Black Beignet skirt and a bias cowl top
23 June 2010, 13:56It feels like I’ve been talking about sewing the Colette Patterns Beignet skirt for ages now, but it’s mostly because I’ve just been so busy with life (running, socialising, wedding planning, the boat, and my garden, mostly) right now that I’ve been sewing in tiny increments here and there! But it’s finally complete, and I even managed to sew up the bias cowl top from Patrones 292 (#19) to wear with it!
Even though these go so well together, I’ve actually got no shortage of other things in my wardrobe to wear with either, so there’s no “orphan coordinates” here! And I managed to sneak some mustard and navy into my wardrobe a bit earlier than I’d planned, too!
As we were taking these photos down at the other end of the mooring last evening, one of the neighbour’s cats came round to see what all the fuss was about, and I just couldn’t believe how sweet he was being! This one and his brother like to menace poor Bosco, but to us, butter just wouldn’t melt!
Here’s the back, which I think is just lovely in its simplicity:
The bias cowl top
Since it was my first time dealing with a garment entirely sewn on the bias, I figured I should research this and sew it properly, so I heavily consulted the Bias * 101 Threads article by Marcy Tilton. As a result, I went up to a size 48 (which ended up being a bit too big, but rather that than “painted on”!), used 1 1/2” seam allowances, thread basted around all the edges, and left the top to hang before hemming it.
I already showed you how to sew a nice, narrow bias edge on the neckline and armscyes, but the shoulder seams are also very nice and neat due to the cowl folding back on itself and allowing me to sew them “burrito-style”. And because the side seams are on the bias, you don’t have to finish those at all!
My other trick for cowl tops is to sew a thin bias tube and attach this to the bottom edge of the cowl inside at the centre front. When you’re wearing the top, place this tube down the centre front of your bra, and it keeps the cowl closer to your chest and prevents anyone seeing all the way down when you bend over (like when a surprise cat appears and you just have to pet him!).
The viscose (rayon) print fabric is from Totally Fabrics and cost me almost exactly £4 for the 1.5m length (and I have very, very little left over! yay!). Summer has finally come to London this week, and I really love the lightweight airiness of this top, which is similar in weight to a voile but without being so sheer. And being a natural fiber, it doesn’t get clingy and sweaty in the heat, either (Gertie is much more used to hot-weather sewing than me, though!).
The Beignet skirt
Sarai from Colette Patterns sent me this pattern (plus the Macaron pattern and some looooovely vintage ribbon embroidery supplies) when I was ill last year and I’m so glad I finally had the chance to sew it up, because I utterly love it! And I realised after I made it in black that this would be the perfect pattern to knockoff the Stella McCartney button-front jeanskirt (alt link) all the fashion mags are going on about right now (and it’s the height of fashion magazine giveaway season, so I’m reading LOTS of trashy fashion mags for the freebies right now – Benefit eyeliner for £2? Cowshed shower gel for £3.50? Yes please!).
Some details:
- The square shell buttons were originally on an old duvet cover (bought from John Lewis and the most expensive duvet cover I’d ever bought, so it was used until it was literally see-through and then the buttons were cut off and saved!). I only had 11 instead of the 12 called for in the pattern, so I just re-jigged the spacing and it’s just fine. In reality, I only have to unbutton the top four to get it on and off, which is a relief!
- The pockets are made from the houndstooth bengaline scraps from this infamous dressaster. I understitched the pocket openings to prevent the linings peeking out, a trick I picked up in making my silver tweed jacket, and one I appreciate every single time I wear it.
- I made the belt endings tapered off instead of square, because I think that looks nicer, but it means you’ve got to be really patient in turning the belt right-side-out. I did mine sat around the campfire two weekends ago…
- Since I opted not to line this, I made some bright red bias binding and bound the curved edges of the facings, just for fun! And then I forgot to take a photo of it, sorry!
