Keeping it simple

I have had this piece of multi-coloured plaid cotton sateen out on my cutting table for several days trying to decide what to make from it. It was an on-line purchase, so I didn't really see that it had an unbalanced plaid until I received the fabric and spread it out - had I realised this I would have bought more fabric because it would have made things far easier! I tried so many combinations of different dresses, shirts and skirts to get that dominant blue line equally balanced on both sides, and then I tried a simple shape but on the bias which also didn't work due to lack of fabric.

So in the end I decided to keep the pattern simple, and just make another dress with a plain bodice with a gathered skirt - less need for pattern matching that way. This is Burda 07/2015 #115, which I made just a few weeks ago from another cotton sateen. It's a simple pattern and easy to wear, so is a winner in my books.

I was really disappointed in the quality of this fabric. This cotton sateen from Nerida Hansen is quite thin and more like cotton lawn or poplin to me, which actually is quite perfect for this style of dress. I've since discovered that  the term 'sateen' refers to the weave and shine, and not the fabric weight, it's just that cotton sateen I've purchased from other stores are quite thick and stretchy that can be used for tailored pants and jackets etc which this fabric definitely could not. 

However what I most disappointed about was that this fabric was printed quite off grain which made it even more difficult to pattern match. At first I thought it might just be that the tight weave at the selvage might be causing the stripes to skew, because it was mainly at the edges that the stripes didn't line up. So I clipped the seams and tried to stream and stretch it straight which didn't really help.

In the end I cut the fabrics out single layer and ignored the grain lines, instead preferring to have the stripes lined up. A massive sewing crime I know, but the skirt and bodice seems to sit well enough and getting those stripes horizontal was more important to me.

Luckily this pattern doesn't have a centre back seam, so no pattern matching was required there, and for the skirt I used the full 150cm width so there's only one side seam which again reduces the need for pattern matching.

I probably should have cut out the fabric a bit more carefully so that the dark blue stripe is at my waistline and the dark green vertical stripe at the centre front continued through the skirt but now I'm probably overthinking it all. If this was a RTW dress I probably wouldn't be this picky at all! 

Anyway, after all that whinging I actually like this dress. It's light and simple to wear since it literally just slips on over my head with no zippers, buttons etc and the gathered skirt means it's not too tight or restrictive which is important after all these months of wearing stretchy sweat pants! And while the fabric quality is annoying, especially since this isn't the cheapest of fabrics, it is going to help me reduce my fabric purchases in future because I don't think I'll purchase any more fabric from this seller. So there is a silver lining in almost everything!

McCalls 8030: Liberty shirt dress

A shirt dress is fast becoming my favourite style of dress in these weird 'stay at home business casual' kind of times. I made Simplicity 8014 four times last year (see the round up here) but this time I thought I'd try a new pattern just to mix things up. And why not use beautiful and expensive Liberty on an untested fabric right!? Sometimes my cavalier attitude appals me, but hey it's only fabric.....

This dress is McCalls 8030, one of the new trendy instagram age patterns that has its own name - 'Josie'.  It's a loosefitting dress, hence it comes in the s-m-l-xl range instead of actual sizes.

I've seen some really great dresses made from this pattern, with some clever sewers doing interesting things with stripes and colour blocking. But I had some Liberty cotton bought earlier this year (not during their recent 40% off sale unfortunately) that I was keen to use for a casual summer dress, so I elected just to line up the pattern instead which frankly made the yoke pointless. Afterwards I realised I should have put some navy piping along that seam line to make it stand out, but as a consolation I did match up the pattern fairly well.

Liberty cotton can be very crisp when it's new, but over time it will soften up and that will probably help this dress wear a little better than it does now. Right now though I'm not loving it. Without the belt  it's really shapeless and unflattering, but when worn with the belt it needs constant tugging down every time I lift my arms.

Not having separate sleeves to set in makes this a really quick sew, but those cut on sleeves are the culprit for the poor fit: they are open to quite low on the body (just above my waist). And in this crisp cotton fabric they really stand out from my arms.

