Rise and Fall

An alternative title for this post could be “Sewing clothes I hate wearing to see if I like them more once I’ve made them myself”, but I thought that was a bit of a mouthful. See, I have a bit of a conundrum, I hate having a cold neck (or even worse, having a cold breeze blowing down my back!), but I also hate having things tight around my neck or across my throat. Generally, turtlenecks make me feel claustrophobic and a bit panic-y, but I keep seeing all these stylish ladies wearing them and I was jealous of how warm and toasty they must be! So I thought I would have a go at making my own, using the Papercut Rise and Fall Turtleneck patterns.

I made both versions, to see if I preferred one over the other. Rise is a classic turtleneck, with set sleeves and a short, close fitting turtleneck. Fall is looser, with a drop shoulder and a much longer, looser turtleneck which can either be folded over on itself or left scrunched down like in these photos. My Rise version is a black merino/lycra blend, and the Fall turtleneck is made out of a dusty rose coloured merino, both from the stash. I sewed both up with my overlocker, and used my coverstitch for the hems, so they’re looking nice and neat! I used a standard two needle stitch for the hems on the black one, as I have lots of spools of black thread, but I had to use a single needle chain stitch for the pink one because I only had a tiny bit of matching thread left, nowhere near enough for two rows of stitching!

I cut a size XS in both tops, which is my standard size when I’m sewing Papercut Patterns. I was slightly surprised by how short both tops came up, both in the body and the sleeves. The sleeves on the black version in particular are bordering on too short, but I don’t want to add cuffs! I find them a bit fussy, and I like how simple the lines on the Rise turtleneck are. I’ll just need to remember to add a couple of centimeters to the length of  them if i made it again! The sleeves on the Fall turtleneck are a better length, I think I might have turned up a smaller hem since I was using chain stitch to sew the hem.

I’m surprised I like them both as much as I do, but I’m even more surprised that I prefer the Rise version to the Fall! I assumed that the looser neck on the Fall would be more comfortable to me, but the turtleneck on the Rise is loose enough that it isn’t pressing on my throat, and because it’s short and light it doesn’t collapse against my neck like the Fall version. I also prefer the slim set in sleeves over the dropped shoulders on the Fall, I keep feeling the dropped shoulder seam rubbing on my upper arm and thinking it’s my bra strap slipping off my shoulder! Either way, they’re both stopping the Wellington southerly gales from getting down the neck of my tops, which I’m appreciating at the moment.

One thing I haven’t figured out yet is quite how to wear either top when I need layers. They look ridiculously preppy if I wear them under my Driftless Cardi’s, like I’m in costume as a stereotypical librarian or something. Any suggestions? Maybe I just need to wear them over a superfine thermal layer or something. I would like to have a go at layering them under some dresses, I can’t stop thinking how cute the Rise would be under a pinafore style dress like the Tessuti Claudia or the Closet Case Patterns Fiona…

Hackney Shirt

Earlier this year I was very flattered to be contacted by Sew Over It to ask if I would be interested in testing their latest online class, for either the men’s Hackney Shirt or the women’s Ultimate Shirt. I’ve never done any pattern testing before, and I’m a bit wary of the whole process, but when I realised that SOI weren’t asking for any publicity, just feedback, I decided to give it a go. I actually really enjoyed it, I quite like proof reading and editing work, and it was fun to have a look at the SOI online class model (which is excellent). I opted to make the Hackney Shirt, as I’ve been telling Hamish that I’d make him a shirt as soon as I found a pattern that I liked the look of, and this one seemed to fit the bill!

Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go to plan. I picked a size too small for Hamish, and the sleeves came up a bit short too (though they’ve been lengthened on the final pattern). He has shirts which fit him much better, and I could just tell that this one wasn’t going to get a look in. I was feeling a bit salty about wasting a nice piece of shirting from my stash (I know, should have used something else, but I don’t love wasting time or fabric on muslins either…its a conundrum), but last week when I once again saw it slung over a chair, all sad and unworn, I figured I might as well try it on myself. It’s definitely over sized, but I’m hoping I can get away with it…

Hackney is a lovely classic shirt pattern, with a two piece collar and tower plackets, and a yoke and back pleat. All of the seams are flat felled, so it’s lovely and neat on the inside, and I used a crisp Italian shirting from my deep stash. I think it came from The Fabric Store years ago, but I can’t be sure… It’s a gorgeous grey/blue with a tiny white pinstripe, very traditional (and to be honest, much more my colour than Hamish’s…)! The buttons are a two-tone white shirt button from my button bin, I like them with the stripes. Being a man’s shirt though the buttons are on the wrong side for me, which totally tripped me up when I put it on for the first time! It was very confusing, my fingers just couldn’t figure out how to get the buttons through the buttonholes…

I’m so happy with the sewing on this shirt, I’m really proud of the finish and the way the details came out. I think the collar and plackets are the best I’ve ever done! They’ve come out very neat and symmetrical, though the sleeves are too long on me. I could take the cuffs off and shorten the sleeves, there’s plenty of length in those plackets, but the chances of me wearing the sleeves unrolled are very slim so I’m not sure I’ll bother! I enjoyed following along with the online class, each lesson was nice and short and made it easy to follow along with each step, and Lisa Comfort describes and demonstrates everything in a really straightforward way. The videos for the tower plackets in particular was very easy to follow, and made a fairly fiddly step in the instructions clear.

I spent a bit of time playing around with different ways to wear it, and I think I might alter the hem slightly to make it easier to tie it at the waist or wear it in a French tuck (thanks to Queer Eye, I now know that that’s what a half tuck is called). If I deepen the curve at the sides of the hem, to make it more like the shape of the Kalle tunic hem, it’ll work much better. Wearing it with slightly less high waited jeans would probably help a bit with the tuck as well…

So what do you think? Can I get away with wearing this, or does it just look like I’ve raided Hamish’s wardrobe? I like wearing sharp, menswear inspired pieces, but I also don’t want it to look like I ran out of clean clothes and so grabbed whatever I could find…

Frocktails Dress!

We had a Frocktails night in Wellington this weekend! I’ve had so much FOMO looking at the Aussie Frocktails events for years, so I was super excited when Sandra from Sew Social announced that she had organised one for us. I duly bought my ticket, and then started planning my outfit. And I had so many plans! I was going to make a By Hand London Orsola dress, then a Sew Over It Zoe dress, then a jump suit, then some Winslow Culottes… I actually started the Winslows, but I chose a wool rayon blend that I thought would have enough drape but it became evident pretty quickly that it definitely did not! They were shaping up to be a super huge pair of trousers. That was last weekend, so I was getting a bit stressed about what I was going to wear…

In the end I grabbed one of my newer patterns off my shelf, the Deer and Doe Myosotis Dress, and paired it with this gorgeous printed cotton from my stash. It has a print similar to an ikat, with irregular squares and lines, but it isn’t woven into the fabric. I bought it from Drapers Fabrics a few months ago, planning to make a classic shirtdress out of it, but when it arrived it was much softer than I expected. I’m pretty sure its a double gauze, I was able to separate the layers and it was pretty shifty, so wouldn’t have held the crisp lines of the dress I was planning.  Its lovely though, and it was perfect to pair with this pattern instead. There is a bunch of fabric in those ruffles, but they feel really light and airy in this fabric, and the Wellington wind was definitely showing them off last night before we got to Frocktails! I was a bit hasty with my cutting out, and I unfortunately didn’t notice that the bottom layer of my fabric had shifted pretty significantly off grain. It’s pretty loosely woven, so it moves around a lot! That means that the pattern on the fabric doesn’t run in nice straight lines and is a bit all over the place, but I’m telling myself I’m ok with it.

The Myosotis pattern was lovely to sew, as I’ve found all Deer and Doe patterns to be! My measurements fall neatly between size 38 and 40 on their size chart, but looking at the finished garment sizes I was confident in picking the 38! I did have to laugh when I tried on the bodice, the “empire line” waist was the perfect length for my short torso. I left it at the drafted length, because I thought it would look super weird if I shortened it any more. The only change I made was to add a couple of inches onto the skirt before I added the ruffle. I’m not sure if I lengthened it too much, but I think it’ll be a good length for summer when I want to wear it with bare legs and sandals. I was trying to think of the last time I made something with a gathered skirt, and I genuinely can’t think of when that would have been. I’m just not really a gathered skirt kind of person! I do really love the bodice of this dress though, the shaping with the darts is perfect to balance out the loose silhouette without swamping me, and the neckline and collar is so cute.

