(Almost) Riley dress

It's no secret by now that I'm partial to treating myself to a sewing magazine every now and then, especially if there's a pretty pattern involved. So it was no surprise that when The Craft Network Sewing magazine was released with the Riley dress pattern, a copy came home with me fairly quickly and the dress was added to my summer sewing list.

The Riley dress has a fitted, lined bodice, separate waistband and gathered skirt. It comes with 2 bodice options - view A which is cross-over and sleeveless with a side zip, and view B with short sleeves, a square neckline and centre back zip. As you can probably see from the photo above, I chose view B!

The first thing that I should say is this isn't entirely a Riley dress. What the fabric requirements on the pattern envelope don't mention is that the skirt pieces are actually too wide to fit on 115cm/45" fabric unless you cut them on the crossgrain. 

I hadn't realised this before I bought my fabric (a strawberry print poplin, with contrast red poplin for the waistband, from a fabric shop in Barnstaple that I found when visiting my sister), and the print just wouldn't have looked quite right on the crossgrain. 

So instead of using the skirt pieces from the pattern, I swapped them for the skirt from the Emery dress (and, of course, I also added the pockets from the Emery). The skirts are very similar shapes, it just means I have slightly less volume in the skirt than the pattern intends.

The next point to make is that, unless I did something particularly bizarre, this pattern contains a LOT of ease in the waist. The only finished garment measurement provided is the length, so based on my measurements, I made a toile using a medium at the bust, grading out to a large at the waist. 

The bust fit well, but the waist was HUGE. I took in 2 cm at each side seam, which effectively turned it into a medium for the whole bodice. My toile seemed OK at that point, so I got on with cutting out the dress.

Sadly, once the actual dress was finished, there was still too much ease in the waist, which was surprising being as the waist measurements for the medium are 27.5-29 inches, and my waist is 31 inches on a good day, or 32 on a day when I've been eating more cake! 

I took the zip out again and took a wedge out of the centre back seam, removing 1cm on either side of the neckline, and blending out to take out 2.5 cm on either side of the waist, and back in to meet the original seam halfway down the skirt. So that means that I took a total of about 13cm/5 inches out of the original waist size based on my measurements, and there's still plenty of wearing ease. In hindsight, I probably should have just measured the waistband pieces and worked out the finished measurements from the start.

The actual making of the dress was pretty straightforward. I found the instructions clear and easy to follow. Having said that though, if I made this pattern again I'd probably ignore the instructions and go a bit off piste because I'm not 100% sold on the finish that it gives you. 

The main bodice and bodice lining are joined together at the neckline fairly early on, and then basted together round the remaining sides and treated as one piece from that point onwards. This does the job, but it means that the top of the centre back seam allowances end up being flush with the neckline, rather than being enclosed inside the lining as it would be if the lining were added after inserting the zip (which is what every other lined bodice I've ever made has done). 

I think the instructions may have you do it this way to ensure that the gathers at the waist (which provide the bust shaping) are even on the main fabric and the lining, but I think I'd rather gather them separately and spend time making sure they're even and have a nicer finish on the centre back.

As it is, I added to or ignored the instructions a couple of times anyway - I understitched the lining at the neckline , which isn't included in the instructions, and I didn't use the recommended topstitching on the waistband. I did give the topstitching a try, but I just thought it looked better without it. 

All in all, you can probably tell already that this isn't my favourite pattern. The waist sizing is definitely a bit off, the finish that the pattern produces isn't the neatest, and I don't think the pattern envelope tells you all the information that it should. That being said, I'm reasonably happy with the finished dress. I'm not sure that the waistband is that flattering on me, but the dress is comfy and the print is pretty so it'll still be worn I'm sure. Has anyone else tried this pattern? Is it just me that's slightly disappointed by it?!

My Me Made May

This year I decided to take part in Me Made May for the first time. My pledge was to wear at least one me-made item per day, which I thought would be fairly do-able, and I was right. So much so that I actually decided to up the challenge part way through the month to see if I could manage without repeating whole outfits - and (thanks in part to warm weather making occasional appearances, allowing more summery dresses to come out of hibernation) I did!

(If you want any pattern details, they're all on my Instagram feed)

I'm in two minds about whether I should be proud about that or not - in some ways I definitely am because it shows that I've made a lot of things that I actually wear, but in other ways maybe it shows that I have more clothes than I really need.

I am conscious of constant fabric shopping and excessive dress making not being much better on a general sustainability level than high street fast fashion, but I also know that sewing, and creating pretty dresses in particular, makes me happy and keeps me sane. I also love my wardrobe now more than I ever have done in the past, and I feel so much more confident (something that I often struggle with) when I'm wearing something that I've made. So while I probably don't technically need to sew anything new for a while, I think it's safe to say that won't stop me from cutting out a another dress later this week.

