Tag Archives: Dress

Oriental Bird

04/12/2014 11:32 pm \ 52 Comments \

I was tempted to call this my other Swedish dress, since I bought this fabric in Stockholm as one of my wearable souvenirs from our Scandinavian holiday, but actually the fabric is English!  I bought it in Svenkst Tenn but “Oriental Bird” is a linen upholstery fabric by GP&J Baker, printed in England.
Yes, upholstery.  I am wearing a couch.  *womp womp*
😉
Y’know those upholstery adverts in magazines that showcase upholstery fabrics and even carpets by making “garments” from them and photographing them on a model, like a fashion spread?  Well, I love that kind of thing.  Fabric is fabric and honestly, I cannot see any reason why upholstery fabric cannot be worn just like any other fabric.  I reckon if you like it then just go for it.
And the print is just beautiful.  Just look at these colours!  There are twenty three colours.  Twenty flipping three…  Meaning, twenty three separate screens were required to make the design.  Having done some printing myself, I find that number of colours to be, quite simply, staggering.  Think of the placement!  Honestly, I cannot even comprehend.  Consider my mind officially blown.

I used Burda 8511.  I wanted a dress with minimum joins, seams and darts or any other fussy shaping details that would visually interfere with the large-scale print; and this fulfils all criteria.  It’s a terrific little basic shift dress pattern.  I’ve had mine for years and it is still in print and available today.
Speaking of the pattern…  I’m gunning for Burda’s envelope pose here.  

powning it

I shortened it slightly and, because I wanted a nice fit, went to the effort of a minor sway back adjustment.  I also did my semi-regular FHA.  Haven’t heard of the Full Hip Adjustment? well that’s probably because I just made it up, hehe.  The FHA is enormously complicated, requiring one to grade out from the waist to a larger size at the hips.

Inner workings: my fabric has three main characteristics; A. it is quite thick and stiff, B. it frays  and C. it was very expensive.  Taking these into consideration, I decided to HongKong finish all the raw edges inside.  This can be a time consuming finish, only visible to and appreciated by one person; you, the wearer.   However imo it is a really beautiful inner finish, and I’m always secretly thrilled with the sight of it, even thought it’s only for my own private benefit.  I used pale yellow cotton voile for the HongKong bias strips and raw silk for the neckline/armhole facings.

Details:
Dress; Burda 8511, upholstery linen
Sandals; Zomp, from Zomp shoes

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studio faro pocket dress

28/10/2014 1:29 pm \ 30 Comments \

New dress, with interesting pockets.
While browsing Pinterest, as you do, I came across a line drawing of a very elegant dress on and I immediately knew I wanted to have a go at drafting it for myself.  It is the pocket drape dress designed by Anita, of studio faro.  Subsequently I discovered her absolutely fantastic blog well-suited, where she very generously shares her considerable expertise in understanding how designs actually work.    If you’re interested in exploring and understanding pattern making then Anita’s blog is totally brilliant; sure to inspire and motivate.
I’d previously measured and made a custom-fit darted sheath dress sloper for myself during my early explorations of Pattern Magic and I used this to draft my pattern, following Anita’s guidelines pretty closely.  I made a first test version using an old sheet.  It worked, but well, ahem.  I have to admit I looked less than chic in that thing.  I think my drape was a bit of an epic fail.
However I decided I really did love the pocket, so I went with having the pocket on both sides.  Also I fiddled about with the crossover neckline, put in a few random folds and made it asymmetrical.

