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

An Emery Dress... at last

At last I have got some photos to share with you of my latest make my Emery dress.  It's been a long time coming, it seemed to take forever to make this dress and then of course I had to get some half decent photos. Always an impossible task!

Overall I'm pretty pleased with my new dress although the bodice is a bit on the snug side. Despite making a muslin, I seem to have got this wrong. 

I made a size 8 based on my measurements (bust 36, waist 28, hips 38), but I think I need to size up next time by doing a full bust adjustment. Also the bust darts are a little too long and need shortening. 

I made the neck darts wider to deal with the gaping back neckline. The only other change I made to the pattern was that I shortened the waist slightly and I think I got this right. 

I'm really impressed with this pattern, the instructions were very good and if you got stuck, the sew-along on Christine Haynes' website is really thorough. I think an ambitious beginner could tackle this pattern with no problems. 

I chose to make the plain version, I did cut out a bow for the waist, but I decided that I liked it best without the bow.  I would like to make a long-sleeved version for winter I think. 

Things I love about this dress

The pockets
The full gathered skirt
The vintage style
The material - I bought this in John Lewis, and it was a little pricey but I think it was a good buy

I'm also pretty pleased with my invisible zip.

The bodice is lined with a cotton voile as I though lining with the main dress fabric would be too heavy. I bought the voile from Favourite Fabrics on ebay and they seem a good seller, so I will be checking what else they have on offer!  I'm pretty pleased with the lining and also my set in sleeves.

All in all the Emery dress is a great pattern and I can see why it is so popular.  I will definitely be making it again, but I think I will start again with the bodice as this one is just a bit too snug for comfortable every day wear! Luckily I traced the pattern so I still have the original pattern intact.

While making this dress I also realized that although I love dresses and I wear them a lot, I don't have a lot of hand-made everyday items so I am going to concentrate on stitching some up for my summer wardrobe.  Also much as I love dresses they can be very time-consuming...

Which do you prefer to sew, simple everyday items that sew up quickly or more time-consuming projects? 

Catherine x

Emery dress - I Made A Muslin

So I thought I'd update you with my progress so far with the Emery Dress.

Progress has admittedly been slow on sewing this dress as I have been doing a lot of reading in my spare time. I recently got addicted to the novels of Robin Hobb and have been working my way through them. Her books are amazing, if you enjoy fantasy novels I would definitely recommend reading them.

On other news, I am still following my diet and I have lost just over a stone in total now.  Still about half a stone to go but really pleased with myself.  I got a fitbit for my birthday last week too so I am finding it really interesting to see how active I am (or not as the case maybe).

Anyway, I decided to make a muslin for this dress as I have learnt from experience that this is a very important step not to skip if you want to have a wearable dress.

The material I am going to use for this dress was more expensive than I would normally buy, as I bought in John Lewis, and I really didn't want to spoil it. There is a sew-along on  Christine Haynes's website, and she also advocates making a muslin. I include a link to her blog post if you are interested.

This time I thought I would try making the whole thing, including setting in the sleeves and adding a zip so that I could get a proper idea of fit. It was a surprisingly fast process.

The muslin is made from an old duvet cover.  I cut a straight size 8 based on my measurements (36 bust).  This not a UK size 8 by the way, I think Christine has her own sizing or maybe it's an American size?

So what is the verdict? The fit is pretty good actually.  The bust darts seem to be in the right place and I don't need to do a FBA.   I am going to shorten the waist slightly as it the bodice is not quite hitting my natural waist, although I'm nervous about doing this as I don't want to shorten it too much! The only other change I need to make is sort out the dreaded back neck gape which I always seem to suffer from. Having searched the internet there seems to be loads of different ways to tackle this but as this dress already has neck darts, I am simply going to deepen them. This post here explains more about adding neck darts.

If you suffer from this problem too, check out this tutorial by By Hand London or this one by Lauren Guthrie as these look like useful methods too.

I will make my changes to my paper pattern and then hopefully cut out this weekend, so sewing can begin!

So do you always make a muslin or do you just go for it? I'd love to know.

Catherine x

A sixties Simplicity 1609

I went to a Christmas party on Saturday night. The theme was the 1960s, so I decided to sew my own costume!

I used Simplicity 1609 which is a reproduction of an original 1960s pattern. The pattern was free with Sew Magazine.

Misses' Jiffy 1960's Vintage Dress.

The dress is a classic A-line dress made from two main pattern pieces. The neck and arm holes have a combined facing and there is a centre back zip. There are 3 variations and I chose to make the plain version as the material I chose was very loud!  The front has a centre front seam, bust darts and flattering French darts. There are also back darts and neck darts. It can be made with a scalloped edge collar, a neck bow or plain round neck.

I cut a straight 14 based on my measurements and made no changes to the pattern. It's quite a fitted dress but surprisingly comfortable and flattering to wear. The only changes I would make next time would be possibly to remove an inch or so from the bodice length as there was some wrinkling there at both the front and back and fixing the slight back neck gape. I think this is an adjustment that I am going to have to remember to make as this is a recurrent problem. I have used this method from the By Hand London blog before and found it very successful.

Another thing to know about this dress is it is quite long. I cut three inches from the paper pattern and then removed another two inches from the finished dress as I wanted a more sixties feel! The finished dress is shorter than I'd normally wear but I think it was just right for my fancy dress.

I finished the look off with some thick whites tights and a headscarf. The headscarf is the Brigitte pattern from Tilly's book Love at First Stitch.

It was a great night out and I loved my dress. I will probably be making this dress again as it's a relatively simple make and super flattering.

