Love Sewing Magazine/Simple Sew, Simple Black Skater Dress

Back in May I took part in sewing challenge Me Made May, where by each day I planned to wear an item I had made. Since then I have tried extra hard to make garments from patterns I know I will wear, out of fabric I know I will wear.
This skater dress is not the most exciting item I've ever made- but what I wanted to do was make an garment that was versatile for any occasion. And I think it was a rousing success! The mission when I woke up on Saturday morning was to make a dress suitable to wear on the farm, for a Silent Age gig that afternoon. I was up at 6:00, cut out by 8:30 and ready to leave the house at 4:00pm.

I used the same pattern pieces I had used for my Houndstooth skater dress but didn't fall in to the same traps as last time- I extended the facing pattern a little and was also bearing in mind that I was probably going to be using seam allowances larger than last time on the bodice side seams.

Once my front and back pieces were joined at the shoulders I pinned up the sides using a 2.5 cm seam allowance (1.5cm on the sleeves). After a try on I knew that the fit was much better already. I was using a thickish jersey fabric that I knew had a nice amount of stretch so wasn't too scared I was taking too much in.

This try-on step mid way through meant that when it got to the zip putting in stage I had much less to take in than I usually seem to. In fact- it looked like a normal seam allowance for once! After remembering my note to self from Crab Dress - 'Tack in zip next time!', I found that putting in the zip was a much much less stressful task than it usually is. The only part I found I really struggled with was sewing down the facing where it meets the zip. This always seems to be so lumpy! It took a few attempts but in the end I secured it with a few hand stitches and it now sits flat against my back.

Using jersey was fun and speedy as it meant I didn't need to zig-zag any edges (it that cheating?), this saved me loads of time and meant my dress was ready for showtime!

I am very happy with this dress. I set out for versatile and that's exactly what I achieved. It looks great with gold or silver jewellery, any colour cinch belt I can get my hands on, boots or flats. It survived a trip to the farm, a gig and a date- and that's all within 24 hours of being made!

Success!

x

Currently listening to: Fiend, Orgy
Location: Lynwood Gardens, Sheffield

New Look K6217 Floral T-Shirt

It's another K6217! This was the third project I had in mind using my Abakhan supplies. I kept walking past this bold print, picking it up, putting it in my basket and putting it back until I held it up and Aimee said the print was great against my skin tone. I must say I too was feeling it when I held it up and thought another simple K6217 T shirt would be as good a pattern as any.

There was very little difference in how I made my Anchor K6217 and how I made this Floral one. If you recall what really bugged me about my previous was that I didn't pattern-match the centre back seam. Well this print is much bolder so it didn't matter this time round!
I stuck with the extra inch or so that I'd added to version one as I found the extra length is really handy for tucking into a pencil skirt for work, and also for teaming with jeans for say, a date to the cinema or something!

This time I also decided to french seam the side and shoulder seams which looks dead neat. I used a twin needle to hem the bottom, just for a bit of a top-stitch feature. Very happy with my bias binding neckline- also very neat!

And that's about it really! A good example of how lovely fabric can really make a simple pattern come to life.

x

Currently listening to: All My Friends, LCD Soundsystem
Location: Botanical Gardens, Sheffield

Sew Magazine, New Look K6107 Blouse

Project number two to feature fabric from the Abakhan trawl is another free pattern from Sew Magazine! I thought it was about time I made a blouse for work that wasn't a Lottie! Though this pattern is not without its similarities- a neckband/tie and gathered sleeves. The differences that attracted me however were the cute cuffs and button up front on the blouse.

I had my reservations about using such a sheer fabric. I've read about enough of other Blogger's disasters when using sheer fabric, so planned on being as accurate as possible when cutting out. I used lots of pins with my pattern which was great but did find the bottom layer of fabric did distort and in some cases ended up a rather different size to the top piece.
Also, besides being stretchy and slippery, it was also prone to fraying! I kept an eye on this though and opted for French Seams where possible- making sure raw edges were thoroughly encased! Size-wise, I cut a 12 but was a 10 for the bust so used a 2cm seam allowance for the side seams that I gradually graded out to a 1.5 at the waist and hips.

