New Blog!

I've moved to writing under a new blog, please read it here.

Thanks!

Leopard Print Dress

Leopard Print V-Neck Wrap Dress

Firstly, I have to apologize for the poor quality photographs in this post, I'm still using my phone and despite its reputation Huawei cameras aren't actually that great. Today I'm going to write a short post detailing how I made this leopard print knit dress. This is a dress I made last year in autumn, as I was in need of a nice cold weather friendly garment. I purchased the material on clearance and stashed it well over a year prior to making this dress. I had several ideas of how I wanted to use it, but during the design process I realized that some things weren't going to work. As any good sewist knows, all materials are unique and present their own unique challenges. A lot of times you might think, oh this would make a lovely dress shirt, without realizing the chosen fabric is too wrinkly or too stretchy. I had to think critically of how to use this one sided printed, soft brushed medium weight knit. I also wanted to complete the project in a short amount of time because we were due on vacation and I wanted it ready for our week long stay by the lake.

I tend to draft everything from scratch these days. This is largely due to the fact that I can never get patterns to work for my body. My back is too narrow, my waist too short, my boobs and stomach too big, it's a nightmare. A few years ago I pushed myself to learn how to pattern draft by utilizing the handful of sewing textbooks I own, and it's been a complicated but mostly fulfilling experience. I've developed a knit sloper, based off of a Burda Style block, that I use for all of my knit designs. I just change the necklines or sleeve designs and create what I want, accompanied by a lot of research. In this case I had difficulty finding a good wrap design for knits. My textbooks don't have large sections dedicated to knit, which I think is a damn shame considering knit fabric accounts for 90% of what we purchase in ready to wear clothing. In my one book it described how to make the wrap top but it was designed for woven fabric, I had tried using it on a knit muslin once before and it never looked quite right. A few months later and I had found a vintage bodysuit pattern with wrapped neckline. Instead of using the pattern outright, fully well knowing it would not fit my back, square shoulders or waist correctly, I used it as a guide when adapting my knit sloper. 

The wrap neckline, as it sounds, is two overlapping panels in the front bodice, this doubles the fabric up so it's not a good design for heavier weight fabrics, but my material just squeaked by. The neckline edge is bound and is sewn in at the side seams, cupping beneath the bust. My first attempt at a wrapped neckline had the neckline edge finishing in the waist seam, it was horrible and I wouldn't recommend that style unless you're working with a very light weight material. Knit waistlines are tricky because you have to reinforce them with elastic and sewing machines and sergers hate elastic, so adding excess material on top of that is a recipe for disaster, my best advice is to keep the amount of fabric at the waist minimal on any knit garment. 

To finish the dress I used fitted long sleeves and a drafted circle skirt. The fastest way to finish off a dress draft is with a circle skirt, they're easy to whip up and have a lovely drape, to me they look the most professional. You may notice that I make and use circle skirts in my designs often, I highly recommend them! They are the ultimate wardrobe staple and look flattering on pretty much everyone. 

Overall, I'm very pleased with this dress. It's soft and comfortable, sexy yet classy, and with my red hair it looks sharp as a tack. I even created a necklace to go with this outfit specifically, it's a rhinestone cameo with faux opal setting on a black velvet neckband - I've worn it so much I might have to replace the velvet!. I seldom reproduce the exact same project twice, so I might not make this kind of dress again but would probably make use of the wrap neckline several times in the future for other projects. It's a very flattering cut when accompanied by the long sleeves and I'd recommend it for those who are short waisted, which is something I struggle with. 

I hope you're all keeping busy. I'm working on my next sewing project, a tartan tunic top, and have just finished off a striped knit 80's inspired frock that I'll be writing about soon. 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Sewing 60's Style

