The sea of turquoise

It's not a secret that I love all shades of blue although I don't often wear turquoise. And then I saw this beautiful jacquard fabric and I could not help myself. I actually have this fabric in royal blue as well.

The dress is actually a mash up of Sew Many Dresses off the shoulder bodice and Simplicity 1880. I really wanted to make something using one of the sewing books I own. Somehow I never remember about them when I want to make new clothes! It would be a pity to have these books just sitting on my shelf! I picked up "Sew Many Dresses" mainly because the patterns were attached in a paper form. There are quite a few gorgeous options in there. I like the whole "mix&match" thing. The books also shows the basic dart and pattern manipulations to get the desired look. 

I did have issues and I'm not really happy with the fit of this dress. I chose size 8 in the waist and graded up to size 9 in the bust. The off the shoulder part caused me a lot of headache! Firstly the shoulder seam angle was (and still is) wrong. Secondly it was way too loose across and it was gaping terribly. I've tried taking it in at the seams but it was not helping much. As I finished the edge off with bias binding, I have also tried easing the bodice in with little improvement. Finally I decided to add couple of darts at the neckline. Not happy with the solution but it kind of worked. The instructions are not too very great when it comes to finishing the dress - I opted for bias binding but was not sure on how to finish the armholes. After trial and error I have sewn the bottom of the armhole as I would normally do. The top edge was machine stitched to the dress and then stitched by hand so it's not visible one the outside. 

I should have lined the dress. It would look much nicer and hopefully that would be enough to fix the back wrinkle issues. This dress surprisingly gets tons of compliments and I always feel a bit weird hearing them! I mean it's ok when people like things I made well but to me this one is just not good enough. I probably won't be wearing it often. But I think I learnt a few things so there's that!

The armhole finish (my overlocker had tension issues but I've only noticed it after it was all done!)

Favourite make

Finally my favourite make of 2016 made it to the blog! I have been meaning to write about this dress for a while but life got in the way, as it does from time to time.  It's one of those dresses that makes me feel sexy and good about myself the moment I put it on. I think everyone needs at least one piece of clothing like that!

The pattern is from Burda 10/2012 #118. I made it few times before (here and here) and I love them all. As usual I skipped the darts in the back in favour of more waist shaping and extended the facing by 5 cm to make it sit below the bust not across it. I played with the length of the sleeves but kept the original hem length. Because I'm quite short the dress is knee length but it grows to midi-length due to my fabric choice.

The fabric is the softest rayon knit ever with nice amount of stretch to it. And it came from the fabric sale so the total cost of my dress is about $7! The only problem was that my sewing machine hated it with a passion. It was made mostly on overlocker but the hems had to be sewn by my machine. The easiest way would be to use twin needle but the walking feet doesn't play nicely with them. So I went for triple zigzag stitch and it's kind of ok. No one really pays attention to hems anyway, right?

I made this dress back in August and it was worn to my firm's 120th anniversary. I apologize for the photo overload but in was one of the rare cases when all the photos turn out great so I'm having trouble to choose only a handful - not a bad problem to have!

Brighter and brighter

The first time I wore this dress everyone kept saying that it was very "bright". No wonder - in Wellington everyone wears black all the time. I got super self-conscious and I wasn't sure if I actually should wear it in the office.  Luckily I got over it and this dress became one of my most worn over past few months!

The pattern is another version of Burda 10/2012 #118. There are few changes I made - I extended the facing piece so the edge doesn't go across my bust but below it and I did swap side gathers in favour of pleats. Oh, and I also extended the sleeves by 7 cm or so and shortened the skirt by 10 cm. As per last time I omitted the darts. This pattern is a winner!

The fabric came from the fabric sale and cost me whole $4 to make this dress. Not bad, huh?  The fabric is some sort of polyester knit and it worked well with the pattern - the drape is good, there is enough stretch to make it very comfortable and I can throw it in the wash without worrying about my dress. And I'm very glad that I got some photos taken by Gemma after a lovely lunch we had with Kirsten and Kat. We need to have them more often!

Shirtdresses forever!

It took me quite a lot longer to blog about this dress than expected, but here it is - my second M6696 shirtdress. I had some issues with my first one but I started wearing it more often and I think it might be my summer office staple. I decided it was time to have a sleeved version.

This time I took 5 cm out of the back piece. Looking at the photos I should have shorten the length by ~2 cm or so to stop blousing. But I am so much happier with how the back looks now. The other major change was the sleeve head shape. Thanks to some fitting issues with my coat I figured out how to fix my sleeves to be less restricting and more comfortable to wear. You can see the changes in shape on one of the photos below. Such an easy fix but the difference in wearing is colossal! I also changed the pocket piece to be bigger and deeper - the original pockets are way too shallow. Now I can actually carry my phone with me. And because I was too lazy to get my pattern out and trace the cuff piece I just finished my sleeves with a mini band.

The fabric came from a fabric sale - it's some sort of shirting cotton mix in tiny grey and black stripes. It was really nice to saw with - pressed well, didn't move too much and holds the pleats quite well. I used a medium weight interfacing, which it a bit heavier than my usual. I quite like it, the collar is nice and stiff. Unfortunately I forgot to trim the waistband and button band seam allowances and there were too many layers for my sewing machine to handle the buttonhole at the waistline. I had to do it with normal zigzag stitch and it's a bit messy. Luckily it is covered by a belt so it's not a big deal. The buttons came from my tin of random buttons - luckily I had several sage buttons that were the right size and they look alright with with my fabric.

Needless to say I am very happy with this dress. It fits nicely and it is very comfortable to wear. I also don't think it's my last M6696 - I think the pencil skirt option will be next ;)

Winter coat

I can feel spring in the air so it's probably time I blogged about my winter coat! I made a WINTER COAT! Can you tell I'm very excited about it? It's probably my most advanced and complicated make yet. Not perfect but it keeps me warm and I absolutely love it!

