Burda 6456, Ruffle Blouse

The Burda 6456 is a blouse pattern that's been sat in my stash for a while. The pattern has been prepped and ready to go, but I've never quite found THE fabric to let it loose on until I snapped this up from Abakhan. The unusual geometric print of this fabric caught my eye in. I bought a big piece so I have some left over I can make something else out of. 

I cut a straight size 10 for the Burda blouse. The fit is intended to be quite loose so I didn’t make any alterations to the patterns pieces.

As the fabric is very drapey, I wanted to ensure I was cutting the patten pieces as accurately as possible. I usually pay a lot of attention to the straight grain but very little consideration to the crossgrain. As the fabric was an offcut I decided to take extra care to ensure my fabric was laid out flat before cutting. I Googled the best method, and am embarrassed to admit that 10 years into my sewing journey, I had never pulled a thread to determine the cross grain before! Once the pulled thread identified a straight line, I could line this and the selvedge up against my cutting mat and lay my pattern pieces out flat. This helps to avoid wobbly pieces that sag into a completely different shape once cut out! (we’ve all been there right…). 

The main attraction to this blouse is the central flounce down the front. This is made up of 2 bendy pieces of fabric with a slightly daunting curved edge to hem. The pattern suggests folding over a 1.5cm s/a and zig zagging closed to the fold before trimming away the excess. I tried this tentatively, not keen on zigzagging or trimming something that was going to be so visible on the blouse. A few zigzags showed that the fabric was going to tunnel in between the stitches and not look great. Instead I folded over and pressed 1.5cm, stitched a straight stitch close to the edge, trimmed and then folded over again- another row of stitching to secure. As a result, 2 rows of stitching are visible on the back of the flounce, but they are neat and petite, and definitely an improvement on the zag zag and raw edge method. The hem is so narrow that it finishes the edge without distorting or wibbling the curve. 

Reluctant to put a delicate fabric through the overlocker (because I am a wuss and the settings still puzzle me…), I decided to French seam the side seams and centre front of this blouse. I haven’t French seamed in ages and every time someone mentions French seams I think ahh I have got to get them back into my life! I was pleased with the result – my tip would be to be brave when trimming the seam allowance down before the second row of stitching. The moveable needle placement on my machine made it much easier to sew small (and straight) seam allowances than it was on my old machine. 

The CF French seam did lead to a bit of confusion when it came to cutting the notch at the neck and attaching the flounce to the neck edge, as there was fabric folded this way and that, however I also think the instructions here weren’t quite right. From the images, and logically, the seam allowance of the neck should sit underneath the flounce, so effectively on the outside of the garment, but hidden. Following the instructions, however I placed the fabric the seam allowance seemed to show on the outside of the garment. I would be interested to know if anyone else experience this by following what was said?

I was able to figure out flipping the fabric round so the seam allowance lay flat and hidden, though admittedly the French seam did add a bit of bulk/confusion at the V-point of the neck, and I had to put a couple of sneaky stitches in to finish the top of the seam allowance. 

The rest of the neckline is tacked then hidden inside the collar band. The curve at the front is really tight, and when pinning the neckband to the raw edge I was convinced I’d cut the neck band a size too big! I persevered though, and found the neck curves easier to pin while the blouse was on the mannequin rather than on my lap. The neckband DOES fit, but I would recommend super accurate cutting and sewing around the neck to make this as trouble-free as possible. 

The armholes are bound. The binding is cut from the same fabric, folded in half, seam allowance from the armholes is reduced but 0.5cm, raw edges of the folded piece are then matched with the armhole and stitched before trimming the seam allowance, turning the folded edge over the seam and securing by hand. The pattern does suggest top-stitching here but I did a slipstitch by hand - we will see if it survives! If not I can always secure this with a machine stitch. 

Quick double turned hem (quite easy as the bottom of the blouse isn’t particularly shaped), though once I’d done this I saw the pattern did suggest side slits, woops! The blouse fits well though and there is no struggle getting it on or off so why add the hassle! 

x
Location: Milton Street, Sheffield
Currently listening to: Doom Bikini, James K

McCalls 8240, Polo Pullover

After making a stack of Autumn mini-skirts one after another, I was keenly looking for a new pattern that I hadn't made before that would help to fill a wardrobe gap. Something versatile and comfortable, and ideally fairly easy to sew as I'm feeling a bit out of practice and not massively adventurous right now! 

The McCalls 8240 was the one! I'd already got it saved to my Minerva wishlist, then I stumbled upon it on Vinted for a pound or something silly, so how could I say no? 

I wanted a comfy knit fabric that was going to go with lots of things in my wardrobe (no crazy big print this time round thanks). I found this lovely green knit upstairs on a solo trip to Abakhan Manchester and proceeded to carry it around the city wth me for the rest of the day (with a bundle of other winter knits and wools!) 🥵! 

