Lightning Stripes Belladone

I managed to make a few things to show off before my sewing machine hopped aboard a ship and this Belladone is one of them. I made this almost straight after I had finished my Airelle Blouse because I was on a Deer&Doe kick, and because you know, new patterns are exciting! Especially when they are of the birthday present variety.

I used some amazing blue and black diagonal striped cotton, that actually has some one-way stretch in it that I hadn't realised until I went to wash it. I was kind of annoyed, but got my Tim Gunn on and made it work!! Also, I really like the diagonal stripe. I think it's quite unusual for fabrics these days who seem to prefer a vertical or horizontal stripe. Those fabrics are so missing out!

I made the dress almost straight out of the packet, except for a few minor things. I narrowed the shoulders, made the join at the top of the back bigger (I was worried about it possibly stretching out a little due to the stretch in the fabric), made the skirt longer and omitted the skirt hem facing, instead doing a simple rolled hem. I've never actually come across a skirt hem facing before, have you? Due to my time restrictions I opted to leave it off, but I think I'll give it a go with my next Belladone (as there will be a next!).

So, why is it called the Lightning Stripes Belladone?

Well, I thought it would be fun to cut the waistband with the stripe going the other way, making a small lightning strike across the dress (well, I think it looks like a lightning strike...). Also, to break up all that diagonal stripey goodness, I think it needed it, otherwise there would be the possibility of too much stripe (can there be too much stripe?).  And no, I didn't bother lining up the stripes in the waistband, but having looked at these photos, I could have probably tried to line up the main black stripe.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

And, there are pockets. A love affair that the modern day seamstress cannot get enough of. Put a pocket on something and it's guaranteed love. Who cares about a ring!

Just put a pocket on it!

So, it's only natural that I love the little diagonal pockets on the skirt, but I some how managed to make mine almost completely invisible by matching up the stripes in the fabric on both sides, very much unintentionally. They are now my magical disappearing pockets. 

 

Overall, another winner from Deer&Doe. I think this will get a lot of wear this summer, if it ever decides to warm up :)

xx
Jen

The Classic Airelle...

Yay, I've finished my first version of the beautiful Airelle Blouse from Deer&Doe - my first time using one of Eleanor's patterns. My sister gave me this pattern for my birthday (along with the Belladone dress which I'm half way through!) and it's really such a lovely pattern to work with.

I actually finished the blouse about 2 weeks ago and I finally managed to get some photos of it yesterday (and in the rain as well no less)...

As soon as I saw this pattern I knew that I needed to make it. It's such a sweet little blouse with endless options for variation. I knew straight away how I wanted to make my first one as well - a classic combination of black and white. A blouse that would work in the cooler months as well as transition nicely into the summer.

I found a beautiful, light textured cotton voile for the body of the blouse. As I really didn't want to use a plain white cotton, nor did I want anything too pretty, this fabric fit the bill. It has a lovely fine stripe throughout the weave which adds some interest, while not being too overwhelming.

I chose a black polished cotton for the collar, cuffs and inseam piping. The polished cotton makes the finished blouse a little more fancy than a plain matt cotton would, while also adding to the subtle texture of the voile.

I ended up shortening the sleeves a touch so that they sat just above my elbow as opposed to below. This meant I also needed to add a little more room into the cuffs because the sleeve was now sitting on a wider section of my arm. I also graded to a larger pattern in the hips, but after finishing the blouse, I realised that I really didn't need to. It doesn't bother me too much though because I'll probably wear this blouse tucked in anyway.

I also omitted the interfacing in the collar because I thought the neckline would look too bulky and not sit as nicely and I'm glad I did. Even as it is, the neckline is a tad bulky where the collar pieces meet up in the centre.

Finally, because the voile is slightly sheer (and a little prone to fraying), I finished off the waist and arm sleeve seams using french seams to give the inside a clean finish.

 

Oooh, what a deliciously lovely pattern! Seriously guys, you need to get this pattern toot sweet if you don't already have it. It's the perfect beginners pattern, but as there is so much scope for adding your own touch, intermediate and advanced sewers won't be disappointed either.

