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!

Sewing Studio for Hire

Recently a few other Scottish sewing bloggers decided to meet up again, but instead of shopping and eating (like last time or the time before) we tried out a new sewing-space-for-hire and spent the afternoon sewing and eating instead!

Tucked away in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow is a light-filled sewing studio called The Stitchery.

  

They run some day and evening classes there, but you can also pay just to sit and sew using their overlockers and sewing machines.  Kerry organised a day and time so that we could sit happily together for 4 hours and sew!  We paid a wee bit extra and had a catered lunch too.

There is ample space for 10 sewing machines as well as extra tables and floor space for cutting, lunch and overlocking.

You can also bring along your own machine if you prefer, but it is three flights of stairs to tackle, as Katy can attest to!

see that cardboard box down there?
That's the ground floor!

As I would be using a fancy new machine that I was unfamiliar with, I decided to take along a patchwork task as well as a cut out skirt, and I am glad I did.  I preferred doing some plain, straight stitching as learning about a new machine took a bit more time than I had expected.  Not finished yet, but I will post about what I'm making another time.

It was really nice to catch up with some of the blog writers that I read and to see what they are up to lately.

Hazel who writes Disaster in a Dress, me, and Katy from The Littlest Thistle

Kerry who writes Kestrel Makes and Jen
(If you know Jen's blog, please let me know in the comments)

Elaine from What Diana Did Next, Alison who writes Heavenly Handmades
and Amy from Boldly Gold

Franca from Oranges and Apples took these 3 lovely photos, and unfortunately the other Katy who writes I of the Needle left before we thought much about photo taking at all, but she did come and have a fun time with all of us!

Some of us brought along a few things for swapping, and anything unwanted was left behind at the studio as a gift for any new sewing students.

Sewing with others was a very different experience compared to sewing in silence at home, but the camaraderie and shared interests was really fun and well worth the travel to Glasgow.  Such a difference to talk about the nuances of sewing and the world of sewing bloggers and to be immediately understood.  I would definitely do this again.

Highland Thistle Dress

I LOVE this fabric and have finally been brave enough to cut into it and made myself a dress for the winter here in Scotland.  The fabric is a good quality knit fabric designed by Anna Maria Horner.

I was originally going to use the Colette Moneta pattern for this fabric but decided to use Butterick 5523 instead.  I have made this dress twice before (as a sleeveless and in Autumn colours) and I love how comfortable as well as neat looking this dress can be.

As the fabric makes me feel all Scottish and Highland-ery, I thought I would drive up the road to get some photos of it.  Our village is situated right where two rivers and two Glens meet, so we have lots of hills very close to us.  These photos were taken up the Glen this morning, even though it is freezing cold, the sun was shining a wee bit!

no filter here - this is exactly how it looks today!

When making this dress I added 1" to the front bodice to help make sure that the empire line stayed under my bust.  I also added 4" to the hemline.  I used my overlocker to make this dress, which was so quick and easy, but when it came to adding the skirt to the top, I forgot that I was supposed to keep the seam allowance so that I could enclose the waist elastic within it!  I had just let the overlocker cut it all off!  Oh well, I shall see how the dress goes keeping it's shape without the added elastic for now.  I used a stretch twin needle on my normal sewing machine to sew the hem on the sleeves and the skirt hem.

(the flash went off in this photo, don't know why, but it was my last one, too cold today)

The pattern is supposed to have a small tab of fabric with two buttons on the back, but I messed mine up and couldn't be bothered making another one.  It looks quite okay without it anyway.

the back is pretty plain

Whilst I was getting these snaps a full rainbow came out, so I shall leave you with my lucky shot!