So if you're contemplating this pattern I'd recommend a drapey fabric or a stripey fabric to make the most of the pattern lines. It is a really quick and simple project to make, so perfect for beginners or those short of time. I'll still wear this lots over the upcoming Australian summer since I'll be spending the rest of the year working from home and the roominess of this makes it almost like wearing a nightdress but business appropriate! But I think I'll go back to my beloved Simplicity 8014 for any future shirt dresses.

 

In a jiffy: Simplicity 8682 dress

I'm very sceptical when it comes to pattern envelopes that just have an illustration and not an actual photograph of a model. Vintage patterns are notorious for the illustration looking completely different to how the project turns out because no-one these days has those teeny tiny waists and pointy busts.

 

This dress however lives up to its promise - it did only take a jiffy to make and it turned out pretty much exactly like the pattern cover. This is Simplicity 8682 from 1970:

I've made this before back in 2018 which I still wear so I knew this would fit with just minimal fitting adjustments - I only had to add a few centimetres to the side seams below the waist dart. I did lower scoop the neckline at the front by a few more centimetres because the jewel neckline on this dress is really high. Even with dropping the seam line by another 2.5cm is still looks very high like the design but no longer feels like it is choking me.

Those long French darts on the front view give a really nice shape to the dress without making it too fitted or tight. 

The back view just has vertical darts which normally isn't enough to stop the fabric pooling in my lower back. I usually prefer a dress with a waist seam for better fitting results, but this dress actually fits me quite well in the back. There are darts in the shoulder seam which give it that rounded shape. I really need to improve my posture looking at this photo - no wonder the neckline at the front of the dress felt like it was choking me!

The fabric I've used is a cotton duck from Spotlight in pink and white polka dots - I bought this back in 2019 so I was quite glad to finally get around to sewing with it. The fabric was quite stiff at first, but softened up a lot after a wash and a line dry, but isn't clingy or drapey so the dress retains its a-line shape.

So there you have it - a dress that lives up to its simple promise of being made in a jiffy. It's a good dress to recommend to a beginner sewer or someone just getting into sewing vintage patterns - there are quite a few copies available for sale on Etsy and by other vintage pattern sellers.

Suns out, dresses are on: Burda 07/2015 #115

It's only the beginning of spring here in Sydney, yet we hit 30 degrees (84F) here today - that doesn't bode well for when summer actually rolls around. Despite my love for sewing summer dresses I do not like the heat at all, but clearly I'm living in the wrong country!

After the last failure of a dress I decided to make a super simple dress that I've made before and I knew would fit with minimal effort. The real star in this project is the fabric - a bold graphic print cotton sateen from Nerida Hansen Fabrics. I'm not too impressed with the fabric though - it's rather thin and more like a cotton poplin or lawn than a sateen and it lost the sheen after the very first wash and the navy blue parts of the fabric look a bit worn out already. It works fine for this casual dress, but previous fabric I've bought from Nerida Hansen have been better quality than this, so it's a bit disappointing and I hope it's just this batch.

The pattern is Burda 07/2015 #115, which I made back in 2015 when I was doing my Burda of the month challenge. I still wear that dress, so I knew this one would work out fine.

There's not much to say about this dress - it has a boat neckline with a facing, cap sleeves, a gathered skirt with elastic waist and a simple bodice with a bust dart. I picked this pattern not only because it is simple, but because I didn't want too many seam lines to avoid breaking up that large scale print. I deliberately placed the waistline at the dark stripe to avoid the stitching being too obvious.

The back is similar to the front, just without the bust dart.

 

And it has the all important pockets in the side seams. I'm not a fan of pockets in fitted dress because it adds bulk and they usually gape open, but in gathered skirts like this they are just right.

So all in all a great project - perfect match of fabric and pattern. I can see this dress getting a lot of wear this coming summer.

A sewing miss: Vogue 8685

You can't win 'em all. A wadder every now and then is inevitable, especially if you don't make a fitting toile! This dress definitely falls within the category of a not so great outcome, but hey it's only fabric and a bit of time that's been lost and right now I have lots of both.

Actually this dress took quite a lot of time to finish and it's only because of refusal to make any new UFOs that I finished this at all. And looking at these photos of the finished dress I'm probably going to refashion into a skirt when I get over the frustration of this pattern.

So this pattern is Vogue 8685 which is now OOP but has 34 positive reviews over on Pattern Review. Being a pear shaped, my waist is relatively narrow compared to my hips so I liked the focus of this pattern on the midriff.

