Evening dress

A niece was getting married and as soon as the invitation arrived I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use!

Her theme colours were navy blue and hot pink.

I had purchased this floaty, diaphanous fabric from a small shop on Sydney Road in Melbourne for under AU$5 a metre.
I was planning to combine two different patterns, one for the bodice and one for the skirt until I saw this pattern on McCall's instagram account: M7537.  Of course the model photo is very difficult to make out the pattern lines but at least the illustrated dresses explain what the final dress will look like.

I was going to lengthen the skirt but instead ended up using a different skirt pattern: the maxi skirt from B5987.

A few other reviews of this McCall's pattern have commented that the bodice is very low.  IT IS. I really wasn't comfortable exposing cleavage at a wedding so I attempted to cut the fabric out with the curve of the neckline a bit higher and I raised the stitch line higher but I do feel that it is still a bit too low.  I will be making this dress again and I think I will redraft the curve of the neckline and facing to join one another much higher, at least 4".

Due to the floatiness of the fabric, the waistband that is supposed to rouche naturally just flopped down. So once the dress was finished I stitched lines across the middle to allow the folds to fall in smaller strands.  This definitely worked.

I did have to wear a slip under this dress but it was only a knee-length slip.  I plan to make a full length slip that also wraps around each boob so that I am completely covered.  But that's a plan for the future.  All in all, I did love wearing this dress and the floatiness was a dream to swan about in!

Upton Dress

Cashmerette patterns have released a pattern for woven fabrics called the Upton dress.  As soon as I saw it on Jenny's blog I knew it would be a style that would suit my figure and that I already had the perfect cotton fabric for too.  So here it is: my Upton Volumes dress!

The pattern has three different front bodice pattern pieces to choose from, each with different types of bust darts, depending on the difference between your bust and waist measurements.  The tricky bit for me was that my measurements suited two different sizes, so I took the suggestion in the pattern and used the bodice size that was closest to my waist measurement.  I used the waistband to slope between the two differently sized parts of the dress, to bridge the gap from the size 20 bodice to the size 18 skirt.

Now that I have worn it for a day out, and that I have looked at photos of me in the dress, I can see a few changes that I will make when I make this dress again.  It looks a bit like there isn't quite enough room in the bust but too much room above the bust, so I will use a bigger front bodice piece next time.  Also, I think I might size up the waist and skirt too.  When I was sitting down, the tightness of the waist and under-bust bodice pushed my breasts up quite a bit higher than I am used too, and caused a cleavage crease, which I personally try to avoid!  So a bit more room will let everything stay where it is supposed to!

Posing with pockets!

I have had this printed cotton fabric called "Volumes" in the colourway called "Degas" by Anna Maria Horner stored away for over a year now, just waiting for the right pattern.  I really didn't want pleats or gathers to interfere with the vertical pattern of this print, and I wanted skirt panels wide enough to make the best use of this pattern.  I made the front a priority with the skirt print and would have loved the back to have the strip of colour to be in the centre but there just wasn't enough fabric in my stash.  I compromised and at least made the back symmetrical.

I didn't have an invisible zip so used a normal one and inserted it fairly badly.  Oh well.  I could do it again but I am too lazy really, and will just leave it as is.

Here is a side view to show the fit and the shape.  Sometimes with a full figure a normal dress pattern will end up having the waist band rise up slightly in the front.  But look at the excellent pattern drafting and bust accommodation here: no rising of the front waist band!  I am very pleased overall and will be making this pattern again.

Before putting in the zip I had made the waistband out of the coloured striped fabric but decided it was too busy and then opted for the grey waistband instead.  Here's the two photos that helped me be certain about my choice.

 

I already have ideas for a second Upton dress!

Jacobite Shirt dress

I really love the McCall's shirt dress pattern 6696.  I have made it once before but that was in a floaty cotton lawn.  This time I have made it in a gorgeous chambray.

The Pattern

I have always loved Scotland and now that I am fortunate enough to actually live here I don't feel the slightest bit silly to still want to wear thistles or tartan in some way!  This fabric is called Botany and I love the swirling leaves, stems and thistles travelling every which way all over the fabric.

