Vikisews, Sylvie Dress

The Sylvie Dress was my first Vikisews pattern. I was attracted to its shirt-style collar, shapely cuffs and crossover skirt. What almost put me off was the crossover top, as historically crossovers have always resulted in a fail when it came to fitting due to my small bust. Every crossover top pattern I've ever looked at has gaped like hell and risked flashing anyone within a 100m radius. 

So what was different this time? Well after making some successful fitting alterations on a few tops and toiles over the past couple of years, I was certainly feeling more confident. I also recognised the loose fit of the top of the dress allowed for a certian amount of play when fitting. The pattern was well illustrated and I was excited to find after downloading the instructions, that the steps were clear and it also instructed when the best time to overlock the edges was. 

I made a toile from an old bedsheet, orignially cutting the bottom a size up from the top, and grading out at the waist for the two pieces to join. 

The overall fit wasn't bad, but the top looked really roomy, as predicted, and I coulf pinch a good chunk out of the neckline. The top is gathered around the front and back waist, which added loads of extra fabric into the front. I found that the amount I pinched out was equal to the amount I added in to grade the two sizes together! So that came back off immediately, and that allowed for the gathers to be omitted from the front pieces, therefore making the top less balloony. Vikisews uses a 1cm seam allowance, but I increased this to 1.5cm from the underarm to the elbow on the sleeve pieces as they were also a little too spacious. 

With the chunks from the neckline pinned out, I could see that if I increased the seam allowance where the front met the yoke at the shoulder, the fabric would sit much more comfortably over my bust and to my waist. Although it sounds like I took out a lot of fabric, the dress is still a loose fit and definitely doesn't feel too tight in any way. 

The skirt is a lovely shape, I adore the pleat at the side that allows for the lovely fabric drape effect. This compliments the pleats at the underbust really well. I made no adjustments to the fit of the skirt. I was particularly happy with the dart length in the back. 

I had my eye out in Berlin for some fabric to bring back. We found an epic looking fabric shop but sadly it was closed for the bank holiday on the day we were passing. There was 'Stoffe' shop we visited that had a good variety, I was particularly keen on a green and white summer style fabric they had but at the time I didn't know how much fabric I would need or how I would get it home. 

For my annual birthday-trip to Hillsborough Fabrics with my mom, we found this lovely green and white fabric that reminds me of that in Berlin! Discussing with Jen, my internet sewing freind in Arizona, I think the fabric is a rayon? It drapes really well anyway, has absolutely zero weight to it and barely creases. It is super super static though so that is one thing to be aware of. The fabric had less body that the old sheet I made my toile out of, but I still wanted to go ahead, and also hoped that more drape would mean the top would look more shimmy than boxy if it was still a little roomy in places. 

As I mentioned before, the instructions are really thorough and well crafted. The steps to ensure stability and a neat finish are all really clear. Following these steps definitely allowed for me to create the tidiest collar I have ever made. With the instructions leading me, I also went ahead and used 'burrito' method to attach the yoke and the 'stitch in the ditch' method to secure the underside of the collar and cuffs instead of slipstitching by hand as I usually would. 

The placket is created by securing a neckline facing to the inside, however I thought the neckline would look more chic without the rows of stitching in the front securing the placket, so I kept this strictly as a facing. I was also worried that securing down would interfere with the bust pleats. I'm surprised more people online haven't dont the the same as I think it does make for a really lush neckline. 

Let's talk about overlocking with rayon. I would describe this fabric as bendy. A little bit slippery and not in the least bit keen to be pulled through the churning and chopping of the overlocker. I have used tissue paper as a backing when using the normal sewing machine with thin fabrics and lace, but I have never used it on the overlocker. The desired effect was reached- the tissue paper eases the fabric through the machine, making sure stitches are even, the knife cuts smoothly, and the curves of my skirt pieces weren't compromised. What it also meant, was that I would have to spend a painful amount of time using tweezers to pull out scraps of tissue paper from inbetween stitches. This was one of the reasons I hadn't overlocked using paper before BUT it was so effective and saved what I imagine would have been floods of tears, recutting skirt pieces and cheating with a zig zag stitch. I certainly refined my tweezing approch by the time the dress was done! 

Changing the front piece where it joined the yoke meant that I needed to take out the same amount from the front sleeve to sense they still fit in the arm holes. Usually the back sleeve has more fabric in it than the front but this didn't seem to evident on the pattern piece, so this convinced me that I had made the right decision. I hadn't tested the new sleeve shape on my toile as I was pursaded by my logic that this was the right thing to do. There was a slight bit of fear that the sleeve head would be too tight for movement if I took too much out - but I am realllly happy with this alteration! I have full movement of my arms but they don't feel too baggy. 

