Deer & Doe Chardon Skirt in Black Cotton Sateen

Oh dear, once again I have made something black and it's really difficult to photograph.  I promise I don't have any other black fabric soon to be sewn up and blogged!

Here is an overexposed photo so you can actually see the skirt:

This is the Chardon Skirt by Deer & Doe.  I was surprised to find that Deer & Doe send their patterns from France to anywhere, postage free.  How fab is that?!*******Edited to add: I was wrong!  Deer & Doe offer extremely reasonable international postal charges, but it's PAPERCUT patterns who ship anywhere in the world FOC.  So sorry about that mistake.  I suddenly realised my error when a Papercut pattern arrived in the post this morning and jogged my memory!*******

The patterns themselves have lovely packaging, which always helps (!), and the pattern is printed on paper rather than tissue paper.

I seem to be choosing only quick makes recently as, along with the Anna Dress, this was crazy quick to make.  I mean, seriously fast.  It's two rectangles with pleats, and a facing.  Oh, and ties or belt loops.  And a zip.  I made option B (the longer version) but with the ties from option A instead of the belt loops.

My hem is level even though it looks terribly wonky.

I made the size 40, which is for a 28.5" waist (my exact measurement), thinking if it was too big I would be able to pull it in a bit with the tie.  It's definitely too big, even with 2cm taken out. Next time I would make the next size down.  I'm not sure if the fact that my cotton sateen (from Truro Fabrics) has a little give has anything to do with this; it's not stretch sateen though.

I like the way the pattern says to topstitch along the sides of the pleats to keep them in place.  But I was surprised to find there was no mention of understitching the facing at the waistline.  Without topstitching, the facing wants to pop out of the top of the skirt.  A beginner wouldn't know to do this, so it would be helpful to have it in the instructions.  Unless I've been a total donkey and missed it!

I like this skirt a lot and may make another.  But good grief, I have so much stuff I want to make.

Right now I'm working on a Victory Patterns Lola Dress in bright blue knit.  I sometimes find knits tricky...let's see what happens!

By Hand London - Anna Dress

Thanks for your comments on my red shorts.  I have worn them a lot already and I have a yellow pair in the pipeline.

As you can see, I finished my Anna Dress.  I hadn't seen this pattern until I visited the Sewbox online shop for something-or-other.  As soon as I saw it I bought the pattern.  Not because I want to make every single By Hand pattern there will ever be, just for the sake of it, but because I really like the style.

I made it in an embroidered eyelet fabric I had in my stash, but I didn't have enough for the long version, which is the one I wanted to make.  I still think I would prefer the longer version and will make it as soon as I have the fabric.  Having said that, I do really like this dress a lot, even though it's not the long version.  I chopped about 9 cm off the length of this, as it was a frumpy in between length on me otherwise.

This is such a quick make, it really is.  It didn't take me much more than a couple of hours.  As usual for By Hand, this pattern is well drafted, and comes together perfectly.  I would like to make a couple more of these.  This is a simple but stylish dress that skims the body in just the right places!  The armholes are roomy enough to be cool but not enough to show my undies, and I really like the shape of the sleeves a lot.  The best bit, though, are those pleats under the bust.  Just look!  Perfect.  Actually, I might make a top out of the bodice.  Hmm...

I took so many photos, trying to get some detail to show in the black fabric.  In the end, I had to put the dress on my dress form and photograph it in my undies, after some jiggling with the camera light metering.

Here are some more photos:

Sucking everything in for a (sort of ) side view!

Colette Iris Shorts in Red Cotton Drill

Hi everyone!

I am just in the middle of making a By Hand London Anna Dress (a very quick make!), having discovered it by chance, and thought I'd make a very quick post about these red shorts in between, which I made on Friday.

I have made the Iris shorts before so, having (eventually, with much gnashing of teeth) got the fit how I wanted it, I just made a paper copy of my original muslin, and off I went.  Gosh, these are quick to make, by which I mean just a couple of hours from start to finish.  This time I didn't put the pockets in because I didn't like the way they pulled open.

I like these shorts so much; I think they're pretty smart, so I would wear them anywhere I wouldn't usually consider wearing shorts.  They are a great length: they stop just before my thighs get a lot more meaty!  Also, they aren't tight, which means they are comfortable.  I have eaten toast, watermelon, a home-made strawberry and banana and ground flax milkshake, home-made golden syrup cake, a packet of crisps...you get the picture...and they are still comfy, though a little more expanded in the tummy area!  Sorry they look a bit creased, but I'd been sitting down in them for some time before taking the photos.

I am going to make a yellow drill pair next.

I know some people say life is too short to mess around with patterns that need a lot of fitting to get right, but I'm really glad I persevered with these.  They are my fave shorts ever!

