Twenty Six Dresses

Daughter No2 cleaned out her wardrobe yesterday, and found she has 26 dresses, one more and she could have her own movie….  This is Dress no 26, using the multi-panelled bodice from the Simply Red dress and the 4-gored skirt from the True Blue dress, but this time not cut on the bias.

Dress #26!

The fabric is a black and turquoise print that was sent to me by a friend in America, one of her bargain buys from an estate sale.  Why don’t we have those in the UK??  The print has a real Eighties feel, so I’m calling this dress her “Footloose Dress”!

I love the way the skirt is so different from the Simply Red dress, just by changing the grainline and cutting the skirt in panels.

Another success!  The bodice on this and the previous two dresses is essentially the same, only the True Blue Dress has no panels, but it is in the skirts that all the difference really appears.  The Simply Red dress skirt was cut with the grainline parallel to the centre front and back, the True Blue Dress has a 4 panel skirt, the grain is on the bias.  For this dress I used the same pattern pieces for the skirt, but the grainline runs down the centre of each skirt panel, making it much more fluid.

Magic!

Do you play with grainlines too??

Simply Red

After a 24 mile round trip I have a red invisible zip, and now a completed dress!  I am also definitely ordering a stock of zips from Jaycotts.  I paid £3.90 for a 52cm long invisible zip!  That’s madness!!  Anyway, rant over, here’s the completed dress, and a happy Daughter No2 in the sunshine to show it off.

We love a little contrast, this turquoise belt is great with the red.

The panels work really well, tailoring the bodice to her shape.  The stretch cotton has a tendence to, well, stretch.  So the lining is a stretch cotton poplin, with much less movement to keep the whole thing together.

Why can’t we have more sun? Everything is so much better for it, including these pretty poppies.

The back was kept simple.  There is just one seam, I really don’t think it needed any more than that.

The back is simple, just two panels!

For some extra info, this dress was cut from the 2-piece dress block (from Winnifred Aldrich’s Metric Pattern Cutting) and adapted to the sleeveless block.

Posing!

Next time we’ll have more fabric to play with, and will make a fuller skirt.  For now though, Daughter No2 is very happy with her new dress.  Will the weather gods please let us have some sun so she can wear it??

 

Welcome to the Jungle

The dress with draped design is finished, and….  I had some issues with it.

1. This is not the right sort of fabric for this design.  The georgette is way too slippery and hasn’t enough body to hold the drape at the front.
2. It’s too long.  I know, the last dress I made I thought was too short, this is just a bit too long.
3. In the book, Tomoko Nakamichi says that if you don’t want the skirt flopping open in the front, just sew it up.  This doesn’t work, as it twists the “twist” in the front to the wrong side.
4. Trying to stick to my “don’t buy anyting unless absolutely necessary until Sewing for Pleasure” rule was sorely tested.  I had a turquoise silk satin blouse that I didn’t like and was happy to chop to make a camisole, but I had absolutely nothing for lining the bottom part of the dress.  I bought some crepe de chine from the Fancy Silk Store in Birmingham to make a slip in the end.  Of course, the colours are not the same, so it’s an un-matching set, which is not ideal.  Luckily all the lace and picot elastic was in my stash.
5. I am not entirely sure this shape works for me, and that is a real shame because I really wanted to make something I’d get lots of wear out of with this fabric.  Maybe it will grow on me.

So this is it with the cami and slip.

Jungle dress.

Jungle Dress and slip

And this is it styled slightly differently, an idea from the mum of a friend of mine.  She said it may look good with a pair of fitted silk trousers…  lightbulbs went off in my head.  I had made a pair of stretch satin trousers from a Burda magazine 12/09, no 104 about 2 years ago, and they are pretty fitted.  So what do we think?  Maybe with the trousers the dress does need to be shorter…

Jungle Dress with Trousers

Or maybe I should just leave it in the “remake this” pile.  Maybe if this dress was made in a different fabric, something with more body, it would be better.  Either that or it needs a body in it with smaller boobs and more of a waist!  I have a very good feeling this style will look fantastic on Daughters 1 & 2!

