May 2015

May is a funny old month in this part of the world – one day you could be out in short sleeves and sandals and the next a woolly jumper and big boots. Well -this year its more of the wooly jumpers and boots!

I’m following Me Made May and posting an occasional pic on IG, it’s lovely to see everyone else’s outfits – I find it very inspiring and start to decide what I really need to make for myself. Check out Zoe’s blog post on Me Made May 2015 to catch up on the crack.

So in other news – I’m working on Ginger Jeans finally – I’ve a pair half made in a khaki sateen – I only had enough for a cropped pair but didn’t want to use my nice grey denim till I tried a proper pair first. I did muslin in some left over denim but I want to wear them for a few days before I decide if any further adjustments are needed. But straight out of the packet – they are a great fitting pattern.

Also made recently is a Granville shirt (Sewaholic Patterns) in lovely Cotton and Steel Frock rayon fabric. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough for full length sleeves  so made them short sleeved.

 

My best Collar ever!!

The Jasper dress pattern from Paprika Patterns is also a new TNT pattern for me, I tried it out as a sweatshirt first and then went ahead and made a ponte version of the dress and I love it.

 

Jasper Dress – no pockets

Jasper Sweatshirt – Love the pockets (Also Fehr Trade PB Jam Leggings)

 

 

 

 Newsflash-

 

So before I go and make my coffee – I’m just going to let you know of my plans – I’m in the process of setting up an online fabric shop – based in Ireland.  I hope to be up and running over the summer – I’m working on the website and our premises at the moment and I shall be fabric shopping at the end of June – beginning of July. If you want to keep updated – like my facebook page facebook.com/dressfabricsdotie and subscribe for my newsletter on the website – www.dressfabrics.ie

 

Sewing plans

I’m trying to get back to blogging get more regularly but because I’ve been spending so much time at the computer working the past few months I find it hard to bring myself to do it for fun. I’ve started using my phone to type up my posts whenever I have a few spare minutes and it’s working out great. I typed most of my previous post and this one in snippets here and there.

Let this be the signal to be more productive blogwise.

Ok. So. Sewing plans…..

These were my early summer sewing plans back in June or thereabouts:

Tillys Miette skirt ✔

Made with blue linen but unfortunately have no photos of it and its put away for now!

Sewaholic Crescent skirt✔

Made with tie dyed stretch denim type fabric from Minerva Crafts

Dixie DIY Ballet dress✔

Made with cheap market fabric from Holland. This dress cost €5. I had to gather a rectangle for the skirt as 2M wasn’t enough, (must go back to buying 3M at the market). I lined the bodice with some nice Black Cotton Lycra from Tia Knight for a bit of support and warmth. I tried gathering the skirt with clear elastic but could not manage it so got some regular thin woven elastic and it worked with much less stress. The sizing I’ve been using to make this dress (my third so far) is small at shoulders, medium at waist and grading out to large at hips. Cos I’m a big pear.

 

 

 

 

 

Hudson pants✔

As last post

 

Julia cardigan✔

 

 

Made with striped Ponte knit I can’t remember where I got it from. Its a nice squishy soft knit with grey / black stripes. This is my first attempt at this cardi, I didn’t muslin just went ahead and made the Size L. Next time I will make the size xl for a bit more room, this one is quite fitted on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So 5 completed projects wasn’t bad for my busy summer of although 3 of the five were made in September!

I’ve made a list on a whiteboard in my sewing room for my current autumn sewing plans. It looks realistic:

So far I have muslined the Named Dakota bodice. I like the fit and I’ve discovered Named patterns are designed for taller women. The only fit adjustment I’m making is my usual full back adjustment and in this case raising the armhole a cm.

I want to make it in ponte but my stash has run out so I’ll have to wait til I feel I can order more fabric. My last credit card bill was a wake up call. I went a bit bananas ordering stuff in August and a lot of bad decisions were made. But it’s in the stash for a rainy day. I will make this dress during October as part of  Froctober but maybe not according to the official schedule. (Depends on fabric shopping ability)

 

I’ve made the purple workout tshirt for my Pilates class over the weekend.

 

Next up is the Ottobre jacket in a flocked ponte (above) I picked up last spring from Minerva Crafts. A girl in my book club gave me a pile of Ottobre magazines to mind for her (use as i wish) as she won’t have time to use them at the moment. I prefer the A/W issues as the clothes are more practical. There’s a good few items I’d like to make mostly out of one magazine.