Just please don't be upset my my terribly knobbly knees!

Will post my Anna Dress v soon.

Vogue 8184...again

I have been gone a while as I have had much decorating to do, including huge curtains to sew.  I really intensely dislike making curtains but the feeling of achievement when they're finished (not to mention the relief) makes it worth it!

Thank you for your comments on my tartan Elisalex.  I really enjoyed making that dress (and wearing it).

I made this latest version of Vogue 8184 back in March and then forgot about it, and Saturday was the first time I'd worn it, the British weather being what it is.  It's made from quilting cotton, as indeed are all my other versions of this pattern.  I feel that the fabric, along with the boning (or in my case, plastic rigilene), gives much needed structure to the bodice.  All my versions also have self-lined bodices.

What can I say about this that I haven't said before!  I do love this pattern; it fits me perfectly with no alterations, it's fitted without being uncomfortable.  In fact it's very comfortable.  And it's such a quick make as well.  It might be strapless (something I didn't think I would wear much), but it's a definite wardrobe staple for me, for summer.  I could happily live in these dresses and probably will.

One thing, and it's my own mistake: having spent ages choosing which planets to put where, I didn't notice that I had doubled up on the ringed planet at the waistline until the dress was made, and now it drives me mad.  Oh well, hopefully I have learnt to be more careful in future.

Anna Chocola of Brighton Burlesque Hat, V8812 Jacket and Elisalex in Tartan Silk Dupion

As you may be aware, my brother was getting married and I was planning to make another Elisalex but this time in tartan silk dupion.  Well, here it is!

I waited for Charlie and Nick to take themselves off to Birmingham for a Rush concert and, knowing I had from 3pm until at least half-past midnight, got down to work.  I only got about half of the dress finished that day; there was a lot to do, including quite a bit of hand sewing.

The dress shell is a tartan silk dupion (as you may have noticed!)  The skirt is underlined with silk dupion, too, in a plain navy.  The effect of the two silks is that the skirt is full of body, yet still soft and easily manipulated; it can be scrunched into a shape and remain there, yet has no creases at all once it's smoothed back flat.  At the same time, it seems weightless.  I love it!  I think all my clothes may be made in silk from this moment on!  The bodice is lined, as per the pattern, and I used a red cotton lawn for it.

As I certainly have no plans to show this dress even a drop of water, and would rather avoid dry-cleaning it every five minutes, as that can be a bit of a hit and miss process when it comes to silk dupion, I made some self-fabric dress shields, with two layers of the red cotton inside them, for extra freshness!  The dress shields are a crescent shape and are hand-sewn into the lower armscye with a simple running stitch to make removal easier for washing.  The idea is that the shields lay next to the skin, thereby keeping the underarm area of the garment fresher, and will be removed after each wear, and washed in soap and water.  Once laundered they will be sewn back into the dress.  I did the same thing with the little jacket.

As you will see (above) the dress shields are sewn in to extend by about 3mm.

I think it's probably normal practice to conceal hem stitches as much as possible (or is that not the case?) but I love to see the stitches that took me so much time (and I enjoy the hand sewing) and so I don't hide them inside the hem (although I don't want them showing on the outside - only the inside of the garment!)  Here they are:

And I sewed the zip in by hand, too:

The jacket is the little bolero from V8812.  It was so simple to make, being just fronts and back, sleeves, and facing.  It has shoulder pads, which contribute to the 1940s shape (it's a pattern from 1940).  The jacket fits really well - it's like a little cocoon on the body, without being in the least bit restrictive.  I would like to make it again in a more practical fabric than the silk dupion I used this time.  Oh, and the back is underlined in red cotton lawn, the fronts in the same navy dupion.  

I must talk about my hat.  Isn't it just lovely?  I bought it on ebay from Anna Chocola, who makes the most interesting - exquisite - hats and headpieces and sells them on Etsy and ebay.  She also has a website.  When this hat arrived I can't tell you how pleased I was to see it was as beautiful in the flesh as it looked in the photo.  And when being worn, it's so comfortable you forget it's there.  I might take to wearing it out shopping, with jeans.  It seems such a shame to pop it back in its pink tissue paper and leave it to languish in the wardrobe for ever and ever.

The main part of the hat is in royal blue velvet, with a marine themed ribbon around the outside.  The bow is of red silk and the whole thing has a navy net overlay.  And look at that anchor button!  This is a beautifully made hat, inside and out.

Here are some photos of my outfit in action:

Two Colette Laurel Dresses in Liberty Lawn

When the Laurel dress pattern first became available I was completely uninspired by it for two reasons:  I didn't think the shape would suit me and I thought it looked a bit boring.  First, I found out I was wrong about the boring bit.  This dress is definitely as interesting as you make it and, having decided I'd give the pattern a go, I found I was wrong about the shape not suiting me at all.  I still think there are other silhouettes that suit me more, but the Laurel is better on me than I expected.

