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

Tailors Ham 101

~ Unfortunately the pattern I used for this project has now disappeared along with the website. I have made a free Tailor's Ham pattern for you though, please head over here to download it ~

You guys - I made ham!

Okay, I made a tailors ham. But it was still delicious to make. Simple and I used up some fabric scraps to boot.

I used this free pattern from Chance of Rain (bonus, it also has a kidney shaped ham and a sleeve roll, all in one) and also mostly followed her tutorial.

Since I didn't have any sawdust to hand, I did some research on whether I could just use poly-fill, and found that while you can, if you want to be fancy and do it like the pro's, sawdust is the stuffing of choice. Fabric scraps are widely regarded to be just as good, but your ham may need re-stuffing in a few years since they squash down over time (have any of you had any experience with this?).

I also ended up using 5 layers of fabric in total. The inner layer is calico/muslin, the bottom layer is a scrap of vintage rosey pink wool left over from this skirt and the top is a scrap of floral fabric left over from this dress, as well as the underlining from it. The scrap I used still had the under lining attached so I just went with it and thought that it would give some extra smoothness to the finished ham.

I managed to find my sawdust from a pet shop, but the smallest bag they had was 1 kilo. I still have enough to make a sleeve roll and a several more hams from it I think.

Also, just a quick note when stuffing your ham with sawdust, it's best to do it outside. I ended up with it all over the courtyard, myself and Monty, who was innocently snoozing in the sun. To be fair though, it was windy...

xx
Jen

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