So, what have I learnt from this Me Made May?
- The pattern I wore the most was the Emery dress - not a surprise! It's my favourite and most-used pattern
- Emery was closely followed in the popularity stakes by the Veronika skirt. My denim one in particular is a staple in my wardrobe
- While I wear a lot of blue. Also not a surprise. And not a bad thing - blue suits me and I like it!
- While that's true, I do like adding more colours into the mix - particularly when the sun's shining

- There are some me-mades (mostly fairly early creations) languishing in the back of my wardrobe that I didn't want to wear this month. I should probably think about passing them on to a charity shop. I'm a hoarder by nature so that might be hard though!
- If there's a gap in my handmade wardrobe, then it's probably knit dresses. I'm generally comfy in my woven dresses/skirts, but there are some days that need secret pyjamas! Something to work on...
- My flat is a very boring background for photos. I'm looking forward to the day (which may not be too far off - fingers crossed!) when I don't have to live in a rented magnolia paradise.

My main conclusion is that I actually wear me-made most of the time anyway so this didn't feel like too much of a challenge, and I'm pleased with that. I still enjoyed celebrating my creations and seeing what everyone else was wearing though - I'll definitely join in again next year. Did you take part? How did you find it?

Sew Over It Doris Dress

I'm a sucker for shiny new things. Be it patterns, fabric, or books, I'm probably an online marketer's dream, not least because I spend all of my working life in front of a computer and, being as I'm self-employed, there's no need to worry about my boss finding out that I've been shopping instead of working! To give me credit, I have been trying, and largely succeeding, not to get drawn in to the excitement of a new release. But sometimes there's something that's just too pretty to resist, and for me the Sew Over It Doris dress pattern was one of those things.

I remember seeing and loving the photos of the Doris dress when Sew Over It first released it as a class, and hoped that at some point she'd find her way into their pattern collection. So when my wish was granted, Doris jumped straight into my shopping cart and hopped to the top of my sewing queue.

The Doris dress has a lovely scoop neck bodice, that's shaped with bust pleats and has little grown-on sleeves. The waist is semi-fitted and can be cinched in with attached ties (the option I chose), or a back belt. The skirt is panelled, and has a really pretty flared shape, which the wind is kindly demonstrating to you in the photo below.

The skirt comes in two lengths - above and below the knee. I chose the longer length, which ends at a perfect knee length on me (I'm about 5 ft 9), which I'm pleased with as below the knee often tends towards frumpy on me.

The pattern all came together smoothly (notches and pleats matched up perfectly etc.) and the instructions were clear and easy to follow. The pattern is rated as intermediate, but I think a confident beginner would be fine sewing Doris - as long as you're happy inserting a concealed zip I don't think there's anything else too complicated here.

One point to mention is that if you have a non-directional print then you probably won't need as much fabric as stated on the fabric requirements - I used about 2.6 metres of Liberty-width fabric.

In Sew Over It's sizes, I fall right between a 12 and a 14, with my bust being closer to a 12 and my waist being closer to a 14 (and my hips probably over a 14, but to be honest I never pay much attention to my hip measurement because I always make full skirts so I know there'll be plenty of hip space). I used the size 12 from the shoulder to the underarm, and gradually blended out from the underarm to a 14 at the waist. I also added 1.5 inches to the bodice length, which is fairly standard for me.

I'm happy with the fit - in some of the pictures it looks like I have excess fabric in the upper back, but I can't see that when I'm wearing it in real life so I'm inclined to blame weird posture whilst prancing around trying to look natural for photos!

The skirt shape and grown-on sleeves of the Doris dress really need some nice lightweight material, and while a drapey viscose would have been ideal, I love an opportunity to use some Liberty lawn. And I think it has just about enough drape for Doris so it's all good!

The Liberty aficionados among you will probably recognise that the print I used is Glenjade, and I got it from Katsfabrics on ebay (which, if you don't know, sells factory seconds so you can get Liberty a bit cheaper!). The buttons were a lucky find in my local knitting shop - and you may have noticed that I didn't bother with the buttonholes. The dress has a side zip meaning there's no need to have functioning buttons, so I just sewed them on through both layers of the bodice.

I think that Doris is a really pretty dress. I tried out a little experiment, and I think the back ties also look good tied at the front as in the photo above, although I think it might make the back look a bit weird! Overall, I think it's probably better with the ties at the back as intended, but I'll remember this option if the ties ever get in the way of a cardigan or anything.

I'm pleased that I let my willpower cave and bought the Doris dress straightaway - it's a gorgeous pattern and I definitely intend to wear this dress a lot this summer. Where do you stand on new releases? Do you rush to buy them straightaway, or do you hold off until you've seen other people test them out?