- The belt loops were really tricky to turn in this fabric so I instead folded the edges in and ran them through the coverstitch machine (you could do the same with a twin needle)
- I said it before but I’ll say it again – the Collete Patterns instructions are fantastic. The patterns come in a little booklet with nice, big illustrations, and walk you through everything really clearly. This skirt would be a really great beginner project, and you’d pick up a lot of good skills from the sewing glossary at the back, too. My only real niggle with the instructions is that they have you press all the seams to one side, which results in a lot of bulk at the waistband. In future I’d definitely ignore this and press all the seams open to reduce the bulk if you’re using a substantial fabric like mine.
Oh, and the black cotton drill I used here? Not only was it stupid cheap when I bought it two years ago, but it’s already been used in Simon’s pirate coat and my black biker trousers, and I’ve used the very last little bit to make this skirt. I think if it wasn’t comprised so nicely of long, thin panels, it wouldn’t have fit in the fabric I had left! But the princess seams (and front buttons) are great if you have seasonal weight losses or gains, as it’s pretty easy to take in or let out the seams or move the buttons in and out. That, and the high waist and belt are really visually slimming!
And finally, here’s an extra bonus shot, looking out our front door:
Comment [17]
Self-drafted leggings
7 June 2010, 13:31I bought this ASOS ruched tunic back in April and I love the design of it – the ruched panels are really flattering, it’s a viscose knit and it’s entirely lined in lingerie mesh. But when it arrived, I realised it was way too short to wear as a dress, but too long to wear as a shirt and looks just plain lumpy when worn over regular trousers or jeans. And with the panels going at weird angles creating an intentionally uneven hem, there wasn’t a natural point to cut it off and shorten it, either.
So I filled the wardrobe hole by creating some leggings specifically to wear with this top!
I used the legging draft in Metric Pattern Cutting and it fit pretty well in my super green “Flashdance!” lycra muslin (don’t worry, that lycra was bought only ever for muslins!), apart from the waist being ridiculously high, so I just folded out a few inches when I cut into my black fabric. I really like that this draft hasn’t got an outer leg seam, so these were SUPER fast to make on the overlocker – only three seams plus the waistband and hems. I actually made these last Saturday morning in about two hours (though I did the drafting a few weeks ago)!
Sorry for the squished belly button shots, but I wanted to show you my waistband finish:
I used my favourite method of applying waistband elastic here, which results in a stretchy waist but with a smooth finish:
- Overlap the ends of your elastic and do a ton of zigzag stitches on the sewing machine so you’ve got a loop
- Serge/overlock one long edge of the elastic to the wrong side of the top edge of your trousers
- Turn inside again so there’s no elastic showing
- Zigzag, twin-needle, or coverstitch the lower edge of the elastic to the trousers, stretching as you sew
The only problem was, I didn’t have quite enough fabric to make these, and I despise capris of any sort, so my only option was to create a dorky ankle cuff in the hopes that these will always be concealed inside boots:
This black fabric is special wicking Meryl lycra from Pennine Outdoor, leftover from when I made my running trousers. So I could technically run in these if I wanted to, too!
Though probably not in those heels.
Edit: Oh! And a late addition for UK readers – set your Freeview+ boxes to record BBC Four at 10pm tonight – they’re showing Valentino – The Last Emperor, which Johanna reviewed last year.
Tags: drafting, knit, muslin, trousersComment [11]
Patrones two-tone jeanskirt
4 June 2010, 13:21When I first saw the tech drawing for this skirt (#13) in Patrones 292, I assumed the curved upper back section wrapped around seamlessly into the angled front pockets, and it’s what initially drew me to this design.
But on closer inspection of the pattern pieces, I realised this wasn’t the case and that there were side seams on the upper portion as you’d expect in most skirts. So after tracing the pattern, I went about transferring the curved side seam “dart” into an area that would be hidden by the pocket, went so far as cutting out the piece…. and then realised it seemed like a kinda stupid amount of faff just to remove a seam line on a colour-blocked skirt where the seam would be so overshadowed by the overall colour-blocking anyway. So I reverted everything back to the pattern as drafted, recut the nude fabric pieces, and made the skirt as intended.
Ladies, if I asked you what the most powerful force on earth was, what would you say?