And it has pockets, of course!

This is definitely a summer dress, and it was absolutely freezing last night, but I was determined to wear it since I had finished it in time! I stuck my merino slip under it and wore my fleece lined tights, and managed to brave 2 minutes outside with no coat on while Emma, Gabrielle and I took photos of each other (we even managed to find a teal wall to make me feel at home). We copped a few funny looks from random members of the public, most of whom were wearing puffer jackets and woolly hats, but such is the life of a blogger…

Frocktails was great fun, it’s always nice to know that people won’t think you’re weird if you ask to feel their clothes! I now have a bunch of new patterns I want to make, courtesy of what everyone else was wearing… There’s going to be one in Auckland in mid August, hope you’ve got your tickets if you’re up there!

York Pinafore

I often buy patterns when they’re first released, intending to make them up pretty quickly, and then my tendency to procrastinate and inability to settle on a fabric kick in and I rarely make them up as rapidly as I intended. The York Pinafore by Helen’s Closet is one of the few which I printed and made up within a week of buying the pattern! I think it helped that I was primed for it’s release, I had seen Emma’s tester version and loved it immediately, and I knew it would be perfect in a few fabrics I had in my stash.

I was a little bit wary of the cocoon shaped skirt on the York, so I decided to make it up in some fabric that I wouldn’t mind losing if it didn’t work out. This is a lightweight stretch denim from the Fabric Store that they were selling cheap because it was massively overdyed. I washed it a couple of times, and it came right though! It’s indigo on one side and black on the other, and I used the black side (which I think is the wrong side, but I wanted it to be really neutral so I used it anyway!). Because it’s winter, and I wanted to be able to wear it comfortably with tights, I lined it with a stretch poly lining from my stash. I have no idea where that came from, but it was perfect for this project! I used some vintage turquoise bias tape around the arms and neckline, and had just enough to do the hem as well. So satisfying to use up so many bits from the stash in one project!

I cut a size small, which was a little smaller than my measurements but I thought there was enough ease that it’d be ok, and would tone down the cocoon shape that I was a bit worried about! I shortened it an inch at the lower lengthen shorten line, and and half an inch at the upper lengthen/shorten line on both the front and back. I wanted the bottom of the scooped sides to hit at the smallest part of my waist, as I thought that would look best. I cut the length half way  between the long and short hem lengths, and I love where it’s sitting.

Initially I was a bit worried that the bib was too narrow, I was concerned that it would look like my boobs were making a break for it out either side! I think the proportions are just right though, now that I’ve worn it a couple of times. If I widened it I think I would need to add a little dart to stop it gaping over my bust, and I think that would start to look a bit fussy…

I used the patch pockets, which are awesomely huge and deep! I saw a version where the patch pockets had been turned into welt pockets, and I would love to try that on another version. They looked really sleek and modern with the rest of the silhouette. And it turns out I really like the silhouette! The cocoon shape is way more flattering than I thought it would be, and its a really easy and comfortable dress to wear. I can imagine wearing it over nearly all of the tee shirts in my wardrobe (I love it over all my stripes!), and I think it would look cute over my shirts as well. I’m wearing it here with my latest Lark Tee, a boat neck version made up in a rayon stripe that I bought at Fabricabrac a few weeks ago. Its lovely and soft, and I love the navy and white! I do need to go back and add a label into the back neckline though, I thought I would be able to tell them apart but I’ve just realised that I put it on back to front when I was getting dressed this afternoon (after trying on some wedding dresses, so much fun!). Clearly not so easy to tell the back from the front as I thought!

