Simplicity 1418 dress

This weekend just gone my brother got married. An occasion like that demands a new dress, don't you think? And obviously I had to make that dress. I knew I wanted to stick with my favoured fit and flare silhouette, but with some sort of feature to stand out from the dresses I wear on a daily basis. I looked through my pattern stash and eventually settled on Simplicity 1418.

This is a pattern that I got free with a magazine at some point and to be honest I'd forgotten I even owned it, but it was just what I wanted for this project. Simplicity 1418 is one of the Pattern Runway series, which has various bodice options and a pleated skirt. I decided to omit the back inserts and shoulder straps, and use the off-the-shoulder sleeves.

I made a toile of the bodice using a size 16 at the bust and grading to an 18 at the waist, and making my standard adjustment of adding an inch to the length. The fit was good, apart from when it came to the sleeves - they were huge! I took a large wedge out of the middle of the sleeve piece, which greatly improved things but there was still a bit of extra room so I slimmed them down again. I think in the end I took around 3 inches out of the sleeve, and adjusted the elastic and casing that help hold the sleeve in place by the same amount.

That meant I was ready to move on to creating the actual dress. I considered a whole range of fabric options, but the winner in the end was this lovely viscose and linen mix from Sew La Di Da. It's a really gorgeous fabric, and I think the large scale print helps to make it stand out from my everyday dresses.

It is quite a thin fabric so I decided to underline everything with white cotton lawn. I'm really happy I made that choice - not only does it ensure that the fabric is opaque, it also makes the colours look more vivid.

I cut everything out in a single layer to make it easier to get the print placement right. I wanted to make sure I had one of the groups of 3 poppies in the centre of the bodice, and then carry that on down through the skirt. The front bodice also has princess seams, and I matched the pattern up as closely as possible between the centre front and side front sections. I'm glad I put in the effort to do that - I think the bodice could have ended up looking a bit of a mess with this print otherwise.

+

The sewing process was all straightforward and the instructions were easy to follow. I decided to line the bodice instead of using the facings. I used the facings on my toile and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them, but I just prefer the clean finish of a lined bodice, especially for a dress like this. I also added 2 inches to the length of the skirt pieces just to make sure that it would be a nice elegant length.

To top it all off, I used some of the remnants of the fabric to make the simple flowers that you can hopefully just about see in my hair in these photos. The benefit of making your own outfit is that it's easy to make sure your accessories match because you can just use the same fabric!

 I really enjoyed wearing this dress - I was slightly concerned that the off-the-shoulder sleeves would annoy me, but they didn't at all. I think having the elastic underneath the sleeves really helps them to stay in place and stops the bodice from slipping. It's not going to be one of my most worn dresses because it is a bit special, but it is definitely one of my favourites. Now I just need someone else to get married so that I can wear it again!

Rosey posey dress

Back at the end of January, I went on a little day trip to Lyme Regis. It's been one of my favourite places ever since we had a couple of family holidays there when I was little, but this time I found something that makes it even better - fabric shopping!

I already knew that Sew La Di Da Vintage had a sewing school based there, but since my last visit they'd also opened up a shop selling their patterns, fabrics and other sewing goodies. It's not a big place, but I'd say would definitely falls into the category of "small but perfectly formed".

There were a couple of fabrics that took my fancy, but the rose & scissor poplin that I've used for this dress ended up being the one that came home with me.

This particular print caught my attention, because I'd already been eyeing it up in Sew Over It's online shop. I'd actually very nearly bought it before, but thankfully for me I hadn't because if I had, then I'd have paid more than I needed to - Sew Over It are selling it for £12 per metre, and I think I paid £7 (or it might have been £8) per metre. It's funny how prices vary between different fabric shops isn't it?

I'm not saying that Sew Over It are trying to overcharge people - there are a lot of different factors that go in to determining a price after all - but it's definitely worth shopping around sometimes. The lady in the Sew La Di Da shop did say that they were trying to keep their prices down, so I'll have to make sure I take more fabric buying pennies for my next trip to the seaside!

The dress that I've made here is my third one from the book Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time (the first one's here, and the second's here). The book follows the current trend in sewing books for providing mix-and-match bodices, skirts, sleeves and necklines to create a whole array of different dresses.

This one's very similar to my other two dresses - it's the basic bodice, short sleeves and gathered skirt, but this time I used the V-neck option.

Being as I've essentially made this dress twice already, this was a nice simple project and there's not really anything to say about it that I haven't said about its predecessors. Unsurprisingly, I'm pleased with the result. Plus it's good to have a bit more pink to add to my wardrobe - I don't think I have enough of it at the moment.

