The Sylvie Dress...a perfect summer dress

Let me introduce you to my latest make - the Sylvie Dress by Christine Haynes. It was a lovely day on Saturday so I persuaded my daughter to take some pictures.  As you can see I am squinting terribly, and Oscar was keen to get in on the action as usual!

There are two different versions of this pattern that you can make. Both versions of the dress feature an unlined sleeveless bodice with three small darts under the bust and a wide lined waistband. I will point out that the waistband looks much thinner on the pattern illustration that it actually is. The waistband is lined and interfaced which gives this section some structure.

The back bodice has darts and the neckline and armholes are finished with bias binding. View A has a gathered dirndl skirt which is basically a rectangle of fabric. The dirndl skirt also has large patch pockets.  View B has piping and a fitted pencil skirt. The illustration makes this look more like an an A-line skirt than the photos on Christine Haynes's website. I chose to make View A as this is more my personal style.

For my dress, I chose to use a polycotton that I picked up for £3 a metre in Hobbycraft. I decided not to make a muslin as the dress didn't seem like it was going to be too fitted but I didn't want to take a chance with expensive fabric. I bought two metres which was enough to cut the dress and the binding although I did have to join my bias strips together rather than using continuous pieces as per the pattern. The pattern calls for 2.75 m of 150m wide fabric or 3.3m of 115m wide fabric so you can certainly save on fabric requirements if you used ready-made bias binding. I think this fabric requirement also takes into account the amount required if your fabric has a one-directional print.

I made a size 8 based on my measurements (36 inch bust) and I made no adjustments at all.  I have to say the fit is pretty good.  It's fitted but not too tight, so makes a nice dress to wear on a hot summer's day.

The dress was easy to sew together and the instructions were very clear and detailed.  The most time consuming part of making this dress was the bias bound neckline and armholes.  I found this quite fiddly and time consuming. The pattern uses double fold bias binding rather than single fold binding, which is basically single fold pressed in half again.  The pattern instructs you how to make you own double fold bias binding. The instructions on how to attach the bias binding are super detailed, however this part can be a little confusing. There are loads of brilliant tutorials on how to use bias binding including this one on Christine Haynes' website.  I posted a comment to ask her whether I could use single fold bias binding and this is her reply:

 "Hi Catherine! Yes, it is 100% personal preference. So if you prefer single fold bias tape, you can absolutely use that in place of the double fold. From teaching I've found that my students prefer the double fold, so that's how I got in the habit of using it. But by all means use the one that you prefer. Glad you like the Sylvie Dress! Thank you!"

It was lovely to get such a detailed personal response.

I think when I make this dress again (and I am planning my next), I will draft an all-in-one facing and see if I prefer that finish.  That said my bias binding is pretty neat but I do feel like the neckline stretched out slightly despite stay-stitching. The only other change I made was to leave the pockets off as I couldn't quite get my pockets the same size.  I think I will make a card template next time and use this to press my pockets into shape. 

My invisible zip is really neat and I am getting really good at inserting them.  The only thing I still find really tricky is closing the gap at the bottom of the zipper tape.  Any tips on how to do this?  I inserted it a little low so also need to add a hook and eye. 

So to sum it up, the Sylvie Dress is a great pattern. It was fairly easy to make and I think an ambitious beginner could certainly tackle view A, although view B might be a bit more tricky.  I am surprised how few Sylvie dresses there seem to be out there in the blogosphere, given what a great pattern designer Christine Hayne's is and how popular the Emery Dress is.  The Sylvie Dress is a perfect dress for a summer's day and is super wearable.

I hope I've inspired you to give this pattern a shot.  I'd love to hear from you if you do make it or if you have any other perfect summer dresses to recommend.

Catherine
x

My summer stitching plans

So I have a few things lined up to sew for summer. My aim is to use some of my existing stash of materials and patterns that I have accumulated.

First up is New Look 6262, which I made previously here.

This time I am making view D, with the boat neck and without sleeves.  My muslin of the bodice is complete and I have now cut out my pieces, just need to get sewing!

I'm using this gorgeous cotton that I got from a local market. Perfect for summer!

Next up, I'm planning on making a summer skirt using New Look 6873. I've had this pattern in my stash since last summer, and I'd originally planned to make the trousers. I'm planning on making view C.

I'm going to use this material that I bought at the Knitting and Stitching show in March.  I think it will make a sweet summery skirt. 

I also plan to make another dress, this time Butterick B4443. Again I like the boat neck version.

This is a different style for me to make as it has princess seams and this is something I've not made before. All the other dresses and tops I've made have had bust darts.

I think this material will make a lovely summer dress.

Finally I'm going to make another Simplicity 1693.

 I love this top as it's simple to make and is a great wardrobe basic.