I’m leaving you with this gem of a picture, because I think it shows the outfit really well, but it also shows what happens when I ask my sister to take some pictures for me and I just talk the whole way through the ‘shoot’! Thanks for thanks for taking the photos Abby, and for dodging the group of tweens who wanted to take photos against the same patch of wall…

Yet More Basic Basics…

Hi team! My research proposal is handed in, and a month away from both blog and sewing machine seems to have helped to kick start my sew-jo again. We’ve just had a long weekend which I put to pretty good use, making a dress for my mum as well as managing to finish off the jeans and jumper I’ve had cut out for months. They’re both boring basics, but they’ve filled a hole in my wardrobe that I have really been noticing now that the temperature has dropped!

I really needed another pair of jeans, I was rotating between my Deer & Doe Safran Jeans and my blue Ginger Jeans, and the ankle baring Safrans are getting harder to wear the colder it gets! I bought some black stretch cotton twill from Miss Maude earlier in the year, and decided to turn it into another pair of Gingers. I made these the same as my first pair, with the high waist and skinny legs and the pocket stay. I realised when I revisited my original blog post that I had meant to fiddle with the legs to see if I could decrease the wrinkles at the knee and back thigh, but I had already cut this pair out!

To be honest, I don’t think I need to fiddle with them too much. There are always going to be wrinkles on skinny jeans, especially these ones. The cotton twill is beautiful, and sewed and pressed so nicely, but it is fairly lightweight and definitely doesn’t have the same recovery as the denim I used for my first pair. it also has a bit of a sheen to it, so those wrinkles all catch the light! I look these photos after a few days of wear, and they’ve definitely loosened up around the hips and thighs and across the front. I kinda like how they have ended up looking more like close fitting trousers rather than jeans, it definitely means they’ll be easier to dress up.

You can see how much the back has bagged out in that photo… One thing I definitely improved on from my last pair is the top stitching. I used upholstery thread and the chain stitch function on my new toy, a Janome Coverpro 2000CPX. Because the chain stitch is stretchy, and because I used a much heavier thread than the Gutermann Sulky thread from last time, I hopefully won’t pop all of my topstitching! Unfortunately with the black thread on black fabric and my dim winter photography its pretty hard to see…

The best part of these jeans is the Japanese cotton I used for the pockets! All of my jeans should have cat pockets. I opted not to put the belt loops on this pair, as I never wear belts with them anyway and I thought that skipping them would stop them looking so much like “jeans”. Also I was being a bit lazy and just wanted to have them finished…

Next up is this super simple sweatshirt. I had a metre of absolutely beautiful lightweight ‘winter white’ wool from Tessuti, bought when I was over in Sydney a few years ago. I wish I had bought a bit more, because I couldn’t fit any of the patterns I wanted to make onto 1m (I really need to remember that I need at least 1.2m to get a long-sleeved top out of it)… In the end, after losing pattern tetris with a few patterns I decided to just go super simple and make a long sleeved top out of my favourite knit dress pattern, M6886. I cut it off at the lengthen/shorten line just below the waist point on the pattern, and straightened the side seams out. I also had to put cuffs of the sleeves, as I just couldn’t fit the full length sleeve on however I laid it out! I cut a wide facing for the crew neck, and again used the chainstitch on my coverstitch machine to sew down the facing and do the hem. I love the single line of stitching, it looks so sleek and simple. I really like how it’s turned out, I think it’ll be a great workhorse this winter.

Yay basics! And yay for wool to keep me warm!

 

Mini Making

I’ve reached the age where my friends are all starting to have babies (which is lovely, but alarming. I’m sure we aren’t old enough for these things. Yes I know I’ve just turned 30, shh). Obviously, I’m using this as an opportunity to make lots of tiny cute things for them! I’ve given two sets of gifts so far, so I’ll post about those ones now and the other ones later, so that I don’t spoil the surprise in the unlikely event that the recipients read my blog…

First up is this super cute little jumper. It’s the Livingston pattern by Nadia Cretin-Lechenne, which I fell in love with when I saw Abbey Morris post her version on instagram. I love the cute button up neck and the loopy texture on the front panel, and it was a fun wee pattern to make. I couldn’t figure out how the stitch pattern worked until I started knitting, but you slip two stitches for two rows, and then move them two stitches to either side with a cable needle on the third row. Simple and effective! Knitting the front flap was easier than I expected, though I did have to fudge it a little bit and do some tidying up at the edges of the openings when I sewed the ribbing down at the bottom of the openings on either side.

