A Megan dress

Let me start by saying I love this dress.  I made this dress towards the end of last year, and am only just getting round to blogging it.

The dress is a flattering fitted shape, with a high waistline and a gentle A-line skirt.  The bodice has bust darts and dart tucks at the front and darts at the back.  It also has pretty gathered sleeves and has an invisible zip.

This is the third pattern I have made from the marvellous Tilly and the Buttons' book  "Love at First Stitch". As usual the pattern is clearly written with step by step photos and detailed instructions.  I found this a relatively easy make and I love the fact that Tilly clearly explains anything that you might be unsure about such as darts, or inserting an invisible zip.

The pattern recommends 1.5 metres of 150cm wide fabric, I squeezed this out of 1.2 metres with no problem. I used a 100 % cotton that I bought from myfabrics.co.uk. The fabric only cost me about £7 - bargain. I purposely used something inexpensive as I wanted to treat this as a "wearable" toile.

Tilly has her own system of measurements. I made size 4 based on my measurements and graded out to a size 5 in the hip area which I'm glad I did.  It's a fairly good fit apart from some gaping at the back of the neck. The bust is also a little tighter than in the image in Tilly's  book.

The gaping didn't appear to be a problem when I tried the dress on before inserting the invisible zip so I'm wondering if the material stretched out of shape when I inserted the zip? I also think that I need to tackle a full bust adjustment next time as discussed in my blog post here. I also have trouble reaching the top of the zip to do the dress up so not sure what fitting issue this indicates. Something to do with the position of the armholes? Any ideas?

The only head scratching moment I had when making this dress was when I could not get the bodice and the skirt to align at the darts, After half an hour or so, I finally figured that I had sewn the skirt back pieces to the front the wrong way up. Doh!

All in all this pattern is a winner, and I will definitely be making this dress again with a couple of adjustments.

Catherine x

Vintage Patterns

I thought I'd share with you my first collection of vintage patterns that I bought recently. I bought a bundle of patterns from Ebay for £3.70.  I chose these patterns as they were relatively inexpensive - being new to buying vintage patterns, it seems the asking price varies wildly!  The patterns seem to range from the 1950s to the 1970s.

I was expecting 12 patterns but received a box with 20 patterns in it! The patterns are mainly Simplicity, Butterick, Style and Maudella. I'd not heard of Maudella patterns before, but a quick google informs me that this was a UK company set up by  Maude Helena Dunsford in Yorkshire in 1937.  Interesting fact - this pattern company became New Look, owned by Simplicity.

I have a couple of favourites already.Which would you stitch?

Catherine x

My first ever skirt!

I made my first ever skirt!

My finished skirt

I used the Delphine pattern from Love at First Stitch by Tilly Walnes of Tilly and the Buttons fame. I used a medium weight blue denim from John Lewis and I also bought a 8 inch invisible zip. This is the first time I've used a zip let alone put one in a skirt!

I found the instructions clear and easy to follow although on a couple of occasions I did wish the pictures were a little larger! It's a simple pattern for a super cute A line skirt and perfect for a beginner like me. The skirt has a waistband and an invisible zip. There are also ideas for adapting the skirt such as adding belt loops or decorating with buttons. 

The zip was actually easier to insert than I thought it would be although it's certainly not perfect. It took me ages to work out how to attach my invisible zipper foot to my machine though! 

Not invisible but not bad for my first attempt!

I made a size 5 (Tilly's patterns go from size 1 to 8 rather than using standard sizes) based on my measurements.  The finished skirt came out about an inch and a half bigger than the finished garment measurement listed in the book so it's a little  on the loose side. If I made this pattern again (and I think I will!), I'd go down a size as I think this skirt looks best more fitted at the waist.