How great is this photo angle?!  No idea how this
happened, but I like it!

The pattern calls for the waistband, button band and collar stand to be hand stitched down on the inside but I decided to topstitch these instead and am quite happy with the way it looks.

The back has a yoke across the shoulders and a gathered billowing section that appeals to me for both the ease of movement and for the appearance of a narrower waist!

Here it is from the front without the belt.  I probably won't wear it with a belt myself.

The Fit

When making clothes for myself I often just go for the largest size and hope for the best.  I think really I could have made this a bit smaller.  I can easily pinch out 2 inches at the waist with my hand and the shoulder looks like it is slipping down my arm.  Also, there seems to be too much fabric from my underarm to my bust which could be removed using larger darts.  I did loose a stone (14 pounds) between planning, cutting and sewing this dress whilst trying the whole30 eating plan, and I made absolutely no attempts to fit this dress to myself at all.  I just made it straight from the envelope.

Next time I make this dress I shall try a size smaller and really make sure I am happy with the bodice and bust before continuing.

But I will most definitely still wear this dress, flaws and all!

The Fabric

The fabric is a fawn, light khaki colour with a solid black print on top.  It washed really well and didn't fade at all!  It is a design by Alison Glass as part of her Ex Libris fabric collection.  As soon as I saw it I ordered it straight away!  It comes in a choice of three colourways too.  I saw a beautiful table runner made on Instagram by Jamie Naughton using the blue colourway but she had embellished it with a rainbow of moths, also from an Alison Glass Ex Libris print.  I am seriously tempted to add some of these to my dress too!

And so, despite some fit issues, I really love this dress and am so pleased to finally be able to wear it!  It will get it's debut next weekend for our wedding anniversary. And maybe with the belt!

An Aussie at a Scottish Polish Wedding

We have long been planning to attend a family wedding in Poland this September, and as Scottish formal attire is traditionally the kilt with a black jacket, we were going to make a big impression over there as a large contingent of kilt-wearing Scots.  As an Australian living in Scotland, I am wearing my tartan shoes and have tartan on my clutch, but I thought I would also include some Aussie-ness too!

I used this beautifully drapey and luxurious rayon fabric designed by Anna Maria Horner that has the leaves of my favourite tree, the eucalyptus tree.

So floaty!

We had these trees with the long leaves growing in our backyard when I was a child, and they remind me of the artwork of May Gibbs too.  I have always loved the shape of these leaves and even had them used in my wedding ring design.

Eucalyptus in Lime, rayon

For this dress I used Butterick 5987, version B

Butterick 5987 version b

The pattern is EASY.  It is designed for a light weight fabric but the drapey rayon worked really well.  I lined the bodice but not the skirt.  The pattern does ask for the bodice to have underlining as well as lining just to give the main fabric some structure, but I didn't use the underlining, as it was a summer wedding I didn't want too many layers for all that dancing!

Speaking of dancing, here are some photos of me dancing at the Polish wedding!  The dress felt really comfortable to wear.

The wedding reception was held in a rustic-looking barn-like restaurant, and this was the wall decoration at the table where we sat!

The dress details

For the belt, the pattern suggests a stretchy 2" bridal trim, but I went for satin ribbon with some sequined trim which I hand stitched.  At first I stitched the whole thing onto the waist by hand, but it looked all bumpy and wavey and didn't give me a narrow waist at all.  After unstitching I decided to only attach it at the zip seam, and then I tried the dress on to decide exactly how snug I wanted the waist ribbon to be, then cut four of the circles off and stitched the end to the zip seam too.  This is the only place where the belt ribbon is attached and it works perfectly!  The second photo below shows you how the belt is very loose when not being worn.  

I left a little bit of green ribbon at the edge to flap over the zip so that there is no visible colour gap, but as you can see in this last photo, the ribbon flap just sits over the zip.

About the pattern

The bodice is cut on the bias, and so has plenty of room to account for a bust and a tummy.  I cut the size 24 and made no alterations, apart from omitting the underlining and the skirt lining, only completing the bodice lining.  The instructions in the pattern never tell you to finish any seams, so I only finished the skirt seams with pinking shears and overlocked the bodice and waistband seams.