I'm happy with the way my front pleats hang- my first attempt however did leave my in massive doubt. They hung sloppily and lost all their shape and for a moment I was convinced crossovers and me were never meant to be. I unpicked and restitched the pleats. Although they looked fine flat, I thought there was more I could do to ensure they held the correct shape. I pressed all the fold lines of each pleat before re-tacking them and stitching them down into the waist seam. I was so pleased that this made all the difference. I learned always press your pleats before even pinning them! 

The cuffs were a big draw for me - The instructions taught me pressing magic that somehow 12 years into sewing I was yet to discover. The result was a pair of really crisp looking cuffs, wonderfully understitched, neatly attached to the sleeve and with cute (equal shaped!) button loops. The buttons were a lucky find in the stash from my Gran's old sewing stuff. I love the quirky shape, and they were in a 2 already so I didn't feel like a I was depriving a future shirt from a full set of buttons by pinching 2 for this project. 

I cut no corners with this dress and I think it shows. There were only a few areas I stumbled on that I thought the pattern could have improved on:

1- Not using double notches in the back of the sleeve head? This made it a little tricky to know fore sure you'd got the sleeves in the right side

2- Placing the front pieces in the right place to ensure the correct crossover. I think this was a fluke as mcuh as anything, as I lost what notch was meant to be matching what. I'm not sure if this was because I was grading between 2 sizes / because I took some fabric from the side seams? I also had to double, triple check that I had the correct front piece on the top and correct front piece on the bottom - easy to get in a twist here!

3- The zipper. The pattern calls for an invisible zip, but the instructions to insert it just seem to use a regular zip foot? I wasn't sure how possible it was to insert an invisible zip the normal way if the top and the bottom of the seam already sewn? I had to do some Googling, and though no one else seemed to be asking the same question, I did find out that sewing it with the regular zipfoot to keep it in place before securing close to the zip teeth helped keep the ends right where they needed to be, making the start and finish of the seam look, well, seamless. 

4- PDF instructions in a paid-for 3D pattern- How do we feel about that? As much as I did like not having another piece of paper floating around on the studio floor, one of the things I love about sewing is how it gives me time to ignore my phone. I found it slightly difficult to stay distraction-free when I was checking the instructions on my phone all the time, but this was probably made up for by the ease of picking up where I left off each time I opened the PDF, and the ease of a little light reading of the pattern before bed to see what tomorrow had in store. 

My least favourite part of the construction was probably the sleeve binding. The thin little strip of fabric has to be attached with minimal seam allowance to the fraying slit (note to self - name of my next punk band right there). Its fiddly, the bias strip is bouncy and stetchy and getting twisty with each attempt! But! I managed it and with my new 'stitch in the ditch' confidence, I feel like these sleeve bindings are more secure than any I have sewn before. 

The attention to detail in this pattern, the cut, the style and the slickness of the instructions make for a super satisfying make. I am absolutely in love with this dress! I am really excited to venture into more of Viki's patterns if they are all as well crafted as this one. 

x

Location: Stannington
Currently listening to: Talking in My Sleep, The Slims

McCalls 7626, Denim Playsuit

At the end of every blog post I always seem to throw in a "next time I make this, I'm going to do x, y, z..." anyone else notice I hardly ever get round to doing X, Y or Z? Well this time I actually did! The McCalls 7626 playsuit was literally calling out for a denim version to be made. And denim not having to be pattern matched, quick to cut out and easy to buy, making a second M7626 seemed like an easy win. 

I wanted to change the buckles to a pair with a little more interest than the back-packy ones that were in my local haberdashery. I found these lovely tortoiseshell ones (eventually!) in Abakhan Manchester (big thanks to Mark for his eternal fabric shop patience and for getting stuck into the search for notions). They were smaller than the pattern requirements so this meant before I even got started I needed to reshape the straps. The front bits were easy but the actual strap took a bit of maths and logical thinking as they are cut on the fold, and I still wanted the point to be central of course. I thought I'd got it bang on, but those of you with a keen eye will see I managed to be a few mm off somewhere along the line. Oh well, at least they are a symmetrical pair! Again, I interfaced the straps despite the pattern not mentioning the need to do it. I initially thought this was going to make too bulky-a seam inside, but thankfully I talked myself into interfacing at the last moment and that was definitely the right thing to do. 

I also chose to topstich this playsuit for maximum denim-ness. This posed a few issues along the way, the first being that once the lining was inserted and I was ready to top stitch the neckline, I had to stitch through both layers, and not just open out the seam and stitch the denim. I would have been unable to get around the corners where the straps attach without catching the lining. Secondly, I did initially do a double row of top stitching around the top, but as successful as I felt it was going as I stitched, the end result just looked a little wonky and inconsistent. So out it came! 

I tried to be mindful of where I did do double rows of topstitching - I like the way it runs all the way down the side seams. Mistake-free, I could have got away with 2 reels of the golden thread, but a few fuck-ups meant I had to order a third reel for the sake of hemming at the final hour. 