Do any of you have this pattern? Have you made it yet?

xx
Jen

PS) I'll have a tutorial on making and inserting inseam piping at the end of the week for those who are interested and another on French seams after that :)

The Autumn Apples in Winter Dress...

You can't beat a Sydney winter. No long sleeves and only light stockings on a lovely Sunday afternoon - yes please! Don't get me wrong, we've had a few cold days, but nothing like a Dunedin winter day (that happened 2 weeks ago on my birthday by the way).

This early 60's pattern from Advance was a dream to sew up. I really really enjoyed making this dress. It was easy, quick and it has no darts. Let me repeat: No Darts! All of the shaping comes from the gathers at the neckline on both the front and back and the bias cut across the bodice.

I made the dress with a printed cotton seersucker and really like the way the stripes in the fabric lend a subtle chevron detail up the middle of the bodice. I think this would look great in a more striking stripey or plaid fabric.

And look at them there set in sleeves!

I generally try to avoid set in sleeves because I seem to believe that they are harder than they actually are. Using my new dress form, I managed to get the sleeve sitting perfectly at the edge of my shoulder and my tailors ham also came in mighty handy for shaping and ironing those little beauties into place once sewn on. Much better than a rolled up tea towel. So if you don't have one, I suggest you make one toot sweet!

And as is always my problem (because I buy fabric without knowing what I'll make with it most of the time...) I couldn't do the full circle skirt. So I made it a 3/4 skirt and added two tiny little pleats (one to each side) at the front of the skirt to give it a little bit more pouf.

And those spots on the fabric are apples, but there was some debate about that the other night. I knew all along that they were apples, but the conversation went something like this -

Skyping with my cousin:
A - What are those spots on the fabric you put on Instagram?
Me - Apples.
David - Really? I thought they were trees.
Me - Nope. They are Apples.
David - Are you sure?
*Gets up to inspect fabric*
Me - Yes, they are apples!
David - Yep, they are apples.
A - So, they are apples?
Me - Yes! They are Apples!!!!!!!
David - Yes, they are apples.
A - You'll need to put a close up shot of those on your blog so we all know they really are apples...

So, here is the close up shot (including a close up of the neckline and sleeves) - please feel free to agree with me in the comments that they are apples...

If you have a hankering to make this little dress, I have seen this pattern pop up on Etsy a few times, so look out for it.

xx
Jen

The 40s Knit Dress aka Vogue 8728

Yesterday was my birthday and I was mighty spoilt! I am currently writing this post on my brand spanking new MacBook Air courtesy of my awesome Husband :) My parents gave me a Lady Valet dress form as a combined birthday and christmas 2012 present and I am the proud owner of a 1kilogram box of praline chocolates. This could end badly...

Anyway, let's talk about this dress, and more importantly, the pattern itself...

I think there are quite a few of us who have this pattern in our stashes. I've certainly had it for about a year now and was originally inspired to get it when David and I were in town and I saw the exact dress design in a shop window. It was made out of some fabric that I have the vintage twin of (a turquoise polka dot cotton) and it looked so great on the mannequin I bought the pattern that night.

Before I touched my lovely spotty fabric though, I wanted to make it up in a navy cotton knit first for 2 reasons - I wanted to test the pattern and I really wanted to practice sewing with knits a bit more. I finally got my fabric about 2 weeks ago and the dress was added to my list.

The one thing I would like to point out before I get into the review properly, that I was a bit worried about and that none of the other reviews I had read mentioned, was, for lack of a better term - 'boob-gatherage'. AKA, the gathers in the bust gathering into the recess between and on either side of your boobs leaving you with smooth boobs on top and major pools of fabric all around them.

You know what I'm talking about and it looks weird.  It also doesn't matter how even your gathers are on the top and bottom, their natural inclination is to move to either side of or in-between your bust.

To prevent this, I ended up wearing a slip with mine and tend to wear slips with all my dresses anyway. Doing this, I found that I didn't really have too many issues with boob-gatherage. However, when I was trying it on, mid-construction, without a slip, it wasn't pretty folks. So I would suggest wearing a slip or singlet to prevent the uneven gathers when wearing it. Alternatively, you could draft another pattern piece with no gathers in it, that fits straight across your bust and insert that piece under the gathered bust. I couldn't really be bothered with that though...