If you answered with “Spanx“, then you get full marks for this exam…
This skirt calls for stretch denim, and even with a pretty stretchy denim and stretch suiting, this skirt is pretty ridiculously tight. Even with said Spanx underneath, this skirt is tight. So tight that James mistook the hem of my tucked-in shirt for a bit of very noticeable VPL and I had to go inside to put the hem of my shirt inside the Spanx to get rid of the slight lump. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t sit down in this, so I may have inadvertently created “the cocktail skirt”.
Here’s the sides and the back, anyway, so you can see that I did a fairly good job at matching up the curved sections at the side seams. My invisible zipper is actually way better than it looks here, because it’s being stretched open so you can see the teeth. And probably what I ate for breakfast, too.
I made this out of two remnants from my stash – some nude stretch poly/viscose suiting leftover from that Vogue Divine Details sheath dress and some black stretch denim is leftover from my second version of those BWOF biker trousers.
So, sizing aside (omg go up a size!), I actually really like this skirt. The curves are nice, the length is great, and the overall silhouette is flattering. If I could breathe it’d be even better! I think I’ll have to put this away for a few months and try it on again when my body sorts itself out (which is getting really, really frustrating now. It’s not like I don’t know how to lose weight!).
Still to come – those self-drafted leggings, and my reason for creating them at all…
(Plus a peek inside two Manequims and Patrones 290!)
Tags: jeans, patrones, skirtComment [7]
Quick & easy tie-front teeshirt
3 June 2010, 12:50I was so excited when I saw this tie-front teeshirt (#2) in the May 2010 La Mia Boutique!
It just ticks so many boxes – flattering neckline (check!), coordinating knits (check!), cute Daisy Duke-style tie (check!), and most importantly, it uses up those awkward leftover lengths of fabrics that are too big to chuck away but at less than 1m, are really too small to make much of anything from.
The other great thing is that this teeshirt was seriously quick to sew – I cut out the fabric when I got home from work on Friday evening, and in amongst making dinner and doing some reading, I had finished this before I went to bed, and without particularly rushing or staying up late, either. In fact, I liked it so much I wore it out to lunch and the cinema (to see Four Lions) the next day, and then again at Crafternoon!
Look ma, no gape!
The tie keeps everything close to your chest, and the understitching on the neckline means you never see the inner layer of the teeshirt peeking out, either (except at the tie tips themselves)! The pattern layout says to cut out four copies of the upper front piece in the patterned fabric (so you get a lining, too), but since I was short on the stars and the greys were SO similar, I just lined my upper fronts with the plain grey and I’m not fussed that you see a little bit at the ties.
Here’s the back:
The back was meant to be just the plain jersey from hem to neck, but I thought that looked kinda weird so I chose to split the back pattern piece at the “T” marking and continue the seaming around to the back. It kinda gives it a fauxlero look, which I like. The only other thing I changed was to shorten the sleeves to a more normal teeshirt length, because the original sleeves seemed far too long for their snug fit.
The stars viscose jersey is ex-Paul Smith, bought from Ditto Fabrics, and was previously used in my nephew’s hoodie as well as my little neighbour’s teeshirt, so it’s nice to have some for me to wear now. The plain grey marl viscose jersey is from Totally Fabrics and is destined to become another Burda crossover dress very soon…
I also really like that the tie front kinda makes it feel like when you were young and we’d pull the hem of our teeshirts up through the neckline on hot summer days… A less-revealing, grown-up version of that, anyway! Just the fact that I’m wearing this three times in under a week should let you know how great this pattern is. I found that a similarly-seam BWOF shirt always had the tendency for the under-bust seam to ride up during wear, but this one really stays put much nicer. So if you’ve got this La Mia Boutique issue, put this on your must-sew list!
Oh! And Connie at Couturesmith has sewn up that Butterick-pattern-wot-looks-like-the-KnipMode-pattern and very nicely shared the pattern diagram drawings with me. So I was able to update my pattern comparison image (though I rotated the grainline of one of the Butterick pieces so it’s easier to compare):
(if you can’t see the Butterick pieces on the left, hold down the Shift key and press your browser’s Reload button to force it to refresh the images)
Tags: knit, la-mia-boutique, topComment [7]
Bridesmaids dresses - finished!
27 May 2010, 14:00Both bridesmaids dresses for my September wedding are now finished! Since I’m sewing both of these plus my own gown, I stipulated that these had to be knit so that I could sew them early and my girls could feel free to gain or lose a few pounds without too much last-minute alterations hassle.
