The perfect tee

I do love Maria Denmark's Kimono Tee. I've used this pattern four times already and I don't think I'm going to stop here. It's easy and quick sew even if you decide to finish the neckband by hand! Other than my initial 5cm FBA I didn't change anything else. There is nothing much to say I guess. Kimono Tee is well drafted and nice and easy introduction to sewing with knits.

I used lovely rayon knit that I bought from The Fabric Warehouse fabric sale last year. It's drapey, quite lightweight and very pretty. I still have 3 meters or so left so you will see it again sooner or later ;) I'm thinking long sleeved dress so I can wear it during the winter. It's starting to get cold here and I don't like it one bit! On the other hand my sewjo is back and I spent most of the day today cutting fabric and planning some winter sewing including a coat. I have chosen the pattern, I have the fabric, interfacing and notions. Things left to do is tracing the pattern and sewing a muslin which is not a very exciting task... But I guess if I want my coat to be nice I really can't skip this step...

Dress of a million seams

And I'm not even joking about the number of seams! Just look at the technical drawing ;) Melissa dress is super lovely and has many interesting design features (just check out those little pockets!) I was one of the testers for this pattern last year and I've been meaning to give it another go.

I made a huge mistake with my fabric choice... Poly-rayon suiting looked alright and had nice drape but frayed like crazy! It has also absolutely no give and I was too afraid of clipping it around the curves. All the seams are finished with a combination of black and mint bias tape which added a huge amount of extra work but super tidy finish. My poly-rayon wasn't easy to press either, there was a very fine line between pressing and melting the fabric.

As for the dress itself - the back V insert is a great opportunity to use scraps of lace or "statement" fabrics. I used some black lace generously given to me by Sandra. As for the fit - I chose size 40 with D-cup and there was no need for FBA :D  The first time I made Melissa I didn't change anything and the waistline was way too low. This time I moved it up by 7 cm (I think) and it's a too high! The other change I made was getting rid of a top V pocket. I almost always have to adjust shoulder line and scoop out a bit of the top of the shoulder princess seam and that pocket would make the fitting quite hard. And there was just one more change - I made my dress sleeveless. I couldn't face dealing with more bias bound seams! The collar took three tries to get it right - including me sewing the collar inside out *facepalm* By that time I was a bit over and the dress ended in a naughty corner for a few weeks.

When I got over the collar, the rest went nice and easy. I used black buttons with gold metal ring and I like the way they look. Overall I like the dress but I'm not crazy about it. Lower waistline and different fabric would make a huge difference and I suspect I might give this pattern another try ;)

 

Interview dress

I haven't really been sewing much lately. My sewjo is gone and it bothers me a bit but I know better than to push it. I guess there were two major factors in me not sewing - being unemployed for several months and having unexpected flatmates. How does having flatmates stopped me from sewing? Well, we had to move all the junk and random stuff from the guest bedroom to my sewing room and my sewing space got really small.

In February I got invited for a job interview and that inspired me to make a new dress. I basically wanted a universal little black dress. I decided to make my second Vogue 8685 (first one can be found here) using some black ponte scored at yet another The Fabric Warehouse sale. Sewing went relatively well. I changed the pleats into darts - I admit that wasn't done properly and my darts are slightly different lengths but you can only tell when you get really close and stare and most people won't do that ;) At some stage I will fix the side seams where the skirt yoke meets the skirt - due to many layers of fabric there is a weird sticking out going on. The only thing that drove me crazy was the invisible zip in the back seam... The vertical seams didn't line up. I had to do some unpicking, adjust the neckline and put it in again. I'm happy to report that everything lines up now! The major change in design was changing the shape of the neckline - I think this dress looks much better with a V-neck!

I really love this make. The fit in the back could be a bit nicer but I'm focusing on positives. The dress is perfect to show off my curves and I love the seam lines accented by double topstitching. Being made with ponte it means that this dress is very comfortable to wear.

And I got that job so my interview dress will be regularly worn in the office :D

Welcome to the jungle

Well, jungle that grew on nuclear waste judging by the colours! I went to the fabric sale with a mission of getting some plain colours but I just couldn't help myself... This intense exotic print just wouldn't leave me alone! And at $3 per meter I really had no excuse. I knew right away that it would be some sort of va va voom dress.

I went with pattern number 116 from Burda 4/2013. I used it to make my first dress ever (if you are interested here is the link to the post about my first sewn dress, in Polish) I used the bodice of this dress twice before as well - my halloween and christmas dress. I really thought I had this all sorted!