My favourite part of making the blouse was constructing the facing/button area at the front. Instead of buttonholes this pattern uses button loops like on my Crab Dress. So I'm finding I'm getting pretty good at loops! The loops are cut on the bias so they have stretch to go around the button. This is a good job otherwise my buttons would have been a squeeze too big! On the opposite side to the button loops there is an underlap which sits behind the buttons and hides any gaping between them. Never done an underlap before! I thought my debut turned out pretty neat.
Both sides of the opening are faced. I had a bit of a panic when starting the garment as I have never interfaced sheer fabric before! And I'm sure I remembered something off of this years Sewing Bee about not using standard facing for sheer fabrics. So I read up a little, and instead I cut an additional piece of that stretchy, slippery, fraying fabric and stitched it in as interfacing instead of using iron on. I've got to say- It worked out pretty well! Go me!

On my Lottie Blouses I've always seemed to have a bit of grief regarding getting the neckband to line up around the neck just quite how I want it to. This pattern being a little more detailed, I made extra effort to transfer all markings on the pattern on to the fabric. I was awash with tailors tacks! I get the feeling if I'd used friendlier fabric these tacks would have been absolutely life saving. In this instance though I would describe them as handy, but not perfect. Either way, they resulted in a swifter process of attaching neck band to blouse.
The worst bit about sewing on the neckband though was the dreaded 'Stitch in the Ditch' from the front of the band to catch the back. I absolutely hated doing this and I'm not totally happy about how it turned out. Next time I am definitely definitely doing it by hand! I think a sneaky slip stitch is much much neater.

After this it was time to make the sleeves. I've got to admit I thought I was on my way once I'd got this far. Firstly the cuffs had to be made, which was quite fun as not something I'd done before. A little gap has to be made in the bottom of the sleeve, the sleeve then gathered, then stitched to the cuff which is longer one one side when it meets the gap. Then button and button hole sewn to match up. Does that make sense? Well I wish someone had told me before I started that that was what was meant to happen. I ended up with one good cuff and one that somehow didn't reach around my arm properly (I'm putting it down to those gathers). So I repeated the process for the dodgy side and ended up with a pair of cuffs I was pretty pleased with.
The shoulders of the sleeves were also gathered- alarm bells going off slightly at this point thinking there was an awful lot of gathering going on... But I went with it anyway and stitched in my sleeves.

After putting on my buttons and trying on the blouse properly I realised I absolutely couldn't stand the sleeves! I think it must be something to do with the qualities of the fabric- as I have gathered sleeve-caps in the past and had no problems- but these just seemed to POOF out (one more than the other might I add) and it looked so terribly 80s that I knew I would never ever wear it. I took the worst sleeve out and realised that the whole thing looked a TON better without sleeves in at all. So I whipped up some bias binding and bound the arm holes instead. It's a shame I didn't get to use my cuffs though! At least I have learnt a new skill for next time and I'm much happier with my blouse.

There were a few sketchy moments, but I guess that's what this is all about :)

x

Currently listening to: Green Honeycreeper, Olivia Jean
Location: Weston Park, Sheffield

Sew It Yourself, New Look 6799 Misses Dress

True to form, this pattern is another that came free with a sewing magazine! This time the (what appears to be) one off 'Sew It Yourself' mag from earlier this year.

Despite loving the cover design in yellow, I knew that if I went for yellow I was unlikely to wear the dress as often as I should. I knew I would know it when I found the perfect fabric so held out on making the project... Until I spotted some totally unique Crab design fabric in Abakhan Manchester with my good sewing friend Aimee. (Go check her blog RIGHT NOW) We were both pretty excited about the crabs so it ended up in my basket and Crab Dress 6799 became my first make from my Abakhan trawl.

The dress skirt is made up of 7 panels, the bodice is lined (!), the waist band is cut on the bias and also lined. The dress' main design feature though is the glorious wide, round neck band... Hmm more on that later!

I cut a size 12 according to my measurements, but knew then chance of the dress being a smidge too big was high. I took in a seam allowance of 2cm on the bodice instead of 1.5cm (same for the lining obvs), and did the same for the waistband. I found it very difficult to tell if this was enough to take in as it was difficult to try on without the neck band attaching the front and back bodice pieces. It seemed to fit ok on Celine though so thought I would wing it and attach all my pieces. I could always take in a bit more without too much drama when it came to putting in the zip.

Lining the bodice was surprisingly drama free! I literally just cut another bodice from the same fabric and matched the darts. A few tacks here and there and it was absolutely fine.

I had a bit of a nightmare trying to stitch in the zip though. It was lined up perfectly, but when reaching the slightly bulkier ridge of the waistband my thread kept breaking! I have had this before, and I'm not entirely certain if this is not because of the needle hole in the actual invisible zipper foot is not big enough for my model machine? Has anyone else found this? It seems to be if the foot changes angle at all to get over seams, the needle slightly catches on the foot... Maybe have to keep an eye out for a different model zipper foot! I ended up finishing off using a standard zip foot which was fine- though I would suggest tacking in the zip if doing this in future as I could tell it wanted to go a bit wobbly!