So if the day job doesn’t take up too much time and energy I should be able to keep to my plans, it also doesn’t take account of possible deviations like another Ballet dress in fabric I have in the stash for some instant gratification.

 

Anyone out there have any solid sewing plans??

 

And Sew Dolly Clackett:

 

It’s a shed door!

 

At last, I finished my Sew Dolly Clackett dress. Its By Hand Londons Anna dress made in a cotton butterfly print I picked up last summer in Utrecht fabric market.

 

Sorry about the knees!

Would you believe that it was a bright day when I took these shots – still looks dull!!

I made this dress before christmas for my 40th Birthday in a turquoise crepe from Minerva crafts so I had figured out all my fitting issues which are a small fba and a wide back adjustment. I’ve discovered these are my two main issues when making fitted wovens and is probably why previously when I made tops and dresses with sleeves I couldn’t raise my arms. The more you live the more you learn!I also lowered the front neckline a bit as I found it high but I think that is another of my fit issues. I lined the bodice with some silk/cotton I got on ebay a while back, so no facings.

More pictures so you can see the details:

 

 

and butterflies because!! Just looking at the photos I’ve realised that the butterflies are in all my favorite colours – purples, dark pinks, blues, turquoises etc. I don’t normally wear black (pale & pasty) but I don’t think its too overpowering with this print.

I decided to use this fabric as it was in my stash and I really wanted to make a dress from it and this was the perfect motivation to just do it. Its probably going to hang in my wardrobe with the rest of my woven dresses but the first sunny summerish day we get I will wear it. If I had to go and buy fabric specially for this occasion I think I would still be looking and the dress would never get made.

Now must go and add this to the flickr group and check out all the other creations.

 

 

The Three Lolas

I stumbled upon Lola on a blog  (cant remember where) and thought she looked snuggly and easy to wear. So I did a bit of research on pattern review, asked Twitter and got some feedback. Heather had muslined it and found it had a lot of ease (I noted that), Ginger had made hers in ponte. So off I went and downloaded the pattern pdf, traced and muslined the bodice with some jersey scraps.

Navy Lola

I cut out size 8-10-12 (bust – waist- hips -you will find this is my usual grading for all patterns as I am a juicy pear!). When I had muslined I decided to add 2cm ( 3/4″ ) to the bodice length and 12cm (5″) to the skirt length. So I went ahead and cut the dress out of some navy morgan crepe jersey I got from Minerva last Autumn. I decided to forgo the side pockets as I thought they would draw too much attention to my thighs and to leave off the bottom cuff initially at least to see how I liked it without. When I was ready to attach the bodice to the skirt I basted it first and realised I needed to take it in along the vertical seams at the waist, so took 1cm (1/4″) out of the seams here on bodice and skirt and then stitched it up on my overlocker. Added the neckband and cuffs as normal then turned up 2 cm (3/4″) hem and stitched on my machine.  After wearing this dress I decided I needed more. I was also curious about Ponte, I had only used this fabric once before for a Burda sweater type thing that just was all wrong. But I’d seen so many lovely garments on blogs made in ponte I had  to try again.

I ordered 2m of Turquoise double knit from Calico Laine and cut out another Lola. It was a few weeks since I made the first one and I forgot to add on the extra length to the skirt, it ended up waaayy too short to wear even with leggings (for me) so I had just enough fabric left to add a 7 cm (3″) to the length. It turned out just fine, and I wore it loads.

I’ve gotten loads of compliments for this dress. I was out for a pre Xmas lunch with some of the girls from the school run – one who works in a top end boutique said she had just sold a similar dress to a customer for almost €300!!! Now, she said it was more fitted with more seams but mine didn’t even cost me €30. The RTW dress must have had jewels sewn into the hem!

So after wearing the first two dresses to death, last week I decided I needed another Lola. I had a look through my meagre stash and decided on some purple double knit also from Calico Laine. The only changes I made to this version were I remembered to add the 12 cm to the hemline and I extended the sleeves to full length.

On all three Lolas I omitted the triangle on the neckline, I thought it would be a bit fiddly.

For other cool Lolas check out Gillians dresses, I love her Jungle January Lola. A few others have popped up recently on blogland including Lauren, Rachel made hers back in June 2013. And if you google it theres loads more out there.

Time to move onto my next TNT pattern, Oh I wonder what that will be?? Could it be the Fehr Trade PB Jam Leggings?? I’ve just purchased some lycra and I am half way through construction so hope to have my first version finished possibly over the weekend!!

Stay Tuned, have a lovely weekend!

Maeve