However, the midriff band and the curved yoke was just too much for my figure - it was too tight around the hip and too loose on the top which just looked terrible. Here is the first iteration of the dress made according to the pattern:

So out came the unpicker and I adjusted the pattern pieces by letting out and taking in the seam where needed to make it fit. But then the curved yoke just looked droopy and the seam line finished at my widest part which just emphasised my saddlebag thighs. No photos of this stage because I was really annoyed with it.

In a last ditch effort to prevent this becoming a UFO, I decided to take off the curved yoke and just have the midriff waistband piece. I had to fuss around a bit with the skirt to make it fit by adding some pleats to the front and cutting out some excess from the back and then re-sew the invisible zip matching the seam lines again. So now it's finished.....but it's not great.

The proportions are all off because that waistband sits too high, there is too much fabric under my bust which makes it look floofy and those pleats I added to the skirt just emphasise a round tummy. And those sleeves! Those sleeves are way too big and way too long but I could face more re-sewing on this project, so instead I added elastic to the cuff to make it look a bit like a bell sleeve. But actually they just look too big.

This fabric is a really lovely deep plum crepe that I picked up for a bargain from the Sewing Basket, a charity run fabric and craft store selling donated items. I am deeply sad that I used this lovely fabric on this catastrophe, but hopefully I can still give it a life as a skirt eventually.

Given the glowing reviews on Pattern Review, I think this wadder is all about me and not the pattern so if you have this pattern and were thinking of using don't be put off by my awful outcome. But I do recommend making a muslin and possibly using a stretch fabric. And if it doesn't work out, well it's all experience for life's rich tapestry isn't it? 

 

Just another lovely dress: Burda 8/2015 #123

If you follow me on instagram (@kristysewsalot) you'll know that this year I am trying to sew up all the fabrics that I bought in 2019 that are still sitting in my stash. I'm also trying to finish up at 16 of my UFOs for good measure. This mini challenge follows the success of last year's efforts to sew all the fabrics I bought last year - fingers crossed I can do this too!

I'm off to a fairly decent start - of the 23 fabrics I need to sew this year and the 16 UFOs I want to finish I've already sewn 4 pieces and 4 UFOs (just my blogging hasn't kept up). My latest project is fabric no.4 from that pile - a fairly thick cotton duck like fabric in a gorgeous green with a flower print. I bought this from an online fabric store called Daily Like which has since sadly closed down.

My trusty back catalogue of Burda has come through with the perfect pattern - 8/2015 #123 which is a fairly simple dress:

Because my fabric is quite thick and without much drape, my version has turned out far more a-line than the beautiful white version modelled in the pattern photo. The pattern does recommend using wool or wool blend fabrics, which would make the skirt fall more closely to the body than my version.

Despite this, I still really like this. The high waist hits me at my slimmest point, and the pleated skirt means I can have a big lunch and not feel restricted like a normal sheath dress! This was also really easy to fit because I didn't have to grade from a size 34 at the bust to a 38 at the waist to a 42 at the hips - I just cut the skirt in the bigger size and made those waist pleats a little deeper to match the waist size.

The skirt at the back is just plain so it sits flat against the body. Thanks to the width of the skirt at the hemline there was no need for a walking vent, so it was really quick and easy to hem this dress.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough fabric to make those elbow length sleeves with the contrasting bands, which is a pity because I do love that lengthy of sleeve and the sleeve bands to match the neck band would have looked nice. But since this is made from a cotton fabric the cap sleeves work well to make it a summer dress instead. 

The neckband is essential a facing that is sewn to the inside and flipped out instead of the normal way of sewing it to the outside and flipping it in. This is cut from some scrap black cotton sateen and topstitched down.  

Overall I really like this pattern, and I would like to make it again in a wool crepe with elbow length sleeves for a winter dress. I didn't line this dress because I wanted it to be a summer dress and the thick cotton fabric isn't clingy at all, but a wool (or similarly drapey fabric) would require a lining.

I can highly recommend this pattern if you're looking for something quick, simple but just plain lovely. Luckily you can still download this pattern from the Burda Style website if you don't have a hoard of Burda magazines from the last decade or so like I do!

