Complete: Kanerva Blouses

Back again, and this time with one of those dream pattern experiences you always kind of secretly hope for but very rarely encounter. Yup, the-no-alterations-needed-great-fit-straight-from-the-pattern experience! 

This is the Named Patterns Kanerva Peplum Blouse, and it's the most amiable, cooperative pattern I've yet come across. I do love Named's overall aesthetic, and I'd admired the lines of this simple blouse when it was first released. It just took me this long to get around to it!

I'd found a lovely soft white spotted Collette Dinnigan silk at Rathdowne Remnants in July, and had intended it for quite another top/tunic pattern. But my experience with making that one up in something else was such an unmitigated misery there was no way I was going to sacrifice this fabric to its vagaries...

I'm so glad I remembered Kanerva! I'm thrilled with how it paired with my special silk...

It's as light as air to wear, and I finally have an inkling of why someone would pay $$$$ for a designer blouse. (Not that it's an option - so glad I can sew!)

There's not much to really say about this one, other than it makes me very, very happy...

I do love the back opening (slightly awkward photo, but never mind), and the way the peplum sits open at the back. Mind you, even though I like the shank buttons I used - very plain, but echoing the tiny printed spot - they do start to be 'noticeable' if I'm sitting with my back against something for any length of time. Perhaps not a blouse for long car trips...

The only modification I made was to shorten the sleeves; I liked the look of them finishing at the waist seam. And, as per my resolution to take my time over projects this year rather than rushing them, I tried finishing them with a band, button and placket. It worked out pretty well, I think; I positioned the opening by copying another RTW blouse. The neckline is finished with bias binding cut from the same fabric, and all the insides are finished with french seams.

I think I'll be enjoying this one for years; the design is really classic and I'm happy with my workmanship on it. I haven't tried yet but I think it'll tuck into a high waisted skirt quite nicely, and since I'll just as happily wear it with jeans and a blazer or cardigan, it looks like it'll be a pretty versatile piece. 

I liked it so much actually, I dug out some rayon I've been hoarding for over a year - waiting for the perfect pattern - that I'd only bought a metre of. Which was not enough for anything much...except a sleeveless Kanerva!

I didn't even need to adjust the armholes; I thought they were fine as is.

This is a kind of rayon I hadn't come across before - it's a crepe kind of texture. It's a bit heavier than the silk above but still falls beautifully, and it feels wonderful to wear.

I'd planned on flat (see? learning from previous one...) silver metal buttons, but couldn't find any that I liked. So I went for plain navy ones, and I think I prefer those actually. It's a busier print than I usually wear, but I was drawn to it in the shop and I'm glad I went with it. Actually, I've noticed I tend towards prints in summer, but not much in winter - I'm more interested in texture when it comes to cool weather clothes.

I've worn this - both of them, actually - quite a bit already. I do love clothes that you can put on and effectively forget about (no fussing or adjusting), and this fits the bill nicely.

I didn't do french seams on this (why do I feel slightly apologetic??), and finished off the armholes with the binding as per the neck. I really do like this as a finishing technique - it makes the insides so pretty :)

I like the look of the peplum-less version of the blouse too, but feel like I'm a bit o-l-d to really carry it off. Perhaps with a high-waisted skirt or trousers with a singlet tucked in underneath (i.e. no midriff skin showing)....I'll give it further thought.

I forgot last time to include my sole effort at 2014 Christmassy gift sewing, so here 'tis:

A little rag doll for my one-year-old niece. This is the Jenny pattern by Pupadou on Etsy. My toy/doll sewing experience is slightly above non-existent, and so I can heartily recommend this pattern as ideal for beginners. It's beautifully drafted and the instructions are very clear. My mum sewed two summer dresses for her (i.e. granddaughter/niece) and gave me the leftovers so I could make up matching ones for the doll. It was a fun project!

But I have to admit, I liked getting back to 'selfish' sewing...

