Little Blue Dress

It's almost mid-November already and I was hoping that my merino dresses would be put aside and wait for next winter... Silly me! It's still cold and I've been living in my merino dresses. I guess spring just decided to skip New Zealand this year! I hope that summer will be stunning to make up for the shity spring we are having now!

Anyway, in winter I prefer close-fitting dresses - it means I can wear more layers to keep myself warm. I decided I needed a simple, lengthened T-shirt dress in my wardrobe and then found perfect merino piece bought over a year ago at Levana in Levin. The pattern I used is Tonic Tee by SBCC and it used to be free to download - now you have to subscribe to receive Tonic Tee and Tonic 2. Now that I think of it I might have used Tonic 2 as the base of my pattern! I need to take proper sewing notes as I can't remember what I made few months ago.

Obviously I lengthened it as much as my fabric would allow. It ended up being too long for my liking so I cut off like 20 cm... Unfortunately I didn't measure anything and just kind of eyeballed where to cut. Guess what? It got so short it wouldn't be decent anywhere, especially not in the office! I had to  use the cut-off piece and make it into a band to make the dress longer.  To make the fit of the dress better I had to take it in around the waistline and then taper the bottom a bit more. I made the neckline deeper as well.

It's one of those very basic dresses but I ended up wearing it quite a lot in winter months. Combined with a black jacket/cardi, slip and thick black tights, this dress was pretty good in the office. And what's most importatnt, it kept me really warm!

Winter star

When I bought this merino and nylon blend remnant at Levana last year I thought of making a spring/autumn top, maybe a dress? It is quite thin, almost see through so I never suspected it to be too warm. Boy, I was so wrong! I wore this dress on the coldest days we had this winter and it kept me nice and warm!

Initially I wanted to make Kielo Dress with this fabric but when I started going through my patterns I found Burda 10/2012 #118 already traced. I actually made it once before, just few months in my sewing adventure and my fabric choice wasn't that great and the dress ended up being way too tight. Anyway, this time the outcome is pretty good :)

Since I made the dress in knit with a nice amount of stretch I skipped the zip and the darts. Instead I just took the dress in a bit around the waist. Almost everything was sewn with my overlocker so it was a breeze to make! I hemmed my dress using triple zigzag - twin needle and my walking foot don't work well together. I also shortened it by 10 cm or so. The main problem with this dress - because there is always a problem! - is that I forgot the pattern needs seam allowances! I usually trace Burda patterns with allowances added but that wasn't the case when I just started sewing. In a result the dress is a bit clingy - it has to be worn with a slip but I only got one after taking the photos.

The dress has been in high rotation over past two months. I absolutely love it and I will miss it over the summer! But I don't worry as I seem to be a bit obsessed with this pattern and it will show up on the blog again in the near future ;)

Space Invaders dress

Can you tell I'm super excited about this dress? It has Space Invaders! How cool is that?  I found this fabric at Levana in Levin last year. I only got a meter and initially it was going to be a hoodie or a casual top. The fabric is a bit weird - it was oddly stiff (luckily it got softer after a wash) when bought and the pattern is actually printed on white fabric! It doesn't look good when stretched. When at Levana I also got this green cotton jersey - it provided the best match for the space invaders fabric.

One evening, just after finishing my first Philippa dress I decided I needed more dresses like that in my wardrobe. After going through my stash I found several fabric combinations that would work well. You might see this pattern made up few more times ;) Since both of my fabrics are stretchy I omitted the zip and cut the back on fold. I finished the neckline and armholes with bands made of green jersey. And because I used the overlocker to put it together my new dress was ready to wear in about an hour! I love when that happens!

I wish I used clear elastic to reinforce the seams. They tend to sag a little bit. For that reason the pockets are not super usable. But it's not really going to make me stop wearing this dress - I love it! It also receives a lot of comments once people realize it Space Invaders ;)
Big thanks to Kat and Kirsten - we met to have brunch, took some photos, visited The Fabric Store and Wellington Chocolate Factory. Because one thing we love as much as sewing is chocolate!

Another Hemlock

I guess the title is pretty self explanatory - I made another Hemlock Tee by Grainline Studio. The changes are the same as last time - I took the sides it so it's far from the designed boxy look. I also extended the sleeves so now they are full length. It makes a lovely basic long sleeved top.

I bought the fabric at Levana during my road trip in September last year. It's quite interesting  - very soft, brushed and with subtle stripes one one side and then smooth with tiny blue and white stripes on the other. It was really nice to sew with and my sewing machine had no problems with it (and my machine has been a bit temperamental lately). I added a neckband and hemmed the bottom and the sleeves with twin needle. Easy peasy ;)

I guess I should go ahead and alter my jeans. I've lot a bit of weight and they keep falling off!