To refresh your memory, the three of us chose the Gant exclusive design dress from the Sept 08 Burda magazine:
The previous posts about these dresses spanned over a year (from our pre-illness, original wedding date), so to help you find them, here’s a handy list:
- Choosing the pattern
- Going fabric shopping and choosing their colours
- Tackling those pleated cummerbunds
- Finishing the first dress
Here are both dresses together, so you can see how nicely their colours will go together on the day:
Here’s G’s dress, in silver silk jersey with salmon silk satin (charmeuse) cummerband, lined in the same mauve lingerie tricot as P’s dress:
Here’s a detail shot of her button loops and the other side of the cummerbund where you can see there’s no side seam. The salmon colour is most accurate in these two photos – it had a tendency to go HOT PINK in some of the shots, but it’s really not!
You’ve already seen the details of P’s dress, but here’s some full length views of hers:
Once again, I apologise for the hanger photos, but these dresses won’t fit onto my dressform with her annoying unsquishable bosom, and the girls aren’t available with hair and makeup until the big day, so you’ll have to settle for these pretty shapeless forms on a hanger until then. These were only on their hangers for the photos, then went right back to being laid flat – with the sheer weight of the silk jersey skirts on them, I don’t want to risk distorting the bodice by hanging them. But trust me when I say they look really nice on them! And considering that the fabric bill for these came under £100, I don’t think we’ve done too badly at all!
Since P and G have very similar body types, I ended up doing almost exactly the same alterations for their dresses, even though they had their muslin fittings independently.
- Cut the front bodice on the fold, and raised the point of the V neckline to 9cm
- Took 3cm off the bottom of the bodice (front and back) to raise up the cummerbund
- Raised the armscye scoop (front and back) by 3cm at the underarm with a bit more added to the front scoop so that their bras won’t show
- Omitted the invisible zipper called for in the pattern and instead opted for four 11mm satin-covered buttons and button loops on the cummerbund (the bodice and skirt are stretchy enough that they can get them on over their heads without those seams needing to be open).
- A 5’9”, P needed the full length of the skirt, but G (about 5’6”?) had me take about 4 inches off the hem
- My only stylistic changes were to omit the side seam on the cummerbund, and to increase the number of pleats to 8, so it would look a bit more full
So these dresses are put aside now until their final fitting shortly before the wedding, when they’ll be hemmed and the buttons sewn on while the girls are in their final shoes and underwear/shapewear/whatever (the tiny satin-covered buttons are in little baggies pinned to the dress lining so they won’t get lost!). And maybe if I play my cards right I can farm those duties off to my mom or sister-in-law, who are also handy with a needle and thread!
And finally, here’s the composite view I made for the PR Formalwear Contest.
Winning their Lingerie Contest makes me ineligible to compete in this one, so I treated it more as a supportive Sew Along to keep me on my time schedule, and it worked! I allotted May and June to sewing these dresses, and I finished with only a week to spare! Let’s hope I can similarly stay on schedule when I go to start on my gown in July…
Tags: bwof, dress, knit, silk, weddingComment [14]
Free ruffled wristlet pattern!
4 May 2010, 11:29This might possibly be my longest running project-to-post duration since I drafted and sewed up this cute wristlet last February using some scrap leather and some vintage lingerie fabric for a lining. I made it as a gift for a neighbour who wanted to remember a dear departed friend who left her a stash of vintage fabrics, and I loved the resulting wristlet purse so much that I felt compelled to share it with all of you! But I had problems digitising the pattern so it languished… but recently I was inspired to take another stab at it and I love the way it turned out!
The great thing is that because it’s a small purse, you can really make this out of leather scraps, or even an old leather skirt or jacket from a charity shop (thrift store or op-shop)! Or it doesn’t even have to be from leather at all, it’d work equally well in corduroy, denim, or even felt! And because it’s a wristlet, you can keep your hands free for drinks & canapes, or for beers & barbecues!
Download the free pattern by clicking the image below!
To anyone linking – please link to this page, not directly to the pdf file!