I really should try some of the other different options from the book at some point, but there's a few other projects creeping up my sewing queue as well - I've got Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book to try out, and some treats from recent pattern sales, but top of the list is the new Doris dress, which will hopefully be getting stitched up soon. What sewing plans do you have at the moment?

Another blue dress for the collection

Hello hello! How are you all today? Good I hope! Life's a bit busy around here at the moment, but I have a little backlog of projects to share with you still. I'll start with this patterned blue number (because clearly I don't have enough blue in my wardrobe already....)

If this dress seems somewhat familiar, that's probably because it is! This is the second dress that I've made using the patterns from the book Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time by Tanya Whelan. It's the same basic bodice with scoop neck as I used for my recent spotty dress, but this time with a gathered skirt instead of a circle skirt.

I finished making this dress a few weeks ago now, and it's already been worn a number of times. For a while, it seemed fated to always end up being worn on dull, rainy days when any photos I took wouldn't do it justice, but then thankfully the sun came out so it can have its chance to shine. 

The fabric for this one was a bargain in the John Lewis sale in January. I bought it because it was obviously a lovely quality fabric, and the colours are right up my street, but I wasn't sure quite how the print would look once translated into dress form. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised when I finished sewing, and I think it works nicely as a dress. It's always better for it to work that way round, rather than having high hopes at the start and ending up disappointed by a finished project, isn't it?

This was another nice straightforward project, with very little to say about the construction that I didn't already cover for the spotty dress. 

One thing I didn't mention that time was that in both of these dresses I've only got a pocket in one side, because they have side zips and I was being a bit lazy and didn't want to fiddle about with trying to get a pocket and zip in the same place. I debated for a while whether it would be weird to just have one pocket, but then I decided that part of the joy of sewing is that I can make a dress with only one pocket if I want. And it turns out that one pocket is fine! It's not too lazy of me is it?!

The fit of the bodice is slightly looser than others I'm used to (mainly the Emery), but I quite like it that way. It's nice to have slightly different fitting options depending on how you're feeling (or how much you've eaten!), and this bodice/skirt combination definitely makes for a great everyday dress.

I've got another similar dress with a different neckline finished, so I think this book has already proved to be a very good present. I need to try out some of the other options soon just to make sure though! What have you been sewing recently?

Jumping for joy in a new dress

I don't know about you, but there are few things that make me happier than wearing a pretty new dress on a lovely sunny day out. Just to prove it, here I am on just such a day, jumping for joy in my new dress.

Can we just appreciate the fact that a) this photo actually captures me jumping, b) it was the first and only jumping photo we took and c) I don't look demonic in it (there's something about having my photo taken while moving which makes me pull the weirdest faces - please tell me I'm not the only one?!).

This is the first dress I've made from the book Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time by Tanya Whelan, which my brother gave me (with a little prompting) for my birthday. The book gives you patterns for various bodices/necklines/skirts/sleeves that are all interchangeable and can be combined to make your own custom dress. I'll write a proper review at some point down the line once I've used it more, but my first impressions at least are definitely positive.

This is the basic bodice from the book, using the scoop neck variation, with a circle skirt and short sleeves. I did also add in pockets from the Emery dress - the one complaint I do have about the book so far is that I can't see any evidence of pockets. It's not a big issue because pockets are something that can easily be appropriated from another pattern, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who likes to have somewhere to keep a tissue, am I?

I chose to cut the back on the fold and use a side zip, if nothing else to remove the headache of trying to get the pattern to match down the centre back.

I initially made a toile using the size 6 at the bust and 7 at the waist based on the size chart, but I ended up going up a size and using a 7 at the bust and 8 at the waist. I wonder if the measurements given, which I took to be body measurements, are actually finished garment measurements because the 6/7 are the sizes that match my measurements (and I'm not trying to flatter myself), but when I made up the toile I'd have barely been able to get the zip done up, let alone been able to breath once I was in the dress. The mix of sizes 7 and 8 (with my standard addition of length in the bodice) fits nicely though so it's all good.

The fabric I used is an organic poplin from The Village Haberdashery - they don't seem to have it in stock anymore, but they do have it in a different colourway if you're interested. It's a really good quality, crisp fabric, but it did behave slightly differently to normal poplins. I found that pins left very definite marks in the fabrics, as did basting stitches. They're not too noticeable, and I'm pretty sure they'll disappear with wear/washing, so it's not a criticism of the fabric - more an observation.