Sewing 60's Style

This is sort of an incomplete review, which sometimes I feel maybe isn't entirely fair, but I've sewn enough of this garment to be able to comment on the quality of the design and pattern. To preface things, I moved a few months ago and unfortunately lost the use of my sewing room and office. It's been devastating. As a disabled woman my whole life is centered around my pastimes and without them I'm more sedentary and depressed. I've definitely gained weight and I find that my brain fog is far worse without the stimulation that my art and sewing provide me with. We'll be renovating the sewing room very soon and I'm thoroughly elated at this prospect. It's been so chaotic without either space. Recently I've had the itch to sew, I decided to give it a whirl in our front room using what little fabric and notions I had access to (most things are still boxed). I haven't sewn without a sewing room in something like six years, and it was horrible. It's still horrible. The lighting is abysmal, the cats kept trying to lie on my fabric and pattern paper, cutting was awkward, and my makeshift table using my ironing board collapsed, flinging my sewing machine onto the hardwood floor - the machine miraculously survived, the floor is dinged but it's all scratched and dinged from previous owners anyways so I'm not heartbroken. But I digress, the pattern:

Simplicity 8358 Pattern Review

I chose this pattern after combing through several 1960's frock patterns. Recently I've been watching the latest season of Call the Midwife, which just isn't as good as it used to be, but it's chock full of 60's fashion and seeing all of the bright and happy looking dresses compelled me to revisit the decade. I seldom sew anything 60's because for me it was a decade preoccupied with tent dresses and terribly unflattering silhouettes. There were a few highlights which were largely reminiscent of the 50's, but a lot of the designs I just can't get behind. I don't have the model body type so I can't throw on a full body cape and expect to look chic. That being said, I don't have hoards of 60's patterns and obviously I only keep those that appeal to me. S8358 is one of those dresses that looks flattering enough, it's a princess seamed a-line frock with raglan sleeves in varying lengths with different collar styles. The difficult part is assessing how accurate the illustrations are in the absence of real photographs and in this case... these drawings look really cute. The actual dress? Enhh...

I used a hideous Pepto-bismol pink poplin for the muslin. Poplin is the recommended fabric, among others, and I have to disagree with this choice. Not only because I hate poplin, because it's scratchy and it wrinkles, it's just too structured for this particular design. Maybe it works for Verison 3, but belted in Version 2, the look that I made, it causes unsightly bunching and doesn't hang quite right. I also wouldn't use poplin for Version 1 with the gathered sleeves, instead I'd recommend a rayon or lightweight chiffon with a slip worn underneath. The poplin did sew smoothly, though. I ran out of fabric and was unable to cut the second sleeve and either of the three collar options, hence the incomplete garment in the photo. I might purchase some cheap poplin in a contrast some day and finish the dress to donate - I hate being wasteful!

The instructions were fair although I hardly followed them. One thing that irked me was that they begin with Version 1, which has a notched neckline where the scarf pulls through, the other versions recommend referencing back to the beginning steps which have you cut and sew the notch. I knew the difference but a beginner would totally cut this piece without thinking, it's poor organization. Considering that Versions 2 and 3 are the more simplified dress you'd think those assembly instructions would come first and then the collar notch variation added later. It's confusing.

The design is okay. The princess seams and back darts allow for shaping. The size I used was slightly above me in terms of fit so it hung loosely but I think it's for the best considering I have a muffin top right now. These kinds of dresses are unforgiving to those of us without flat stomachs. The raglan sleeves feature a shoulder dart for shaping. I was apprehensive about it but it does sit nicely. The roll collar doesn't work on my stubby neck so I was going to make the shirt collar instead when I ran out of fabric. Assembly is fast, cutting took forever but that was a given without my rotary. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of fabric in this garment. The hem sits just above the knee, but I think it looks better either higher or lower, that could just be me though. The dress is very plain. It almost looks utilitarian like a nurse's uniform. Perhaps a printed fabric might look better for this design but the solid colour is very overwhelming. It looks cute on the mannequin but when I wear it I feel like one of the Mr. Men. Call me Little Miss Underwhelmed. It's unlikely I'll ever sew this again but if I did I might try Version 1 instead, in a much nicer printed fabric.

Anne Adams R4613 Dress

Vintage Swing Dress

I've been chubby since last fall, honestly, I've eaten way too much pie and ice cream and pizza and cake. My husband is my worst enabler, and with the stress of house hunting we often have no choice but to order take out as we sit, anxiously waiting to hear back as to whether we've lost out on yet another bidding war (and yeah, we always lose). Not surprisingly I have a hardcore shortage of summer friendly clothing, hence the Zulily shopping spree. I only ended up with two wearable dresses from Zulily, they cancelled my other dress order on me - bastards! Fed up, I decided I'd make my own dresses instead. So I scoured my pattern collection and found a cute summer friendly looking dress from the 1950's. It's an Anne Adams dress, and I wouldn't be surprised if you've never heard the name before, it's one of the many mail order pattern companies from the olden days. Sometimes you can find these patterns for cheaper online than a Simplicity or McCall's because the brand isn't as identifiable. They also tend to be unmarked patterns which is kind of a pain in the ass and might put off some buyers. This is the second mail order pattern I've tackled, this being the far more successful attempt of the two.

