. I removed the seam down the centre back but still had to cut the skirt as two pieces because there simply wasn't enough fabric.I wore the finished dress to my Mum and Dad's Birthday Party at the beginning of the month and got some fab pics in their garden. 

My third make of the month was a new blouse from the pattern I self drafted last year. The fabric is a floral cotton with an almost cheesecloth texture from Fabric Corner. As the fabric is summery I decided to shorten the sleeves a little and add a peter pan collar using this fab tutorial from House of Pinheiro. It looks fab with my Cleo Dungaree Dress, which is starting to grow on me!

It was my Birthday in March and this piece of floral viscose from Fabric Corner was a very gratefully received gift, as I had been eyeing it up for quite a while! I also received a copy of the Simple Sew Lucille dress and seeing as I have a few events coming up in May I decided to have a go at something that would be suitable for a smart lunch. I had to make quite a few adjustments to the pattern to get a good fit. I shortened the bodice length at the centre back to prevent the zip from curling under; I shortened the bust pieces at the point of crossover so that I don't have any scary "eyeful' moments; I moved the front skirt pleats because they were marked in a very odd place on the pattern, and despite following the finished garment measurements on the packet I ended up letting out the side seams on the skirt as much as possible because I couldn't actually sit down (or eat any pork pies which, frankly, is more important to me.) 

Annoyingly, once I had then totally finished everything, tried it on 5 times during the making process and then hung it in the wardrobe for a week, I tried it on again and discovered that I need to pull the shoulders up by an inch to stop it gaping at the back. I'm not sure whether I missed this or whether the fabric has stretched being on the hanger, but hopefully this will get altered before the event. 

My final make for the month was actually a remake. I made this yellow tunic dress last year from the Simple Sew Colour Block Dress pattern, and whilst I'd worn it a few times last summer, I was never totally thrilled with the fit and finish. When the yellow jersey appeared at Fabric Corner once again, I decided to make some changes. 

I had a flash of inspiration that I could turn it into my new favourite, the Moneta Dress, so I decided to unpick the sleeves and side seams and cut out the bodice and sleeves from the tunic. I used the excess fabric from the tunic to make the pockets and cut a new skirt from the extra fabric I had purchased. 

A much more 'me' dress!

So finally I just want to introduce this month's #dressmakingbloggerchallenge

May for me means Maypoles and spring dresses, so this month's theme is Stripes! 

Happy Sewing everyone, see you next month!

Heather: The night before Christmas...

... I wasn't sewing (!), having finished my dress with loads of time to spare (around lunch time on Christmas Eve). I’d been planning my dress for quite a while this year, but with so many lovely gifts on the making list I wasn’t convinced I’d actually get the time to finish it.

Last year some time a friend of mine had a big destash and gave me three sackfuls of beautiful fabric, which included some stunning Chinese style silk brocade. It sat undisturbed in my stash until I picked up an edition of Love Sewing magazine in Autumn 2016 with the Lily dress on the cover. Ordinarily I wouldn’t be especially interested in a Chinese style dress, but the opportunity was too good to miss with such a perfect fabric option in my stash. I chose option D for the collar and wavy edge detail at the neckline, with the short sleeves from option B/C.

Upon inspection, what looks to be a very technical pattern is actually quite straightforward: simple front and back skirt and back bodice panels, with just the shoulder detail adding a little more of a challenge. I knew the bodice would need some alteration to achieve a good fit, so I started by cutting out the skirt panels and getting those out of the way. I then used my trusty pattern block to check the bodice fit. Now, normally I find that Simple Sew patterns are generously fitted and I tend to need to take 1/2″ out of the back length and grade the width from an 8 bust to a 12 waist. The measurements on the back of the pattern also indicated this would be the case. I was surprised, then, that after comparing to my pattern block, I found myself needing a 12 bodice graded only slightly to a 10 under the arms, and then out to a 14 waist! This pattern is a completely different fit to other garments in the range and just goes to show the need to measure twice on every pattern! 

Those of you who are avid Sewing Bee fans will remember a challenge in the middle of the series where the contestants were tasked with making a Cheongsam Chinese-style top, which had many similar features to my garment. You may also remember that many of the sewists struggled with the relentless fray in the fabric (seriously, I’ve never seen anything like it!) and how easily it could pull out of shape, even with careful sewing. For this reason I stabilised each of the seams on the shoulder detail with interfacing before stitching, clipping and grading the seams and turning through.

Bodice complete, I gathered the skirt (not recommended in this fabric!) and attached it to the bodice.

And I hated it! Granted, in this (poor quality) picture the seams haven’t been pressed open and it’s not hanging straight on the mannequin, but it just didn’t look right. I felt the full skirt gave me a bit more room for the Christmas Turkey than I possibly needed and I knew I just wouldn’t wear it. 

After 24 hours of consideration and a quick walk around the shops for inspiration, I spent the evening of the 23rd removing and recutting the skirt panels using the skirt section from Threadcount 1613, which I used in my previous post for the Velvet Burnout dress. The straight skirt sits so much better than the a-line one, and is much more in-keeping with the Chinese style. 