I'm really happy with how this dress turned out - so much so that I've already made a second with a gathered skirt instead of a circle. As an added bonus, this is another dress that goes really nicely with my recently blogged cardigan. And if that wasn't enough, I actually wasn't cold when we were taking these photos even though it was still February and it's only a cotton dress. Admittedly, I was in a sheltered spot, but it's definitely a sign that warmer weather is on it's way which has got to be a good thing, right?

Mortmain + Stripes

You know those times when fabric is such a bargain that you just HAVE to buy it? This dress is entirely down to one of those occasions.

I'd seen this fabric online ages ago - I really liked it, but it didn't fit in with my plans at the time and it wasn't the cheapest in the world so, after a bit of dithering, I decided to be good and leave it behind. Fast-forward several months, and I saw a link to a fabric sale where it was reduced to half price. I was sold, and instantly snapped up enough for a dress.

I was very tempted to make yet another Emery, but the fabric kept telling me that it would prefer to become a Gather Mortmain dress instead. As you can see, in the end I had to agree because I thought that it would be good to have the option of playing with the stripe direction on the waistband.

It had also been a while since I made a Mortmain (previous versions here and here) and, much though I love the Emery, it's also always nice to have a little bit of variety.

So the fabric...we already know it was a bargain, but what else do I have to say about it? I picked it up from Patch Fabrics; they don't seem to have this exact one anymore but they do have the green colourway. It's a peppered cotton, the stripes are woven and there's a slightly irridescent effect from the different coloured warp and weft threads, which you can maybe see a bit better in this close-up...

Excuse the slightly crumpled look (this was mid-sewing) and let's focus instead on the fabric -isn't it lovely? And I hope you'll excuse me if I pat myself on the back for that stripe matching. I love striped and check fabric, but I always hate it slightly when I'm cutting it out and giving myself a headache trying to get the pattern matching right. The extra effort is always worth it in the end though!

Thinking about pattern matching in sewing has made me really critical of print placement and matching in RTW clothing. I don't buy much RTW anymore (mainly because it's more fun to sew my own), but whenever I am in shops I find myself picking things to pieces! Does anyone else do the same?

Anyway, back to the dress...I'm pretty sure that it does fit me through the back in spite of what it looks like in the photo above. I'm going to blame those extra wrinkles on moving about pretending to be climbing the rocks and on the fact that, while it is lovely, the fabric does crease really easily.

Once I'd got past the hurdle of cutting it all out, the dress was a nice and simple sewing project. In addition to the fitting changes I'd made before (adding an inch to the bodice), for this version I also added two inches to the skirt. Although my first two Mortmains are an OK length, I do find that they've ended up slightly shorter than my other dresses. It's a small difference, but it's one that I do notice so I decided to do something about it.

I also omitted the sleeve cuffs for this version. This may at least partially have been to avoid more stripe matching! I just did a simple hem on the sleeves instead, but added a couple of inches to them first so that I didn't lose any length.

I'm pretty happy with this dress. I don't think I love it as much as some others, but I do like it and I can see it being worn regularly. I definitely prefer it when I'm wearing it with a cardigan like this to pick out one of the colours - I think it helps the fabric come to life a bit more. And I love it with this cute little bow brooch I found in a charity shop recently! From the 50% off fabric and charity shop jewellery, can anyone tell that I love a bargain?!

An Emery Dress for a Rainy Day

I was finishing off sewing a dress this weekend when I realised that I still hadn't got round to showing you the last dress that I made. As my semi-bare legs in the photos may hint, I've had the photos ready to go for about a month but they've been neglected waiting for the writing to accompany them. I blame a slightly stressful month in terms of work. It wasn't anything major, and stress levels in my job are definitely nothing compared to many professions, but it was enough to make sitting at a computer again the last thing I wanted to do at the end of the day. Thankfully that's all over now, so here's my (kind of) new dress!

As you may have guessed (or read in the title), this is my latest iteration of the Christine Haynes Emery dress (previous versions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). I made no changes other than my standard fit adjustments that I've mentioned in my other Emery posts.

This time, I chose to make it in a fun umbrella print from the Dashwood Studio Rain or Shine collection. I bought the fabric about 6 months ago because I found it with a great discount, but always intended to leave it until early autumn to sew up when umbrellas would probably be more weather-appropriate. Not that I didn't need my umbrella during the summer, but I always like to be optimistic!