Refashion: Part 1 - Dress to Blouse

I realised the other day it's been aaages since I've done any refashioning, so here's the first refashion project of 2014. The best part was that in the end this dress yielded two garments. Win!

This was passed on to me by my sister, with the tags still on it. I was immediately struck by the lovely print and how beautifully it was made. I hadn't heard of the brand Ti Mo before so I looked it up. Here's an excerpt from the web site, regarding the founder Tine Mollatt:

For Tine truthfulness and honesty are also guiding beacons. She does not believe in exploitation of any kind to reach her goals. Not towards the people involved on the way, nor towards the animals that provide materials or towards mother earth. She believes in sustainability on all levels. She believes the time of mass consumption is soon to be past. She believes in high quality clothing that’s long lasting. She believes there is a right way to approach the calculation of costs, without cutting any corners. She believes in the value that lies within the garment and she believes in the masterful skill that lies in tailoring. 

I thought that was just wonderful, and it's an approach I really want to support. Unfortunately for me:

This is why I don't wear A-line or trapeze style dresses. 

There was plenty of potential though to make it more me-friendly. The three rows of broderie anglais ruffles are sewn to a "skirt" which was attached to the main body. The clever thing about those ruffles was that they gave the hemline enough body to stand out to create the A-line shape; while this doesn't work for me in this particular instance, I'm definitely filing it away in my head as a technique to remember.

My first thought was to make it into a simple blouse by removing the "skirt" (because I know I'll never wear a dress that short), and creating more shape through side shaping and front and back darts. The original dress had a button placket at the back, and I didn't want to change this. Nor did I want it to be so fitted that it required an additional closure. 

First things first: removal of skirt. You can see the A-line shaping pretty clearly here.

Next, I tried it on and marked where the front and back darts needed to be. I also marked where I wanted the sides to be.

After sewing these steps I tried it on. And, well, it was a bit blah...

The more I looked at it, the more I felt it was too "undecided" - too blousey to be a successful fitted top, and not blousey enough to be a proper blouse. Clearly more thought was needed...

Luckily, I still had the skirt. I unpicked all the lace and put that aside. From the bottom edge of the blouse I cut two 2cm strips and one 4cm strip. These were still large loops of fabric, so I cut them down one sewn side. The two 2cm strips I sewed together to make one long one. With a 0.5cm ( 1/4") seam allowance I sewed it into a cord and turned it in the right way. I always forget how long turning cords can take... I folded each edge of the wider strip under 1cm and pressed it flat. They ended up like this:

Then I  trimmed the same amount off the sides of the skirt that I had cut from the sides of the top. Actually, I think I cut all the excess from only one side. Then I sewed the skirt back to the top. Having marked the centre front, I sewed the pressed strip over the fabric join, folding the edges under, to form a casing. You can see where I'm going with this, I'm sure!

Once that was done I just needed to thread the long narrow cord through the casing and tie knots in the ends to keep them from fraying. Voila! A blouse I'm much happier with:

 No extra closures were needed, because it still slips over the head and shoulders easily. The front and back darts which weren't working in the first attempt give the blouse just the right amount of shaping here.  And I love that there was almost no fabric wastage - just the little I trimmed from the sides!

I saw an idea on Carolyn's blog that impressed me; she kept a notebook for a year detailing which handmade items she'd worn each day, so as to have an accurate overview of what actually got worn and how often. She actually drew beautiful "paper dolls" for this; it's a really lovely record! Now I know that if I decided to do something similar it would be a meticulously detailed record... for about one week. Then it would be shoved to the side and forgotten about till the next Top 5 Reflection Lists. But I thought I'd take a slightly more basic approach, because I love the idea. So blutacked to my sewing cupboard is a scrawled list of handmade items and a running tally. This blouse is outstripping the field by three to one already! It's proving to be really versatile - I've even worn it to work in 45 deg heat (that's 113 for farenheit people). I've got cardigans that go with it perfectly too, so I think it'll see me though autumns and springs very comfortably too. I'm really thrilled with this one. :)

Next time, Part 2 of the refashion. After all, I still have all this broderie anglais.... It's the dress that keeps on giving!