I hope you all enjoy this and please email me any photos if you make one for yourself! I’d rate this as an Advanced Beginner project just because of sewing the zipper, but it’d make a GREAT first leather project if you’ve never sewed with it before.
Illustrated instructions!
Text instructions are included in the downloadable file, but I wanted to provide photo instructions to make it easier for beginners to sew this, too. But when I put the photos in the file itself, it turned out way too big so I compromised and I’m offering them here instead!
Step 1
Using the exterior fabric, cut out two copies of the purse body, two copies of the flap, one of the ruffle, and one of the strap (or omit the strap for a ruffled clutch). The interior circle from the ruffle is unused and can be turned into a decorative flower by pinching the centre and securing with a few hand stitches.
If your exterior fabric is too lightweight, you may wish to cut two copies of the purse body and one of the strap in interfacing and fuse to the exterior copies before going further.
Step 2
Take the strap and fold in both long edges toward centre, wrong sides facing in, and topstitch down both sides, 1/4” from folded edge. Lay aside.
- Tip – if using leather, use paperclips or binder clips instead of pins to not make unnecessary holes in the leather!
Step 3
Place one of the purse flaps right side up and align the inner edge of the ruffle, right side down, along the flap’s curved edge. Then place the other purse flap, right side down, on top aligning the curved edges and transferring pins to all three layers.
Note: if you are not using leather, you may wish to finish the outer edge of the ruffle before attaching.
Step 4
Sew through all three layers, 5/8” from the curved edge, taking care not to catch any errant folds of the ruffle in the stitching.
- Tip – if using leather for your exterior, use a walking foot (pictured), teflon, or roller foot on your sewing machine to keep the layers from shifting
Step 5
Trim the seam allowances and turn the flap right sides out.
Use a hammer or snap press to attach a snap to the inner side of the flap (the side with the wrong side of the ruffle) and one of the purse body pieces at the marked star placement (not shown).
Step 6
Place the two purse body pieces right sides together and sew 5/8” from the outer curved edge.
Step 7
Turn the purse body right side out. Spread open the seam allowances and topstitch 1/4” from the curved seam, sewing through the seam allowance. Repeat for the other side of the seam, sewing through the other seam allowance.
Step 8
Cut two copies of the purse body out of the lining fabric.
Step 9
Place the purse body with the snap side facing down, and on top of that place the purse flap with the snap side facing up (snap not shown here). Then place the zipper, right side down on top of the flap and align the top edges of all three, taking care NOT to pin through the bottom layer of the purse body.
Step 10
Add one of the lining pieces on top of the zipper, right side down, aligning the top edge and repositioning the pins. Using a zipper foot, sew through all 5 layers (purse body, two layers of purse flap, zipper, and lining) along the top edge, taking care not to sew over the zipper teeth.
Step 11
Open up the zipper, and flip the entire purse inside out. Lay the unattached edge of the zipper along the top edge of the unattached purse body, right sides facing. Place the top edge of the other lining piece on top of the zipper tape. Sew along this top edge, through all three layers (purse body, zipper, and lining) taking care not to catch the other lining piece in the stitching.
Step 12
Turn out both lining pieces so that they’re free of the exterior and flap pieces.
Note: Now is the time to attach a personal label to one side of the lining should you chose to do so!
Step 13
Lay the lining pieces right sides together and sew 5/8” away from the curved edge, making sure to leave a gap of a few inches at the centre for turning!
- Tip – if you’re using leather as your exterior, remember to change your machine needle to something appropriate for your lining here.
Step 14
Push the exterior fabric through the hole in the lining, turning the entire purse right side out.
Step 15
Pull the lining out and sew the hole closed, making sure to tuck the seam allowances to the inside for a clean finish.
Step 16
Push the lining inside the purse and close the zipper. There should be two holes at either end of the zipper tape.
Note: If you’re using leather as your exterior, switch back to your leather needle now.
Step 17
Fold the strap in half lengthwise with wrong sides together, and insert into the hole between the lining and exterior fabric. Open the zipper slightly.
Note: If you insert the strap into the end with the closed zipper head, your contents won’t fall out even if the zipper is slightly open!
Step 18
Sew through all layers close to the edge, making sure to fold exterior and lining seam allowances inside.