I also always knew that this fabric would become an Emery dress because I think it's a great pattern for showing off a fun print. It's also undoubtedly my favourite pattern, mainly because I know that I'm always going to end up with a dress I love. If ever my motivation to sew is slightly lacking, or I've been left disappointed by a project, I know that making an Emery will put everything right again. Do you have a magic pattern that does the same for you?

Having extolled the virtues of the Emery, I have to sightly contradict myself and say that this one almost didn't have a happy ending. I was trying the almost-finished dress on when I got the bodice lining stuck in the zip. Completely, totally and utterly stuck. And I was stuck in the dress too. I momentarily debated which would be the less bad option between cutting and ruining the dress to get it off, or going round to one of my neighbours (who I don't know very well) to ask for help, but finally I managed to find some contortionist skills to free myself, and that made releasing the lining much easier. Please tell me I'm not the only one who's done that?!

Anyway, thankfully I can put that little crisis behind me and get on with enjoying my pretty new Emery! I've got a couple of other finished and nearly-finished projects ready to show you, and work has now returned to normal so hopefully I'll be back to enjoying blogging again instead of hiding away from the computer. See you soon!

Anyone for tea? New Look 6723

I warn you now, today's post may contain excessive gushing about fabric. Why? Because this dress, my second version of New Look 6723, is made of what may be some of my favourite material I've ever used.

I'm also likely to spend more time talking about the fabric because, in terms of construction, this dress is exactly the same as my first New Look 6723, so there's not a lot new to say!

As a quick recap, I made view D and used a size 14 at the shoulders and graded out to a 16 from the bust downwards. I also elminated the centre front bodice seam, added pockets (from the Emery dress) and used an invisible zip instead of the lapped zip used in the pattern.

So that fabric...it's a Liberty lawn from the Alice in Wonderland themed Spring Summer 2015 collection, and the print is called Suzy Elizabeth. Like many Liberty lawns, the small-scale print means that from a distance it looks like a bit of a random pattern, but look at it closer and its true fantasticness is revealed.

Hopefully this close-up lets you see the host of teapots, teacups and general tea party paraphernalia - it's really fun!

I loved the whimsical print as soon as I saw it online but, let's face it, Liberty don't produce the cheapest of fabrics around and my sewing budget is unfirtunately not limitless. Some things are worth paying for though, and the combination of what I know is a beautiful base fabric and a print that I adore seemed like it would be one of those things.

So, I decided to be a bit of a geek and save up for it. I had a little piggy bank that I'd been given with some chocolate in it at Christmas, which I put on my mantelpiece and every time I ended up with a few pound coins in my purse, I'd put one in the piggy bank. It's amazing how quickly the fund builds up without you even noticing! Has anyone else ever done that or am I just weird?!

Luckily for me, the saving process was cut short by Liberty putting the fabric in their sale, making it cheaper than any of the other sources of Liberty online, so I snapped up enough for a dress, and then I just needed to decide what pattern would be the lucky recipient of this beauty. As it's undoubtedly my favourite pattern, the Emery dress would have seemed like the obvious candidate, but I think that it's better with a slightly larger print so I decided not to use it this time. I was really happy with my first 6723 though, so that's the option I went for - and I'm really happy with the results!

I love both of my versions of New Look 6723, but what I think I appreciate most of all is the fact that the different scales and colours of the fabrics that I used makes them look like totally different dresses. The floral fabric of my first version is definitely a medium-weight cotton too, so feels very different to wear from this floaty lawn. Isn't that one of the lovely things about sewing? There are so many variables that can create such different garments.

It might seem like a strange time of year to be making a sleeveless dress in England, but there are lots of colours hidden in the the details in this print, which to me means plenty of cardigan options for warmth. I also think the dress will work paired with tights, so I'll still be wearing it for a while more this year. And the best thing? I just made a teapot necklace so now I have the perfecct accessory for my handmade dress! What have you been making recently?

New Look 6723

How are you all today? I'm feeling nice and rested still after spending last week on holiday up in Northumberland with my family. Obviously I had to make a couple of new things to take with me, which means that I can treat you to some different photo backdrops for my next couple of posts, starting with this version of New Look 6723...

It's a pretty pattern with a princess seamed bodice, full skirt and a sweetheart or higher neckline, and sleeveless, short sleeve or three-quarter sleeved options. Oh, and a lined bodice - which is definitely my favourite finish.

I bought the pattern partly because I decided that I'd like a couple of dresses with slightly lower necklines. As is probably evident by now, I love my Emery dresses but their one downside is that I can't wear my necklaces (nothing posh, just pretty!) with them. So I was definitely going to try the sweetheart version of New Look 6723 first, and it's summer so sleeveless seemed like a good option.