Pretty pink cardigan

How are you today? All good I hope? Things aren't too shabby here - I've got a little pile of pretty fabric waiting to be sewn, I'm enjoying taking part in Me Made May for the first time (I'm posting my outfits on Instagram if you're interested), and at the weekend I finished and instantly wore my latest knitting project, which I'm here to show you today.

This is a combination of two patterns. In essence, it's the Regan cardigan from the Rowan Softknit Collection (which I picked up in the John Lewis sale for £2 - gotta love a bargain).

I liked the shape of the cardigan, but the whole thing is just plain stocking stitch and I fancied something a little different. I then found one of my Granny's old vintage patterns for a cardigan which looked a bit dated overall (think MASSIVE collar), but had a simple-but-effective stitch pattern. So I combined the basic Regan cardigan with the vintage stitch pattern on the front and back pieces, and this is the result.

The stitch pattern is nothing complicated - all it involves is purling every 4th stitch on the knit rows (row 1 is k1, (p1, k3) to the end, and row 3 is k3, (p1, k3) to the end). It may be simple, but I really like the almost dotty, textured effect that it produces.

I recently found The Knitting Stitch Bible in a charity shop (I told you I love a bargain!), and it has a stitch called small broken stocking stitch which is very similar, just with the purl stitches spaced slightly further apart than mine are.

The yarn I used is Beregere de France Sonora, a cotton and acrylic blend which I picked up on offer (did I mention that I love a bargain?!) from Love Knitting. I think it may have been discontinued, which is a shame because I found that it knit up really well and it's lovely to wear too. In fact, I like it so much that I'm already knitting another cardigan using a different shade of the same yarn!

The shade I used here is called Balsamine, which is a lovely pale dusky pink colour. It's getting a bit bleached out by the sun in these photos, and is definitely more pink in real life. Over the weeks that I had this sitting on my lap as I knitted, I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the dresses I was wearing it goes with - definitely a good indication that it'll get worn a lot.

I knit the cardigan in size M - I'm at the upper end of the size range and the cardigan fits me nicely with a little bit of positive ease, so it would definitely be worth thinking about sizing down if you're at the smaller end of the size range or if you like a more fitted look.

The Regan pattern is really good for a basic cardigan. I think it would be great for newbie knitters wanting to try their first garment, or equally for a nice relaxing project if you have a bit more experience.

As you've probably guessed, I'm really pleased with how this has turned out, and I'd definitely use this pattern again as a way to test out some of the other stitch patterns in The Knitting Stitch Bible. Have you got any knitting projects on the go? And do you like bargain hunting as much as I do?!

Jenna & Veronika

Hot on the heels of me saying last week that I needed more pink in my wardrobe, here is more pink! Albeit partially combined with various shades of blue and green, but that's no bad thing. This combination is a Muse Patterns Jenna cardi and Megan Nielsen Veronika skirt.

I've made the Jenna cardigan twice before (once for me, once as a Christmas present for my Mum), but I didn't ever get around to blogging about it - partly because it was in the run up to Christmas and I was pretty busy, and partly because they're both plain navy blue so aren't that easy (or interesting) to photograph. I've worn mine loads though, so I knew it wouldn't be long before I'd be sewing another version.

This is the waist-length version of the Jenna cardi with long sleeves, and omitting the optional yoke detailing. I made a size 38, with a couple of adjustments to the sleeve. In my first version the sleeves worked nicely, but that was using a sweatshirting, and the lighter jersey I used here (which is from Fabworks - although I can't find the exact one on their site now) produced a very different fit and the sleeves were too big and too long. I took 5cm off the length of the sleeves, and slimmed down the sleeves by about 3cm at the cuff, tapering up to join the original seam line at the underarm.

I'm pretty happy with it, although if I make it again I'd probably add a little bit of length. I've mainly been wearing my first version with dresses, and then the length seems fine, but wearing this version with a skirt makes me think that it might be better just a touch longer so that I don't end up with that little gap around my waist. It's only a small niggle though, and definitely won't stop me wearing it!

The skirt is my fifth version of the Veronika skirt (other versions here, here, here & unblogged). Yes, Veronika is just a circle skirt and I could draft my own - but if someone is going to be nice enough to do the drafting for me and give it to me for free then I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I don't think I strictly needed this skirt, but when I saw the fabric on Fabric Godmother's Instagram feed I just had to have it. The large-scale print seemed like it would be well suited to a circle skirt so I ordered enough for a Veronika. I wasn't disappointed when it arrived - it's a really nice stretch cotton, and the colours are gorgeous.

All in all, I'm really pleased with both of these, and especially with how nicely they work together. I think the cardi will be getting more wear than the skirt because it'll go with quite a few of my dresses/skirts, but if I'm honest the skirt is the more exciting part of this outfit - you can't beat a twirly skirt in a pretty print, can you?!