Here's one funny thing I found with the pattern:  What on earth are these circle markings for?  This is the pattern piece for the back of the skirt.  I didn't use them at all and there was no reference made to them in the instructions.

But there was no marking for the bottom of the zip, so perhaps that is what these are meant to be, and they just lost their way a little?  (When putting in my zip, I just started from the top and kept going until I got to the bottom without using any markings.)

It was a lovely time in Poland, and I loved wearing this dress! (tartan shoes are visible in this one)

McCall's 6713

It's finished at last!  The clear elastic that I'd been waiting for arrived today, so I got it home and sewed it in very quickly, then got my Mister to drive me up the road to take these lovely photos.  I almost feel like a Highlander with the tartan effect and the sheep in the Glen behind me.

This pattern has a few tricky parts to it, but the instructions and diagrams make it very easy to follow.

McCall's 6713

Walking in the woods

Obviously mine looks nothing like the one on the cover of the pattern envelope, but that's just me.  I chose view A, the dress on the envelope with the A-line skirt but with long sleeves.
I really like the draping flap at the front, and it feels so floaty to walk in too.
This was my first ever attempt at sewing with knits and I am quite pleased with myself!
I used a post from Lladybird and a post from 3 hours past for help and tips.

I also followed a suggestion from gMarie about using clear elastic around the neckline, but now that I see the finished neckline, perhaps I was getting too far ahead of myself.  After all, gMarie is quite proficient at sewing with knits.  Maybe I should have just followed the rules and lined the dress instead.  Especially as this fabric is new to me.  The neckline is cut on the diagonal and my goodness does it stretch!!  The clear elastic definitely helped bring it more snugly against my body, but the way I've done it, it has some slight gathers and looks a bit pouchy and puckered.

Here you can see the puckery way I've stitched the clear elastic to the neckline.  Also the drape is falling to the left so is exposing the front seam where it joins to the dress - you can't see this when standing though.

I really like the way the draped part hangs and falls in little pleats. 

My model pose!

Detail close up.

I think I will make this dress again, but I'll be a good beginner and stick to the rules from now on.  

P.S.  It was a very cold afternoon today, and although I couldn't wait to put my coat back on, this material was surprisingly warm-ish.  Could easily just pop a polo-neck underneath and it would be very suitable for work in this weather.

Delving into knits!

I have decided to try my hand at sewing with knit fabric.  This will be my first ever attempt.

I was inspired by a fabulous dress made by gMarie.  It looks so comfortable and yet so sophisticated, all at the same time.  And then she went ahead and made another equally stunning version!
So of course I copied her immediately and headed over to the McCall's website where they were having a pattern sale at the time!  Such a bonus!  This pattern is McCall's 6713 and I'm going to do a long-sleeved, knee length version.  I really love the swishy bit that flares out on the skirt - I think it will be fun to wear.

McCall's 6713

Today the fabric I've chosen has arrived in the post - I'm really excited about seeing this dress come to life!  I do hope it won't be too difficult.

Bought this online at Ditto fabrics in the UK

Help!

I'll be doing lots of internet browsing to get tips about sewing in knit fabrics, but if you have any links or blogs that feature helpful articles, please let me know - I think I'll need all the help I can get.

McCall's 6503 goes Maxi

I am going away very soon to a very hot destination, which explains why I am making summery dresses in the middle of Autumnal frosts!

I recently made the McCall's 6503 in blue and it is such a good fit and easy to wear. I was planning to make a second one in a lovely, painterly pink fabric when I had a flash of inspiration!
How hard it is to find a maxi dress that is modest and has sleeves - so - I decided to add 16" to the hem and turn this dress into a swishy, breezy summery dress for our holiday away!

McCall's 6503 as a Maxi dress!

To make it as easy and quick as possible, I decided to leave out the collar with all the interfacing and hand stitching work, and used the pattern front with the collar. This would have still required facing, and really I didn't think a collar would suit my summery breezy dress idea, so I just folded this piece back and used the straight edge for a wrap-style neckline.

