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

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

Exciting news...My New Look 6022 dress is featured on the Minerva crafts blog!

Well I got a lovely surprise pop up on Twitter today. A few months earlier, I'd posted about my second version of New Look 6022 and Minerva crafts contacted me to ask if they could feature it in a future blog post..

I first wrote about New Look 6022 here ...

and then here.

Anyway I had more or less forgotten about this when I saw this tweet.

Pop by the Minerva crafts blog and have a look!

On other sewing news, I have a new dress that I have just finished, the Washi dress by Made by Rae which hopefully I will get to blog about this weekend if I can get some photos taken!

I'm probably the last person in the world to have made this dress. Although it was a simple make, I learnt some news skills along the way - full bust adjustment, lowering bust darts, shirring... plenty to write about.

I've also cut out another New Look 6262 which I first made here.

This time to be made in a gorgeous strawberry print, perfect for summer.  I will be making view B with or without the sleeves, as I've yet to decide. I will also be trying to tackle the weird gaping back neck thing that I have going on with every dress that I make, using this method I found on the By Hand London blog.

Catherine x

An Everyday Skirt

This is the Everyday Skirt by Liesl & Co.  I saw it featured in Sew magazine recently and thought it would be a good wardrobe basic pattern.

The pattern is a pdf dowload from Liesl & Co at Oliver and S. It's the first Liesl & Co pattern that I have made and I was very impressed with the simplicity of this pattern and the clear and thorough instructions.

It's a skirt suitable for beginners and it features front pockets, a gathered front, side panels and elasticated waist band at the back. The pdf pattern was easy to put together. I sized down to a small (US 4-6) as the skirt is designed to be fairly relaxed and this size fits perfectly. 

I used some material is from my stash. It's a cheap and cheerful cotton purchased from myfabrics.co.uk last year, but I can't tell you anything more about it.

The waistband is cleverly constructed and finishes the inside of the skirt off very neatly.

The skirt has front pockets and I really like this feature. It's my first time making pockets and I'm really pleased with how they went. 

The back of the waist is gathered which means that it's a relaxed  and comfortable fit. It also means that it is fairly easy to fit as you just adjust to fit your waist.  I left mine fairly loose as the pattern is designed to be worn below the natural waistline.

It's perhaps not the most elegant finish at the back  of the waistband. My elastic was slightly narrowed than the half inch elastic stated in the pattern as it was all I had to hand. 

I'm also pleased with the gathering on the front as I sometimes find it hard to get the gathering evenly spaced. I utilized my daughter's John Lewis Mini sewing machine to do the gathering as I didn't want to have to change the thread on my machine.  Surprisingly I think using this machine was what made the difference as I seemed to be able to pull up the gathers better and they didn't drop out like usual.

Overall, I didn't make any changes to the pattern except I did not make a wide hem as this was the only bit of the instructions that I had difficulty following. The pattern allows for a 2 inch hem and gives instructions on sewing a row of gathering stitches 1/2 inch from the hem's raw edge and then pulling in the gathering stitches so that you can ease in the extra fullness in the curved sections of the hem. I had couldn't get this to work at all, so  in the end, I trimmed about half an inch from the length of the skirt and turned under a regular 2cm hem.  I double stitched this also for a decorative effect.

I really like this skirt and can see me making it again. It's a great basic pattern and would look good in a range of different fabrics and prints. And it's got pockets!

As you can also see I also now have a dressmaking dummy. It was my birthday last week, I got vouchers to buy her. Lucky me! 

Have you made the Everyday Skirt or do you have a favourite  basic skirt?

Catherine 

x

A day out....The Knitting and Stitching Show, London Olympia

I took the day off work on Thursday and went to the Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia in London. Although not such a big show as October's Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, it's still a great day out. I went with my mum, armed with refreshments and a large bag!

There were a lot of fabric retailers there, mostly selling affordable fabrics.  It's the first time I've added to my stash this year as I am trying to be good, and use up some of my existing fabric.

I bought this from Simply Fabrics who are a retailer based in Brixton.  I think this will make up a nice summer dress. They had a selection of excellent priced fabrics and I think their shop must be worth a visit if you live in South London.

These fabrics I think came from Fabrics Galore, another South London fabric retailer. I think I need to move!

I'm thinking of this as a short sleeved blouse....

...and this as a skirt or maybe dress.

My final fabric was from Fabric Time who are based in Kingston upon Thames.  I bought this adorable polka dot and rose print.

This is going to definitely become a summer dress.

One of the busiest stalls was the McCalls pattern company. All their patterns were on offer for £4.50 or £12 for three. How could I resist!

I bought this "Patterns by Gertie" pattern to make up for my daughter: Butterick B5895. I think she will look cute in this. However, I don't think its a design for anyone but the skinny!

Loose-fitting top has front extending into collar and tie ends, and narrow hem on sleeves/back hemline.

I also picked up two dress patterns... Butterick B5982....

 Dress has close-fitting, lined bodice, side front seams, pleated and gathered skirt, back zipper, and belt with bow, knot and Velcro® closing. A/B, C D cup sizes.

....and Butterick 4443.

 Dress: close-fitting bodice and slightly flared skirt has bodice variations, back zipper and is below mid-knee length. B: contrast band, tie belt and purchased flower. C: tie belt. D: purchased ribbon and bow trim. E: purchased ribbon bow

I've not sewn any Butterick patterns before so I will be interested to see how they fit. I'm also a planning on losing a few pounds that have crept over the last year or so before I start on these. I have set myself a goal of losing a stone, so I will let you know how I get on!

On the knitting front, I bought 5 balls of this lovely aran weight yarn from Neil the knit.

It's called Aztec Aran and it's made by James C Brett which is not a company I've come across before. It's 10 percent alpaca so has a nice fluffy feel to it and it knits up nicely. I am going to make the tunic version on this pattern...

...and have already started.

I also bought some of this patterned yarn from the same stall. It's a self striping yarn and I am planning on knitting a simple round neck sweater with this to show off the pattern. 

Maybe this pattern...

Plenty to be getting on with...

Catherine x