Complete: A Year-Round Vogue 1152?

I've often wondered whether it's possible to make a dress than you can genuinely wear all though the year. Heaven knows I've tried, and with pretty dismal results so far. The winter ones feel too heavy in summer, the summer ones feel all wrong and "denial-ish" in cold weather. Possibly the closest I've come is with my Jacinta maxi dress. I have worn this through winter and summer; I wore it a few days ago in a last ditch attempt to prove to myself that a year-round dress is feasible. Sadly, it only made me realise (and this may well have been aided by currently working through Colette's Wardrobe Architect) that I actually loathe wearing maxi dresses in winter. I felt like a Greek widow all day. Nope!

But, I think I just may have got there with this one:

This is Vogue 1152, one of Rebecca Taylor's designs. I've admired this one for the past few years, but couldn't quite bring myself to hand over $30 for the privilege of owning it. But when Spotlight had a $5 Vogue sale last year, I pounced!

It's (directly from the envelope, this) a "loose-fitting dress with front and back princess seams, front and back gathers, front insets with contrast piping, back elastic casings and side invisible zip". I jettisoned the "short sleeves with pleated cap and gathered lower edge into self band", since I don't love short sleeves (again, Wardrobe Architect ;) ), especially puffy ones. I also left off the curved shirttail hem. I have no quarrel with shirttail hems - provided they're on shirts. Instead, I just cut the hem at the length of the centre front.

 

The fabric is an Alannah Hill silk crepe du chine, that I found last year at Clear It (thank you, Sarah!) I'm not often drawn to floral prints, especially larger scale ones, but I loved the colours through this and the way the design is broken down so it almost looks abstract. I think silk crepe du chine may well be my new favourite. It drapes, it breathes and it behaves. In short, a dream fabric!

Please forgive the tights in the photos; it was early morning, about 3 degrees and the deck was slippery with ice. Dedication to blog photography only goes so far...

I didn't actually do up a muslin for this, just held the front bodice pieces up against me. Word of warning: this neckline is LOW! I raised it here by 5cm/2", and while I could wear it without a cami underneath, it does feel a little bit cleavage-y that way. That's irritating, because I really wanted this to work for being out of the house on really sweltering summer days. It's also irritating, being an avoidable and self-inflicted issue. Maybe I'll just get a crop top bra thing...

 One thing I didn't notice until the end was that the front bodice gathers on the left side (in photos) aren't sitting quite right; it puffs out a bit on that side. It can be folded back into place, but I prefer to put on my clothes and forget about them, rather than having to monitor and adjust throughout the day.

But what I really love about this dress is how lovely it is to wear. It's SO comfortable! I'm a bit wary of loose fitting styles, as being short I tend to feel swamped by excess fabric, plus I like a defined waist. You can see above how much extra fabric there is at the waist, but it doesn't feel or look "tent-like". I'm not sure if that's down to the drape of the fabric or the drafting of the pattern, but I love it. (It'll be an excellent choice for heavy eating days ;).) The two rows of elastic at the centre back help give it overall shaping too.

I tried a few different colours for the contrast piping at the front. I have, as previously mentioned, a sizeable scraps stash, and I really didn't want to go out and buy such a small amount of fabric. The best choice to my mind - contrasting, but not too starkly - was a soft brown crepe, which I think I once used for a muslin for something.

My recently discovered edge-stitching foot (oh, how I love this!) was particularly appreciated when it came to sewing the casing for the elastic at the back:

Something else I liked very much about this pattern was the attention it paid to the finishing on the inside of the dress. Those extra pieces below are to hide the piping seams, and are sewn in along one edge and then hand stitched in place along the other. The self-lined yoke at the back is finished in the same way.

I finished this back in early May, and liked it very much on the hanger. But the couple of times I wore it, something didn't feel quite right. It felt...frumpy. (Me Made May, below - and I still don't know why those mid-grey tights look so very dark in the photo...)

Eventually I worked it out - it was too long. I'd made it knee length, which I've always liked, but the knee length skirts I wear are either fitted or A-line styles. So with more confidence than I felt, I took 10cm/4" off the bottom, and I think it's a much better proportion on me now.

It's also getting a lot more wear! I think it's a much better length now to be worn with jumpers and scarves for cold weather, and the fact that the colours are quite deep and rich mean that it doesn't look out of place or inappropriate as a winter "skirt". (Unlike every summer dress I tried to "winterfy" in my first Me Made May...)

It's funny how sometimes the things we make need a bit of wear, evaluation and adjustment before we're completely satisfied with them. It's been a good lesson to me not to write a not-quite-right garment off too quickly.