Hearts and Roses London Review

Let me start this off by saying I normally don't buy clothing. I hate the process of trying things on, but perhaps I hate the process of blind buying a product online even more so! With the absence of a change room, I'm leaving it 100% up to chance as to whether or not a garment bought online will fit, and I'm a terribly unlucky type who usually ends up with something completely nonreturnable and unwearable.

Handkerchief Tunic

Self Drafted Tunic Pattern

If you followed me on Instagram, back when I was on it, you might have seen me working on this tunic top. I thought I should write a brief post outlining how it came to be.

Sometime last year I purchased this soft gray knit fabric. It's a medium weight knit, a bit see through, and has moderate stretch. Originally I had intended to make a deep-v wrap top with it but within months of purchasing this material I ended up buying the shirt that I wanted to make from a thrift store. As a result this fabric ended up in my stash bin until the following winter. In January I was on a pretty steady sewing kick and pumping out projects one after another, that's when I thought it's time to utilize this fabric, but how? I purchased Restyle's "Acid Geometry Leggings" shortly after Christmas (pictured in photo above, product review to come), I knew that I would I need to make a tunic that I could wear with them. I never wear leggings without tunics, I just can't deal with the muffin top or the camel toe!

Recently I've been working on a knit sloper that I purchased from Burda (link here). I finally got the fit just right and decided that I would make a tunic based off of my sloper. I'm not sure exactly where the inspiration for the handkerchief hem came from. I guess I had seen it once or twice in goth clothing catalogs and I fondly remember owning a beautifully draped handkerchief skirt that really complimented my figure. Despite owning a pattern drafting text book there was nothing in it about handkerchief hems which completely surprised me. Much like circle or dirndl skirts, the handkerchief skirt is one of the most common DIY projects in the world of sewing. You can literally find hundreds of tutorials on them and various ways to make them. Typically, a handkerchief skirt is made from a square that has been draped, it's not unlike a circle skirt, other than by shape of course, and like a circle skirt you can choose to drape it from the waist line or hips. 

While you can easily google a handkerchief skirt, a tunic tutorial is not so commonplace. There are some tunic patterns that have you cut the top as a separate piece, you would then attach a handkerchief skirt at the waist line or under bust. While that does work, I don't like the idea of having a bust or waistline seam. I wanted something more streamlined and with fewer pieces. That's when I found McCall's 6121 pattern diagram.

Pictured on the left above is my fashion sketch of what I wanted my tunic to look like. On the right is a snippet from McCall's 6121 pattern diagrams. Now, while I would generally recommend against trying to understand pattern drafting from the back of a pattern envelope, this is, for once, actually very helpful. McCall's is showing us precisely how the draping handkerchief hemline is created. It is a rectangular extension that's blended into the waistline.

To accomplish this on my own sloper I determined the length that I wanted for the skirt, calculated what that would be as a square, and then halved it, drafted those measurements into a rectangle attached to the sloper at the hip line and blended it. If I had tried to blend it at the waist I would lose definition and the tunic would be more drapey, I wanted to maintain that waist definition so I dropped the extension to the hips which I saw one other sewist do on another site. 

It is mind numbingly easy.

I have used this exact pattern to create a dress which I can't take pictures of until the weather warms up, but I can tell you that these two garments are the most comfortable garments I own. They are so completely flattering and my sewing ended up looking top notch. 

If you struggle with figure flaws I would definitely recommend giving this style a try, whether you draft your own patterns or buy them (try McCall's 6121 if you like). I'm super happy with how this turned out and I look forward to eventually sharing the dress as well.