The deep side pockets have flap openings that are an extension of the bodice side panels.  They are fully functional pockets, but their positioning with the opening sitting up high at the waist makes them not really conducive to shoving your hands in.  So, not as practical as they are decorative.  Well, I could put a few small things in there that I don’t need to get out in a hurry.  The pockets are perfectly useable pockets, but just for things, and not hands.  But still…  a very cool design, and I reckon they look really interesting  🙂

The pockets are kinda hard to explain… they are inset into the side of the dress and have an extra piece which is part of but also sitting over the pocket, that extends into a flap hanging loose and free past the bottom of the pocket.  
Working out how to construct the pockets was quite an enjoyable puzzle, and I really enjoyed the process of nutting out a way to put it together neatly!  I don’t know if my way is the way Anita intended for it to be made, but it worked out OK for me.  I think  ðŸ™‚
I’ve written my instructions at the end of this post, mostly for myself, if I ever want to make these pockets up again.  Please be warned that they will probably not make sense to anyone not making up the pockets…

the pocket detail; underneath is a fully functional, 2-layer inset pocket

In the muslining stage I found that the pocket sagged down on the inside, pulling down on the pocket flap; and so decided it would be better to add a lining to the front and back side panels above the pocket, and to “tether” the top edge of the pocket to the side panel lining, by sewing the panel lining lower SA to the upper SA of the pocket bags.  Having a lining added some much needed hidden support and keeps it all holding up and together, nice and stable.
Subsequently I decided to go the whole hog and properly line the whole dress in the same creamy polyacetate.  I used the same pattern for the lining pieces.

inside view; lining of side panel and inset pocket

The fabric is a rich cream, silk dupion, slightly slubby yet still with a subtly glossy sheen, and a decadently crinkly texture.  I bought it at Fabulous Fabrics forever ago and it’s been living quietly in my stash, patiently awaiting its turn.  It had gone slightly yellow but I gave it a good wash and it came up lovely and fresh, seemingly as good as new.
So I like my dress.  Well, it’s OK.  It was not easy, ahem! and I’ve decided my self-drafting skills are kinda rubbish.  And even though I thought my muslin looked dreadful I have a sinking suspicion that maybe it was more interesting that way.  I think maybe I could’ve stuck with the drape, hmmm.   *sigh*
But I do love how the pockets look and I very much love that I have a nice fresh off-white dress to pop on for summer.  So I will wear it very happily.
And now all I want to do is just leap onto some commercial pattern, already drafted up for me, ready to go, easy peasy, no thought required, neat and tidy like.  Yeah.

The Pocket: feel free to skip this bit if you want.
So, you have the pocket detail, the pocket bag, the pocket bag lining and the pocket flap facing.  Also the back side panel, front side panel and their lining pieces, which have the pocket flap facing allowance  removed …
Sew pocket detail and pocket bag R sides tog at top edge, turn, understitch.
Sew pocket bag lining  to pocket bag, R sides tog at bottom edge.
Sew pocket flap facing to pocket bag lining R sides tog, press pocket flap facing up.
Sew back side panel and front side panel R sides tog at side seam, press open, repeat for panel lining pieces.
Sew lower edge of joined panels to pocket flap facing R sides tog, trim, clip side panel pieces into corners, turn pocket flap out, press.
Align and layer 3 pocket pieces together and baste tog at sides, clip into the SA of pocket detail at junction with pocket bag lower edge.

For the side panel lining; and this is where it gets a little more complicated…
the dress pieces need to be assembled except for the shoulder seams and keeping the lower part of the pocket detail free, and the dress lining assembled likewise, leaving out the pocket lining which is attached to the dress already, meaning there is a “hole” in the dress lining where the pocket lining should be.
 Sew the dress to its lining pieces together at the underarm and neckline seams, understitch the lining as far as possible, turn; then the side panel lining pieces can be sewn to the upper pocket bag seam allowances on the inside, W side to R side.  Clip into the corners, then the SA around the three remaining sides of the dress lining “hole” can then be stitched to the pocket lining seam allowances inside, R side to W side, between the dress and its lining.
The lower pocket detail edges are turned under and invisibly hemmed by hand.

All that might seem a bit convoluted, but trust me, if you are putting together the pocket it does work!

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a blocky sundress

16/10/2014 9:21 am \ 49 Comments \

I screen-printed this random murky-coloured block fabric last year, and have finally got around to making it into something.  At last!  The 5-colour print is my own  design; and in fact the dress is my own design too  ðŸ™‚   

Originally I had cut the ivory cotton into vaguely sheath-dress-shaped pieces to help me size and place the print.  