I finished off the dress with some traditional frog fasteners, purchased from a fair trade supplier in Hong Kong via Etsy.

So here I am wearing my dress on Christmas Day!

After a whole day of wearing it I was being driven totally mad by the sleeves and I will definitely be taking them off and recutting them an inch winder across the arm. I’d probably also widen the shoulder width if I made it again, and whilst I much preferred the straight skirt, I definitely should have allowed more room for turkey! But I got lots of lovely compliments on the day and it definitely did the job of being a “wow” Christmas Day dress.

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Me and my “little” Bro continuing the lifelong tradition of a picture in front of the tree on Christmas Day.

 

Heather: Colette Macaron Summer Spots

Back in May Bridie and I bumped into the lovely Lucy from Sew Essential at The Big Simplicity Blog Meet in Manchester. Sew Essential is a comprehensive and easy to browse fabric and haberdashery site with a huge range of both dressmaking and crafting patterns, from indie brands as well as the big boys; high quality dressmaking fabrics (at prices that don't trigger a call from the bank) and even sewing machines and accessories (basically they have all the things and I want one of everything...).

If you're not a follower of the independent pattern circuit, Colette Patterns produce "Sewing patterns that teach" and have been on my wish list for a while. They have some unusual shapes and styles, and even better they seem to be designed to fit real people- with bums and everything! The pattern packets themselves are rather lovely too. Each package contains a detailed instruction booklet and a multi-sized pattern which is printed onto tissue- much preferred to the heavier paper that is becoming very popular. The pattern is stored in a special pouch in the back of the packet, which is stitched up along the edge to form a booklet to keep everything together. I can just imagine a selection of these sitting on my shelf like tiny books!

Already in love with the pattern, a quick look on Pinterest reassured me that the pattern would lend itself to almost any combination of fabrics, so I was rather excited to find this 100% cotton poplin fun printed spot fabric I could team up with some plain white cotton from my stash. I washed the fabric before using and there was no shrinkage or colour run, though obviously being 100% cotton it did need a good steamy press once it was dry!

Pale Blue multi-spot print cotton poplin fabric from Sew Essential.  

Checking my measurements, I decided to cut the pattern graded from a size 0 at the bust, size 4 at the waist through to a size 8 at the hip. Now before you start worrying for my health, I should point out that the size 0 on these patterns is not in any way indicative of high street dress sizes. The 0 measures B33 W25 H35 which is much more like a size 8-10 from one of the major pattern companies.

Following the instructions (who is this girl?) I created the front and back bodice sections first. The pattern calls for the bodice sections to be turned under 1.5cm along the top edge, positioned over the front and back yoke pieces and then top stitched together. For both the front and back sections I tacked the bodice sections in place and checked for fit before committing my final stitches. The front bodice fitted really nicely, but the back ended up being almost 2 inches too long in the back. Luckily this pattern rather lends itself to alterations- you can just see the stitching line in the picture below showing the final position of the bodice back section. 

The skirt front has two pockets concealed into a slashed dart behind the outer pleats (sounds technical, right?). I used the spot fabric for the pocket back (most likely to be seen) and a polyester lining for the inner half to reduce bulk over the tummy. Whilst I've constructed plenty of pockets before I found the particular instructions for these pockets to be the most clear and easy to follow of any of I've tried previously. The pockets went in perfectly first time with no hassle. 

Once the pockets were constructed, a concealed zip was inserted into the side seam. The sleeves are constructed from two pieces sewn right sides together and pressed to create a smooth sleeve hem. And there we have it; Hey Macaron-a...!

Pleased to have taken the extra time to get the back fitting really nicely!

Here are some tips for you, if you're thinking of having a go at the Macaron dress:

• Don't be frightened to grade the pattern across several sizes to get a better fit
• Personally I found the shoulders to be very narrow on the size 0 despite the fit being excellent elsewhere. Check the measurements before you cut!
• This pattern would totally work without sleeves, or you could lengthen the sleeve to just above the elbow for a more formal look. 
• I'm only 5'3" and this dress sits well above the knee. You may want a longer version!

Personally, I wouldn't change a thing about my dress! I'm already planning a winter version with some checked wool and denim. In fact, I think I'll have one in every colour!

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The fabric and patterns used in this blog were kindly provided by Sew Essential. Browse the site at www.sewessential.co.uk

Heather: The Big Vintage Sew Along

The Big Vintage Sew Along is an annual blogging event organised by McCall Pattern company. Each year they choose a selection of reproduction vintage patterns from their range and invite the sewing community to have a go at reproducing these vintage styles. You can find out more about the project here.

If you've read some of my older blogs over at Dresstoration you'll know I'm a vintage fan, so when I received details of the challenge I knew I wanted to get involved. I picked out this lovely 1930s coat-dress which I thought would suit my style. 

From the moment I started cutting the pattern out I knew this garment was going to be tricky. If you look closely at the pattern diagram you'll see there are curved darts of the hips and shoulders. This is not a feature I've ever attempted before, so I decided to make a toile of the bodice in some leftover muslin, to check I could get the curves right.