-Lu

Knock Off Velvet Skirt

Silence + Noise Tie Waist Velvet Skirt Knock Off 

Using Simplicity 8653

Last winter I purchased a gorgeous velvet frock from Urban Outfitters. It was almost $100 and probably out of my budget but I had wanted something pretty for family gatherings and dates, so I caved and I bought it. Shortly thereafter, while perusing the UO catalog online, I spotted the "Silence + Noise Tie Waist Velvet Skirt" in a luxurious looking emerald green, but at a whopping $60 CAD it was out of the question, especially after my expensive dress purchase. I waited forever to see it go on sale and it never did! Of course everything else was marked down, including every other colour of my dress, except the one that I had purchased. Go figure.

I was disappointed but determined, I would have that skirt, even if it meant having to make it myself!
I've been dying to use this Simplicity "Grooves" pattern which features 00's fashions, like wide leg pants, crop tops and gathered athletic style skirts (with kangaroo pockets - probably the most adorable sewing terminology you will ever use). This was the only pattern in my collection that I felt matched the Silence + Noise skirt design. It features a gathered, elastic drawstring waistband and an a-line shape, like the skirt in the product photos, but minus the mitered pockets and dolphin shorts hem (another ridiculously adorable sewing term).

I thought that the skirt in the pattern photo looked a little taught in comparison, it didn't have nearly as many gathers, so I drafted an extension onto the front and back skirt pieces. I also drafted the mitered pocket from scratch and I'm in love with how it turned out, I will probably employ this technique thrice over. Unfortunately I didn't make a toile for this project, I just dove right in, and I discovered a few key problems.

1) The dolphin hem was not going to be an easy draft, so rather than overwork myself I simply created a side seam split with a slight hi-lo hem to cover my arse. It works but it's not as visually appealing and I wish I had taken the time to draft a dolphin hem after all.

2)The elasticized drawstring waistband totally tanked! I had drafted a new, wider waistband for the project, sewed on the elastic, stitched buttonhole openings for the drawstring, and threaded the drawstring through the casing. The result? A frumpy, hideous gathered waistband that could not flatter any figure. When looking at my inspiration photo, the waistband is a little frumpy but not nearly as much. It seemed like an excessive amount of material was causing my problem. So I unpicked it, redrafted the waistband and shortened the skirt width, resulting in my having to redraft, sew and recut the pockets and side seams. I must've shaved off ten inches of excess fabric. I tried the waistband in the same manner and what do you know, the same problem happened again. It was still frumpy and unflattering.

At this point I'm wondering, what's going on here? The skirt looks fine gathered before the waistband is assembled. It even looks a little more appealing with ten inches shaved off, yet the waistband looks like crap. The answer? Silence + Noise were clearly using a much cheaper, thinner stretch velvet than I was. My velvet, a moderate thickness, was creating too much bulk in the waistband. I had to rethink it entirely and this is when I lost steam.

I put the skirt on hiatus and left it for a whole year before returning to it.

Now I wouldn't recommend putting all of your projects on one year's hiatus, however, I did return with a much clearer vision in my mind, and with new ideas and techniques that I could employ with this project. I had just finished one red velvet circle skirt with elastic waistband, I knew exactly what I needed to do with this skirt.

Obviously a gathered waistband was out of the question, so instead I needed to serge a wide elastic waistband directly to the skirt. This is accomplished by cutting an elastic to fit your waist, plus seam allowance, then cutting a casing the same length but twice the width of the elastic. I sewed both the elastic and waistband casing seams, and then encased the elastic, therefore creating the waistband. Finally, I used my overlock to serge the waistband to the gathered skirt.

IT'S THAT SIMPLE.

I merely stitched a faux tie onto the front of the skirt to emulate the drawstring effect.

IN REVIEW

A few things to review, for one, the skirt is not as a-line as the pattern depicts. I thought that once it was gathered it would look more flared but it does have a tight, fitted, pencil skirt effect, even with the added fullness. Secondly, there is an undesired fullness between the thighs where it creates a bubble effect, in other words, this is not a skirt that I will be wearing on days that I look and feel bloated. I'm not sure if the gathers were working against this skirt? I had ensured all the gathers were made in the front but not where the pockets are located, in order to show the pockets off more - this is different than in the inspiration photo where the skirt is completely gathered all the way around. This might have caused the bubble issue. I do wish I had created the dolphin hem but it's not something I want to revisit. Overall, I have my skirt! I'm looking forward to wearing it through this chilly winter weather. I consider this a fairly successful knock off.

-Lu