I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for the first time on this project, and it is so nice to knit with! It’s so soft, and the stitch definition is lovely. I initially bought two balls, intending to make the newborn size, but my friend is having a large baby according to her recent scans so I decided to make the 3 month size instead! I had to put a rush order in to get another ball so I could finish it in time for her baby shower, but it all worked out fine! He’s due at the end of the month, so if the sizing is right we’ll be in the middle of winter when he fits it, which would be perfect. I picked some plastic tortoiseshell-ish buttons out of my stash, I like that they’re fairly neutral but not boring.

To finish off the gift I made up a couple of pairs of tiny sweatpants using some merino sweatshirting left over from my other projects. I used the Streaky Legs pattern from Ottobre Magazine (Spring issue 1 Kids from 2015), there are so many good patterns in that magazine! These pants are super simple, just two pattern pieces (front/back and cuff), and they’re so cute. The sizing is done by measuring the height of the child, which is a bit tough when a) you’re making a gift, and b) the kid is still in utero, but I had a guess and hopefully they’ll fit! Stupidly I didn’t look at the instructions, because they were so simple, but if I had checked I would have noticed that there were no seam allowances included in the pattern. Unfortunately I didn’t pick that up until I was checking to see how much elastic to put in the waistband. Being a European pattern from a magazine I should have expected that there were no seam allowances, so it was a bit stupid of me. Hopefully they’ll fit for a little while at least!

For my other baby gift I made up a couple of baby bibs and a little sun hat in some super cute matching cotton. I love that there are lots of uses for craft cottons when making baby stuff, there are so many gorgeous prints that I would never use otherwise! I used two free patterns, the Purl Soho Bib and the Oliver + S Bucket Hat. Both patterns were really easy to use, and I love the results for each!

I chose a woodland themed cotton from Stitchbird Fabrics for these gifts, as the baby I was making them for is a Canadian/Kiwi and I thought he would appreciate the bears and squirrels (eventually). I paired the cotton with more remnants from my stash, the orange is the left over linen from my Harvest Tee. I thought it was a slightly unexpected colour to pair with the muted colours of the cotton, but it matches the squirrels and deer and I liked the contrast!

The bibs were a very quick and easy sew. I used a scrap of blue drill (left over from Hamish’s first Jedediah shorts, I think) and sewed on a patch with my favourite bear on it, so that everything wasn’t too visually similar. For the backing I used a nice squishy cotton sweatshirting, with the looped side facing out. I just couldn’t find toweling anywhere, and buying a towel to cut up seemed messy and a bit wasteful when I could just use sweatshirting! Hopefully it’ll do the job just fine…

It turns out sewing baby gear is a great stash buster, I’m so glad I’ve been holding onto all of my merino scraps! baby stuff is nice and quick to sew up too, perfect for fitting in around other projects. Expect to see a few more teeny garments being made in the next few months…

Teal Shift Dress

A few posts ago I mentioned that I was trying to sew more for others, as my wardrobe is rapidly reaching bursting point. I made linen shorts for Hamish, and at the same time I made a Pauline Alice Xerea shift dress for my lovely Mum. She was looking for a nice breezy dress to combat the hot weather we were having, but something that was still stylish and nice enough for the office. I’ve got a few sack and shift dress patterns in my pattern library, so I got her over to have a look, but  wasn’t surprised when she picked Xerea! I thought she would like the pockets and the shape of the dress, and she did. Then she picked out a lovely teal milled linen from The Fabric Store, and I got sewing!

The first thing I did was lengthen it by about 30cm. As drafted the pattern is really short, and Mum is several inches taller than me, so I thought I would hedge my bets and add loads of length that I could trim back later! It turned out to be about the right length, I trimmed off 2cm and then turned up a 3cm hem to get it sitting just at the knee.

We also opted not to add the short sleeves on, so I trimmed the armscye back a centimetre or so and then hemmed them with the same bias tape I used around the neckline. This is the third time I’ve made this pattern, and it always comes together really quickly and neatly! I love the princess seams/dior darts/curved pocket combo (not that you can see any of those details particularly well in this plain linen, but they’re there and are really nice), and the V neck at the back is also a lovely detail.