I wanted to make a longer coat with high collar and slightly military style. Burda 12/2012 #104 was just perfect! I got a PDF pattern and it was surprisingly nice to work with - no need for tracing the pattern is always good ;) I cut size 44 and decided to make a muslin. The overall fit was spot on but I had some issues with the sleeves. Once the sleeves were in, I wasn't able to move my arms much in any direction...not ideal. It took me a while to figure out what to do but when I found this post on Ikat Bag blog everything became clear. I lowered the head of the sleeve by 5 cm and kept the same seam length. It worked like a charm!

As usual with Burda, I had an issue with the instructions provided. They were only marginally better than "sew the pieces of the coat together." After reading them I decided I'm better off relying on my own experience. It actually went well! Turns out that sewing a coat is not much different than sewing a dress - it just has a few more pieces. In this case around 40 of them! As my fabric is almost the same on both sides I used masking tape to label the pieces and seam numbers.

The fabric is some sort of the woolen mix I got on sale. The lining was originally going to be bright yellow but my fabric was way too delicate. After going trough my stash I found a piece of silk taffeta from The Fabric Store that worked well. It's slippery, feels really good and I absolutely love the colours. The amazing metal buttons come from Made Marion - the best craft shop in Wellington :)

I'm quote proud of myself. The coat is super wearable, keeps me warm and doesn't look bad. I made my first bound buttonholes and I was amazed how easy they are to make. And then I realized the problem is to make them all look the same! Mine are a bit wonky, I'm not going to lie here ;) I'm a bit angry with myself that I listened to Burda and only interface the facings... After a couple of months of wearing my coat the front got a bit out of shape. I think a good steaming session will fix it but it could have been prevented with interfacing the whole front. Lesson learnt! Other than that I think my first coat is pretty awesome!

Day in the office

Let me tell you a secret - every girl need a silk blouse! You put in on and feel like you can do anything! So when I know I'm going to have a tough day in the office this blouse is my secret weapon!

The blouse was made using the vintage inspired pussy bow pattern from the Great British Sewing Bee book. It is my second make using a pattern from that book - both are quite successful! The instructions are amazing, I didn't have any problems putting the blouse together. There are only two things I'd change if I ever make this top again - the instructions don't tell you to interface the edges where the buttons and buttonholes go. It looks a bit messy! The other thing I completely missed is the fact the blouse is designed to have drop shoulders. They never look good on me, so I had to adjust the armhole shape. It did affect my sleeve length and they ended up on a short side. I made size 16 with no alteration other than the shoulders. Size 14 with an FBA would probably be better - I was just too lazy to adjust the pattern.

I wasn't sure if the blouse like that would suit me so I chose to make it out of some dotted charcoal silk I got during one of the fabric sales. It was my first time working with silk but it was surprisingly nice to work it. Luckily it's not of of those super-shifty ones! Microtex needles helped a lot and kept the stitching nice and even.

I do like this blouse more than I expected I would! I usually wear the ties loose, I think it works better for me that way. I also learnt a bit about handling more slippery and delicate fabric that I'm not used to. So I guess it is a win-win for me - I got a nice silk blouse that cost me under $10 and learnt a lot during the process!

Sweet dreams!

First thing first - I'm not a pyjamas person to be honest. I'm more of a T-shirt kind of girl when it comes to sleeping. I can't ever remember last time I had a set of matching pyjamas! Although I think this might change soon!

During last fabric sale I spotted some cotton covered in pineapples and right away I knew it was going to become pyjamas. I wanted something classic -  buttoned top and cuffed bottom. I immediately thought about Carolyn Pajamas by Closet Case Files. Within a day the pattern was printed and taped and the fabric was cut. It's unusual for me, usually both patterns and fabrics have to mature a little bit in my stash before I use them ;)

I made size 14 but followed the lines for size 16 on the outside thigh seams. The fit is pretty good - my pyjamas are loose enough to comfortably move around in bed but not overly baggy. I wanted to have cuffed sleeves and bottoms but the length turn out to be just right without them and I just couldn't be bothered. Sometimes I am so lazy!

I am really happy I went ahead with piping. It was my first time using it and it turn out pretty well. I expected piping to be more fiddly to be honest! The biggest problem was caused by interfacing I used. It was super heat sensitive and there was a very fine line between the interfacing not sticking to my fabric at all and distorting and melting! So the facing and the collar are not as nice and smooth as they should. The other problem is with the facing not staying fixed in place. Next time I'll stitch it down.

I really like the finished pyjamas! Comfortable and they have pockets, and everyone knows that pockets are awesome! Pineapples are awesome too so double points for me ;)

T-shirt dress

The easiest dress there is! Take your favourite t-shirt pattern and just extend it by 30-40 cm -in this case I added 32 cm and it worked pretty well. This is another (third) version of Kimono Tee by Maria Denmark. I wasn't sure if the dress was going to be wide/stretchy enough to walk comfortably so I added splits at side seams.

The fabric is a relatively stable knit bought at the Fabric Warehouse during their 40% off sale at the beginning of the year. I was very sensible and came home with three pieces of various black fabrics and those stripes. It never happens - I'm always drawn to patterns and bright colours!

The fabric is quite nice but it's not really stretchy enough for this pattern. The armholes feel a bit tight and there are drag lines that annoy me! Also, I'm still debating adding darts - the idea was to have a loose dress but there is little bit too much fabric in the back.  As usual I finish the neckline by hand and used twin needle to finish the armholes and hem the dress.

Overall, the dress is highly wearable and paired with a jacket or a blazer is one of the most comfortable office outfits I have.