So as to do away with the need for interfacing, I also decided to use bias binding around the neckline, and sewed it onto the wrong side of the fabric, so that when it folded around to the front of the fabric I could see the topstitching and be able to line it up better.

As I already had the paper pieces cut out, I only had to cut out the collared front pattern piece and all the fabric, which took about an hour. Then the actual sewing of the dress took me about 4 hours from start to finish! Except now - because the neckline has the wrap-style, I think I could easily get this on over my head, so am thinking of taking the zipper out now!

side view

McCall's 6503

I have finished it at last!  I've been doing a little bit at a time, mostly in the evenings, and am now hoping that the sun comes out so that I can justify wearing a summer dress - as you can see I've opted for the dark tights today, as it is grey and overcast again here in Scotland.

   From this...             to this!

Apart from a few alterations to the bust and the hem and a bit of "dressmakers knowhow" when it came to interpreting the sparse pattern instructions, I am pretty happy with McCall's 6503. I had earmarked this pattern to create 2 dresses but think I'll use the other floral for something else, and the next time I use this pattern it will be with a plain fabric so that the style lines are easier to see. It's a lovely pattern, and I think it will stand the test of time. Below is my full pattern review that I wrote for a Sewing Patterns website.

Pattern Sizing:

Multi sized pattern, I used the largest: 22

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

I originally tried to do view c with the ruffle, but unfortunately I sewed the staystitch too close to the edge instead of at the 5/8 mark, which meant the ruffle didn't straighten out to be long enough for the collar. So I binned it and just went with view d instead.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

No, I don't think so. At one stage, they've even left out the "stitch" instruction! The envelope says it's an easy project so I would have expected clearer and even more detailed instructions, but this was not the case unfortunately. But as long as you've sewn a few dresses or blouses I think you will manage the sparse instructions.

Fabric Used:

Rayon in a floral print

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

I did view d but used the view c gathered skirt instead of the 4 pleats one.  I also added 2" to the hem, as I am 5'7" and this would have been above the knee, which is too short for me. My final alteration was the bust. It was just too low and also too much fabric in the centre, so I unpicked the part where the button band goes into the midriff band and just pulled the button neckband down about 2" down behind the midriff band. This pulled the button neckband more taut against my body and meant it wasn't as revealing.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I would sew this again, with the alterations I've made and would like to do it with a plain fabric so that the lovely style lines are more visible.

Conclusion:

Do try this dress if you're after a relaxed dress that would travel well.

Thanks so much for visiting my little Blog.

My love affair with the Postman...

My front garden has a tall, leafy hedge which means approaching and passing-by traffic cannot be seen until they get to the window created by our driveway. It is this window onto the road that has my attention as I watch and wait for a red van to pull up, and a wave of Radio 2 to hit my ears as the postman opens his car door and walks towards our house. Our postbox is affixed to the wall near our back door and the metal hinge clanging down sends a thrill of anticipation through me.... a package or a letter or a card, just SOMETHING has been sent to me!! I wonder what it could be and practically skip to see what my Postie has delivered to me.

I again wonder at the loveliness of the postman, and all the mysterious packages he brings to happy people all over the world.  

Today he has brought me sewing patterns from America! I was reading Laura's blog about some lovely things she was admiring in the Butterick sale, so thought I would have a look too. And Laura was right, they had some very interesting patterns in their sale, and at such a reduced price I didn't mind spending all that money on postage from the USA. All up I got 7 patterns for $20 and it was $25 for postage, which for me is  a total of £28, for which I would usually only get 3 sewing patterns anyway! Definitely a bargain!

The two on the left are designed by Gertie - of whom I am a big fan, and if you haven't seen her sewing projects then please take a 20 minute coffee break and browse around her website. She is even thinking about beginning an online sew-along, which sounds like it would be encouraging to be a part of.

The 3rd one I have seen sewn by Laura Mae, Julia Bobbin and Roisin and would really like to have a try at the cross over bodice, the same as Roisin's one.  

And the 4th pattern, well I am intrigued by the cut of this pattern, B5813 and hope it will suit me as much as it suits the model.

So, thank you Mr Postman, for bringing me such happy possibilities!

I'd be very interested to hear what your personal postal delivery is like and how it makes you feel...