Sea Fever

There has been holiday!  Sometimes I take a machine with me, and I almost did this year, but in the end I decided to leave it at home.

While on holiday I saw a beautiful dress - the Stay Sail from Seasalt.

It's a simple jersey dress with a slightly nautical vibe that looks very easy to wear.  I LOVED it, but it's £55!  And they didn't have my size anyway.













As I looked at it and thought about it I realised that it was quite similar to the Fancy Tiger Fen dress, a pattern I already own and have made twice.   I asked on their facebook page if anyone had made the Fen in a knit - it's intended for a woven - and while they didn't know of any they give me some very helpful tips.

Saturday saw me hitting the fabric shop for some striped jersey - and I struck very lucky with the sale as it was £3.50 a metre!  So yesterday I got to drafting and sewing...

Alterations to the pattern:

• Sized down by one size - you can do that when going from a woven to a knit to take account of the negative ease with a stretchy material
• Changed the pocket hole from curved inset to a slanted one
• Removed the bodice darts - I just cut them up the centre and overlapped the legs to remove them 
• Lengthened the skirt by about 3 inches - I felt the previous two were a tiny bit too short and while the jersey is heavier and would probably have pulled down enough I fancied a bit more knee coverage!

After that it was a relatively simple sew.  I stabilised the waistband with elastic - there's clear stuff you can use but I find it maddeningly scratchy (SUCH a princess!) so I normally just use normal narrow elastic which is softer.  I cut it to the width of the bodice and then sewed it to the skirt top with a stretch stitch.  it's done a really nice soft gather that is pretty evenly balanced.

Last of all I used a bit of bought stretch binding for a tiny bit of colour detail and twin stitched the cuffs and hem with a matching red.  You can't tell, but I know it's there and that's enough for me!

I think it would even be possible to size down a little more at the waist but that's a tiny detail.

All in all I'm really pleased with it, it's a close enough approximation of the dress I saw, it's SO comfortable, loose enough but not ridiculously baggy, wearable with gym shoes or sandals, cool, simple, pretty.

So, £55 or £9?  I know which one I prefer!

I'm going to call it a Fen-Sail!

Shoes - Ancient Skecher Go Walks
Hair - bouncy
Greengages - falling off the tree

A Chocolate Chip for the new year

A couple of years ago the lovely Jenny of Cashmerette blogged about a skirt she made and I LOVED it.  I WANTED it.  But as a total novice I had no idea how to do the hack or anything.

And then a couple of months after that one of the mags had a pattern for an asymmetric wrap and I had the perfect bit of sale-rail bargain to make it.  And this was the result.  It's a fine cord and I really love it.

I'd been planning to make another for over a year now, I've had some gorgeous stretch grey flannel and was planning to face it with some lovely petersham.  BUT, my original one rises really badly at the back and the fit is a bit shonky.  I thought about doing a bum adjustment (and how WEIRD does that sound?!) - I spent a few days earlier this week researching and looking for tutes and how-tos.  And it all sounded a bit of a faff really.

But then I thought why not go straight to my TNT-everything-is-awesome-new-favourite, The Chocolate Chip Skirt?

I had a bit of a moment, the wrap has been in my head for so long that I was reluctant to abandon it, but I KNEW I would wear the other one A LOT.  Plus, POCKETS!

In the end I had another JFDI moment!

So, charcoal grey stretch flannel with a contrast pocket.  A while ago I bought a scrap bag from Get Cutie, on eBay. They do lovely dresses in fabulous prints.  Sushi! Matrioska! Frida Kahlo! And every so often they sell off scrap bags of off-cuts.  I got one a while ago and it was full of fab prints.

I had some Marvel, but not quite enough, BIG sugar skulls, Day of the Dead skeletons, and some Frida Kahlo.

In the end I went for the skeletons, because I knew I had enough and I really liked the contrast.  Five hours later, with a break for supper, The Girl's bedtime and a bit of a look at Alexander Armstrong in Naples - in which he went to Herculaneum, watch it if you get a chance - I had a lovely new skirt to wear!  So this morning I wore it to work.  It's a good fit, it's the right length, I love everything about it!