Note: If making a clutch instead of a wristlet, close the hole in the same way but omit the wrist strap.
Step 19
Sew closed the remaining hole at the other end of the zipper tape. You will probably be unable to reach it with the sewing machine, so use a hand needle to stitch it closed, making sure to fold exterior and lining seam allowances inward.
- Tip – if using leather as your exterior, you may need the use of a thimble and pliers!
Step 20
Et voila! Your ruffled wristlet is finished and ready for a night on the town!
Any questions? Errors? Omissions? Suggestions? Leave a comment below! And please send me photos of your finished wristlets!
Tags: bag, leather, recycled, tutorial, vintageComment [10]
Springtime Heidi dress
30 April 2010, 13:59I’ve been doing so many bits and pieces over the last fortnight, between making and fitting the bridesmaids’ dresses, doing some experimental pattern drafting, and a huge amount of gardening that it feels like I started sewing BurdaStyle’s Heidi dress months ago! It really didn’t take very long to sew at all, it was more that I was doing in in small chunks around everything else that made it last so long from start to finish!
I bought this brushed cotton fabric in Brighton last June for (a rather expensive for me) £10/m, but I liked the print too much to care. I also lined this with a silk/cotton voile from Goldhawk Road which makes it really airy and lightweight for spring and summer.
(You’re right – that’s not the moorings! We took these photos in Pip’s garden, which you may remember from a few years ago…)
Now, I did a little stupid thing here in that I deviated from my usual Burda 42 and went up a size to a 44 because I was feeling fat that particular day. Yeah, how very scientific of me! But in any case, that was stupid, because the dress turned out WAY too big. I probably could’ve gotten away with a 40 in hindsight, but there you go – I’d already cut out the fabric so I made some quick alterations, pulling in the bodice and skirt pleats a bit and pulling up the shoulder seam by a huge amount (I pinched out around 3 inches, so a total of 6 when you add up the front and back from the seam!). Luckily the armscyes were pretty generous, too, so I didn’t lose any arm mobility by hoiking it all up by a few inches. This had the combined fix of a) raising the really low neckline, b) pulling the waist up to my natural waistline, and c) putting the back poofiness into my shoulder blades where it looks much more natural than in the middle of my back. It’s still a bit on the baggy side, but close enough that it just feels “free and easy” to me instead of “muu muu”.
I’m probably a bit late to this party, but after seeing Karen and Erin‘s versions of this dress, plus the one Carol from BurdaStyle was wearing at their London event really inspired me to sew up this one for myself! It’s just so versatile and looks great with any number of print fabrics.
It’s a really easy, forgiving style and it’s just so nice and breezy for summer. I just have to remember to not second-guess my size next time! And I’m pretty sure there will be a next time, because I adore the neckline and really like the rest of the dress, I just have to downsize a bit…
Tags: burda-style, cotton, dressComment [7]
IKEA print Alexander dress
2 April 2010, 13:47As soon as I saw BurdaStyle’s “Alexander” blouse I feel in love with the floaty gathered sleeves and the retro-styling, but I also knew this blouse was meant to be a dress!
I had some pretty IKEA “Josefin” fabric in my stash since last June that I’d bought for £3.99/m and was just waiting for the perfect pattern to come along. This seemed like a great match, and as a bonus, I probably only used a little over 2m of the 3 I bought here, so there’s enough left over for something else, too.
When I was in IKEA’s textiles section, I must’ve felt a thousand heavyweight upholstery prints before finding this lightweight cotton with a really cool, refreshing leaf/vine repeating motif. I also quite like that the leaves are cleverly designed to also be heart-shaped, but the black/white/green/teal/lime colourway stops it from being too “Valentine’s” (ugh).
This fabric did pose a few layout challenges, however. I knew with such a bold repeating print that I’d have to pay close attention to get the leaves at the best places. Here I opted to have them lie at the shoulders/bust area in front and back and around the lower skirt, with the darker vine portions around the waist. I could’ve killed myself trying to line up the vines exactly at the waist seam, but I felt that was a bit too much work at the time, but looking back now, I kinda regret not doing that since the waistline is a bit visually jarring (or maybe I just need to buy a black belt).