I started with my usual method of checking the garment fit against my pattern block. I shortened the bodice back by 2cm at the seam, and the front by 2cm at the shoulder. Having cut out the pieces from muslin and battled for about 30 minutes to get the curves to fit together nicely, I thought it might be a fun idea to read the instructions... (I have inherited this bad habit from one of my parents. Clue: It's not my Mum.) 

This dress has an unusual feature, in that almost all of the seams are joined together with a line of top stitching/edge stitching rather than the classic right-sides-together method. This means that those lovely curved darts are actually created by pressing under the curves and then lining them up with their corresponding partner before edge stitching in place. Not easy. (Big thanks to Amy from Almond Rock who set me on the right track here! See her version of this dress here.) 

Having figured out what I was supposed to be doing I stitched up my toile, with promising results.

Happy with the fit, I rooted through my stash and found some tan cheesecloth in a perfect 1940s brown, which I thought would make a lovely summer version of the outfit. I also opted to shorten the sleeves at this point for the same reason.

I started by making up the back of the garment. The curved edges were tricky but not impossible, and aided significantly by the purchase of an adjustable zipper foot which allowed me to align the edge of the foot which the edge of the fabric perfectly. The instructions suggested using a contrast thread for the visible stitching so I went for a soft coral pink, as I knew it would match a pair of vintage-looking shoe boots I picked up from Office a few years ago. 

The majority of the garment assembly was straightforward and before long I had 90% of a completed garment, just awaiting the attachment of the collar and front panels. This is where things started to get a little tricky. On the front of the garment there are two tiny pockets. See them? No, I didn't either. They are actually hidden behind the top two curves of the bodice and creating them involves a lot of pins and pressing and tacking (and swearing). Finally I got to this point: the front top stitching.

There are some learning points here: 

1. I should have tacked these beastly darts in place rather than sewing straight from pins.

2. I should have overlocked the edges of every piece before I even started this exercise.

3. You can't press cheesecloth enough times- it will always looked like you just screwed it into a ball.

4. Cheesecloth was not the right fabric for this dress.

The fabric moved around a lot whilst stitching. It pulled out of shape in some places, and there are some definite hidden holes under those seams from my stitch unpicker.

But I finished it. It was really tricky, and there was definitely a point that I was ready to consign this to the pile of never-to-be-finished UFOs. 

But I persevered, and I'm so pleased I did...

Check out those shoes!

You can just make out the contrast edge stitching here.

Hand stitched arrow heads on each dart.

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Why not have a go at your own vintage challenge?

http://www.vintagesewalong.co.uk/

Heather: Patti floral dress

Back in October 2015 I picked up a copy of the Burda Style Special magazine. (For those of you who have never heard of it, it's a sewing magazine containing 64 free 'trace-it-yourself' patterns each month.) The October special had a 60s theme and was where I first spied the gorgeous Patti empire line dress.

Patti Dress from www.burdastyle.com

With a contrast collar and cuffs this dress is a vintage-lover's dream, and since then I've made it in several colours and styles. (Sorry about the picture quality!)

Navy polyester with contrast in lighter blue viscose.

Stripe knitted fabric with collar and cuffs made from leftover pieces of jumper!

I even made a version for my Mum from this orange floral cotton mix fabric with corduroy collars and cuffs.

But by far the pièce de résistance is this version in black floral, 100% viscose from Fabric Corner. As soon as I saw the fabric I knew it would make a perfect 'Patti'. I decided against contrast collars and cuffs on this one. Despite finding a great spot-contrast in my stash I decided the matching collar was more suitable for this one. (Do you think I made the right decision?)

Instead the spot contrast is on the inside, for a fun detail. I added some vintage style buttons, picked up at a sewing show in Harrogate last year, for a true vintage feel.

I am totally thrilled with the results on this dress. It's goes perfectly with my peach shoe boots and I've worn it twice in a week!

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All fabrics featured in this post were sourced at Fabric Corner Lincoln, based in Lincoln's historic Central Market and at 22-24 Melville Street Lincoln.

Happy Sewing!

Heather: Custom Fit Blouse

Call me old-fashioned, but I do love a good smart suit and blouse for work. During one of my recent frequent visits to Fabric Corner I was drawn to this lovely Liberty-style cotton lawn which had just arrived in store.

Buoyed up from my successes in the Pattern Cutting class last month, I decided to attempt to use my new pattern cutting skills to make this lovely vintage print into a staple item for the wardrobe.

I started by adapting my basic bodice block into a four panelled blouse, adding a stand collar and narrowing the sleeves to suit the vintage styling of the garment.

The print in this fabric is very bold, so it was important to match the pattern as much as possible. I'm rather pleased with the results over the button stand! The finished garment not only has an exceptional fit, but coordinates wonderfully with a pink linen-mix skirt that I whipped up from my stash. Jacket coming soon!

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This project was sponsored by Fabric Corner and Love Handmade. You can find details of pattern cutting classes and a find a range of cotton lawns online or by calling in to the shop at 22-24 Melville Street, Lincoln.