Have you ever experienced this with anything you've made? What was your solution or magic fix? 

Complete: A Spur of the Moment Simone

Hello all :) Back again with the next project of my backlog of unblogged summer sewing projects. (It feels especially incongruous tonight, with a wintry storm raging outside the window...) This one, unusually for me, was a complete impulse make. Although it wasn't a particularly hot summer - not a single local fire warning! - we had some scattered sweltering days. It was the day before one of these that I realised that while I have a good number of summer dresses all of them are a bit too fitted or constricting for really hot weather.

I had some paisley print rayon I'd bought a couple of months prior (the last 1.8m on the roll), that I was desperately hoping would be enough for a Cascade skirt. Then when I reluctantly conceded I was being delusional, went through the same process with the Gabriola skirt. Ditto. Then it was earmarked for more Simplicity pants. Then I thought I'd get way more wear out of another kimono jacket. Then, I remembered the Simone dress, by Victory Patterns.

(To be honest, this was a pattern I'd admired and dismissed in the past. I think Victory have some amazing designs, but they seemed a bit too, I don't know, trendy or edgy for me. And I am about as unedgy as they come...)

To quote the website:
Simone is a semi-fitted style featuring a contrasting placket and tab detail in which pleats extend, creating fullness. A fitted neckline opens at the front and is secured with a hook and eye. The back features a contrasting racer cut yoke. 

I'm not usually one for A-line or tent style dresses; I feel a bit lost in them. But I liked the way this one had a bit of shape to it, without being cinched in at the waist at all. I think the fact that the back is fitted to the waist helps with that. I showed the photos and line drawings to the family and got a general thumbs up. And so the sewing began.

Googling revealed some mixed reviews about this pattern. But I'm happy to report I had none of the alleged drafting issues. My biggest concern was whether it would pull across the chest; the photo example on the website seems to be doing that. But it doesn't seem to. :)

In order to get all the pieces cut from my meagre 1.8m, I did have to lose 10cm from the back lower edge. Although I smoothed out the new curve when I cut it, it does make a difference to the way it falls - when worn, the back curves down beautifully to the middle...and then abruptly stops.  (You can possibly see it best in the first hanger photo) If I sew it up again some day I'll definitely cut the back skirt as drafted.

After sewing up a muslin, it was evident that the shoulder seam would have to be taken up significantly. (My notes say it was 6cm, which seems an enormous amount...) But that was really the only fitting modification needed.

 I decided against a contrast placket at front and back, and went with piping to highlight the seaming instead. I used the leftovers from my silk Annie cami, which matched the cream of the print exactly. I thought I might behave better as piping. Not so. The only reason it was less irritating this time around was because there was less of it used.

This is the first pattern I've come across that instructs you to fuse bias binding; here, at the neck. That seemed really counter-intuitive - surely interfacing would stop the binding from being pliable enough to sew around curves? But, and I still don't quite understand why, it didn't. Maybe it helps hold the weight of the dress?

I was really worried after I'd sewn the binding on to the armholes that the back section wasn't going to sit flat; it was very ripply even after determined pressing. But, and again I don't understand quite why, it's all fine when worn. Go figure!

Overall, I think I like it. But I'm not entirely sure.

In its favour, it is a perfect dress to wear on a truly hot day; the rayon flows and breathes and feels beautiful. It's not restrictive in any way. I love the colour and the print.

On the other hand, it just feels a bit busy on me. There's a fair bit going on design-wise, what with the seamlines, pleats, racer back, plackets and tab. Done up in a print it feels like overkill. And I have to confess, I can't help being a bit wistful over the kimono jacket that will never be....

I might be being overcritical. After all, I don't think it'll languish unworn in the wardrobe once summer rolls around again, so it's not a fail. In fact, on reflection, this dress has actually helped me discover something. I hadn't realised before this that I much prefer prints with simple design lines, and solids with more complex ones. That's a revelation that'll be very useful in deciding on future projects!

Will I make it up again sometime? Perhaps - in a solid ;) It also has the option of being a top, which might be nice also. Either way I would definitely raise the height of the keyhole at front. It's not too low, but it feels it. As a dress I'd probably try making the front skirt more voluminous too. It feels a little bit skimpy compared to the volume of the back, and I've noticed the weight of the back skirt can pull the front skirt back towards it occasionally.

But my head's not really in summer sewing territory anymore - it's all cool weather projects here now. Just two more things to try and finish before Me Made May...

Have you had an ambivalent project recently? Did you learn anything useful from it?