The only thing I’d change for next time would be to scoop the front neckline out slightly, as Mum finds it slips backwards a bit and can become a bit restrictive, depending on how she’s sitting! She’s worn it heaps, which is gratifying, and we’re talking about trying out a long sleeved woolen version for winter. I think I’d change the back neckline to be a standard high curve, drop the front neckline, and add a centre back seam with an invisible zip for a winter version. Or maybe put a keyhole and button in the back yoke? I’ll need to have a think about it!

Maybe I’m coming around to sewing for other people, it is nice when you can make something for someone who really appreciates it! It’s a chance to make stuff that I wouldn’t necessarily make for myself either, which can be fun. Though I think my sewing time this year is going to be a bit limited now that I’m back to studying, so it might be a while between sewing projects for other people…

Thanks for modeling for me Mum, I’m glad you like your dress! xx

Summer Favourite

Just a quick post today to show off one of my new favourite dresses! At the end of my last post I mentioned that I was going to get some striped tee-shirt weight knit from Drapers Fabrics, and here is the resulting dress (I paid for this fabric, no collaboration this time). Drapers is still offering readers 15% off with the code FIFTYTWOFANCIES, in case any of you have your eye on any of their pretties!

So…this dress didn’t start off as a winner. I initially had a lengthened version of the Papercut Solar tee in mind, as I thought the dropped shoulder and ruffle combo would look really cute in the stripes, and it would be nice with a belt on hot days. Unfortunately, I completely disregarded the heft of this cotton knit as I was making these plans. It’s a lovely tee shirt weight, almost like a very lightweight ponte, but it was far too stiff for those shoulder ruffles, it was like I had little wings (and not it a cute way)! I always really like the idea of ruffle or big shoulders and sleeves, but in reality adding them on top of my proportionally bigger bust and my super short hair just makes me look like a pinhead. I sulked for a few hours, and then got out the scissors and McCall’s 6886…

So much better! The weight of this fabric is much better suited to a dress which isn’t reliant on draping right to look good (so obvious in hindsight, I need to put a bit more thought into these things sometimes!). Because the Kyoto Tee pattern has straight side seams (which I had flared out slightly as I lengthened it), I had enough fabric once I had cut all the overlocked seams off to re-cut the narrower pattern pieces of M6886 from the existing front and back. Which meant I didn’t have to think about matching the stripes as I was cutting out, because I had already done it the first time around!

I cut the crew neckline again, same as my merino version, but as this is a 100% cotton knit I didn’t trust that turn-and-stitch method for the neckline. Instead I traced off a facing and used that instead. There is still a little bit of gaping around the neckline from it stretching over my head, but I can live with that.

I could probably do with a sway back adjustment for this pattern, or some fish eye darts, but given that it’s such an easy, casual, pull on dress I’m not really worried about a few wrinkles back there! 

I’ve worn this dress several times a week since I finished it, it’s been perfect for the incredible hot weather we’re having. I’ve been slack and had a couple of nasty sunburns already this year, so I love not having to worry about whether I’ve got enough sunblock on my chest and shoulders. 

Yay for not wasting fabric! 

Minttu Swing Top

Just a quick wee post today to show off my latest finished garment, the Minttu Swing Top from the new Named collection. 

I love Named patterns, I always look forward to their pattern releases, and their SS17 collection Playground didn’t disappoint! Even though I’m in the wrong hemisphere for them to be seasonally appropriate, I still immediately bought both the Minttu and the Ansa butterfly sleeve dress patterns. We’re having a late burst of summer weather in Wellington at the moment, so I thought I might as well squeeze in another sleeveless top!

I have to admit, I didn’t really read the fine print on this one before hitting buy, I didn’t realise it was meant for knits until I was reading the instructions! I swapped out the woven rayon I was planning to use for this rayon/wool knit, I thought it might be better to try the pattern as intended before branching out (though now that I’ve made it, I’m sure it would work in a lightweight woven. I’ll need to size up and adjust the neckline so I can get my head though it though…) This knit is super soft and very drapey, so I think it works pretty well. I made a Scout tee shirt out of it last winter and have worn it heaps, but it is quite thick and weirdly heavy, so it tends to stretch out all over the place.