The main construction issue I had with this pattern was getting the sizing right. There are so many conflicting reviews about which size to cut. I ended up reading so many and getting bogged down in them, that I eventually went with my gut and cut 2 sizes smaller in the gathered bust and 1 size smaller all over. I had a lot of fabric and so it wouldn't have been an issue if I had needed to recut any of the pattern pieces had I got the sizing wrong. Luckily I didn't have to worry about that as the dress fit perfectly.

I found that some of the instructions made constructing the dress harder than it needed to be. On the lower bust, they ask you to tuck the top and bottom edges in and then topstitch it to the top bust and skirt. Personally, I think that doing it that way would be so much harder to keep your seams straight and neat and so instead, I stitched them right sides together first and then top stitched. Yes, you are doubling up your stitches, but it ends up looking neater and you've strengthened your bodice this way.

There was also a part about using tear out interfacing on the top gathers. Hmmmm, I ignored that bit.

The only slightly difficult section in the dress is making sure your bust gathers are even to begin with. To ensure the right fit and distribution of gathers, once I had attached the bottom bodice to the lower gathers on the top bodice, I put the incomplete bodice on my dress form. I pinned the shoulders in place where I wanted them to sit and then gathered my top bodice in. I found that this worked really well to make sure I was happy with the amount of gathers in there, that they were evenly distributed and that I liked the where the neckline sat.

I have to be honest, I didn't really like dress to begin with, but it did grow on me quite quickly. It's so comfortable and it's the perfect travel dress! David and I went away for the weekend and spent a few hours in the car before we took these where we were staying (they had chickens!! Pictures below!) and you wouldn't guess.

I do need to wear a belt with it but I would probably wear one anyway. It was a quick dress to make up and I'm quite sure that another of these is in my sewing future. Vintage turquoise polkadots, here I come!

If you have any questions about the dress please let me know in the comments, I'd be glad to try and answer them for you.

Now, onto the chickens!! This dress is so versatile that you can go from Travelling Movie Star to Chic Farm Girl in one foul (fowl?) swoop :)

Turns out chickens don't come when they are called. Much like cats...

xx
Jen

Me Made May - Week 3

Another Me Made week down!

I don't know about any of you, but it's starting to get harder to get dressed in the morning. I find myself checking my instagram far too often to figure out if I've already worn a combination before or to make sure that there have been sufficient days in between before I can wear the same piece again.

It's been great for forcing me to think a little more creatively about what I wear each day, to pull out those Me Mades that don't get any wear and to not just throw on the same old thing each day. But it's definitely becoming a challenge.

All I can say is, thank goodness for cardigans and their ability to transform the same outfit into something new.

Day 14 - 
It's started to get much cooler in the evenings here now. Today I invented a new fashion - pj's under dresses. Comfy and warm!

Wearing - Polka Dot Billie Jean

Day 15 -
I can't even remember what I did that day... but I really like those shoes.

Wearing - Self-drafted Grey Circle Skirt

Day 16 - 
Today you got a bonus glasses shot. No, they are not 'for show'. I wear them all day every day so I can see you :)

Wearing - Stripes and Stripes Dress

Day 17 -
I did baking today. I made a gluten free version of these. Yum.

If you plan to make them, put chocolate chips into the muffin batter as well. You won't regret it. Promise.

Wearing - Self-drafted Black Circle Skirt

Day 18 - 
It's Saturday! We went to look at art and made an impromptu stop at the Australian Museum. They have snakes and lizards there. Awesome.

Wearing - 60's McCalls Wool Skirt

Day 19 - 
Mostly couldn't be bothered getting dressed today. But I did get a lot done. Watch out for a bunting tutorial coming up on the blog this Friday (with a free downloadable pattern I drafted!).

Wearing - Vogue Violet Wrap Dress

Day 20 - 
Ahhhh Monday, we meet again.

Wearing - Self-drafted Blue Circle Skirt

xx

Jen