I’d made it as the blouse the pattern intended first (read the other post for the grainline and design changes I did there first) but I followed through with my plans from before and made a few stylistic changes to turn this into the best possible dress:
- Decreased the facing widths by 3cm
- Shortened the waist by 5cm at the designated lines to bring the waist seam up to my natural waist
- Stitched the back pleats 10cm higher to create a slimmer back waistline
- Used an invisible zipper in the centre back seam and left the centre front buttons just as decoration
- Brought out my covered-button kit to make the centre front buttons all in the lime portions of the fabric
- Left off the peplum
For the skirt, you could use any basic A-line skirt or dress pattern with waist darts, but I used the skirt lining piece from BurdaStyle’s Heidi pattern because it was handy and it was the same front and back, which made things a bit simpler.
I first chopped the skirt pattern off at the marked waistline so my joining seam would be exactly at the waist, then I sewed up the side seams (leaving the back seam open to insert the invisible zipper near the end of the construction). I disregarded the pattern’s darts since I wanted to turn them into double pleats to mirror the top, so once the top was done and I was ready to connect the top and skirt together, I pinned the waist at the side seams, centre front, and centre back edges to make sure those were aligned, and then I pinned together the sections that I wanted to lie flat. Since the pleats were already marked and sewn on the top, I was then left with a bubble of fabric on the skirt around the pleat area. I then just kinda eyeballed and pinched the skirt fabric to make the skirt’s pleats match up with the top’s, stitched these in place from the wrong side, then sewed the waist seam.
If you’re mathematically-inclined like my friend Sharon, then you might prefer to work out the pleat placement on the pattern piece before sewing, but that just seemed like too much measuring for me when I could visualise an easier way to do it!
The only other change came when I was getting James to pin the centre back seam in preparation to insert the invisible zipper – when pinned with the usual 5/8” seam allowance, both the upper front and back were a bit too big and blousy (if you are ahem rather blousy, then this would be perfect for you as-is!), so I had him pull in the centre back seam in the upper back by about 2” on both sides and the front and back both magically fixed themselves. So I inserted the zipper with a curvy, variable seam allowance (2” at the upper back fading to 5/8” at the waist and below) which worked great.
I’m happy to report that I got lots of compliments on this dress when I wore it to BurdaStyle’s London event on Wednesday night, and I even stumped both Carol and Nora on the “guess which pattern this dress is?” front (though both admit Alden is the real pro at identifying patterns in real life!), bwahaha! There was a roving photographer there so there will probably be a gallery up at some point where you can see more of the dress, too.
I know I’m going to inadvertantly be really dim and forget someone here, but it was SO SO SO MUCH FUN to chat with all the sewing and fashion people collected there, like Nadia, Houkje, Susannah, Zoe of Patrones benefactor fame, Clare from Selvedge magazine, the girls from UK Stylelist, the London College of Fashion crowd, Buzz from All the Fun of the Fair, Amy from the East London BurdaStyle Sewing Club (which I’ve now joined), Helene, and the aforementioned Carol and Nora from BurdaStyle. We really, really need to do this again. Weird egg pod toilets included.
Edit: Ooh, event photos are up!
Tags: burda-style, cotton, dress, ikeaComment [9]
Vintage flowered Alexander blouse
1 April 2010, 16:56Before I jumped in with both feet in my quest to turn BurdaStyle’s “Alexander” blouse into a dress, I thought it wise to first make the pattern as intended – a cute blouse with flowy, gathered sleeves, front and back buttons, and a vintage-inspired peplum.
I had some vintage flower-print lightweight cotton in my stash that had been in my Granny’s stash for some time and she’d given it to me last time I was over in the States. As it turns out, she’s ill at the moment and in need of some cheering up, so I thought it fitting to send this blouse back to her since she liked the print so much and we’re roughly the same size!
Unfortunately this is one of those patterns that look SO much better on a real person than a dress form, but you’ll see that when we get to the dress!
