Heather: Perfect Peacocks and Disastrous Draping

Calling in to Fabric Corner a couple of weeks ago I was drawn to a beautiful petrol coloured crepe which I decided would make a perfect project for May. Looking around the store for something to complement it, this beautiful peacock feather Liberty lawn stood out and I began planning my project.

 

And then I planned some more. And some more. I was really struggling to decide what to make; a term I affectionately named "sewists's block" for about a week.The fabrics were so beautiful that I came up with at least 9 different project ideas before I finally made my decision.

In fact, the decision came a little easier with the arrival of the latest edition of Love Sewing Magazine and the accompanying Pussy Bow Dress. I had already made a version of the dress (see a later post) and really liked the shape of the bodice, so I decided to make a sleeveless version of the blouse. 

 

I started by tracing out a copy of the blouse pattern (minus the sleeves) and checking the fit against my pattern block. I then split the front bodice piece down the centre front and added a button stand, also altering the neck facing to match. 

Anyone who has ever worked with Liberty cotton lawn knows that it's an absolute dream to work with. It doesn't usually lose any size, body or colour in the wash and it drapes beautifully. Consequently the main garment pieces were cut out and ready to go within less than 20 minutes. The petrol coloured crepe, however, had its own ideas about how it should be used and I had a real battle on my hands to lay the fabric both flat and straight both at the same time. Finally, using my cutting mat, rotary cutter and all the pins I could find, I finally managed to cut the length for the bow.

Assembling this garment is pretty straightforward- centre darts front and back and bust darts, side seams, shoulder seams and that's 90% of the construction completed. Not contented with a straightforward make I spotted this plum scallop edged trim in the haberdashery (yes, it is meant for knickers, but I don't like to be pigeonholed 😉) and added it to the edge of the front panels where the buttons would meet. 

 

I then attached the facings to finish the neckline and added the neck tie. The armholes were finished by simply turning under 1cm- not my preferred option generally but it seemed to work for this garment. I dug some teal buttons out of the button stash, and voilá!

 

Buoyed by my blouse success I quickly searched my pattern stash for a suitable skirt pattern. Empty-handed, I then resorted to searching Pinterest (what would we do without it?) and discovered a fun draped skirt from Burda which was available as a pattern download to print at home. A general fan of Burda, I decided to give it a go.

 

Image reproduced from Burdastyle.com

First of all, this pattern was probably a bit ambitious for 8pm on a Sunday evening, and consequently my make was littered with mistakes. The first challenge was the pattern layout. The skirt is a wrap style and requires the back panel (there is 1 piece included in the PDF) to be used twice, attached to both the front right and front left panels at the pattern stage to eliminate the need for a side seam. Being a hater of waste, I found it really hard work to lay out the pattern on the (constantly moving) fabric, eventually resorting to marking the outlines on the crepe with pins and chalk. (I know the seasoned sewers amongst you are screaming "why didn't you just trace out a second back piece?" No idea. I'm screaming it too). Finally I got all of the pieces on to my fabric and began cutting out.

Now, I've made quite a lot of patterns from Burda, see my previous post for evidence, but in my slightly fatigued state I forgot that one golden rule... check the seam allowances. Burda are well known for not including seam allowances in their patterns but this had completely slipped my mind (and of course I hadn't bothered to read the instruction pages, which would be my ultimate downfall). Thankfully I had opted for a slightly generous fit on my measurements, so I persevered, constructing the pocket sections, adding darts and joining the centre back seams without issue. I hemmed the skirt at this point as the crepe was beginning to fray.

You'll notice from the pattern diagram that the front pleats sit over the waistband rather than joining underneath it. This technique involved partially attaching the waistband, then folding the pleats over the waistband, and finally sewing the bottom of the waistband by hand. The waistband pieces are not included in the PDF and need to be drawn out onto the (by this point, dreaded) fabric. Skimming the instructions (you can see where this is going, right?) I cut out my waistband strips and merrily attached them to my skirt. After much pressing and a few choice words I realised that I had, once again, forgotten the seam allowances.

 

At this point I went to bed.

The next evening I fixed my mistakes and finished off the skirt. I'm not sure whether it was the knowledge of the mistakes I had made, or just general frustration, but I was really unhappy with the finished skirt. Sadly I think this one is destined for the recycling pile.

 

I read so many blogs that talk about great makes and technical skills and design, but very few hold their hands up to a disastrous make. For anyone who had ever read similar articles and been disheartened when things don't go right, please know it happens to all of us.

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The fabric used in this post was kindly provided by Fabric Corner Lincoln, based at The Craftea Sewing Bee Shop, 22-24 Melville Street Lincoln, and at Lincoln's Historic Central Market.