Inevitable then, that I would go off the idea of a sheath dress … and eventually I dreamed up, well; this!  It’s a blocky sort of a print, and a blocky sort of a dress in design too, with all straight lines and edges throughout and not a single curve to be found!  The style lines have been marinating in my head for a few months now and so I’m happy it now has corporeal form.
Maybe I should make a pattern for this.  Be a designer.

Bwahaha, kidding! 
The side panels are two piece, with the lower one overlapping the upper one so as to create a simple pocket that extends into the side seams.  The design is fairly unstructured and unfitted, boxy enough that I can just pull it over my head without the need for closure.  Then to give it some shape I made two little arrowhead tabs that can button at the sides to pull in the boxiness and create a bit of shape at the waist.   The domed textured buttons were inherited from my grandmother’s stash.

I think it will make quite a good casual knockabout dress.  The fabric is not soft, but quite stiff and thick and crisp and densely woven, so I think it suits this loose but structured boxy style quite well.  In retrospect I think I was quite ambitious with my print.  But y’know? I’m glad I did have a good go at something a bit tricky, and I like it despite the problems and imperfections.  Now I’m thinking I really should get out my screen printing stuff again.  Give it another go!

o hai there, watcha doing?

Details:
Dress; my own design, screen-printed by me as described here, on ivory cotton, stiff, thick, crisp

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the children’s choice

10/10/2014 7:47 am \ 70 Comments \

So recently I had a birthday, and my children gave me a perfectly lovely surprise!  fabric of their choice, for a particular pattern also of their choice.  
It’s like Sew Bossy all over again!! haha, I jest, of course in all seriousness I’m absolutely thrilled that they thoughtfully gave me something that they know that I really love ie. a sewing project, and also for me, this is a very interesting insight into their vision of me, the kind of thing that they “see” me wearing.
Well, specifically, I suspect Cassie did all the choosing and so this is therefore her vision of, and for, me.  She snuck quietly into the laundry and chose this pattern from my stash, Vogue 1281, and then zipped off and secretly bought the fabric from Fabulous Fabrics.  
An interesting concept  no?   *adopts deep thinking stance*  If others choose your clothing for you without your input,  then does the result say more about you and your style, or about the chooser and their taste?  or maybe it says something about the relationship you have with them?  Food for thought, hmmm… 
The previous, first time I made up this pattern I used old Tshirts and banged it together a bit,  then pretty much tucked the pattern back into the stash; a mental “been there, done that!” ticked off in my head.  For this new version the fabric was a obviously just a wee bit more precious to me, and I took my time, carefully and lovingly getting everything just as right as I could  ðŸ™‚

Some thoughts and technical bizzo:
My original flippant assessment was that this is a very unusual pattern.  Revisiting the pattern has only reinforced this assessment.  This really is a unique design in amongst my very extensive collection of unique patterns.
Firstly; I sized down.  This pattern is LOOSE!
The structure of the dress is all reliant upon the “lining”, which is essentially a thing that we call here a “boob tube”.  Or if you prefer, a bandeau bikini top.  Basically the whole dress hangs upon that!  The first time I made it, I made it quite differently, NOT going with the separate boob tube but instead joining the dress and lining together totally at the top.   I don’t think one way is superior to the other.  Just observing that this dress is constructed as intended, with the boob tube lining kept quite separate.
In my opinion, if you are making it as intended then it is essential that the boob tube lining fits as perfectly as possible, and it is easier to do this if it is made separately.  
My fabrics are all stretchy, so I didn’t put a zip in the back but just stitched up that centre back seam.  IF doing this, my recommendation is that the strap be attached to the dress and not to the boob tube lining at all.  I then secured the top of the dress to the boob tube by discreet hand stitching at a few key points; centre back seam, the general underarm area, and underneath the straps at the front.
A fitting tip, with my bodice fabric being quite stretchy, I still had to take in quite a lot of excess width from the bodice.  I did this fitting adjustment all through the centre back seam and modified the placement of the right strap accordingly.

