Monthly Archives: November 2018

Bold Bajan Dress

Dresses

When visiting the Caribbean earlier this year, I made a point of buying some colourful Madras Cotton Check fabric when we called into Barbados.

Since my return the fabric has been washed and waiting quietly in a corner for me to make into a dress as a memento of a lovely holiday.

Being somewhat down-hearted about the previous make using some unrepeatable fabric, I thought that lightning would not strike twice so went ahead and cut out another sleeveless shirt dress. This time I changed the collar to that used on the Kitty dress which I find very easy to make up and would hopefully reduce the time it takes to complete the construction.

The check on this fabric is uneven so I tried hard to place the design lines in a complimentary fashion. I think that it has worked and there are no glaring faults. Truthfully, most of the colour placement is a happy accident although I did take care to match the horizontal lines of the check. I am particularly pleased with the way that the collar check lines are in a chevron.

I cut the skirt as 2 panels each 30 inches long and this has made it possible to have a deep hem. The centre back seam is a flat fell seam with the second row of stitching completed by hand. The panels were pleated onto the bodice with inverted pleats lining up with the darts and side seams of the bodice. There is a pocket set on the right-hand-side of the skirt, hidden beneath one of the pleats. The hem was overlocked then turned up just once and hand stitched in place.

I used a very lightweight fusible interfacing in the collar, facing and button/buttonhole plackets. The armholes have been bound with a self-bias binding cut 1¼ inches wide and folded in half. All seams have been overlocked including around the pocket bag. There are 12 buttons down the bodice and skirt which came from my button stash. Buttonholes were worked on the machine and taking a hint from Sian of Kittenish Behaviour, I have used fraycheck ® for the first time.

I am delighted with this dress which I can wear now with a cardigan and tights, then again in the Summer with a light tan! My husband still needs to be won over, his comment when he saw the dress on the mannequin was “Well with those bold colours and check, everyone will see you coming!”

 

 

Fraser Tunic Top in Peach Schnapps Jersey

Blouses & Tops

Back in June 2018 I purchased 1 metre of a beautiful viscose ponte roma jersey fabric by Lady McElroy called Peach Schnapps from Stitchy Bee at a cost of £14.90. The fabric is so lovely that I hesitated to make it up for fear of the finished garment not being worthy of such fine fabric.

Finally I have decided to bite the bullet and make up this lovely fabric. I have made the Sewaholic Fraser top a couple of times in the past so think of it as a TNT pattern – what could possibly go wrong?

I always retain notes when I make up a pattern, especially if there are any changes. Unfortunately, on this occasion my records have let me down as there are several points where, had I had sufficient fabric, I would have made changes.

I cut the standard size 20 but added a little to the side seams to ensure that the top looked more like a tunic and was not too form-fitting! I did not cut the hem band but instead added 3 inches to the length of the bodice back and front. I should have extended the front bodice by a further 2 inches to account for an FBA. As it is, the front rides up in what I think is an unattractive way. As I had a scant metre of fabric, I had to cut the sleeves as long as possible and then add a cuff which extended their length by a further 2 inches. Still not quite long enough and now they hit just below the crease of my elbow – not my favourite length.

I did remember that the neckline sits quite high and after stitching the shoulder seams I lowered the centre front of the neckline by 1½ inches, grading to 0 at the shoulder point. With the addition of the neckband this has brought the neckline back up by a further ¾ inch which means that it is still not quite as scooped as I would like.

At fitting stage I also noticed that although the sleeves are beautifully set in, the shoulder is a little dropped. I don’t feel that this is very flattering when one has a full bust and is something that I do try to avoid. I don’t recall this problem with previous makes so perhaps it is the weight of the fabric in the sleeves that is causing it.

I stitched the entire garment on the sewing machine using a lightning stitch length 3.5 for most of the construction. I did use the overlocker once I had basted the neckband and then top stitched 1/8 th inch away to set the seam allowances. I left short slits at the side seams,turned in ½ inch and then top stitched the hem in place.

In conclusion, unfortunately this is never going to be a favourite top and I have been unable to track down a further supply of the fabric. I will just have to mark this exercise down to experience and when my fabric-buying ban is over may well try another viscose ponte roma jersey fabric.

Ponte Roma Trousers Butterick B6388

Skirts & Trousers

Now I remember why I don’t like making trousers for myself. I have had my right knee and my left hip replaced. Even with the best efforts of the surgeons, this has resulted in a rather lop-sided figure, especially I notice that my right hip is higher than my left and my left leg is very slightly shorter. Fitting tailored trousers would be a nightmare but perhaps I could manage some made with a jersey fabric?

I ordered 3 metres of this lovely Chocolate Brown Ponte Roma at £6/metre from 1stforfabrics. The fabric was delivered superfast and beautifully packaged.

Included in the parcel was a free reel of matching thread. The tissue was from a sewing pattern – the front and back panel for a circular skirt. That’s great as I will be able to use it on a future dressmaking project!

Checking the measurement chart on the pattern I decided to make the XXL size – I could always take the trousers in, better to do that than make them too small! I checked the length by measuring the inseam and it was fine so went ahead and cut out the pattern.

