Broderie anglaise dress #7 - completed

So, I have finalIy completed the broderie anglaise dress, but it was touch and go after I sabotaged myself by idiotically leaving the iron on too high a setting when pressing down the back lapels (I thought I was being so clever doing those!) and melted a hole right through the lining! Disaster.

The idea for this design on the back was inspired simply by the fact I only had a shorter zip in stock than 

the one required by the dress pattern (Simplicity 2444). Therefore it made sense to make a feature out of it and fold down the excess fabric. As I was fully lining it anyway, it made a nice bit of contrast detail on the back and I was pretty chuffed with it! Then I ruined it!!

Oh well. Here's how I got round it: instead of trying to replace that bit of lining,  as it's only for myself, I simply reverted to the original neckline and used a button and inserted a loop on one side, thus creating a nice cutaway effect at the top. I quite often see a little loop and button arrangement at the back of tops, and this is a similar principle. Here's how it came out:

And the front view:

As you can see, I've added a lace collar/trim around the neck to add interest. I'm not sure it's really my style, but I've got heaps of lace sitting around and was looking for an excuse to use some! This was hand-sewn on at the neck. By the way isn't it mad how different the fabric looks under a flash! In daylight it's somewhere in between but more petrol blue than sky blue.

Overall I'm not sure I'll be wearing this very often - it doesn't fit too great (I don't remember having that problem last time with the 2444 but from now on I will be measuring pattern pieces against my own measurements). I don't feel too pleased with the skirt and gathered waist either, I took a gamble and did my own thing rather than sticking to the pattern and it looks fine, just a little boxy when worn. Also the zip - the fabric is a little gathered on one side so I haven't done a great job there. But, I hate zips and they hate me back so I'm just glad it went in! Really must practise those more.

I'd say this was a good practise garment but not one of my favourites. I can see me taking the lace off, adding something at the waist and re-fitting the zip, at some point - but for now, I'm happy :)

Broderie anglaise dress (#7)

I had this lovely petrol blue broderie anglaise sitting around that my mum had sent to me (she also sent some matching in a khaki green) and decided it had to become a dress, but not a pencil dress this time. I picked up ol' trusty Simplicity 2444 which apparently everyone in the world has used at some point - it's a nice easy pattern and quick to construct.

It's still unfinished as I'm trying to do an interesting lapel-style detail on the back which I'll show you once the zip is in and it's all finished, however here's the progress so far (I've added the belt to give it a bit more interest):

I also don't intend to keep all the length, I'll probably remove about 6 inch once hemmed (you can just make out the line where I've had it pinned up to give me an idea). For the skirt I moved away from the pattern as I didn't like the pleating from the last time I used it, and just took a simple rectangle the widtg of the fabric (this was a 45" one) of the relevant length and gathered it at the waist. It's much more of a daytime look I think. I had a bit of bother with the top as it was too long and I forgot to shorten the bodice part of the pattern prior to cutting, so I had to remove about 1.5cm at the shoulders whicg has raised the neckline but I still think it's ok.

It's fully lined using a grey lining I happened to have already in stock, so again cost me nothing except the zil which I've yet to buy. I have some lace which might make a nice collar trim and I might add a couple of buttons at the centre top too.

Another year - 2014 and dress #6

Dear people of 2014,

So my 2013 sewing diary was non-existent, sorry about that. However 2014 is starting to look like it might be one of exciting sewing-related developments. Watch this space!

In the meantime I'll be sharing with you some of my more recent makes, starting with this dress which sat half finished for about 6 months before I finally fixed the terrible job I'd done on the zip and hemmed it, then added the bow and buckle. Really pleased with it now and have been wearing it to work.

I used Simplicity 3673 and the fabric is a lovely English navy check wool blend I was donated by a friend of my mum's, I had plenty left over to make a matching two-piece I'll share soon. The buckle waa a vintage find in an antique store that cost £2. Really the only other cost was the zip, so virtually free to make. Chuffed to bits with the final result, it fits like a dream!

Dress #5 - poolside dress

I started looking at simple poolside dresses, the kind you can just throw on over your bikini, thinking if I could find a really simple elasticated style then I could probably quickly make one in an afternoon ready for my holiday this week.

After looking through a few, I settled on the style of this Accessorize dress as it looked relatively simple to recreate:

The only suitable fabric I have available is a lightweight cream cotton that I picked up recently intending to use as a lining for dress #4 (the tweed work dress), which in theory should work fine - but it'll be rather dull looking in plain cream (could just end up looking like a muslin!) so I need to prettify it with some sort of embellishment. I have a number of bits of ribbon and lace so I'm currently looking for ideas about what I can do to improve the look of it, maybe by adding some colour.

I'll let you know how I get on!

Dress #4 - vintage tweed librarian dress?

Ok, so as always I currently have a new project on the go. This time I'm using a Butterick Retro '58 pattern, B5707:



...and here's the dress view. I'll be using view B, but with the three quarter length sleeves from view A. I liked the cowl neck and I want this to be a normal pencil skirt length dress, not the longer length suggested by the pattern. I also had the perfect fabric - and the perfect amount of it - in my stash, it was a bit of a squeeze fitting all the pieces on but it worked out very nicely, I love using fabric to the max without there being any waste! The fabric is a kind of tweed pattern, a polyster-wool blend British made fabric that my lovely grandmother sent me amongst other bits and pieces. It's a lovely fabric and I've wanted to make a smart dress for work out of it for some time.