It was almost impossible for me to get any decent photos of this dress today, as it's been raining all day long, heavily, and it's so, so dark AND 7°C  out there.  Seriously, it may be cosy and atmospheric, but it's also crazy. I mean...it's May.

I had read that some people had had a few fitting issues with this dress.  I soon found out I was one of them. In the past I found I am a size four in Colette patterns, except for on the waist where I usually grade up to a six.  Because this dress is obviously not fitted at the waist I went for a four all round.  On making up a muslin I discovered that there was an incredible excess of fabric across the upper back.  To get around this I extended the back darts all way up to the neckline and ended up taking out 6.5 cm in total (see altered pattern below).  That is a lot.  The dress still slips on with no back closure, no problem.  The second thing was that for some reason the shoulder seam needed moving towards the front by 1.5 cm.  Odd.  I have never come across that before.

Anyway, once these alterations were made, the dresses came together so quickly.  I really do enjoy finishing edges with bias tape, and I'm so used to it now that I don't ever use pins, let alone basting!  It really takes only several minutes to lay the tape on, sew it, press, fold and press, sew again...done!  And it looks great.

I would make loads of these dresses as they are so easy to throw on (and they look great on dog walks, with wellies and a little cardi) but I have so many other new and interesting things I want to make, there just may not be time.

Victoria Blazer - By Hand London

Having made the Elisalex twice, and being of the opinion that it's a great little pattern, I was quite keen to make up the latest offering from By Hand London: the Victoria Blazer.  So, I did, as soon as it arrived.

I made it up on Saturday, from a very soft and oddly silky denim from Our Patterned Hand, and lined it with a cotton poplin I bought ages ago, and which was languishing in my stash, way down the pile.

This pattern makes up very quickly, and I really did enjoy it.  Every single piece fitted together so perfectly.  I kept thinking, this is the bit where it will all go wrong.  I bet this won't fit like it should (just the pessimistic side of me!) but everything was perfect: the front/collar dart (with some rather aggressive snipping!), the collar and lapel pieces, the lining and shell, the sleeves, the cuffs - everything.  And that reminds me: the sleeve head has the perfect amount of ease in it.  Seriously, I have never before managed to ease a sleeve in without getting some pesky gathers in there somewhere.  But these...not a gather in sight.

Unless the collar and lapels are left standing up, and not folded back, the lining is always going to be readily visible, so that should be taken into consideration when choosing something suitable.

I would make this jacket again, maybe in a fabric with a bit more body.

Edited, to add: In fact, with the collar and lapels folded back, the lining only shows glimpses of itself.  In the photos I have purposely folded mine right back to show the lining but I had forgotten.  Still, better to choose a lining you are fond of, as it will show itself sooner or later!

Michael Miller Eiffel Towers By Hand London Elisalex

So, this is my second Elisalex and if I look smug, it's because I love it.  I have to tell you though, using the Michael Miller Eiffel Towers fabric wasn't my idea.  I just happened to have it in my stash when I saw the wonderful Roisin's dress and obviously, shameful though it is to copy someone outright, it seems I couldn't stop myself and had to make my own, albeit in a different colourway (actually I prefer Roisin's).  Thanks to Roisin for being so gracious about it, and not minding me copying her and then posting the dress on my blog.  

Right.  I had mentioned that in this version I might take a little off the shoulders, and it ended up being about 5mm on each seam (equalling 10mm per shoulder).  As there was enough gapping in the armscye - above the bust - to show my bra straps, I took a little out of the princess seams above the bust.  There is still a little gapping but I didn't want to end up taking so much out that it would restrict movement.  It's that old fitting chestnut again: striking the correct balance between it looking like it fits and being comfortable to move around in.  I think I have got it right in this dress, with very little effort.

Now that I have the fit right, I could make up this dress very quickly indeed.    And that's even allowing for matching the pleats up with all the seams perfectly.  Mine do match utterly perfectly, all round.  So does the waist seam at the back.  When I make anything with any kind of pleat, or indeed anything that has to match up - seam-wise - I always pin the pleat in place and then pin the skirt to the bodice to see how everything lines up, and then make any adjustments necessary.  I also do that before inserting a zip.  I pin the waist seam together at the back, to make sure the neckline edges don't need adjusting.  I take every precaution I can think of, in order to avoid seamlines that don't match up.  I didn't used to...it's just something that has evolved over time, due to shoddy things happening in the past.

This dress is lined with black medium weight lawn, which I enjoyed hand-sewing at the waist and zip edges whilst sitting in from of the TV with the rest of the family.  I do like a bit hand sewing.  I find it very satisfying.