First step was to baste in the pleats at the front, plus add the pocket bags. All straightforward.

As I had not made up this pattern before, I stitched all the seams with a long straight stitch so that I could check the fit. First fitting revealed that there was more than enough ‘wearing ease’ included in the pattern. I removed about 1 inch from each side seam and re-basted the seam. So now the trousers are nearer to a size L.

I then partially unpicked the basting stitches and used the overlocker to construct the trousers using my revised seamlines. Second fit showed that I still needed to take in the side seams slightly from hip to knee and also the back crotch was short. Lowering the curve by about ¾ inch and grading back to the original seamline did the trick. I added the waistband and inserted the elastic. I turned up the hems (the actual inseam length turned out to be 27 inches, I must be losing height!) and using a straight stitch length 3.0 on the sewing machine sewed up the hems with 2 rows of stitching ¼ inch apart.

I am pleased with the final result and depending on how these trousers wear, I may make another pair. However, I still don’t like making trousers for my ‘wonky’ figure!

Lucky Black Kitty Cat Pin Cushion

Miscellaneous

I have promised to offer an alternative to the Dachshund Pin Dog at the next meeting of Sprat & Winkle Quilters. I previously made up my first ‘trial’ using a free pattern from the internet.

Free internet pattern

My first attempt – version1

There are several areas that I would like to improve  and so I sat down and re-drafted/redesigned the pattern.

I added a long upright tail to the body and spent some time working on a design for the head that would also be included on the body pattern. By doing this rather than attaching the head separately it should do away with the ‘weakness’ that one often gets at the join. We don’t want a floppy-headed Kitty!

I used a fat quarter of Black background cotton fabric from my stash to make version 2 of the Kitty Cat Pin Cushion.

Pattern payout on a Fat Quarter of fabric

First, I made the ears which were turned right side out and folded before inserting into the dart on the side head part of the pattern.

Stitched up and ready for stuffing

Unfortunately by not paying attention, one of the ears is folded the wrong way and I think they are a little bit too ‘perky. They need to be wider at the base and set slightly lower down the side of the head but for this trial version I don’t think that it matters a great deal. I found that I still needed to make the darts in the leg parts of the underbelly gusset as otherwise Kitty would have legs splayed out flat rather than standing on all four paws. There is a gusset for the head which still needs some refinement as I think it looks more like a terrier dog’s head. Stuffing took a while, starting with the tail, moving onto the back legs, then the head and front legs and finally the main body.

  

Version 2 – Ready to play!

I feel that I have nearly perfected this project. Hopefully the next version will be the definitive Kitty Cat. Miaow.

Anaconda Antithesis print Sleeveless Shirt Dress

Dresses

Anaconda Antithesis Cotton Lawn by Lady McElroy –   I have previously used this fabric print but in the Sky Blue colourway to make my TNT scoop neck dress.

  

At time of writing that dress has still not been worn as I have had nowhere special to wear it!

However, the fabric is just so lovely that when I saw the Sage Green colourway on sale at Fondant Fabrics, (£5.53 per ½ metre) I had to order some.

Just in case you have not encountered this fabric before, FF have the following as their description.

Cotton lawn is a light weight cotton with a plain weave. It is made using fine combed or carded yarns which are tightly woven, resulting in a silky smooth fabric with a lovely drape.

This is a high quality digitally printed cotton lawn by Lady McElroy featuring flowers, butterflies and snakes on a dark sage green background. Sophisticated yet quirky, this light, silky fabric is perfect for a statement summer dress, skirt or top. 

I ordered 2 metres of the 145 cms wide fabric and having the experience of cutting a sleeveless dress from 2.2 metres of 105 cms wide fabric I thought that this would be sufficient for yet another shirt dress. I was right.

As soon as the fabric arrived, the raw edges were overlocked and it went straight into the washing machine. Air dried in the bathroom and due to the fineness of the fabric, within a few hours it was dry and ready for pressing and cutting out.

As this fabric is so fine I decided to line the bodice with White poly/cotton. As I was lining the bodice there was no need for bias to bind the armhole edges but I was still a little short of fabric and thus the pocket linings are cut in the poly/cotton.

The skirt is made using two panels cut the width of the fabric x 26 inches long. There is a French seam at the centre back to join the panels together. I established the centre point of the panels and slashed to insert the pocket bags. I particularly like this method which also provides a little shaping to the skirt.

Although I did try to be careful with the print placement, you will notice that there is a flower perilously close to the apex of my bust. When worn however, it is a little further away than when on the mannequin.

The bodice lining is hand tacked to the waistline seam and the hem was overlocked before turning up just ½ inch and hand stitched in place. The finished back skirt length is 24½ inches, total back length 41 inches. There are 12 buttons on the front closure which came from my stash.

I love, love, love this dress and in a moment of madness have ordered another 3 metres of the fabric (!).

Next time I think that I will make a short sleeve dress with a different collar and possibly a gored/circle skirt. But for now I am working on refining the pattern for Kitty Pin Cushion.