Complete: A Not So New Jacinta Dress

You know how sometimes the longer you leave something you mean to do, the harder it is to actually get down and do it? Yeah...it's been a while between posts. Life got busy, as it does from time to time for all of us. I have however been putting non-blogging time to work as sewing time, and so I think for the first time I have a bit of a backlog of projects to catch up on.

First up is a dress I finished last April, that I've never quite managed to get around to posting. This is because I'd thought of it as a bit of a "meh" make. But, in the twin interests of honesty and posterity, here 'tis:

It's Style Arc's Jacinta Knit Dress, in a very ordinary stable black cotton jersey with self-fabric bands at neck and armholes. And that photo isn't doing anything to dispel the "meh" rating... Clearer design lines shown below:

It went together very easily although from memory some of the yoke (raglan-y bits) pieces were oddly labelled. It was almost as if the printing cut out partway through the words - both versions, sleeved and sleeveless, were labelled "version sl" with the final "L" partly missing. Going by the line drawings I assumed the narrower "straps" were for the sleeveless view. Since this was technically a muslin (with the secret hope of being wearable anyway) I didn't make any changes to the pattern.

It's shaped but not particularly fitted, which is best evidenced by the side view. (Figure? What figure?) When I first tried it on I was pretty underwhelmed. I really didn't think this one would get much wear at all.

But by the end of the year I was pleasantly surprised. Keeping a record /running tally of all the times I wore my own makes was an enlightening exercise; some things I loved when I made them had barely been worn at all, while some things - like this one - had been in much higher rotation than expected. This dress actually worked really well throughout winter for layering; boots, tights, long-sleeved tops, jumpers. In fact, this and my Beatnik jumper was one of my favourite outfits. I found one handy thing about wearing a dress under things is that there's no extra waistband bulk. Plus, the very unspectacularness (to coin a word...) of this made it easy to coordinate with lots of other things. Who'd have thought!

So, a tick for cooler weather wear. But how about the warmer weather it would seem to have been designed for? Here's a confession, and just another reason why I'll never be a stylist or a true fashionista: I'm not all that keen on wearing black in summer. I know it's very chic, and timeless and all that, but with the occasional exception, generally it feels a bit, I don't know, heavy to wear on a hot day.

But I actually don't mind this belted and with sandals...

 I usually try and post garments reasonably soon after making them (or at least take photos before they've been through the wash umpteen times), but I think the gap between completion and post has worked in this dress's favour. At the time this would have gotten a thumbs down in any review I gave, but it really has proved its worth since.

So much so that now I'm thinking a grey marle version with elbow length sleeves would be rather nice...

How about you? Have you ever had a make turn around and surprise you like this?

Inspired by: An Experimental Francoise

Don't you just love it when something you intended to make coincides perfectly with a new pattern/sewalong/competition? I do :)

In this instance it was the Francoise Dress by Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons, a classic style sheath dress, with or without sleeves.  About a month ago she kicked off a competition - with some pretty impressive prizes! - and since I'd had a white summer shift planned, I thought I'd have a go. Here's mine, in plain white cotton sateen, with pattern over the front drawn with fabric markers (close ups to come!):

I'd seen this dress (below) on Pinterest back in the depths of winter and thought I'd try recreating it come warmer weather, without the sleeves and with a bit more length. I think, though it's hard to tell, that the pattern is formed through a fine variegated trim sewn down in place, or possibly embroidery. This was my first plan, then it occured to me that there might be one or two other things happening in December, and as much as I like the idea of embroidery, it wasn't really a time-efficient option...

I thought fabric marker pens might give a similar effect overall. I do have confess though that it took me a while to get past the idea of 1980s kiddie craft; remember those t-shirts and canvas shoes??  But, I think it actually worked out alright!

This was my first experience with a TatB pattern, and I was really impressed. The drafting is beautifully done, the instructions are clear and comprehensive, and every step is photo-documented on her blog. The sizing is spot on too, and since I'd sewn up a commercial pattern (not yet blogged) immediately prior to this, I very much appreciated not having to take out massive and unwarranted amounts of excess ease!

 There were only a few fitting modifications I needed to do, and (unlike the commercial one...) these were all to do with my body shape and preferences rather than trying to make it fit.

Modifications:

• I made the front darts finish 1cm earlier so they didn't finish on the apex of the bust.
• I took in the centre back seam at the neck by 4cm and tapered back down to original seam line
• I took the side seams in by 1.5cm at my waist
• I slimmed the skirt's A-line shape down to make a slightly straighter silhouette.

To do the pattern on front, I cut out a front piece (main and shoulder yokes in one) out of tissue paper and sketched out the design in a normal marker pen. I kept the rough shape of the original design - and the feathers at the waist, love those - and then just doodled until it looked finished.