What's on your sewing table at the moment?

Have a wonderful week :)

Danielle 

Refashion: Summery Blouse

I have a confession to make. I've been channelling my inner Grumpy Old Woman way too much of late, griping and carping about the weather. Mind you, so has everyone else I know! Still, ridiculous heat or not, I decided I needed to be a little more proactive in my coping approach and find some kind of silver lining. And the answer was found in white, pin-tucked cotton. Because is there anything more quintessentially and satisfyingly summery than white pin-tucked cotton clothes? I say not. :)

A friend who knows I love refashioning had given me this a few months ago. Not my best look, as is!

 Even worse side on! But the great thing about bigger sizes is that you can always cut them down. Besides, white pin-tucked cotton!

I decided to lose the sleeves. They were finished with the same narrow frill as the neckline, so I was able to salvage that and the very narrow binding to finish off the armholes. These were too low and gapey, so I cut them higher, and in the process cut off about 4cm from each side. I planned to turn the sleeves into a band  under the bust. (I say "planned", but there was far more enthusiasm than forward planning involved in this project. Which leads us, somewhat unsurprisingly, to....)

First hiccup. There wasn't enough fabric in the sleeves. (It was probably optimistic to assume otherwise...) I had some white cotton voile that I used instead, and then cut the front and back pieces under the bust and sewed it in.

Second hiccup. It doesn't show up so well in the photo below but the new voile pieces were startlingly, strikingly brighter than the rest. Plus, which brings us along to the third hiccup, the extra length combined with  the amount I'd trimmed down the sides by meant it no longer fit over my hips. The new armholes looked nice, though...

It was time to rethink. Or, more accurately, actually think. The blindingly white band had to go. I decided to cut it down into a narrow casing, which made the brightness much less obvious and had the advantage of enabling some shaping, which I hadn't yet allowed for properly. I had enough of the voile to make a long cord too. Solved! (By the way, would you look at the size difference between those tucks?! You may not guess it from this post but I'm usually pretty particular about accuracy, and fuss over bits that aren't quite right. Yet so much RTW  stuff is like this and I never really gave it a second thought. I love that sewing gives me my own quality control. Ok, rant over.)

So I cut down the bands, and sewed it all back together, inserting an invisible zip down one side. The hips fit again (always a bonus :) ), but I kept the lower 8cm open anyway. If I'd have thought ahead of time BEFORE cutting the front and back in two I would have had an easier time of it, just sewing a casing to the inside. As it was I had to thread the cord through the back piece and sew it into the other side seam. This means I can only adjust the fit with the cords in the front, but since the fit's ok now that's not really a problem. I ended up with this:

A much more user-friendly garment! And it got a good workout on the first day I wore it - those pics were taken at 7:30am, when it was already 28C (82F).(See?? Ridiculous heat!)  It was 37C (98F) by lunchtime, and while I wasn't exactly cool, I was as cool as I could be without walking around in my underwear. Which, let's face it, is frowned on at work...All in all, this was a fun - and useful - way to be a bit more appreciative of the weather. Or at least shut the inner Grumpy Old Woman up for a while ;)

In other news, here's a sneak peek of my Sew for Victory project fabric! I wanted a colour like my favourite dressing gown, a dark plum. I found this hemp and silk blend at Offset Warehouse and it's not too far off that shade. For some reason my camera seems to be picking up more of the cooler tones than warmer ones in the morning light, so for the record in real life the fabric is almost exactly the colour of the dressing gown in the photo here. Go figure...

The muslin fabric is all cut out and ready to go. I did plan to get stuck into sewing it together today, but went to buy food for the family instead. Couldn't put it off any longer! Maybe this weekend...

How are your projects going? Are you sewing for the new season yet, or making the most of the old one?

Have a wonderful week :)