Pockets!

Top - Uniqlo, tights - slightly holey and due for the bin, shoes - Hush Puppies

.The pockets are slightly different - the fabric had brides and grooms so I did one each side!

 Groom

Bride 

 The other advantage of the skeletons was that it is really colourful so I was very happy to use this lovely bright petersham ribbon for a hem facing - it's a secret flash of colour and it makes me very happy!

If you're looking for a good wearable day skirt or if you've got the pattern in your stash and haven't made it yet...go for it!

And if you're interested in sewing or blogging about sewing, come on over to the Dressmaking Blogging Network on Facebook... 

End of the year

Well, OBVIOUSLY I made some things for presents which I couldn't post before they were given.

There was a rather sweet little bag for my mum:

The outer is wool, and it is lined with a sea-themed cotton - because she lives by the sea!  I combined a free magazine pattern with a flap from the Amy Butler Blossom Bag, (which I have made) but I slightly lengthened it to fit.  Inside is a key strap.  I kept the buttons to one corner to stop it looking too Per Una-y.

Mum says it's the perfect size!

After that I made some pyjamas for my sister.  I got a little over-excited one evening after a couple of cocktails and ended up ordering A LOT of Liberty jersey from Shaukat.  Seven metres.  Ahem.  Ok, ok!  But it was half the Liberty cost.  And I think I should get a dress and a whole heap of other things out of it.  And it is GORGEOUS to work with - it cuts so easily and sews like a dream.

I used a free Simplicity pattern which seems to have disappeared now but was 0501, and coupled it with a long-sleeved top New Look 6230 which was free with a magazine.

The bottoms are a slouchy fit, normally with an elastic channel and a drawstring.  I added a wide and soft yoga waistband instead, and colour blocked the top to avoid full-on floral madness.

Sister says they are the perfect weight and the waistband is really comfy and they are very cheering for a dark winter's night.

I also got busy with some fur snoods lined with jersey which are really warm and cosy.

And then I made a skirt.  I had this AMAZING fabric - but only 1.4m. Isn't it lovely?  It's a really fine needle cord.  It makes me think of Eastern European folk art.

I saw it on the sample and sale rail and simply COULD NOT leave it behind.  Well, wouldyou have done?

And then I hoped it was enough for a skirt, with the right pattern.  And so I asked for ideas from my friends in a facebook group and was directed to the Cocolate Chip Skirt from Tiedyediva.  It is an AWESOME pattern!  It's quick, easy, looks gorgeous on and is really economical on fabric.  Plus, POCKETS!  I did a muslin first which was definitely necessary as I was so tight on fabric and had absolutely no hope of getting any more - it doesn't show up on any google searches.  But I got it out of my 1.4m with room to spare, and that was including lengthening it by a couple of inches too and with my hips - no mean feat!  I absolutely love it!  

The top is a Maria Denmark Kimono t-shirt - another free pattern.  It's 2 pieces plus neck and cuff bands, from cut to wear was about 90 minutes, mainly because I ballsed up the cutting and had to piece the back in the end.  And I did a simple FBA - the pivot and swivel kind - to accommodate the embonpoint.

I did redo the neck as it was flipping out, because I cut the neck band too long so it didn't stretch into place nicely, it sits more neatly now.  It's a great length, and a really nice simple tee.  I can see a few of these in the future.

Apart from there were some make-up purses, a couple of headphones pouches and I think that was it. I've got my sewing space back now the guests have gone home so I'm planning what to do next.

Two of my presents were vouchers for classes at my local sewing shop and I am really looking forward to improving my fitting, and starting on trousers.  Perfect fitting jeans, the holy grail, I really can't wait...

Groove is in the Heart

After the joy of discovering on Sunday how wonderful the Groove Dress is, I just had to make another one.  I had some lovely green striped jersey that I bought a few months ago, 2.3m in length, a shade under the recommended fabric requirement but enough all the same.  