Ideally I would have had a light box to transfer these markings to the fabric. But I didn't. So instead I pinned the paper behind the fabric (front piece, darted and sewn to shoulder yokes) and held it up against a window and traced that way. I looked faintly ridiculous, and my arms ached a bit afterwards, but it was effective! I used a quilter's pencil; the lines are supposed to fade in sunlight. Here's hoping they do!

Here's where the experimental part of the project came in. Technically these aren't actually fabric markers. They're blending markers, used for stamping, colouring etc on paper. But I was using these at work and since they come in plenty of colours (168 :)  ) I tried them out on some scrap fabric. There was very little bleed, and once I'd pressed with a hot iron and pressing cloth, I washed it. The colours set beautifully!

The original was a vivid cobalt blending into aqua, which I loved, but I decided to use a dark teal instead since that suits me better. Dark teal, mid teal and aqua, to be exact. I drew over the pencil lines, changing marker pens every few inches.

 It took a while, and after I'd done the first few bits I really thought I ruined the whole thing. But the nature of the design means that the hand-drawn quality works overall. When you look at one individual section of it it can look a bit rubbishy, but taken as a whole it's ok.

It's not lined; the neckline is finished with a facing, and the armholes with self bias binding.

So that's it - my version of Francoise!

I'm wondering how this pattern would look in a softer fabric - I know it suggests something that will hold the shape, but the skirt as drafted is a bit exaggerated for me. I think a drapier fabric with the original fullness might work rather nicely.

I'm also keen to try this as a winter dress with sleeves. But I'll worry about that come Autumn...

Complete: Queue Jumper Dress

Hello all! I have to confess, it's going to be a bit of a rush job of a post this time, since life is pretty frantic at the moment (three days till school production...). But what with the show, and two weeks of family holidays starting next week (hurrah!!), if I don't sneak a post in tonight it's not going to happen for ages.

I've dubbed this my Queue Jumper Dress for good reason - it inveigled its way up the sewing and bloggy queues. Last week we had the chance of a night out at the theatre, and after three solid months of very unselfish sewing, I grabbed the opportunity of a free evening to sew purely for moi. Plus, all my recent (well, recent-ish) sewing for myself has been purely practical - it was time was for a bit of fun!

Enter Burda 6919. A (to my mind) 70s inspired, drapey, blouson, batwing sleeved knit dress. With, I admit, very little hanger appeal...

I found this black and gold lurex knit at my local favourite fabric store. It's lovely and sparkly, without being too much so - maybe "gleamy" is a better word. (Albeit a specially coined one.) I cut out the size 10 without any alterations, but I think next time I might size down one size.

Since I didn't have a belt to wear with it that really suited, I made up a self fabric tie to sit over the elasticated waist; I just think it looks a bit more finished that way.

 There does seem to be a bit of an odd fold at the back lower waist, but I'm not sure whether that's because the fabric is sticking to my tights... It doesn't seem to happen when I'm wearing heels, but it's still boots-and-tights weather here at the moment!

It went together very easily, almost all of it done on the overlocker, although despite several attempts this fabric was having nothing to do with twin needle stitching of any kind. I got around that (on sleeve cutouts and all hems) with a zigzag stitch.

As much as I like the design, I do have two niggles with the pattern as drafted. Firstly, the neckband piece is the same length as the neckline itself. Now, this had me a bit concerned as I came to sew it - surely that would make the neckband stick out?? - but thought I'd follow instructions and see whether I couldn't learn something new. So I did it as per the instructions, and guess what? The neckband stuck out.

This stuff is beyond hideous to unpick, so after a bit of thought, I folded the band down over the right side of the neckline and top stitched it down.

 
It's still doesn't sit perfectly flat, but it's a huge improvement on what it was! And with my new my-present-to-me necklace sitting over the top, no one can tell anyway ;)

The second thing that puzzled me about the pattern was the waistline. It has diagonal pleats extending up over the bodice and down the skirt, which I really liked. But I think they get a bit lost when the elastic is sewn to them on the underside. I'm wondering whether it wouldn't work better to have the elastic begin and end either side of the pleats instead? I'd like to try this pattern again in a more casual fabric and see. I'm thinking a navy jersey would make a pretty nice comfy-but-presentable spring weather dress.

I still have enough fabric over for a MariaDenmark Kimono Tee, which I've been meaning to try out for a while now. I'm fairly sure it won't happen before holidays next week though....

To be honest, I don't know just how much wear this one will get - there's not a lot of call for sparkly dresses in day to day wear. But oh! it felt good to do some selfish and frivolous sewing for a change!

What's your current project? Purely practical or frivolously fun??