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1281, rayon/poly and bamboo/poly stretch jersey knit.  Thin, liquidy, flowy  cool.  The beige is very fine, soft and matte, the print is a bit thicker and springy.
Sandals; Zomp, from Zomp boutique

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raspberry Alabama Chanin tank dress

08/10/2014 5:45 am \ 53 Comments \

I’ve finished a handmade dress.  It’s dyed, printed and stitched together entirely by me.  
This is a fitted tank dress, the pattern is from the book Alabama Studio Sewing + Design, by Natalie Chanin.  I dyed shocking pink linen jersey knit to fortuitously achieve this rather nice, motley, deep raspberry pink, which I love, and the print is the Abbie’s Flower design from the same book, enlarged by hand and screen-printed in deep burgundy textile paint, all described here.
So.  I should be pleased with it, but actually I’m teetering on not.  I’m pleased it’s finished, let’s put it that way!  
Actually I’m borderline depressed with it.  See, I did have grand plans for further handwork and embroidery.  Those plans came to nought.  
I trialled several different embroidery and even beading ideas but everything I tried just looked awfully heavy-handed   The size of my print is quite petite, and it’s also detailed and well defined and more than a bit busy, and so doesn’t really lend itself well to the embellished Alabama Chanin look, I think.  Eventually, frustrated, I ceased diddling about, picked everything off, and just sewed it together.  
Defeated.  
So I was pretty over it even before the poor thing got sewn together.  Probably why I shoved it into the cupboard and all but forgot about it until my recent wardrobe spring clean.  Hey, new dress! Guess I should wear this thing, hmmm.

The seams are all stitched and felled by hand, and the simple armhole and neckline binding applied with herringbone stitch by hand.

Also, I’m undecided that the tank dress silhouette is very flattering to me.  It’s a funny thing really because I totally adore my long AC skirt and matching tank top worn together, a combination which one might argue could pass at a short distance for a tank dress just exactly like this.  Somehow having the break between top and skirt is a huge improvement to my eye.  As a dress, with a continuous unbroken fall of fabric from shoulder to hem; I dunno, I just don’t like it as much.  It’s irrational and I can’t explain it.
This is why I’m probably always going to wear it with a little cardigan, as above.
It’s not out of the question that I’ll refashion this into a separate skirt and top one day.  In the meantime I don’t mind it worn over my Metalicus petticoat like this.  I’ll see how it goes for a while.
Maybe it’ll grow on me.

Details:
Dress; fitted tank dress from the book Alabama Studio Sewing + Design by Natalie Chanin, in linen jersey, hand- dyed, printed and stitched by me
Petticoat; Metalicus
Cardigan; Country Road
Thongs; Havaianas

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“Swedish” dress

12/09/2014 11:57 pm \ 96 Comments \

I’ve made my Swedish souvenir    ðŸ™‚
I bought this linen-mix with a Swedish designed print in Stockholm during our Scandinavian holiday.  I fell in love with the bold and yet delicate print in orange, soft greeny-browns and black on a creamy background.  Bold and delicate?! sounds like an oxymoron but I think this design does magically manage to fit into both categories somehow!  The pattern is Vogue 2900 and I “framed” each piece in the design with a skinny strip of black cotton to highlight the piecing in this quietly interesting dress design.  
I chose to do this because I felt the broad sweeps of a bold – yet delicate! – print like this could lose much of its impact upon being cut up into small pieces… I think the black framing successfully highlights the piecing of the pattern as a feature of the dress, while still being subtle enough to allow the print to hold its own and shine equally as a feature of the dress as well.
In its own way, the black framing is a bold and delicate thing, too!

I’ve long admired all the many beautiful versions of this pattern made by Yoshimi.  Beth recently wrote about the concept of a “pattern whisperer”; and in fact, during Yoshimi’s stay with me she recommended this pattern to me, saying that she thought it would suit me.  I have very high regard for Yoshimi’s taste and style and so paid careful attention to her “pattern whisper”.  And I am glad I did because I love it!  Thanks Yoshimi!

