A polka dot Ultimate Shift Dress

My latest make is another version of Sew Over It's Ultimate Shift Dress.

I bought my pattern last year, from the Knitting and Stitching Show and I made a version that I blogged about here. I saw the dress recently featured on Did You Make That and then I watched Lisa's vlog on youtube featuring her collection of Ultimate Shift Dresses, so thought that I would revisit this pattern. In fact my polka dot version, was totally inspired by one of Lisa's versions!

The Ultimate Shift dress is a versatile pattern that anyone could tackle, so it's great for beginners. The only thing that is slightly tricky is setting in the sleeves but if you are a total beginner you could omit the sleeves, and make one of the sleeveless versions. 

My first version was a bit tight, but I joined Slimming World in September as you might have read on my blog, I've now lost 12 pounds in total since I joined. I decided to make the same size and as you can see it's a much looser fit on me! The material is also a looser weave man-made material that I picked up at the Knitting and Stitching Show and the dress is much more drapey as a result. The choice of material is really important for this dress and I think you should avoid anything too stiff.

I made a size 12 as before, grading to 14 at the hips and this time I sewed the correct seam allowances.

I also used interfacing for the facings which the pattern doesn't mention as otherwise I think they would be a bit floppy.  To be honest something funny happened with my darts on this one, and they don't quite line up, but I don't think that anyone else would notice. I kept the long sleeves on this version which I really like for the winter. I also made a button loop and fabric button rather than a hook and eye, although I think that I could omit the back neck opening totally next time.

I can see myself making this dress again as it's a quick and easy make.  Have you made the Ultimate Shift Dress?

Catherine x

Polka dot Mimi Blouse

At long last, I have finished my Mimi blouse! I started this in the summer but had put it to one side as was finding it a bit tricky.

Now I've finally finished it, I'm so pleased with the finished result. Although sewing this has made me realize I have nothing in my wardrobe that it really goes with!

The Mimi Blouse is taken from Tilly Walnes' excellent book Love at First Stitch that I wrote about here.  I'd previously made the Delphine skirt (my first skirt) and wanted to tackle the Mimi blouse next. Maybe I was being a bit over ambitious, anyway it's certainly added some new skills to my sewing repertoire.

Mimi Blouse taken from Love at First Stitch

I love Tilly's style and think that  the book is an excellent resource for anyone beginning dressmaking, as is Tilly's blog.

The Mimi blouse uses quite a lot of different sewing skills, and I wouldn't recommend tackling this as your first make from the book. I made the blouse in a size 4 (Tilly's patterns range from size 1-8) based on my measurements. The blouse does include a lot of ease (7 inches) so if you like a more fitted style you may want to go down a size or tinker with it.

The material I chose was a cheap poly-cotton mix that I got on the market at St Albans. It's got a nice drape to it but I did find it very difficult to gather. I've gathered skirts and sleeves before and never encountered any trouble. When I tackled the gathered sleeve heads, the gathers just dropped out no matter how times I pulled them up. In the end I gave up and decided to try and ease the sleeves in. I managed this with only a few puckers.  Maybe the difficulty I had gathering the sleeves was something to do with the fabric? Any advice?

The Mimi blouse has a chelsea collar which is a cute detail.  However, the chelsea collar is much trickier than a Peter Pan collar as it's hard to get the points to match perfectly and they took a lot of coaxing out with a pin.

Things I like about the blouse:

It's cute and has a vintage feel.
The polka dots!
The little pleats on the sleeve edges.
My button holes. All neatly done and evenly spaced. They came out slightly larger than I had planned so I just scaled up the buttons to 15mm rather than the 12mm recommended in the pattern.
My self covered buttons. I used my new gadget and it's great!

Things I don't like about the blouse:

Nothing! I'm really pleased with this bit of sewing. It was time consuming and I nearly gave up at one point but I'm glad I persevered.

I'm not sure I would want to make this blouse again but I definitely learnt a lot making it. I also like how Tilly makes suggestions in her book on how to make the blouse your own such as adding details like piping.

A couple of tips:
.
Tilly doesn't mention how to trim down the hem at the front facings to make it less bulky. I followed a method described in the Complete Book of Sewing that I've mentioned before, which really is like my sewing bible.

The Complete Book of Sewing by DK

I  trimmed the hem allowance on the  facing to 5/8 inch wide , then the next part of the hem allowance to 1 inch wide stopping about 1/2 inch away from the point where the facing reaches when folded in. This made the hem much less bulky.

I would also move the button holes slightly as the spacing as per the pattern seems to leave a rather large gap at the top.

All in all, the Mimi Blouse is a great pattern. It's as Tilly says - "super cute". It's maybe a bit smart for every day wear, for me anyway. I think I need to start thinking about what I would want to wear on a daily basis rather than making something just because I find it irresistible!

The weather has turned colder the last few days and I'm thinking practical winter dresses or skirts in corduroy or heavier material, and I'm going to be tackling some knit fabric. What have you got planned to sew for the autumn/winter? I'd love to know.

Also apologies for all the cheesy photographs, I've just treated myself to a tripod and have been experimenting with the self timer!