I love a horizontal stripe.  All that fashion 'advice' about stripes being widening on the larger figure is such nonsense, it's actually the case that it can slim the shape as it creates a weird illusion.  I saw it on a science programme, but you don't have to take my word for it, have a Google and see what you find!

Anyway, construction - I slightly shortened the back piece to make sure I got it all out of the length, and to be honest my pattern matching is DREADFUL!  But who is looking at my seams?!

I love how this has turned out, and I'm super proud of the neatness of the neck band.

It's just so...wearable.  Comfortable, still lovely and swingy, looks smart enough for work and casual enough for going out.  AND it's madly quick to make - 30 minutes cutting out, an hour to sew up, and that included swapping over my overlocker and regular machine twice!  I started sewing at about 10.20 and finished at 11,15.

Next I'm thinking about hacking the pattern to make a swingy t-shirt top and I've got a nice bit of blue jersey just begging to be sewn...

Shoes - LK Bennett (in a sale a long time ago!)
Necklace - made by me
Bedroom - needs tidying

4 days later...

I can't remember what I wore on Saturday, it was me-made, possibly the Love Notions Laundry Day Tee...

Sunday was a pyjama day, while I was sewing up my next thing, Monday was my cherries sleeveless top.

Today!  Today I wore my new dress!

This is Simplicity 1080, the Dottie Angel dress.  You might have seen it around, I first spotted it in a magazine a few months ago and really loved it, but held off buying it for ages.  I finally stumped up for it a month or so ago, and bought the green fabric at the time.  You can't really tell, but the pattern is little diamond shapes of red purple and yellow dots.

Then I got the purple, which is a linen, a couple of weeks after that, it was only £3.95 a metre, and the pockets were from a fat quarter in my stash which by total fluke just fell right for the colour and pattern.

I traced it and made a muslin in some old sheeting to see if I needed a bust adjustment, and it seemed that I didn't so I cut the pieces on Saturday and started sewing on Sunday.

Now, I don't know whether you've read any reviews of this pattern, but they are a bit of a mixed bunch!  The pattern itself is lovely, but the instructions are completely faffy and madly inconsistent.

For about half of it you're being told to cover all the seams with bias tape and then all of a sudden you're chucked into french seam world.  And I have NO idea why it's like that, or why the pash for bias covered seams.  Essentially it's a simple construction tricked out to be quite labour intensive.  Which is great if you've got like a YEAR to make it.  Or fancy showing off your seams*.  But if, like me, you've got a couple of hours for 2 or 3 evenings, Nope, nopity nope.  No bias covering for me.

So I mostly ignored the bias stuff and did my own thing.

Ok.  So I joined the contrast panel with a regular seam and then pressed it downwards and top-stitched to catch it all.

The shoulders and sides are french seams, which I'm really glad I did because the fabrics turned out to have some serious fray-tendencies.  I made my own bias tapes for the pockets, neck and arm-holes.

And I hand did the hem - I was going to twin-needle it but the linen is one of those that ONLY CREASES WHEN YOU SIT ON IT!  Pressing it is largely ineffective so it needed pins in horizontally and a lot of stopping and hand-folding.  Again.  And again.  And again.

I also hand-finished the neck binding.

The side ties were a bit high so I moved them down.  I might put them back up again a little bit, if I can be bothered. (Clue: I probably can't be bothered).

However, it was worth all the faff, I absolutely LOVE the colour combination - SUFFRAGETTES! - and I really love the length.

I wore it to work today and felt great.

Also, POCKETS!  I love a dress with pockets.

Anyway, if you're thinking about making this pattern and being put off by the reviews or the instructions, pah, JUST DO IT!  But ignore the bias seam covering crazy-pants, unless that's totally your bag, in which case, y'know, knock yourself out!



*Disclaimer: I do like showing off my seams when I've done an especially nice one.  A french seam is thing of beauty.  Do those and show them off.