So to cope with the disappointment of this dress, I have made 4 Renfrew t-shirts and a vintage cotton dress in 3 days.  Sometimes you just need to get it out of your system by making something that someone else has spent time and effort perfecting, and all you need do is cut and sew!  I may feel better by Monday. 

Can you tell what it is yet?

Can you tell what it is yet??

What it is is a lot of paper, magic tape and head scratching!  I have been mucking about with paper and Pattern Magic again, this time working on the “dress with draped design” pattern.  I guess I had a little more working through to do because I am not using the block that comes from the book.  As I am a million miles for the average Japanese woman in size and shape, there is pretty much no point in going there!  So I have my trusty Winnifred Aldrich bodice block to fiddle with instead.  It isn’t a hard pattern to make, just fiddly.

In the beginning

So this is how the front started off, bust dart moved to armhole, and lots of lines to cut up.  The waistline is moved 7cm up (on the back too) and neckline drawn in with a slight dip.  Then the fun started!!  I needed an extra hand and an automatic tape dispenser.. 

The back was not that tricky and took about 5 – 10 minutes to adapt.  Then there is the sleeve to consider.  I like interesting sleeves, in case you hadn’t noticed by now.  I just wasn’t sure how much fabric I had to play with, same old story!!

Print georgette and crepe de chine

The fabric was sent to my by a very good friend who has relocated to Chicago.  I recon if I make her feel guilty enough about leaving me she’ll send me plenty of care packages with fabric in…  ;p  Anyway, the fabric is a polyester georgette with a fabulous print on it.  The colours are great and I really hope this dress turns out the way I see it in my head because I want to wear it to death in the summer.  The plain crepe de chine is for lining the skirt section.  I didn’t want the linings to be attached, so I am basically going to make a slip with the crepe and make a little cami with some turquoise silk satin I had left over from a previous project.

Testing the pattern lay

So before I got too carried away I placed the pattern pieces I had finished onto the fabric to see just how little I’d be left with…  Not an awful lot to be honest.  So out the window went ideas for a cowl drape elbow length sleeve and in came a shorter, plain sleeve.  The twisted draped front will just have to do!

So the front and back are stitched, French seams throughout on this fabric, and all that is left to do are the sleeves and hem.  And the cami.  And the slip.  In the meantime daughter no 2 needs a pattern for a prom dress she has designed, so I had better get my skates on!

By the way, I have to thank Burdastyle for making my Rise Above This jacket their featured member project of the week!!  I was pretty amazed! 

 

 

 

Marching On

Brr, it’s been a cold week!  Snow last night falling on unmelted snow from last weekend has made for a pretty countryside.  But, not good for going outside to take photos of finished work!  On top of the cold, it has also been a different week.  Our most beloved kitty cat passed away on Saturday after being quite unwell, and I cannot get used to the emptyness of the house now that he has gone.  I am without his company as I sew, even if his idea of the best sleeping places wasn’t quite what I would have had in mind!

The best place for a cat to sleep - on my fabric and patterns!

Anyway, life for the rest of us goes on, and we definitely plan to have another fluffy family member soon!  In the meantime I have got on with another couple of projects.  I had some fabulous double jersey from Ditto in Brighton – these guys have some fab fabric, and have very nearly been the cause of me breaking a New Year’s resolution.  I had no idea what I was going to make with it when I bought it, I just had to get it while it was still available, and I figured inspiration would come later.

The fabric is great, but quite bulky, so many of the ideas were quashed.  It doesn’t do multiple pleats or tucks, definitely no gathers either.  So I thought something pared down with a detail in a contrast fabric would do quite nicely.

Jersey Dress

I ran up a toile for a two piece dress, and then coverted it for stretch fabric.  This means taking out a lot of the ease, which is not needed in stretch garments.  Toiling the stretch pattern was pretty simple, but as I didn’t have a fabric to toile in that was similar in weight to the jersey it was a bit of a flyer!  There were a few adjustments to make, but on the whole I had figured the fitting would have to be done on the garment itself.  So out came the fabric and on went the pattern pieces.  Well – some of the pattern pieces.