Brain busting dress: McCalls 7429

I don't often sew with knits but other sewists rave about how quick and simple they are for projects. So I thought I would whip out a quick long sleeved dress whilst it is still cool here in Sydney, not that I have any where to wear it or any compelling reason for making a new dress other than for the fun of it!

However, the joke was on me because this dress was not quick, simple or fun to make. At all. I like to think I'm pretty experienced and skilled - I sew Burda regularly and manage with their befuddling instructions after all! But this pattern - McCalls 7429 - took all the brain power I could muster to get it finished. It's a fairly plain straight dress with a twist in the front:

The pictures in the instructions and the text telling me to "pleat in fullness on lower portion of the front to fit between large circles on upper left front" just did not click for me.

Thankfully Brittany Jones  has done two blog posts and a video on how to construct this dress which was really helpful, but it still took me several attempts to figure out how to gather the fabric in the middle and sew the right seams together. In fact I had to unpick the seams a few times before I finally got it right - is there anything more tedious than unpicking a lightning stitch in a knit fabric? Happily once the front bit of the dress is sorted everything else is pretty easy to finish.

It's also not very often that I don't recommend a pattern, but this is one of those times. Other people seem to like this pattern, but there are a few things that annoy me.

Firstly, the wrap part of the lower front dress is not very wide and tends to flap open when I walk. Luckily the under layer extends almost the whole width of the skirt so you aren't flashing too much leg, but it is annoying having it flap around. Also, my fabric is white on the wrong side so it's pretty obvious when it flips to the outside: 

I also don't like how the gathers from the centre waist seam tend to bunch up between my breasts and form a pleat in the front. Maybe that's caused by my rather flat chest and the fabric not needing to be stretched open across the bust, but I feel that the gathers in the front just sit weirdly. 

The gathers and twist at the front of the dress create a bit of bulk over my stomach, which is one area I don't need to add any bulk to right at the moment. The fabric I've used was advertised online as a ponte, but it's rather thin and more like a double knit. I think a thicker fabric like a firm ponte would be even worse, and it's probably best to stick with thinner fabrics for this pattern.

Finally (as if all that above wasn't enough moaning!) I find this dress to be really short. I'm only average in height, and I was surprised when the raw length of this dress without the hem turned up barely reached my knees. The pattern envelope (I know, I know - you should always be sceptical about those!) shows the model's dress hitting her knees so I expected the dress to be a little longer on me. 

So all in all, this is not one of my favourite patterns and I probably won't make it again. I'm sure Burda have done a similar style, and while their instructions are probably just as likely to be as confusing I'd rather take a chance with their drafting than use this pattern again if I feel like I need another twist front dress in my wardrobe!

Cozy winter dress - Simplicity 8014

It's the middle of winter here in the southern hemisphere, although it doesn't really get that cold in Sydney which means anytime of the year is the right time for a new dress! Especially when it's made from a brushed cotton / flannelette (are they one and the same?)

It's not very often that I make all the versions of a pattern, but Simplicity 8014 is firming up as a favourite pattern for both of its styles of shirt dresses. I've made two versions of view A/B with a full skirt and now I've made view C. Literally I have made view C - even using the same fabric as the illustration!

I wasn't sure how this pattern would turn out because I know with my wide hips and smaller waist that patterns with a waist seam work best and look the most flattering on me. So I cut the pattern out a size larger than I needed below the waist to make sure that it would flow and drape around my widest part rather than strain across my hips and thighs. So it's a little wider than the pattern illustration but still not as wide as the full skirt version of this pattern. 

 

Without a belt it doesn't look too frumpy, but it does have serious night gown vibes so I think I'll stick to wearing a belt with it.

I really like the button tab on the sleeves to wear them folded up - it makes it look a bit more casual. 

And even though I intended this as a casual dress I couldn't help but match the plaids - it makes my eyes twitch when it doesn't work out but thankfully on this dress it did. After pre-washing this fabric it was really off grain so I had to iron it back into shape which I'm glad I did because all those seams match. Not on the shoulder seam though - matching sleeves to the bodice is super super hard!

 

I think I've really got my money's worth out of this pattern, especially since I would have bought it during one a pattern sale. I can definitely see a few more of these dresses in both versions in my future.