I took my time with this dress, cutting and precision-stitching the bias cut strips of black cotton and lining up all the black corners and edges just exactly right.  All the seams are highlighted in this way, except for the bodice centre front seam; I couldn’t see it working in neatly with the edging on the centre front split at the top, and the centre back seam, which again, having the black edging would not have worked successfully with the white invisible zip closure.  All the edges; the armhole edges, neckline edge, pocket edges and the lower edge of the dress, are similarly edged with the same black cotton.

It’s funny; I’ve had a large piece of this black cotton on a big cardboard roll for so many years, and it’s come in so very handy for so many little touches to about a zillion projects, to the point where I felt that it was like a never ending supply.  With this project I suddenly realised I’m down to the last half a metre!  Panic!  I’m going to have to buy more!!

I used my own tip to perfectly align those black strips on either side of the invisible zip.

Details:
Dress; Vogue 2900, Swedish print with black cotton edging outlining each piece
Sandals; Zomp, from Zomp shoes

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blue ray

07/09/2014 12:50 am \ 109 Comments \

Winter is officially over here, so right on target I’ve finished a wintery little dress.  ðŸ™‚ 
I spent some quality time with my dyepot, dyeing bright blue corduroy in four different moody blues for the colour blocking.    This is my second version of Vogue 1316; I’ve dreamed up several different plans for this great pattern which I want to explore, including this one…  
One of the things about a colourblock design is that I think it’s more effective if the fabrics are all the same type and weight etc.  As well as the colours blending in and going together nicely somehow.  And it’s hard enough to find great fabric that you love, in great colours that you love too, let alone a single fabric in four great colours that you love, and that go together harmoniously.  Impossible!  So I made my own nicely co-ordinating set of coloured corduroys  ðŸ™‚
My originally bright blue cotton corduroy is from Spotlight.
I divided the pattern pieces up into their colour batches and laid them out on my fabric, leaving a good margin around each piece to allow for a little error, just in case, then cut the colour batches apart for dyeing.  Before dyeing them I overlocked all raw edges to decrease the risk of distorting or stretching out the pieces during the dyeing process.  

I labelled each piece and was super careful to keep each label with its piece throughout the process and not get them mixed up!
my tutorial for basic dyeing here

I used iDye in various strengths of Black, Crimson and Chestnut; to get, from left:
-deep inky navy, from a biggish dose of Black, 
-royal purple; from a medium biggish dose of Crimson
-deep teal/aqua; from a medium dose of Chestnut, 
and finally the rightmost batch was soaked overnight in the leftover bath of Chestnut just to take the edge off that brightness, tone it down and dirty it up a bit.  The piece on the right is a small scrap of the original colour saved for comparison.

I took my own advice and put in pockets that sit underneath those long curved hip bands again, as described here.  Yes Vogue, I improved your pattern.

The dress is fully lined with navy blue polyacetate and I used a long, navy blue invisible zip.  As previously, I re-shaped the dress to be a little less boxy and bit more hourglass-y by re-fitting through those long back seams that run almost the full length of the dress.  A useful feature!

I’m so happy with this dress! it’s funny; I’m rarely 100% happy with things I’ve made but this project is pretty close to being completely satisfactory for me.   I’ve made another highly satisfying thing recently too, which I am yet to photograph and blog about.  The weather needs to warm up a touch first, but I’m so excited about that one too! I have to say, making two things in a row that I’m super happy with, in quick succession, has put me on SUCH a high. Honestly, I wish I could bottle this feeling.