I paid super attention to getting a lovely pair of back pockets assembled. I'm really pleased with how neat they turned out. 

Shape-wise, I kept the same alterations to the pattern as I did for my first one. The denim is a lot more rigid than the linen I used last time, so maybe could have done with a few tweaks here and there to accomodate for this. Its not as comfy as #1, but just like a new pair of jeans I think it just needs wearing in a bit. It was hard to test the fit as I went along, as some seams needed topstitching before sewing the next bit, meaning I'd pretty much already committed by that point right? 

I lined the playsuit with a deep red, slightly iridescent lining fabric... that seemingly did not like high heat iron temperatures! Who knew eh! Yes, that's right, there is a scorch mark in my lining which is very evident if you look inside. Luckily I've no need to show you that and you can just act like I never told you, OK? 

So yep, what was meant to be a breezey, "I've done this before", pattern produced many-a stumbling block along the way. I'm intrigued to know, has anyone ever ever ever made something that has literally gone 100% perfect? Fabric choice, sewing, fit, durability? Cause I swear some days I just see massive glaring errors in every single thing I've ever made. It's all a learning curve tho right? 

What I do like about this one, is how its hip for summer, but can also be teamed with turtlenecks, of which I have many, to suit right through Autmn and Winter.

x
Location: Neepsend
Currently listening to: Blue, The Verve

McCalls M7575, Grey Stripe Shirt

McCalls M7575, the classic, the original, the blueprint for all office work shirts! 

This stripey fabric was calling out to me from the stash bins in Abakhan. The barcode stripes reminded me of the mandarin collar M7575 I made a few years back, so as unoriginal as it might be, I decided to make another. 

This fabric was well behaved and hangs the way I wanted it too.  I cut out my pieces on a single layer so that I could ensure the stripes on each side mirrored each other. 

I love the thin blue stripe in this fabric! 

I opted again for the mandarin collar as I only have one in my wardrobe and always think it makes a nice change. 

The collar can be done up or left open and looks cool either way 😎 

Paranoid about getting thread runs in my fabric around the button holes, I used fray stop glue on them to keep them nice and secure. 

I really like the fit of this shirt (I think that's clear by now). The only thing I'm not 100% on is the buttons. I think they are perhaps a little too large and dominate the front placket, however I think the purlescent blue sheen brings an extra pop of subtle colour to the grey tones in the shirt. 

Embarrassingly this shirt has been sat in my wardrobe unworn for ages! I think because there's no crazy dogs or bouncey flounces I forget it exists! Here's to barcode shirt's big Spring! 🌷

x

Location: Arundel Street, Sheffield

Currently listening to: Trouble, Sharon Van Etten

New Look 6843, Mini skirt hack

With my perfect fit mini-skirt pattern now in existence, I've gone a bit mad for this pattern. 

Boys won't understand, but there's something about a miniskirt that screams autumn to me ("Aren't you cold?"). Tights and boots and a wool blend mini - who's with me? 

Rooting through the wool blends in Abakhan Manchester I dug up this wool blend with seasonal browny flicks in it. The lining fabric was some I had in my stash which luckily matched the fawn tones in the wool. I found a zipper to match this colour too which really bought the whole thing together. 

In love with the fit of this pattern and understanding its versatility, I picked up some more mini skirt-suitable fabrics that day too, and set to a kind of conveyour system for cutting them all out at home, which I knew future me would be grateful for (who else hates sitting down to sew only to find, oh shit need to cut my interfacing😑). 

Having made this skirt a few times now, all three mini skirts came together really quickly. I think this one was my fave of the three, as the fabric hang is just perfect and the colours match so many things in my wardrobe. 

I love the construction of this skirt - the omission of a waistband, using the fabric for a facing inside instead just makes the whole thing more chic. 

The double darts in the backside allow for fantastic shaping. The almost A-line cut allows for lovely free movement (helpful for hiking up all the hills in Sheffield!), but doesn't poke out at a comical angle like ready to wear a-line skirts seem to on me. 

I knew I needed to add 1.5cm for the hem to the bottom of my skirt and lining pattern pieces as I had only been able to turn up a very tiny bit on my last black and white one (slight miscalculation there on my part maybe!!). This fabric hemmed really nicely. I finished with a blind hem by hand so that the stitching wouldn't be visible on the right side of the garment, again another chic little feature that adds to this skirt's simple elegance. 

I'm super pleased with this mini skirt - it looks so balanced when I wear it, the darts on this really do create the perfect fit. It's great for work, autumn and winter walks with woolly long socks, looks good with boots or flats, the brown flecks in the fabric make for a perfect pairing with gold jewellery and a neutral beret. It really is my perfect skirt! 

x
Location: Wentworth House
Currently listening to: New Town Velocity, Johnny Marr