The hem is finished with black satin bias binding, and my seams have been turned back on themselves and sewn but I don't know what that's called!  Oh, and I top-stitched around the neckline and the arms.

I will wear this dress a lot.  Usually I fall into the trap of making my dresses uncomfortably "fitted" (!) at the waist, in an effort to make them look more flattering (delusional).  Yes, well.  It doesn't work, and the dresses are a bit uncomfortable to wear (STUPID!)  The Elisalex is so flattering, due to its emphasized hip area, that I actually made the waist a comfy size and it still looks brilliant.  Yay! for Elisalex.  This is a brilliant pattern, it really is.

Now I just need to make the tartan silk dupion version and not mess it up.  I already have a little sailor-themed burlesque pillbox hat to go with the dress, so there is no going back.

Have you seen the By Hand London Victoria pattern?  I might like the photos of it but I would be more likely to buy it if it had a line drawing to go with it.  I like my line drawings...

By Hand London Elisalex Dress Muslin

As usual, I have been sewing but not blogging about it. Most recently I made a Colette Laurel dress, which I will blog soon(ish)and the above bright (understatement!) orange drill muslin of an Elisalex dress. I had wanted to make this pattern for a while as it's a bit like one of my faves, Vogue 8511, only with the defining features a bit more pronounced, by which I mean the skirt is more bubbly and the princess seams on the bodice are a nicer shape. Oh, and the back is a bit more special, being cut in a lowish "v".

I wanted to shorten the skirt by quite a bit, as this does come up really really long, but I didn't want to lose the narrowness at the bottom, so I took a big chunk out of the "thigh" area. Once I'd smoothed off the sides, it did look a bit of a rounded shape for a skirt but I thought I'd see it through and I think it came out okay. I like the excess fabric and the way it drapes at the sides (actually, now I come to think of it, I did remove a bit more of the curve when it came to sewing).

I had to make a little extra bust room by increasing the curve of the princess seams by about a little under a centimetre.  And when I make the real version of the dress (in tartan silk dupion for my brother's wedding) I think I'll take over a centimetre from each shoulder seam as it feels a little big there, and also across the top of the back.

I know the fabric is ridiculously bright and it makes me look like a cadaver in some lights (not a flattering look) but I like it!  The shape of the dress is just lovely and very easy to wear as the skirt is so loose below the waist at least.

I am about to make another one in a quilting cotton to double-check the fit before cutting my silk, so will post that as soon as it's finished.

Now I just have to post everything else I have made.  Gosh I am a lazy blogger.

Burda 7250 Trousers

Hello everyone!

Thank you for your comments on my carnival skulls skirt, and thank you as well for your best wishes.  All is well here: my mother-in-law is getting better all the time and we are all happy.

I have made some trousers!  Burda 7250.  How happy I am, reason being I have never made a pair of trousers I could ever be seen wearing (not even by myself, in the mirror!)    I don't just have a problem making trousers that look okay on me; I have a pretty tough time finding any in the shops that I am happy with.  I think I am an odd, square sort of shape.  Also, as you know, I am short.  I look all right in tight jeans but anything else...yuk.  I like trousers though, so I was really determined to make some I could wear and be happy with. Perfect Nose suggested Burda and, what can I say?  She knows what she's talking about!  Thanks, Perfect, if you read this, or even if you don't.

So, these trousers are made of what was described in the ebay listing as "watermarked" cotton, but the fabric doesn't feel like cotton. It feels more synthetic. Whatever.  I like it, anyway.  I did make up a shorts-length muslin for these trousers, which was essential, as I found I had to make a size and a half larger on the waist, than for the rest.  Also I shortened the trousers (in the thigh area) by about 6cm.  Next time I think I will shorten the top part (waist to crotch) by around 1-2 cm and widen the waistband further, to allow the trousers to sit lower without making the crotch baggy.  The other mod I made was to place the pocket openings lower down, as they were causing the sides of the trousers to stick out just below the waistband.  The pattern would have the pocket openings start immediately below where the waistband is attached.  But the fantastic thing for me is that, apart from making the waist a little wider and the leg a little shorter, I didn't have to mess about with any other part of the fit...yay!

(Yes, well, this is what I look like when caught unawares, trying to do something about my hair and not holding in my stomach!)

This pattern was so simple to put together.  I do really like putting in a mock-fly zip, so that added to the enjoyment!  

I will definitely make these again, perhaps in some really nice soft denim I have.

Before I go, I must just say that, yes, my hair is a right mess (exactly as it was when I woke up this morning, hehe!) and I have done no "styling" at all for these photos!  I just threw my jeans off, put these trousers on and got to work!  Just so you know...I was in such a hurry to take some photos so that they didn't join the queue of other sewing waiting to be blogged.