I cut a straight size 10 and made no adjustments to the pattern. If I made it again I would just take a bit off of the shoulder point on the front and back pieces and then extend the sleeve by that much. An Instagram poll suggested that everyone (bar 4 people) thought that there was nothing wrong with a drop shoulder and it suited the top. I'm inclided to agree with the 4 people who said take the sleeves off and make the adjustment as I don't think the effect is dropped enough for a solid drop shoulder, but I am really happy with the sleeve length so I left them as there were this time around. 

The overlocker whizzed round this green fabric like a dream so the cuffs attached nicely. 

I like that this top will fit nicely over a vest or tee, and jumpers and jackets will fit nicely on top. I think this is item number one of my Spring trip to Berlin holiday wardrobe complete! What's next! 

x
Location: Neepsend
Currently listenting to: You Don't Need a Gun, Billy Idol

McCalls M8009, Dress hack

My last few projects have slowly been using up the fabric stash I got for my Birthday this year. The final fabric in the bag was this lovely mini-polka dot crepe. Being a May-child, I was inspired by the sunshine when I found this fabric and recall telling the lady at the counter that I was going to make a summer dress when she asked. 

Fast forward to the middle of September, and I'm wearing said summer dress at my friend's wedding on what was definitely the last day of summer 2024. 

I'm so glad I got chance to wear this this year before the climate becamen unkind to that deep v-neck! I even got to pair this dress with my sunnies for the day which ensured the DJ knew for sure (and woudn't stop telling me) that I was the coolest there. 

The dress pattern relied heavily on the M8009 McCalls play suit pattern, which I have made twice now. My skeleton version if one of my favourite makes ever and I was excited that I wouldn't have to make summer dress toile to know this bodice would fit me well. I made all the same alterations as before, though did find myself needing to take the side seams in more than I did last time which I assume is down to the drape of the fabric. 

I didn't interface the bodice or even the neckline, as rigitity isn't a word that goes hand in hand with languorious summer's day. Don't go thinking I skipped detail though. I understitched, I hand stitched the arm binding, I even added my first lil Made With ❤ woven tag into the back neck. 

The skirt pattern was as simple as using the pattern piece I used for my recent Serena Dress hack. As the skirt is gathered at the waist, I just kept gathering until it fit the waistline of the dress. I left just over 1.5cm un-gathered at the centre back so I could fit the zip without any dramas. 

After assembling, I decided to make the dress a bit shorter so it looked a bit less 50s housewife. I think I took a couple of cm off max, as I know what I'm like once i get snap-happy with the scissors! 

A quick single turned hem allowed the dress to remain floaty and not too heavy in keeping with the summer vibes! 

Currently trying to figure out if I can team this with something long sleeve or some thick tights to get some more wear out of it before next summer! 

Another fab pattern from McCalls! 

x

Location: Tideswell
Currently listening to: Again Again, Lady Gaga

McCalls M7726, Houndstooth Shorts

I have used this pattern to make trousers before, I have always likes the pleats and the paper bag-style waist. I believe the pattern has since been rebranded as McCalls M8168 - I'm  not sure if anyone knows of any changes made to the fit when the pattern was renamed?

Aaaaaaannnnddd...... It has pockets! 

If I remember right, this fabric was the end of the roll at Hillsborough. The man serving us said something about his grandfather hand spinning it in Scotland or something, and he seemed to have a 'take good care of this' glint in his eye. Could have all been a fanciful ruse, but I couldnt help but feel I had bought something special. 

So there was enough fabric there for a pair of shirts with a chunky pleat feature on the front and back. I re-traced the pattern as I emebered taking looooads out of the trousers and they can still be a bit large on a skinny day. So I sized down and found that the pleats are slightly different on the shorts, in that they are secured all the way up, and create less of a fanned-out paper-bag look above the waist. 

The pleats are still super effective though. There's something really constructive and architectural about a good strong pleat thats super satisfying to assemble. I added some interfacing into the waistline to enasure the folds and the opening of the shorts were super crisp. 

Following the instructions on this one was fun. The pockets and the fly opening came out really neat, is there anything in the sewing world more pleasing than something pretty and functional, and symmetrical? Talking of symmetrical, maybe next time I'll pay a bit more attention and sew the front belt loops on in equal places on my first attempt! I had finished the shorts, was really pleased with myself, looked in the mirror to find my front loops were lopsided! Ooops! 

Fit-wise, I found I did have to take more in for them to fit nicely on the hips, which left me wondering if I should have sized down even more?? Some days I feel I am relying quite strongly on a sturdy belt to keep them where they should be (how cool is this one I found in Glass Onion Vintage in Sheff city centre??!). 

Of course taking some out of the side seams late in the day reduces the size of the pocket opening, so maybe grading down a size next time would be the way to go. 

I'm a big fan of a turn up, I like the depth of these turn ups, but I took some convincing in the early stages that the fold didn't look too baggy. I think they would have benefitted from a bit of interfacing to keep them crisp like the waistband. It wasn't a big enough niggle for me to unpick and re turn-up though. 

I love these little explorer shorts! I feel like I'm off on safari! I love the lil houndsooths on this super spacial woven fabric. 

Thanks McCalls for another joyful pattern. 

x
Location: Castlegate, Sheffield City Centre
Currently listening to: Space Between Us, Franc Moody