I had purchased 1.5m – plenty, I thought.  Nope!  Although the pattern was pretty simple, the sleeve is a bell shape and needed some space, and the fabric wasn’t as wide as I was counting on so, not enough!  AArgh!!  Thank goodness Ditto are quick off the mark with their first class postage!  And double thank goodness that there was still some of the jersey in stock!  I ordered online and only had to wait one day for an extra 70cm to arrive so I could cut the back skirt.  Thank you Ditto Fabric!! 

I used my overlocker on this project.  It went together like a dream, the only issue I had was the ruffle contrast.  I had started off with a black silk chiffon but it wouldn’t play ball.  As the ruffle got narrower it stood up on end, not quite the look I was going for!  So off it came and I rumaged around in my boxes for something else.  I discovered some light-weight black jersey that has done the job much better.  I used a rolled hem on all the edges, pulling slightly to get a more ruffled look, which disappeared the first time I ironed them.  :s

For fitting I ended up taking in quite a bit more on the sides, and shaping the back seam much more than I had expected to.  I do like the finished article, it is quite warm (needs a long-sleeved t-shirt in this cold though) and my favourite parts are the sleeves.  Definitely doing them again!  The only time I used my sewing machine was for the twin needle hems.

The flower is one I made using this tutorial from Wise Craft, it is such a fabulous little thing, I have made loads over the last few years.   So, photos.  I will get some done this weekend, and hopefully have the next project finished too!  Here’s a sneak peek…

Blouse with oversized polo placket

Fancier than Casual

The things I do for my girls.

Friday.  The day everyone says;  “Phew, glad that week’s over, time to chill.”  Not me.  Not today!  There is something guys just don’t get.  Girls need advance warning of plans.  Girls need to plan.  And daughter no 1′s boyfriend stumbled into this one.  He texted her last night to say he wanted to take her out to dinner tonight.  Where?  That’s a surprise.  Ok, what is she to wear?  Not jeans.  Fancier than casual.  See daughter go into a tail spin!!  She had almost her entire wardrobe out and covering every surface in her room before you could say mushroom ravioli.  Everything was either too casual, or too fancy – prom fancy.

And I walked into the next one.  Remember my New Year’s resolution to say “No”?  I forgot.  I heard myself say, “Do you want me to make you something?” before my brain had engaged to stop those very words leaving my lips.  Thank goodness I have a pretty good dress pattern run up and a stash box cupboard!  A quick rumage revealed some black silk linen, perfect for the top half, and a grey crepe backed satin, perfect for a skirt.  I intended to use the pattern I used for the Liberty Dress and the Reception Dress, with some slight modifications.

Belt made from layering grossgrain ribbon and metallic lace

The pattern I had made for the other dresses has a gathered skirt.  I couldn’t do that for this one, as the grey satin I dug out of the “fancy fabrics” box had been a dress skirt in a previous life.  It was 4 sections of a very gathered, full circle skirt.  The problem was that it was too much just to re-use onto the tiny waistline I was working with.   I halved the skirt and adjusted the top of the seams so it would just ease onto the width I had, but I left the lower width of the skirt alone.  Satin has such a lovely drape, and on this dress I am glad there is no gathering.  The silk linen bodice was completely interfaced with a fine sheer fusible interfacing for support, and I lined it with a cotton voile.  I didn’t have any black lining in my stash.

Now I am happy just to wear black and grey, but daughter no 1 needed some colour.  I fished around in my ribbon box crate, and found a length of 40mm wide black grossgrain and a length of 20mm wide dusky pink.  She was intending to wear nude shoes with the dress, so I thought I’d work this pink in somehow.  Diving into the lace box I found a left over bit of old-gold coloured metallic lace.  No idea where I got this from, I have tried to buy some recently and got nowhere fast.  I layered the three and I love how they look together.

Fancier than casual?  Check!

Friday – busy day!

Wow, I can honestly say I am gobsmacked!  This little blog of mine has been ticking along with a handful of visitors, when suddenly the tracking spiked!!  Thank you so much to BurdaStyle for making me featured member of the week!  Another big thank you to those who have added my blog to their subscriptions lists, and those who left me comments.