I will make the Peter Pan collar again  in this fabric and probably make it sleeveless. I prefer sleeveless tops for summer.

Hopefully now I've got my plans down on the blog, I will crack on with it. I've been doing more knitting that sewing in the last few weeks, and am missing my sewing machine.

What have you got planned to stitch next?

Catherine x

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

Coco

This is my first Coco dress and my first go at sewing with knit fabric.

The pattern is by Tilly and the Buttons. The pattern comes with a detailed  instruction booklet with which includes lots of useful tips and hints. All the steps are illustrated with a photograph. It includes details of how to make either a top or dress, with the option to add cuffs, pockets or a funnel neck.

Coco is designed to be fairly easy fitting, so is a flattering outfit for all body shapes as it skims over the hips and is not too clingy. I made the size 4 based on  my measurements, grading to the size 5 on the hips (as usual). I decided to make the dress version with the full length sleeves and cuffs. I also chose the small pockets to add to the front of the dress. I lengthen the pattern by 5 cm as I thought it would be a bit short on me although when it was all sewed up, it was actually looked too long. I lopped off a fair bit so the dress is probably near the original length.

I chose a quite heavy weight double knit which was fairly easy to sew as it didn't  have too much stretch. I don't know too much about the material as it was a bargain that I picked up at the Knitting and Stitching Show last month. I pre-washed the fabric and it  seems to wash quite well.  I deliberately chose something plain to work with as I didn't want to pattern match.

The one thing I found tricky was the placement of the pockets as there are no markings for this on the pattern. I can understand why there are no markings, as with all of Tilly's patterns, she's keen to encourage you to make your garment your own. However, I would have preferred to have markings on the pattern for the placement of the pockets, that I could choose to ignore if  I wished. I found it very difficult to pin the pockets in the correct place. When I was happy, I then tacked the pockets first to make them easier to sew in place. In the end, I unpicked and removed the pockets as they made the garment look distinctly homemade. I do like the pockets on all the versions I've seen online but mine were just not neat enough. I would steer clear of the pockets if your top stitching can be a bit wonky like mine.

I would like to look at how to finish the dress more professionally as to be honest it's a bit of a mess inside. Tilly suggests in one of her tips to stitch or fuse stay tape or hemming tape to the neckline and hemline to give a neat and strong finish.  She doesn't go in to any more detail about this in the pattern booklet so this is something I will have to investigate as I've never heard of either before.

All in all, I'm pleased with my Coco and will be tackling it again.  It's a quick and easy make and perfect for this time of year.  My new dress is nice and warm, and perfect for a cold day with tights and boots.  I've also discovered that knits aren't too scary for beginners!

Have you got a favourite knit pattern that you could recommend?

Catherine x

My first ever dress - New Look 6022

I thought I'd share the first ever dress I made with you.

The pattern I used is New Look 6022. I chose this pattern for two main reasons - it said it was easy and there were no fiddly zips to tackle!  The dress has four options and I chose to make view A. View A has neck pleats and pleated sleeve heads. It also has an partly elasticated waist at the back and elastic gathers on the ends of the sleeves.

I chose this black vintage style poplin from Minerva crafts. I found this poplin easy to work with and it has washed well.

Now this is the thing, as this was the first dress I made, I didn't now that much about which pattern size to choose! I cut a straight 12 which is where I made my mistake as the finished dress is far too tight across the hips. Now when I'm cutting out a pattern for a dress, I tend to choose 12 or 14 depending on how much ease is included (and believe me some of these patterns have loads of ease) and then grade to the next size up on the hips. This gives me a bit more wiggle room!

I also don't cut out the paper pattern anymore. I trace my size on to large tissue paper, making any adjustments needed. I use this Burda tissue paper. This means I can use the pattern again if I need to make a different size.

I think that I should also start thinking about making a muslin first as it's annoying to spend time on a dress only to discover it doesn't fit that well!  Or at the very least make a "wearable" muslin in cheap fabric.  I'd love to hear what other people do to ensure a good fit.

Things I like about this dress:

The bound neckline. Think this could look good in a contrasting colour.
The pleats on both the sleeves and the front. I used tailor tacks to mark them and think I did a good job.
The material. Poplin is a dream to sew.
My button loop. This was my first attempt.

Things I don't like:

The fit! As I said too tight on the hips plus I think the sleeves are a tad tight.
The elastic on the back. Not sure of the point of this. I suppose it's suppose to make it less sack-like but I think adding a belt is a better option.

Does my bum look big in this?

I might tackle this dress again.  I'm undecided. Think I would go for version B or C next time as I've seen some nice versions, like this one on Louise's blog Sew Sensational. Just need to get the fit right and it might be a cute little summer dress.

Have you made Simplicity 6022 or had any fitting disasters?

Catherine x