So that neckband. I was very excited about attaching it as it was really going to finish it off! I sewed on the neck band only to find the extra fabric around the top made my bust darts much too low! The bust point must have been about 4cm away from where it should have been! Has anyone else found this with this pattern??! I was really upset as I thought once I'd got that far it was going to be plain sailing! I wasn't really too sure what to do- I tried making the seam allowance on the shoulder seams bigger but it just made the neck band rise, then gape in the middle. The only thing I could think to do was pin the dress to Celine with bust darts aligned with bust, then lay my neck band over the top- even though there was quite a bit of overlapping, and draw round the curve. I then attached the neck band to fit this curve and trimmed off the bodice overlap (underlap?). It was a bit of a faff and resulted in my neckline being a totally different shape- more of a scoop than a slit, but I am really really pleased that I was able to make it wearable! I was worried that changing the pattern like this would have a big impact on the facing and also the fit of the back bodice, but with a little patience I was able to make it work.

Faff was also included when sewing on the button loops to the back neck. The precision required was incredible! Even when I thought my loops were in place and the same length it became evident they weren't... After sewing on the buttons and stitching down the facing! I took three or four attempts to get them lined up perfectly, but it was well worth the faff! I think the buttons are super cute and perfect for my Crab theme!

I love the smart/casual look of the dress. I am tempted to take the sides of the skirt in a little to make it slightly more fitted, but I do like the swing it currently has! I haven't seen anything quite like the crab dress in the shops which makes me very pleased indeed!

x

Currently listening to: So Over You, Charli XCX
Location: Derwent Valley

New Look K6217 T-Shirt

This pattern has been sat in my to-make pile for ages after it came free with issue 69 of Sew magazine back in March. After having a couple of weekends away from sewing- mainly due to lack of inspiring fabric, I thought it was about time I knocked together one of these tops with some leftover fabric from my Mimi Blouse.

What initially attracted me to this pattern was its versatility- sure it is described as a 't-shirt' but in the right fabric it definitely has a blouse-like quality. With that in mind I knew I wanted to extend the pattern by 1.5 inches so that there would be enough fabric to tuck into work trousers comfortably. Despite getting into a bit of a mess with the cellotape (ahem), extending the pattern was quite simple.

Assemblage was quite easy and the top was made in an afternoon. The only thing I wasn't happy with was my very poor pattern matching on the centre back seam! In fact I am going to admit it didn't even cross my mind to try- I guess I'm just not really used to tops with a centre back seam? Hmm yeah any excuse! Next time I will keep an eye on this!

The sneaky feature on this top is the gap at the top of the centre back seam fastened with a button. This is really just a feature as the neck is really wide and easy enough to get over your head without undoing. The neck is finished off with a strip of bias binding- I made my own from the fabric... It looks neater from the outside than inside, that's what matters right?

I'd like to make a few more K6217s- Maybe I'll go for block colour next time to avoid pattern matching! Being made up of only three pieces (2 back, 1 front) makes this top a good one for using up left over fabric. No pesky interfacing, no button holes and no zips. I should be able to knock out quite a few!

x

Currently listening to: No, Ryan Adams
Location: Crookesmoor Park, Sheffield

Simplicity 2447 Sleeveless Misses' Shirt: Denim

As promised, another Simplicity 2447 in denim!

The denim I found in Direct Fabric Warehouse is the perfect quality for shirtmaking, soft and comfortable and it presses beautifully! I also picked out some yellowy gold thread for topstitching and the most cowboy buttons I could find on the market. The sneaky surprise with this garment though is the paisley patterned inner neckband- fabric courtesy of my prize fabric from Minerva Crafts, when I was featured Star Make in Love Sewing Magazine. I won quite a wadge of lovely fat quarters and am going to try my upmost to fit some sneaky little bits into future makes as I go along.

I used the same pattern my college tutor altered for me- making the shirt the same fit as my last. Again this fabric was a dream to sew- for once the inside looks as good as the out! No dodgy stitching to hide. The hardest part I found again was when sewing on the button plackets. It can be really difficult once folding under the band to the inside to tell how close your stitching is to the edge. As you are looking at this from the rightside I find it can be really easy to discover you are sewing miles away from the fold on the reverse, or just as likely you won't catch it at all! Any tips on this would be great?
Same applies to stitching the neck band down from the right side- I'm so tempted to do this by hand in the future- though maybe I should just work on my stitch-in-the-ditch techniques?!