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: Simple Sew 'Kate' Jersey Dress

We've all been there. It's Midday on Saturday and your mind wanders to 'what to wear to the party tonight?' Well this is one such project. Having rooted through the wardrobe I discovered I had nothing* to wear!

*honest!

A quick root through my stash produced 2 metres of printed floral jersey viscose, and a brand new pattern from the March edition of Love Sewing; the "Kate' jersey dress. (I didn't have time to wash and dry the fabric before using, which is a big risk with jersey, but I didn't really have a choice!)

The pattern itself is quite simple- a single back panel (no darts), a front skirt, waist panel, and bodice panel, basic sleeve, tie panels and two facings. I opted for the size 8, as the finished pattern measurements were quite generous. 

Attaching the bust and waist panels was probably the most tricky part of the project. The deep v neck meets with the upwards v at the waist and extra attention is needed to ensure both points line up!

Here is the partially assembled garment: 

After trying on, I decided to take an inch out of both side seams, and shorten the sleeves to above the elbow for a more casual look. (This was looking too much like a work dress for my liking!) I also turned up a very generous 1.5 inch hem for more of a 'party' length. 

Here is the finished dress! I think I'll be making one of these in every colour.

Heather: Reversible Floral Skirt

At a recent visit to the Sewing and Craft shows at the NEC I spotted this beautiful viscose mix floral fabric from Montreux Fabrics.

I've never seen the stall there before, but it was piled high with gorgeous rolls, and even better, they had boxes and boxes of remnants and roll ends to root through. Now, I'm a sucker for a remnant. The challenge presented of having just too little fabric and having to cut creatively, or add panels, really makes me think about what I'm making. This piece was just 80x150cm so just enough for a very simple shift dress or a nice skirt. 

I pulled the fabric out of my stash the other day and, whilst laying it out on the table, realised that the fabric was fully reversible! I hadn't even noticed in the excitement of buying. 

I really wanted to make the most of both sides of the beautiful fabric, so I decided to attempt a fully reversible skirt. I googled for a simple pattern and found this really easy tutorial with a free printable pattern. Unfortunately I didn't have enough fabric to make the skirt as two layers so I was going to need to be creative!

The pattern calls for the skirt to be cut on the straight grain, but there was not enough fabric for this so I removed the centre back seam and cut both front and back pieces on the bias.

It wanted to ensure the skirt was fully reversible so I stitched the panels together with French seams and then top-stitched them flat to ensure the skirt could be worn both ways. 

I cut the front wrap panels into a curve at the edges, and turned up the hem 1cm all the way round, turning the hem under again to create a 0.5cm hem. On the "blue" side of the garment I pinned some black rikrak over the turned hem and top stitched through all the layers close to the edge to finish the hem. 

I used black satin bias binding for the waist and attached two pretty buttons from my stash to finish off. The result is a lovely flippy hem skirt that I can wear right through to summer!

Bridie: Poppyseed Dreams Bettine Dress

So for my latest White Tree Blogging Team project I picked the Tilly and the Buttons Bettine Dress, I was looking for a dress that was pretty but also practical, as a mum of a two year old its so easy to just grab the pair of old faithful jeans that don't mind the general punishment that clothes go through while chasing, crawling, and rolling about with a toddler. So when I saw this pattern it seemed like it might cope with these criteria while giving the illusion of being a "yummy mummy" (strong emphasis an illusion!)

I then had to decide on what fabric to use, never a easy decision, quiet often I'll loose hours looking at fabric online or in fabric shops I'm sure its a form of time travel! I had originally looked at a Art Gallery fabric but it was out of stock, so I thought I'd be brave and go for the Liberty fabric Poppyseed Dreams. There's something weirdly scary about cutting into fabric that's too beautiful but I thought I'd kick myself if I didn't get it!    

When it arrived the fear had well and truly set in, there was no way I was going to cut into this fabric with out being 100% prepared so decided to make a wearable toile. I don't have enough time to sew in general so I only sew things that I'll actually be able to wear after so when I toile I'll use cheaper fabric I'm not going to cry about if it goes wrong. For this wearable toile I found some fabric I had in my stash.

It was such a lovely pattern to sew the instructions were really clear and I loved the little photos that run along side, I usually just read through patterns and think well that's over complicated things (usually with commercial patterns) but with this it was a really enjoyable to read through the instructions. The pattern also has no fastenings and the option of omitting the pockets so a great one for beginners!   

After I'd finished my toile (which I'm constantly wearing its so comfortable!) I felt brave enough to cut and sew up the Liberty fabric. Thankfully everything went with out a hitch. I'm so glad I'd made a toile first it gave me a lot of confidence. 