The combination of weighty knit and lots of stretch and drape means that the hem of this top often looks uneven, but it’s just because I’ve tugged it down unevenly or it’s got caught up on my jeans pocket or something, it goes back to sitting evenly once I settle everything back to where it should be! I do like how this swingy silhouette looks with the drape of this fabric, so I’m not too fussed with having to readjust it occasionally.

The pattern calls for interfaced facings, which has definitely helped to stabilise the neckline and armholes. The main fabric is quite thick, so I used a much thinner, less stretchy knit and a knit interfacing for the facings and I think it has worked well. It’s definitely helped to retain the slightly angular shape of the armscye. I’m not going to lie though, the instructions for attaching the facings at the armscye did my head in! I managed it in the end, but it took me ages to get the pinch and turn-through method that they described right. It looks lovely and clean inside now though! 

It’s really hard to see the seam details in this knit, but there are no side seams, just two side panels which form the shape of the armscye when they intersect with the front and back pieces. I love the cut away armscye, though it isn’t terribly bra-friendly. I need to get one of those clips to turn my bras into racer backs!

I think this is a great pattern, and I’m going to use some of my precious striped rayon knit to make another one. I think the panels offer a good opportunity to play with stripe direction or pattern placement! I think it could be lengthened into a really cute dress as well, but that might have to wait until next summer…

Spotty chambray sheath dress

I’ve been really wanting some easy to wear dresses this summer. Last summer I was all about the Southport dress, but I’ve had a couple of nasty sunburns this summer (bad Kiwi! Should know better!) so I was wanting something with a bit more coverage. I bought McCalls 7464 in the post-Thanksgiving sale last year, and I thought the jewel neckline and sleeves would give me a bit more protection. It helps that a sheath dress was one of the items in my #2017makenine too…

I used a lovely Japanese chambray from Miss Matatabi. It’s so soft and comfortable, but I think I bought the last of it sorry! It was really lovely to sew, and I have a chunk left over for a top. I find some chambray too blue (I know that sounds stupid, they’re obviously all blue), but this softer cornflower blue is the perfect colour for me. I imagine it’ll be lovely in the heat, though I haven’t had the chance to test that theory yet due to our stormy, chilly summer!

M7464 is a ‘petite’pattern. I wasn’t 100% sure what that meant, but it turns out that it means the patterns have a shorter nape to back waist length which is perfect for me! It was a simple enough pattern to sew up, I read through the instructions once before starting and then didn’t really refer to them again. I really like the shape of this dress, with it’s front and back princess seams, I think it’s really flattering but not too form fitting! I made view C, but with everything cut on grain rather than cutting the princess panels on the bias (so technically probably view A without the pockets. Either/or.)

I do wish I had a better match with my zip colour. I thought this pale blue one would be best, but I might have been better with a navy one! Either way, it isn’t too bad really.  One thing I did change from the pattern was to omit the full lining, as I was after an easy breezy summer frock. Instead I used the tutorial for drafting Non-Flip Facings from What Katie Sews. It worked really well, they haven’t popped out of the neckline once! next time I will make the front facing an inch deeper at the centre front neck, as I failed to take the seam allowance into consideration and so it’s only about 1 and 1/4 inches deep at the CF. Even so, it stays put!

I am really happy with this dress, but there are a few changes I’ll make for next time (and I have two pieces of fabric set aside for another summer version and a winter version already). I feel like the waist of this dress is sitting at the right place, but I have about 2 inches of excess fabric in the upper chest. You can see it bubbling around my collarbones in some of the above pictures. If I pinch it out, the whole dress just feels perfect around the upper chest, rather than feeling a bit sloppy. I’ll need to do some research into the best way to remove that excess fabric and how to modify the sleeve to fit the new armhole (any suggestions or tutorials appreciated!). The back length feels fine, but I might experiment with removing excess from the front and back as well as removing it all from the front. There are toiles in my future! Once I’ve got that sorted, I think I’ll have a perfect dress pattern.

Furry photo bomb! Zelda is so nosy, she always needs to know what’s going on when  I have the door of my sewing room closed. She must get terrible FOMO when I leave for work every morning…