Where I have sewn the yoke to the back I seem to have deviated from my 1.5 cm seam allowance. I'm quite certain it was more like 1 cm which has made the back of the arm holes a bit baggy. But I think it could be one of those things no one really notices unless I point it out. So maybe just pretend I said nothing!


The shirt is a great fit and really comfy to wear. I think next time though there are no excuses not to have a go at shirt sleeves...

x

Currently watching: Wimbledon, Ward vs Pospisil
Location: Botanical Gardens, Sheffield

Simplicity 2447 Sleeveless Misses' Shirt

Inspired by the wonderful Laura Oakes' stage outfit when she played with Ward Thomas at Sheffield Plug earlier this year, I have been chomping at the bit to make myself a country shirt. I cheated a few months back and customised a Primark denim shirt with some tassels...

... this kept me going for a little bit, but I was so full of ideas on what I wanted to do with my own that I couldn't wait much longer. I decided to make the most of my last classes at college and focused on learning how to attach a collar properly to my toile so that I could knuckle down and get on with making myself some cowboy shirts!

Construction
I was surprised at how swiftly I seemed to make my toile. Granted I didn't overlock a thing, did no hems and didn't faff around with interfacing, buttonholes and buttons, instead I wanted to focus on two things- construction of the collar and button placket and the overall fit.

The practice run gave me a good taste for topstitching and I learned not to get too close to the edge when attaching the placket. I followed the collar instructions step by step and found that is wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. The most accuracy was needed when stitching around the curved corners at the top of the neckband. These need to be 100% symmetrical with no pointy bits! But if you sew everything together in the right order and make sure you have right sides/wrong sides together when necessary then there is no real reason that it should go wrong! Sewing down the band from the outside around the neckline is a bit fiddly but It didn't get the better of me.

Fit
If you recall my post about my Ruby Dress that I made at college, you may remember me saying I wanted to use these classes to help learn how to fit garments. Once the main bits were done on my toile it seemed like a good time to try it on. There were a few changes my tutor helped me make as I described it as being a bit 'boxy':

1- We took in the two seams down the front of the shirt.
2- We took in a little off of the side seams.
3- We Took a little off of the arm hole opening.
4- We took a little off of the collar.
5- We took OUT the box pleat at the back all together.
6- We put in two darts at the lower back.

The changes to the pattern looked like this:

And it really made all the difference! Although it is difficult to tell how a finished garment is going to hang before you have even bought your material, let alone started sewing with it, I was fairly certain that I would be happier with a more fitted shape. The changes were subtle really, with the most change being made to the back. I knocked together another toile with these changes to the pattern and was happy so set to getting some suitable fabric for my actual shirt.

I already have a denim sleeveless and a gingham sleeveless so thought I would go for a plain black fabric that I could do contrasting stitch on and hopefully later embellish is relevant places. My choice came from Hillsborough Fine Fabrics and was a joy to sew with. It seemed to be pretty fancy (wool blend!) and I could really tell it wasn't cheap crap while I was sewing with it.



I used a strip of bias binding (pre-bought, who can be bothered with the faff?) to Country-up the back- especially after having taken out the box-pleat from the pattern. I think this works pretty well with the white topstitching I chose.

Then it seemed I did have to whip up some bias binding! I hadn't finished the sleeves on my practice runs, so had completely forgotten that they would need binding when I was in the shop buying supplies! Not to worry though- I probably needed the practice! And it seemed to go very well for something I had never really done before. Tick bias binding arm holes off the list!

I went for quite a subtle button choice- probably because Hillsborough Fabrics isn't really at the top of the button-choice league, but I surprised myself and went for gold as opposed to silver. I applied the 110% concentration needed for button-holing and got the job done, I found that at 100% concentration I still almost stitched the holes into the wrong side of the shirt... Saved myself in the nick of time!!

Overall I am dead happy with my shirt! I followed all the steps in the pattern very closely as not to cock it up and I think it's come out quite professionally. The only thing I am desperate to do is sew some patches on the the shoulder/chest area. Ideally I want some rockabilly swallows or possibly some kind of over the top flowery embroidered Dolly-style patches- so as it stands I'm keeping my eyes peeled for such!

Next up I fancy a denim one!

x

Currently listening to: Power and Control, Marina and the Diamonds
Location: Broadfield Road, Sheffield