Unfortunately it didn't work as well as I thought it would. I think the fabric is rayon or poly-rayon twill. It has lot's of drape, it's quite lovely but it moves in every direction! Cutting was an issue!Sewing was manageable provided I used a lot of pins. I finished all the edges with bias binding - I love this clean look! I used bright green rayon thread for topstitching. My partner's uncle gave me a whole bag of those rayon threads and I decided it's time to start using them!

The back was sticking out so I added darts. It was easier that unpicking the zip and the binding. It doesn't really matter though as the dress turn out to be too tight! As you can see I can put it on and zip it but that's pretty much it. At this stage I can't really wear it as movement is very very restricted. I'm hoping I'll still be able to wear this dress soon if I manage to control my urge to eat chocolate ;) The interesting thing is that I cut the fabric for this dress and my Christmas dress the same day, the same pattern... The other dress fits very well, this one is too small. Grrr!

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!

Lindy petal skirt

Lindy skirt is my first go at Itch to Stitch patterns. Not only it is a free pattern but it also has lovely, classy lines. And who doesn't like a pencil skirt? It is designed for knits but I used very stretchy medium-weight denim, leftover from another project. It worked but next time I will use proper knit fabric. The instructions are very clear but to be honest there is nothing hard about sewing this skirt. So far I only wore this skirt a few times but once I get back to work it will be in high rotation.

Cargo shorts

As mentioned in my previous post I made several Christmas gifts this year including a pair of shorts for my lovely boyfriend. He was very surprised and happy - he keeps telling everyone that I made them and he likes the bright lining I used;)

The pattern came from The Great British Sewing Bee Fashion with Fabric book and it's really good. Everything matched perfectly and I absolutely loved fly-zip instructions. It took couple of minutes to have the zip installed! The only thing I changed in the pattern was cutting one pocket piece from main fabric - the pattern says to cut two out of lining fabric and topstitch a panel made of main fabric at the pocket opening (not sure if it makes sense lol) I also made the cargo pocket smaller but this was an accident. I got the folds wrong and I only realized that when I was about to stitch the pocket flaps. So instead of unpicking and fixing pockets, I just made the flaps smaller. Oh, and I used snap fasteners instead buttons because lazy!

The fabric came from Spotlight - it has unusual greyish purple cotton dill. Unfortunately it is not the best quality and I don't expect the shorts to be very durable. I treat them as a prototype since I couldn't do any fitting during sewing. At Sam's request next versions will have deeper pockets and I'm also considering adding welt pockets on the back. Apparently the shorts have nice cut and are comfortable to wear and that makes me very happy!

Ooops, wonky top-stitching! 

And a proof that the shorts actually fit :)

2015 in review

2015 was a good year, especially for my sewing! I made quite a few things, many of them are being worn regularly. I learned heaps both about fabrics and techniques. I made my first collared shirt, pair of pants and a full size quilt. I discovered indie patterns. And I joined Wellington Sewing Bloggers group that gives me courage, support and expertise every time I need it! I also found a new hobby when sewing is not an option. All good things :)

My favorite make last year was my Christmas Dress! My heart Cardamome dress is probably most work of all my dresses. Stripey Simplicity dress always gets commented on and I'm still really proud of my floral Granville shirt I made for 0 Degree Challenge.

There were a few fails last year too. The biggest one is probably my Watson Jacket (never blogged). It is just not me and makes me look terrible. It's a pity as I spent quite a lot of time and effort on it and it just doesn't work for me. Second fail is my "Welcome to the jungle" dress that I will blog about some time soon. Lovely dress, nice finish... and it's too small! I can barely breathe wearing it! And there are my Antoinette pants... Bad, bad fit, wrong fabric and just not the right shape. I need to learn more about pants fitting and just keep trying to get it right!

There was a little bit of unselfish sewing too. The biggest achievement of the year was making a quilt for my best friend! Took time and patience and lots of love to finish it which is fitting because it was a wedding gift :) The other thing I'm really proud of is a pair of shorts I made for my partner for Christmas. Blog post to follow soon.

This quilted cushion was also a Christmas gift. Worked out quite nicely!

And a little bit of fabric shopping and a new hobby. Knitting was my winter discovery and I do have a few knitted things to show on the blog... I'm just being a lousy blogger! I still have at least 10 garments to show from 2015!

As for 2016 I just want to keep sewing, keep enjoying it and keep getting better. I need to work on my fitting issues and nice finishes. I need some jackets in my wardrobe so that's my potential focus for next months.

HAPPY SEWING EVERYONE!!!