Here’s a view of the collar , which I altered using Gertie’s “drafting a convertible collar” tutorial. This was a super easy way of lowering the quite high collar and adding a little something extra to the neckline:
Here’s a peek at the button loops and pleats (which are sewn from the inside and pressed to one side):
I really love all the gathers at the shoulders – you get a nice fitted line at the neckline and a cute line of gathers at the outer shoulder/sleeve, and there’s no shoulder seam for the outer gathered areas which cuts down on bulk for lightweight fabrics, too:
One problem with the lack of a shoulder seam, though, is that when you combine the front and back pattern pieces at the shoulder, either the front or the back is forced slightly off-grain.
After playing with the pieces for a while on our big table (using the table edge as a great visual cue for the straight grain!) and getting input from Neighbour Helen, I decided to keep both front and back on grain, and in order to do this and eliminate the shoulder seam, I had to add a thin triangle into the shoulder seam area. All in all, a ridiculously easy fix that took about 30 second to achieve! And with all the volume in the sleeve anyway, another centimeter or so isn’t really here nor there.
So to recap, the changes I made here are…
- I fixed the grainline issues above
- I added a convertible collar
- I omitted the back buttons and made the centre back a seam (annoyingly, there’s no room to make the back on the fold and keep the front buttons with their seam allowances, because I played with the pieces quite a bit trying to do that, too!)
- I put 5 buttons on the front instead of 6 (because that’s what I had)
- I made much narrower button loops than called for
- I cut off the large vertical portions of the back facing since I wasn’t having a back buttoned opening (so my facing was just curved around the neck edge)
- I used a very narrow hem on the curved sleeves and peplum edge by pressing about 1/4” over, stitching very close to the folded edge, trimming the seam allowances off, then pressing the edge over again and edgestitching. Yes, it takes longer than just folding the edge under twice, but you get a nicer finish, and my ^&$% rolled hem foot never, ever works and just makes me frustrated!
Changes to make going forward into a dress:
- Decrease the facing widths by 3cm as they’re pretty freakin’ wide
- Shorten the waist by 5cm at the designated lines to bring the waist seam up to my natural waist
- Stitch the back pleats 10cm higher to create a slimmer back waistline
- Leave off the collar as that’s just how I roll
- Use an invisible zipper in the centre back seam and leave the centre front buttons just as decoration
- Leave off the peplum as peplum AND pleated skirt is a bit to much for me
I made the above changes, sewed up, and wore the Alexander dress to the amazing BurdaStyle London event last night, so stay tuned for photos and a rundown of the fantastic, lovely, incredible people I met there as well as a bunch of birthday book reviews!
Tags: burda-style, cotton, drafting, topComment [6]
The LMB draped birthday dress
25 March 2010, 12:36Today is my birthday! Every year I like to make myself something new to celebrate in, and this year I’ve paired some luscious teal silk jersey from Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road (at £16/m) with a gorgeous draped dress from the Feb 2010 La Mia Boutique magazine, #6:
We thought we’d make the extra effort here to give you all a show of our neighbourhood with the dress…
I’m now 31!
Pushing the sleeves up for a more casual look…
side view:
back view:
(perhaps I should’ve lined the back afterall, but too late for that)
Here’s some detail shots of the front and back draping:
Based on the muslin of this dress, I made these changes:
- I took 1/2” off the shoulders in back and the inner front piece (on the outer front pieces I just gathered the extra 1/2” more, not like it made much difference to the puny amount of gathering!)
- I took two inches out of the centre of the inner front and inner front waistband (and stabilised the inner front waistband with clear elastic inside) to make the neckline more V shaped and increase the draping coming up from the skirt
- I increased the folded-over facing edge of the outer front bodice because I could in my layout, and so it’d decrease the chances of it flipping out in wear
- I increased the sleeve girth, thanks to lauriana‘s suggestion
- I took four inches off the hem so it’d be above the knee
- I added an inch or so to the hips on the back skirt thanks to Nancy K’s suggestion
- I didn’t get the suggestions in time to do it here, but in future I’d also scoop out the front sleeve curve to fix the underarm pulling issue (you can see it’s still there in the “31” photo above)
If you’re keen to sew this for yourself, remember I’ve already posted step-by-step instructions for this dress so you don’t really need to speak Italian or French!
I’m so looking forward to a new year and a fresh start!
Comment [25]