I'm so pleased with the finished dress. I think it may be my new favorite garment in my wardrobe!

I'm so glad I took the time to change the threads on my overlocker and topped stitched in red. Even though I'm probably the only one who will notice I think such lovely fabric needed an extra bit of love while sewing up.

And this is me in my Liberty Bettine Dress as you can probably tell I'm a little bit in love with it! Looks and feels great, SO comfortable to wear and defiantly toddler proof! 

I hope you've enjoyed this post.

 If you fancy your own sewing challenge, here's a little something for you.20% off and free P&P when you order from www.whitetreefabrics.comJust enter the code SIY challenge

Happy Sewing

x

Heather: Pretty in Paisley

Now I know what you're thinking... "does this woman ever stop sewing?" Well no, not really! Lucky for me I've got a couple of days off this week so I'm making the most of some time with my machine and sewing in the daylight.

I called in to Fabric Corner on my day off last week and spotted this lovely paisley print viscose. As well as being addicted to remnants (more on that later) I also can't resist new fabric, and this roll still had the tape on it! Immediately I thought it would make a lovely day dress, using McCalls M7015 which has been kicking about at the back of my stash, unused, for quite a while.

With such bright colours and a really soft texture I decided to pre-wash my fabric (I have a bad habit of not doing this and have learned the hard way) but there was no colour run or shrinkage. The fabric is quite fine and floaty and really lends itself to the shape of the pattern, though it's actually really nice to work with and doesn't slip about under the machine too much. I decided to go for a mid length sleeve and the shorter length in the dress- this won't be a dress work work so I can afford to show off my knees!

I used my trusty pattern block to make some amendments to the fit across the bodice and also to check the width on the arms- if I had made size 6/8 sleeves according to the pattern size it would have been very small indeed.

And here is the finished product. Total sewing time was only 3-4 hours. A really fun make, and perfect for sitting and drinking coffee in the Craftea Cafe which is where I'm heading now...!

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This 100% Viscose Paisley Print is available from Fabric Corner Lincoln, based in Lincoln's historic Central Market. McCalls patterns are available to order from the stall and also the Melville Street shop.

Heather: Pink Lace Elisalex Party Dress

I first spotted the By Hand London Elisalex dress pattern around 6 months ago, on a hunt for a full skirted pattern. BHL are an independent pattern company producing fun and feminine designs that definitely appeal to my style. When I spotted the brand listed in White Tree Fabrics extensive independent pattern selection, I knew that this would make a great first project as part of the White Tree blogging family. 

Elisalex Dress in Long Sleeve option. Image from www.byhandlondon.com

My fabric of choice was a lovely pink Small Flower Lace which I planned to make in a long sleeved option, teamed up with a darker pink lining to show off the lace detail.

My first task was to copy out the paper pattern onto dot and cross paper. I wouldn't usually bother, but the instructions specifically recommended it, so I took this as an opportunity to make some minor modifications to the fit using my bodice block. Having made a toile I brought the neckline up by about 2cm at the front and took 2 cm out of the centre back seam to improve the fit. At a slightly bottom heavy (not complaining!) 5'3", I also elected to shorten the skirt length by around 6 inches to finish just below the knee (and stop me looking like a pink pumpkin).

My next challenge was my choice of fabric. I had intended to use the dark pink satin (pictured above) to line the lace, but there were two problems. The first was that the lace laid only over satin was far too see-through to make a wearable garment. I would need to use two layers of satin throughout to prevent this. The second was that the darker pink satin didn't really have the effect I wanted, instead looking more like a mismatch than a carefully chosen style idea, and so I opted to use a slightly lighter pink satin from my stash. I'll use the darker pink satin in my next project, which I'm already eyeing up! (A word to the wise, White Tree Fabrics offer a completely free sampling service, so you can avoid making the same mistake.)

Pattern and fabric ready to go, I started cutting out.

Constructing the garment was fairly straightforward. The pattern is clear and uses standard markings. The instructions come in a little handbook, rather than a big fold out pattern sheet, and are clear and easy to follow. As I was using an extra layer to interline my lace I machine tacked around each piece to hold the layers together and then joined them using french seams so that they were less visible through the lace. I inserted a semi-transparent invisible zip (see second image above) into the centre back. This type of zip is excellent if you're using semi transparent fabrics and I love the stylish metal pull. 

Here is the finished garment. As you will see I left the sleeves unlined and I've teamed it with some new jewellery, which all together will be making an appearance at my Birthday party next weekend.

What do you think?

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 If you fancy your own sewing challenge, here's a little something for you.

20% off and free P&P when you order from www.whitetreefabrics.com

Just enter the code SIY challenge

Happy Sewing!