I've also entered my dress in the end of year vintage pattern pledge competition. You can check the other entries out on Pinterest.

Catherine x

The Strawberry New Look 6262

This is my latest dress and I'm so pleased with it! The pattern is New Look 6262 which I first made last summer. The fabric is from the market stall in St Albans, a bargain at £6 a metre. I noticed the market man had the same fabric in white yesterday, maybe I should get some more?

The front bodice has side and waist darts, and the back bodice has waist darts. The skirt is gathered and attached at the waist and an invisible zip is inserted.  

There are also options for cap sleeves, short sleeves and a v-neck.  The dress can also be made with a lace overlay so it's a pretty versatile and simple pattern to have in  your stash.

I made a size 14 as with my previous version  but this time I made some fitting adjustments after making a muslin of the bodice.  I am totally converted to making muslins now as I think you get such a better fit.  I also think it is worth investing in a book about fitting.  I am currently using "Dressmaking to flatter your shape" by Lorna Knight which I have out on loan from my local library but I think I will be investing in this book as it's very user friendly and easy to understand!

In my muslin, the front neckline gaped quite badly around the neckline.  I used a method from the book which involved removing the excess from the neckline  and rotating it into the side dart.

I also used a method that I found in a tutorial on the excellent By Hand London blog to fix the gaping back neck.

The result  is an excellent fitting bodice and no weird sticking out at the back neck! Result!

I also made a bow belt to finish the dress off as I didn't have a suitable black one.

I made the bow belt from my copy of "Learn to sew with Lauren" by Lauren Guthrie of Sewing Bee fame. It was easy to make and really sets the dress off  I think.

I will be making some more of these belts I'm sure. It's a good use of the leftover fabric too.

The neck has a facing and the armholes are finished with bias binding. I made my own bias binding strips using the same fabric as the dress as I like it when the binding matches. I find it's nicer to sew than shop bias binding also.  I would like one of those bias binding making gadget though.

The skirt is gathered and an invisible zip inserted. I'm getting better at inserting invisible zips and I think the trick is to iron the tape so the coil lies flat. I do hate changing the foot on my machine though!

I didn't pattern match at the back but I don't think it matters.

I still find gathering tricky though. I turn the tension low and sew two lines of gathering stitches, using a different colour thread. Somehow I have trouble getting the gathers to stay in place and getting them even. I'd love to hear any tips on how to perfect this.

I left the length of the hem as per the pattern as I liked it as it was.

Have you made New Look 6262? Or can you recommend any similar patterns in this style as I think it's super flattering. I'd love to hear from you.

Catherine x

The Washi Dress

What a lovely sunny day and as promised, here is my latest make, the Washi dress by Made by Rae.

Can you see Oscar?

I coerced my daughter into taking the photos. As you can see,my cat was keen to get into the photos.

I made this using some cotton that I bought at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia, that I posted about here. The fabric came from Simply Fabrics and was very reasonably priced, about £5 a metre if I remember rightly.

The Washi dress is a simple make, and perfect for beginner dressmakers.

Washi dress by Made by Rae

I fell in love with it after seeing it on pinterest. It features a cut-out scoop neckline, although I decided to omit this as I felt it might be a bit low cut for everyday life.  It features a pleated front and a shirred back. It also has built in pockets.  It can be made with or without sleeves and also can be adapted as a tunic or maxi dress. It's a fairly expensive pattern to download at $16 dollars (roughly £10) but I figured this would be a dress that I could make again and again.

 There is also a Washi dress expansion pack which can be purchased if you want to add further looks.

Washi dress expansion pack by Made by Rae

I also found that there is a free tutorial and pattern piece for long sleeves that can be downloaded here, so there are lots of options for this dress.

Based on my high bust measurement, I decided to make a size M. In the instructions, Rae recommends making a muslin of the bodice. I did this for the first time ever using an old pillow case and was very glad as it was clear I needed a full bust adjustment (FBA).  I followed the tutorial that can be found on Simplicity's website for increasing the size of a dart.  I did a one inch FBA. I also lowered the bust dart by adding an inch below the armhole.

Remember any changes you make to the bodice pattern piece, you have to also make the back pattern piece!

This lengthened the bodice and on making my second pillow case muslin, I decided I had a good fit and could cut in to my material!

The dress was fairly easy to construct and the instructions are very detailed and clear. They are also fully illustrated with either drawings or photos. The darts are french darts which I'd not come across before. The other unusual thing is that the seam allowances are either 1/4 inch at the armhole and neckline or 1/2 inch at the side and shoulder seams instead of the usual 5/8 inches.

The skirt is pleated and then sewn to the front bodice.

The back bodice is then shirred. I hand winded the shirring elastic bobbin and then sewed in straight rows using the normal thread in the needle, pulling the material straight as I sewed across after the first row.  Rae gives a lot of information about how to shirr with elastic thread and if it's the first time you've done it like me, you will find this very useful.

The dress is faced at the neckline and then once the sleeves are attached,  bias binding is applied at the armholes. I decided to stitch mine on the outside as my hand-sewing is not great, I made my own bias binding using the same fabric and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I had to give it a real blast of steam to get a few wrinkles out though.

Finally I machine hemmed the dress. I didn't change the length of the dress as I liked it as it was.

I'm sure I will make dress again! I might leave out the pockets as I think the skirt would sit better without them. There is a tiny back neckline gape that I could fix but it's really not that noticeable.

I also think I need to invest in a tailor's ham for pressing those bust darts.

Have you made the Washi dress yet and do you love it too?

Catherine x