I cut out all the pieces and this took some time, as I was really worried about lining up the checks correctly on the seams, as I've never worked with check or a large pattern before, so it was a bit of guesswork. To be honest it hasn't worked out to be a perfect match, but I think it'll look ok. So far, I've already put together the top and from trying it on I'm not particularly happy with the way the cowl neck sits, it just isn't right, I really should have done a muslin - but too late now! I'm just hoping the weight of the skirt will adjust the way it sits. Here is the dress so far, i.e. dress top:


However, after getting this far I realised (a little too late, I think) that I really should have made a lining up at the same time and sewn it in at the neck instead of using the facing, as the fabric is fraying like crazy. Should have seen that coming! So I need to get the pattern out again and cut the dress again, I've been putting it off a bit but I wanted to go and buy some nice light 100% cotton for the lining in this dress, as the usual shiny stuff (NO idea what it's called) made dress #3 a bit 'swishy' like a party dress and I don't want that, plus it's pretty important I don't get too hot and sweaty in this one as it's definitely going to be dry clean only!!

Anyway more progress on this dress really soon, I'm back in the swing and thoroughly enjoying getting on with the project so watch this space...

Dress #3 - Alice in Wonderland?

So, where have I been?! As warned, I've been busy working a lot but am now finally starting to wind down and have been back at my sewing machine working on a few things (I do love having several projects on the go at the same time!)

So first up I'm going to tell you about a project that started almost 4 weeks ago when a new pattern arrived, and which is now almost finished - just the hem to do. I enjoyed using this pattern, as it fit pretty well without much adjustment and it seems to be kind of a 'wardrobe staple' dress pattern according to other blogs, so hopefully I'll use it a few times. The pattern is Simplicity 2444:



I decided for my first attempt (and only my third ever dress, after all!) that I should make the most simple of the designs - view A / the top left in the dress view here:

Also I decided to line this dress, partly because I'd had a bad experience with dress #2 fraying along the seams even though I'd overlocked (but not with an overlocker/serger) the seams, and the insides looked a mess and I didn't want to risk the wear on the seams for this dress.

The blue fabric was already in my stash, having been donated by my grandmother around Christmas time, but I still had to buy the lining fabric and a zip - but not even any thread, as my wonderful grandma had also donated some thread, one particular reel of which was a great match! So this dress probably cost me about £6ish to make.

Here's the result, sorry about the awful pic but you'll be used to that from me by now already!



I like the fit, although there seems to be some small amount of bagginess at the waist to chest area, but not enough to bother me. I really should have done my hair for this pic. Ah well.

As you can probably see, the hem is still only pinned and needs to be finished off, but it's just about there! Really pleased with it, my only concern is that it might be a little bit too Alice in Wonderland...

Just the facts:
Fabric: from (Grandma's!) stash, free
Pattern: Simplicity 2444
Year: contemporary
Notions: invisible zip, lining
Time to complete: not sure, let's just say a month!
First worn: not yet worn out, needs hemming first
Wear again? Yes, maybe even for work; definitely with a white apron and blonde wig for fancy dress parties!
Total cost: about £6ish

Finally I want to thank all the lovely contributors at The Sewing Forum for their help when I've needed it. I would thoroughly recommend signing up whether you're a beginner or an old hand, it's a great community of advice and thoughts on a range of sewing subjects, based in the UK but open to all. Go check it out!

More dress photos

As promised...

Dress #2 - Shirt Dress UFO?

This week on sewweekly.com, the feature is UFO sewing projects, ‘those pieces that have tormented us for longer than we'd like admit’. I’m thinking about submitting my shirt dress, as I’m just finishing it off this week and it's been a work in progress over about 4 months now – literally just one buttonhole left to do on it now (I ran out of thread!). However, everyone else’s projects look so professional and have amazing model-style photos, so I’m not sure whether or not my project would be up to standard. Maybe if I find some artsy abandoned railway (and learn how to pose!) I might get somewhere near! Like Jennifer’s ‘Touch of Pink Skirt’ or ‘Not So Sunny’ dress – I will never be able to produce photos as good as those!

So, for now at least, I’m only sharing this one with lucky ol’ you, in the Sew Weekly style:

The Facts:

Fabric: from 1st for Fabrics, brown-black polyester-cotton weave, £20ish plus cotton floral contrast fabric £5ish
Pattern: Simplicity Project Runway 2403
Year: 2010
Notions: 12″ zipper (£3, John Lewis), 6 x 0.5” buttons (£2.50, eBay)
Time to complete: about 3 months (not solidly! Maybe 20-25 hours?)
First worn: To work, yesterday!
Wear again? I think so – although the fit is a bit annoying…
Total cost: At a guess, about £30

These are the only photos of the dress I have so far and were hastily taken, so that I could email them to my mum to show her my latest achievement! I’m really sorry about the poor quality! Anyway here's a close-up of the waist without the sash, which I added separately using a purpose-drawn pattern:

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the results of my second ever self-made dress, the waistband and the placket look professional ('placket' is a new dressmaking term I learned meaning the bit where the buttons go!). I'm perhaps a little disappointed with the fit - when I sit down, I do get that annoying puffed-up chest effect which seems to be because there's too much fabric between the neck and the waist. I should have shortened the torso part of the pattern before I made it, but the measurements had seemed ok. For my first ever fully-completed dress though, I think I can be forgiven!

It was pretty funny wearing this to work yesterday, I was really self-conscious but nobody commented, which I think is a good thing! - but I'd totally forgotten about how I'd been waiting to finish the last buttonhole when I took the photos, so I'd just tacked the two sleeve parts together for the photos, and then wore it like that to work and of course the sleeve went 'ping' and opened on the way to work! Nightmare - but thank heavens, I quickly located a needle and thread in a desk drawer and botched it back together. Phew! Anyway it was the first time I've ever worn a self-made dress out in public and it felt just great, I felt pretty proud!