The fabric is Gütermann Long Island Rose. I got it from Weaver Dee when they had it half price, but they don't seem to have it in stock anymore.

It surprised me a little when it arrived - I was expecting the print to be smaller scale and the background to be navy, whereas it's definitely a grey-blue and in some lights looks much more grey than blue. It's a lovely quality cotton though, and the more I looked at it the more I thought that it was probably actually nicer than what I thought I was buying. Surprises are good when they're nice surprises!

I made a couple of changes to the pattern. Firstly, the sweetheart bodice has a centre front seam, which I assume is to make it easier to get a nice point on the sweetheart shape. I didn't really want a seam there breaking up the fairly large-scale print though, so I chose to cut the bodice on the fold instead. I reinforced the stitching at the centre point, and cut as far down into the seam allowance towards the point as I dared, and that's produced a perfectly good shape as far as I'm concerned.

I also added pockets as I'm fairly prone to hay fever-type sneezing fits so it's always good to have somewhere to put a tissue! I just stole the pattern pieces from the Emery dress - nice and simple. I know some people don't understand the fascination with pockets, but I definitely find that I miss them when they're not there.

The pattern uses a lapped zip, but I had an invisible zip ready to use so I went with that option instead. That meant that I had to do a couple of the other steps slightly differently, but that mainly affects the finish on the lining not the actual dress itself.

When it came to picking a size, I tried out my theory I mentioned in my post about my last dress of sizing down in the shoulders to avoid underarm gaping. I made a size 14 at the shoulders, grading out to a size 16 from the bust downwards and it worked a treat - no underarm gaping in sight!

Other than that, I just needed to make my standard adjustment of adding length to the bodice (although only 1.5 cm, so less than usual).

I like this dress a lot more than I was expecting to when the fabric arrived. It's really pretty, but I think the grey in the background dilutes the sweetness of it a bit so stops it from being too girly and twee. I love the shape as well - so much so that I'm thinking of cutting into some prized Liberty lawn for another 6723. What do you think, should I do it?!

New Look 6184

When New Look 6184 was the free pattern with Sew magazine a few months ago, I instantly earmarked it for my summer sewing plans. I mean, with a fitted bodice with a pretty pleated neckline, and a flared skirt (or pencil skirt if that's more your style), what's not to like?

It turns out that it was also nice and easy to sew, and came together quickly, so that makes it even more of a winner in my book!

The bodice is unlined and finished with a neck facing and bias tape around the armholes, and while I do prefer the finish of lined bodices in general, there's no denying that a facing is quicker and gives you a light and breezy dress for the summer.

I did initially have a bit of the problem with the facing not lying flat and trying to peep out along the front neckline - I was assured you didn't notice it at all when I had the dress on, but I could definitely see it and it was bothering me so I needed to sort it out! I tried catch stitching the bottom of the facing to the bodice, but that spoiled the effect of the pleats. I ripped that out and instead catch stitched down the facing in diagonal lines from the corners of the neckline, and that seems to have done the trick.

For this version of the bodice (there's also a higher necked version), the only shaping is provided by the pleats at the neckline, so I was slightly concerned about how I'd make any alterations if it didn't fit properly but thankfully for me it fits well pretty much straight out of the box. I made a size 16, and just needed to add an inch to the bodice length (standard for me) and an inch to the skirt (also not unusual for me!).

I also ended up taking an extra half a centimetre out of the side seams at the underarms during construction - I'm noticing that I often need to do that with sleeveless tops/dresses so maybe I should think about going down a size in the shoulders or something?

There's a bit more ease in the front of the bodice than I'm used to in patterns like the Emery, for example, but I think that's going to be inevitable when the pleating at the neckline is the only shaping. I like the fit anyway, so it's all good!

Can we take a moment to appreciate this invisible zip please?! I feel like I've finally cracked a way to insert them nicely that seems to work reliably for me. I've probably jinxed it now though and will have problems next time I try to use one!

The fabric for this dress was another bargain from The Village Haberdashery sale section, at a time when they had an extra discount running for the sale section, so I think it was only something like £4 a metre. Really it would have been silly not to have it at that price, right?! I actually already have another dress in a different colourway of the same print, but they look quite different, so that's OK I think.

I think that's about all I've got to say about this one! As you've probably guessed, I'm pretty happy with it, even more so because at about the same time as I finished it I found these pretty red shoes that go really nicely with it! What have you been sewing recently?