A double dose of New Look 6723

It's been a little while since I last posted. There's been no shortage of sewing going on in the meantime, but the projects I've been making have either felt not worthy of their own blog post (pyjama trousers for my nephew, and a very simple t-shirt for my dad) or they have been for people who don't necessarily want to be subjected to a whole blog photo session (my mum). Thankfully the dress I made for my mum turned out so nicely that I decided to make my own version which I'm here to share with you today.

The pattern is New Look 6723. I made a couple of versions of view D of this pattern a few years ago (here and here) and I've worn both of them a lot so, given my proclivity for making certain patterns repeatedly (I'm looking at you Emery dress!), it's surprising that it's taken me this long to make another version.

I was mainly prompted into making this because, having promised to make a dress for my mum, I was having a bit of trouble getting toiles of the original pattern she picked (Simplicity 8294) to fit. I'd got a bit frustrated with the whole thing so one weekend when I was staying with my parents, I had one of my earlier 6723s with me and got her to try it on because we're a pretty similar size other than the fact that I'm a bit taller. It fit really nicely, so the original pattern was abandoned and I set about tweaking 6723 slightly to fit with my mum's requests.

Mum definitely didn't want the sweetheart neckline, so I used view B of 6723 but lowered the neckline slightly using the Simplicity pattern as a guide. Other than that, the only changes I made were the same as for my two first versions, namely using an invisible zip instead of a lapped one (which meant I slightly altered the construction order) and adding in pockets. And as soon as I'd finished my mum's dress, I cut out a second version of my very own!

I persuaded my mum that she did want to make a cameo blog appearance really, so this is the version I made for her. It's sewn using some lovely Seasalt fabric. I'm extremely happy about Seasalt selling fabric! I've been saying for ages that they should - I love a lot of their prints and in the past I'd have happily bought their dresses, but now that I sew I have to admit that, like most RTW dresses, the waistline is slightly high on me. So it's excellent that they've somehow read my mind!

The fabric is lovely quality - it's fairly light weight so I think you'd want to line bodices at least, but that's fine for me because I prefer lined bodices anyway. I've got a length of the Corde Fleur Night print sitting waiting for me to decide what to sew with it, and I'm seriously tempted to treat myself to another print as well.

Anyway, I'll stop gushing about Seasalt fabric now and gush about Liberty tana lawn instead because that's what I used for my version. This particular print is called Mushaboom, and I picked it up in the Liberty sale back in January. I love the fact that the print is a bit larger scale than most tana lawns, and also that the colours are so saturated.

It really is gorgeous, and tana lawn is great for wearing when the weather's hot. So much so that in the recent heat wave I semi-jokingly declared that I want enough Liberty dresses so that I can get through any heat waves clad exclusively in tana lawn. My fabric budget is far from limitless though, so I might have to build up that collection gradually by taking advantage of sales and/or ebay bargains!

All in all, I'm really happy with how both of these dresses turned out. It's a lovely summer dress shape - nice and breezy for when the weather's hot without being so sundress-y that it looks like it should only be worn on a beach. Don't be surprised if you see more of them round these parts in the future!

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?!