Endings and beginnings

So here is the finished shift dress. I put it on one of the dummies at work to photograph – isn’t she gorgeous? Sadly the shape and the colour do nothing for me so I probably won’t get a lot of wear out of this except possibly over a long sleeved black T in the winter. Anyway I have many more exciting (and successful) projects to post about in the near future…

I have also finished the mermaid scarf I was crocheting but haven’t had a chance to photograph it yet, stay tuned.

On to new projects. Here is the toile I made for the dress I intend to wear to the May wedding. To remind you the pattern is M5466, view B. I cut a size 12 to the armholes then graduated out to a 14 at the waist and hips. When I tried it on I could not move my arms! A nifty FBA (full bust alteration) sorted that out so now it fits nicely. As an aside, I’ve never needed to do this alteration before as I’m only a C cup so most patterns fit okay without it. I guess the newer, more fitted styles are going to require more toile making (awesome – not!).

No, my dress dummy does not have a lean, I am just a TERRIBLE photographer!

I will be making several design changes to the dress. The front is fine as is but I don’t like the pleats in the back. The ones in the back neck make me look like a hunchback and as for the skirt pleats, let’s just say my butt does not need any help in that way! I’ll simply fold out the pleats from the neck edge and convert the skirt pleats into darts. I may leave the sleeves as is or I might convert them to tulip sleeves to give me a bit more movement, haven’t decided on that one yet. I’ll also be fully lining the dress in silk habutae. I’ll have a belt made but I’m not sure if I’ll wear it on this occasion.

I’ve also made a trial version of the jacket I’ll be wearing and am really happy with it. As soon as I finish the buttons and buttonholes I’ll post on that one too.

That’s all for now.

Shift dress. Almost. Done...

The shift dress is hanging over my head like I don’t know what! It is so close to finished now that I just can’t wait to get it done. I originally posted that I was making the longer version of the dress (Simplicity 3744), but it seems my evil twin was in charge the day I bought the fabric and she only got enough for the short version. I duly cut out and made up the short version on the off chance it would be okay. It wasn’t. It was VERY short! After a quick debrief with my Mum when she came over to fit the toile of my wedding outfit we decided that I should get more fabric and make the band as in view C. I worried that it would look tacked on but Mum convinced me that if I top stitched it in the same way as the facing and placket it would look intentional. So that’s what I did.

Fortunately we still had some of the fabric left at work so I was able to buy another 40cms to cut the band. I had enough leftover lining to cut that too. So now it’s all done except the hand stitching and do you think I can find a nice fine hand sewing needle anywhere? Nope, not a one. I must own thousands (well at least a couple of dozen) and the gremlins have hidden them all! So the finishing has to wait until I go to work tomorrow and buy some needles.

On to the wedding outfit. I have fitted the dress toile and have had to make some interesting alterations to the pattern. I’ll do a detailed post on these later. I won’t be doing any extra work on the dress for a few weeks because the fella and I have just embarked on a serious weight loss/fitness plan. I’ll be working on the jacket instead as the fit in that is unlikely to be badly affected by my losing weight. I’ll be making a practice version in denim and then if that goes well I’ll make it in the gold silk dupion (not really comparable fabrics I know but I really hate making toiles, I’m fairly confident about the fit and I only really want to check if the style works on me and with the dress style!).

Finally a non-sewing project I’ve been working on – the mermaid scarf from knitting daily. I am using a periwinkle blue 4ply cotton from Rowan that I bought in England back in 2001. The evil twin must have been in charge then too as she picked up yarn from two different dyelots which was really noticeable in the stocking stitch top I was knitting. I couldn’t bear to part with it though and I knew that eventually I’d find a project that would disguise the colour difference. I started with the recommended 3.5mm hook but found it was coming out too small so I started again with a 4.5mm hook and it looks great. I’m about half way along the first layer so it shouldn’t take too long to finish – I hope.

Finished, and moving on

First of all here is the finished tulip skirt. As I said previously I like it but don't love it. Sadly it's a little 'snug', but I'm blaming that on rather too much Thai take-away lately! I'll probably wear it when the weather gets cooler with opaque tights and maybe long boots - I really don't think this length works for me. Never mind, moving on...