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1316, blue corduroy dyed in 4 different shades using various iDye dyes, my review of this pattern here.
Tights; self-drafted, navy blue stretchy stuff, details here
Boots; Roberto del Carlo, from Zomp shoes

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Cocoa silk georgette dress

25/07/2014 1:25 am \ 92 Comments \

Ok, so I’m on the fence… I’m not sure if my new dress is just an ultra feminine style that I’m not quite used to it yet, or um, sorta hideous.  I hope it’s not hideous, that would be pretty tragic considering I’ve poured a massive amount of meticulous fiddling into this thing.  And silk georgette too, grrr.  Like, only the most difficult freakin’ fabric ever!  
A recent Vogue magazine editorial informed all of us bright-eyed, eager and devoted little fashion mavenettes, aka their readers; that a longer, elegant tea- or midi-length was the Next Big Thing in dresses and skirts.  An edict accompanied by loads of pictures of lovely young things striding the streets trailing beautiful long fluttery floaty tea dresses in their respective wakes.  Well, I was inspired!  aw hells yeah, I definitely need to get me one of those badass elegant tea dresses so I can look all freakin’ feminine and ladylike, yo!
Et voila.  But hmmm.  Technically speaking, this dress is rather lovely, if I say so myself; I put a lot of effort into finishing as well as I could; doubled-layered the bodice with all seams enclosed within the layers, French seams throughout and a hand-rolled and -stitched baby hem around that long looooong lower edge.

The dress looks charming on the model on the envelope but not as tea-length as I was envisioning, so I lengthened all the skirt pieces by 15cm.  Maybe that was a mistake, although I still think the length looks quite lovely on Bessie.  Maybe a little Pride and Prejudice, or 70’s Faye Dunaway or something.  I should get one of those wide brimmed felt hats maybe…
The front skirt panel is supposed to be cut wider and heavily gathered into the front of the bodice, and if you think it looks a bit fluffy in this version you should have seen it with those gathers!!  I painstakingly unpicked that middle panel and re-cut it narrower at the top to fit the bodice portion assigned to it, eliminating all the gathering.  The skirt is a LOT more sleek now, believe it or not!

The sleeves at their intended length were a bit puffy and perky and juvenile for my tastes,  so I carefully picked those off too and re-drafted and re-cut new ones.  My re-drafted sleeves are 16cm longer than the pattern and have had the sleeve cap flattened a little AND reduced in length to eliminate nearly all gathering to fit it to the arm scye.  I do like my modified sleeves a lot, actually one of the few things about the dress with which I’m unequivocally happy.  I LOVE the interesting cross-over sleeve cuffs.  In fact these, along with the petticoat pattern are what seduced me to buy the pattern in the first place.
 So maybe it’s the empire waistline?  I think maybe empire waistlines are not for me…  But you know, a lot of work went into it so I’ll wear it.  It actually looks quite nice if I throw a coat over it, haha; like how I’m wearing it today!  The hemline is quite pretty, I think, and looks quite satisfyingly fluttery around your legs as you walk.  And it looks rather gorgeous while twirling too, although sadly my days generally involve very little girly twirling.  

Obviously I reserve all rights to suddenly decide I love it sometime down the track.  I do that sometimes because I’m, like, capricious and flighty.  When it suits me.  And if feminine floaty, twirlicious tea dresses do become the dernier cri then I’m well prepared!

Oh, one more thing; I have another copy of this pattern to give away to a reader.  When I ordered the pattern from Club BMV, for some weird reason I ordered two patterns exactly the same.  When they arrived I thought Club BMV had made a mistake, but then I checked my own record and oh deary me, it was all me.  I had clicked “2” in what I hope was late night fuzziness and not early dementia.
Anyway if you would like a pristine brand new copy of Vogue 1160, sizes 6-8-10-12 and still in factory folds, then please leave a comment on this post stating so, and next Tuesday 29th July I will randomly select a winner.  

LATER EDIT: thank you all very much for the kind comments and the great styling suggestions and I will be sure to try wearing the dress with different shoes in the future  ðŸ™‚  I drew a winner the old fashioned way…

Details:
Dress; Vogue 1160, pale cocoa brown silk georgette 
Petticoat (under) ; Vogue 1160, dark chocolate brown silk charmeuse, seen here
Tights; Kolotex
Boots; Sempre di, from Zomp shoes

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