New Blocks

So back to work!  I have re-drafted some of my personal blocks.  After making the jacket this last month and having way too many adjustments to make, I gave in.  So yesterday I drew a new Jacket Block, Coat Block, Close Fitting and Easy Fitting Bodice Block.  They will all be used this season!  I still need to toile and fit them, and draft their respective sleeves, but in the mean time I thought I’d share what I intend to do with them!

I have a lovely purple georgette that has been begging for something pretty and floaty.  I am going to use the Easy Fitting Bodice Block to make a loose-fitting top with a dropped shoulder and ruffles along the neckline.  Isn’t that top cute?  And purple will make a change to my usual grey, black or blue!  The georgette is not silk, unfortunately, but I loved the colour when I saw it on Ditto Fabric‘s website, so I had to have it!

Purple Georgette & Ruffle Top

Next, the Close Fitting Bodice Block will be converted into a One-Piece Dress Block and then I will adapt the bodice and sleeve to form a Kimono Block.  I have FINALLY decided what that green and turquoise silk is going to be!

Silk Graphic Kimono Dress

The Coat Block is going to be a hip length Pea Coat in the most beautiful pale, ice-blue cashmere that I bought at Fred Winter back in January on their winter sale!  I already knew I wanted something different, so I also got some Liberty silk for the lining and some Dupion to make piped details!

Cashmere and silk for Pea Coat

And the Tailored Jacket Block??  Something simple.  A cropped jacket with 3/4 length sleeves, possibly cut on the bias to take advantage of the burgundy/maroon flecks in the grey wool I got last week at Fred Winter.  I was really good, only getting 1.7m instead of going for the remains of what was on the roll, 2.5m!  I am sure I would have used it somewhere, but if I had got 2.5m I just know I would still be procrastinating this time next year!  I am going to use the last three buttons from my antique shop purchase, the others are on the Spotty Jacket.

Grey wool and Jacket sketch

So that’s that!!  Busy me!  Have a fabulous sunny weekend (if you are in the UK) I will be making winter goodies! 

Graphic dress

I have found something to use that wonderful silk in, thanks to Kim and Immi for their suggestions.  Mooching on Pinterest today, my eye was caught by this pretty blue number…  I had thought to change the collar though.  I really like the “Just like a stole” detail from Pattern Magic 2, so I thought I’d give that a go, and change the sleeves a little.  As summer is pretty much over here in the UK, I will want something to take me into the autumn, so I think a 3/4 sleeve will do.

Just like a Stole - Pattern Magic 2

I can’t make up my mind whether to have a plain but fitted sleeve or something with a bit of oomphf, like a sleeve with a cowl drape at the head??  I always liked this dress from Burda Style‘s December 2010 magazine.  It’s style no 102 for those who want to dig it out..

Dress with drape sleeve - BurdaStyle magazine 12/2010

I guess I had better get cracking with the paper and scissors then..  ;D

Help Wanted

Twill weave silk

I’m a little stuck.  I have 1.9m of this gorgeous lime and turquoise fabric, and I just cannot decide what to make with it.  It was the end of the roll in the shop, so I couldn’t leave it there, it was just too beautiful.

So I need help.  I had thought of a cowl neck dress – or a kimono sleeve top – or an empire line – or a skirt of some sort…   I don’t want to cut it on the bias though.   I just don’t want it to join the rest of the silks in the cupboard, waiting for me to decide what to make with them.  You know the feeling – you buy something because it is beautiful, and then cannot bring yourself to cut it up and make something just in case it isn’t quite right, and then it’s all been for nothing.

So I await your comments…. 

Lime and turquoise silk

Liberty Dress

Another project done!    I have finished putting together the Liberty Dress, at long last!  Many things conspired against me this week, but there you go, that’s life!

Inspiration picture - dress from Anthropologie

Reception Dress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the exact same pattern as the Reception Dress, see how the different weight fabrics affect the hang of the skirt – as well as not having the copious amounts of tulle underneath! All three fabrics are Liberty Tana Lawn, the dress is lined with a white cotton lawn.  I interfaced the upper sections with Gill Arnold‘s polyester fine sheer fusible for strength, but again like the Reception Dress, I didn’t bone the bodice.

So here are the shots of the finished garment, I’d love to hear what you think…

Liberty Dress

Liberty Dress

Liberty Dress