I've finally been working on the Threads shift dress. The outside layer is done aside from hand sewing so I just need to put together the lining, sew in the zip, join the two layers at the neck and set in the (unlined) sleeves. Oh, and the hems. It's actually not too much and since my fella is going away for work tomorrow night I'll have plenty of time to work on it. Here are a couple of pictures of my progress on it. You can see that it will really benefit from having a lining put in as it looks very flimsy as it is.

The close up show the top stitched front facing and button band. I just laid it on top and stitched around the outside edge rather than making it as a traditional facing but turned outside as per the instructions. This is because I'll be joining the lining and shell together at the neckline. I'm going to make some covered buttons for the front placket and pocket flaps, but if they don't look right I'll have some more made by the button and belt service that comes through my work.

Finally, I have cut out a toille for the wedding outfit. The dress pattern will be McCalls 5466 view B, probably with modifications, and there'll be a jacket too but I haven't finalised the idea for that yet.

Goddess knit dress

I can't believe how long it is since I posted or, more to the point did anything sewing related. I have several good excuses though. Even though the east coast of Australia has had terrible storms and flooding the west coast has been having a heatwave. Everyone is exhausted and cranky and it is impossible to concentrate on anything! Also I have sciatica and it's been playing up pretty badly lately. I think things will improve now as I've left my sewing job at the bridal shop. I'm sad about it but my body can't handle such long hours in one position. I'll still be doing their pattern cutting on a freelance basis and that's the bit I like best anyway. Finally, I've been really busy with Australia Day, friends birthdays, the Big Day Out and assorted other social events...

Anyway, I haven't done anything sewing related for ages so I'll post about a recent project which turned out pretty well. This dress is made from the Threads pattern Simplicity 3678. I've never done much stretch sewing before but since I bought an overlocker with coverstitch I thought I should start. Well, after 3 hours on a Saturday night wrestling with my new toy, I gave up and sewed the seams on my ancient 3-thread overlocker and the hems with a twin needle. I'll work out the coverstitch eventually (I hope).

I didn't do much to the pattern although it did come out huge! I cut a size 10 graduating to a 12 at the hip but I definately didn't need to do that, I'll cut a straight 10 next time. I had to take a chunk out of the centre back, but I often have to as I have a very narrow back. I took it out as a dart down to the bottom of the middriff band and just gahered the skirt back a bit more on this dress but in future I'll take it out of the pattern. Like most people I omitted the facings and turned the neck edges in and twin stitched. I sandwiched in some clear elastic which rippled a bit so I need to experiment a bit more with this technique. I also put clear elastic into the shoulder seams. I'll probably take it in a bit at the skirt sides and shorten it a bit when I get around to it!

I'm really happy with this dress, it's cool and comfy for the summer and washes well. I love the print, it's called 'goddess' but I'm not sure who the supplier is.

Today I'm going shopping for proper pressing tools. I can't believe I've been sewing for 30 years without proper tools! I have a sleeve board but am in desperate need of a ham and a seam roll. I've been doing a bit of fabric shopping for autumn and winter fabrics this week so I should have some interesting things to post about soon, and I have a wedding to go to in May which will require a kick-ass outfit. No progress on the shift dress as yet but I hope this heatwave will end soon and everyone can go back to being normal functioning human beings.

My next project

Here are the fixings for my next project. I am planning to make Simplicity 3744, view b

but the longer length to disguise my chubby knees. The fabric is a silk cotton blend that I bought at the shop I work at. I'll be lining it in a plain polycotton.

My main concern is that the fabric is very fine and overlocked edges will probably show through to the right side when I press. I don't want to sew the lining to the dress with a jump hem (enclosing any raw edges) because it makes ironing tricky down the track, so what I think I'll do is underline the whole thing. I've pre-washed everything so there shouldn't be any shrinking - I'll just have to cut all the pieces really accurately (I'm normally fairly 'organic').

If all goes to plan I'll cut it out tomorrow or on the weekend, depending on social arrangements. I'll post again when I have some progress to report.