The Silver Lining Laneway Dress

I had a few days off last week, and made the most of it. I visited the big city to take in the ROM Dior exhibit with a friend; I took a daytime hand sewing workshop with my local quilt club that was running when I'm usually at work. And I spent quite a bit of time in my sewing lair!

This was the project I spent the most time on; it took me a couple of days work to get it cut out and put together so that I could wear it to work today. I bought this Jennifer Lauren Handmade Laneway Dress pattern a few months ago; traced it off during my Christmas holidays, but only got to work on it this week.

I used this beautiful flannel that has been in my stash for at least two years. I've always had it in mind for a fit and flare style dress, but I was never quite satisfied with a pattern match for it. When I put it together with the Laneway, I realized it was exactly what I wanted, though I'd have to make a few modifications for a flannel winter weight dress.

I started by extending the sleeves -- can't have short sleeves in a warm flannel dress! I drew them to my preferred length, but found when I tried it on that they were still two inches longer than intended, and quite wide at the hem. I shortened them and also narrowed them slightly, and found that worked perfectly. I was going to add a grey sleeve band to match the turn down facing, but the effect wasn't so good -- as my husband noted, it truncated my already short arms. So I left the sleeve hem plain!

Also got to wear some of my amber jewellry!

I also lengthened the skirt by an inch, and most importantly with a flannel dress which is always going to be worn with tights, I added a skirt lining. I have a very large amount of this silvery grey lining in my stash, which comes in handy for most anything. And as I like to say, every dress needs a silver lining!

Aside from those changes, I made minor adjustments -- shortening the back bodice by an inch, and the front by about 1/2 inch. Taking the side bodice in after trying it on -- I'd cut a size 14 at shoulders and 16 at waist, as per my usual size adjustments, so I don't know if it's this pattern or simply the fact that flannel stretches a bit that required that little bit of taking in. In any case, taking in each side by 1/2" made the bodice fit much better.

I used some grey cotton scraps from my stash as the contrast facing (first used for this set of skirts). I love this grey and wish I had more!

After wearing this for a day I can feel that I'll have to make a couple more adjustments the next time I sew this, primarily taking a dart in the upper back bodice edges, since it does gape a bit when I move around and I get a little draft right down my back (which isn't necessarily always a bad thing...)

Otherwise, I am a huge fan of this pattern and can't wait to make a summer version as well. I enjoyed sewing it up; it's logically laid out with good instructions and diagrams to follow. It is comfortable, flattering, and work appropriate so I know I'll get lots of wear from it. So nice to finally use one of those cherished stash fabrics!

Call it Collars

Last September's challenge over at the Monthly Stitch was "Stick Your Neck Out". Make something with an appealing collar design, whatever you like -- but of course I took this quite literally, and made a few detachable collars! I've had them finished for ages but haven't had the chance to take photos, as I don't have a top with a high enough neckline to work with them. But I wanted to share them so just decided to use the one closest to working, and snapped some quick and silly selfies!

I've been wanting to try out some of these collar patterns for a while -- I've made a Vogue dress with a detachable collar previously, but never just a collar on its own.

I started with Simplicity 1727, intending to try a couple of the views, but only got as far as View A. You can see that this one would require a neckline that fits quite snugly in order to work properly. This dress with a fairly high scoop neck isn't high enough. But you get the idea...

The pattern is quite nice, although I did find that it's quite small in circumference, suited for a narrow neck or a really high collar. It's a bit too tight for me; I'll be adding 1/2" to the centre back the next go round so that it fits a little more evenly. I used a hook and eye closure instead of ties, but they aren't quite even so I have to reattach the eye properly so the collar front lays smoothly. There are a number of other views to be tried as well.

However, the pattern instructions are useful, giving assistance in some techniques that will keep a flat collar like this rolled to the underside, including understitching the facing as far as you can, and I used these techniques on the next collar, which was a better pattern for me but with hardly any instructions -- typical Burda! Here it is tied loosely to match with the edges of the neckline of this dress.

I found this pattern in the September 2017 Burda magazine. When I saw this I knew I'd have to try it, even if I didn't like the way it was styled in the magazine, over another frilly neckline. Too much going on! I'd like to try a velvety black collar using this pattern though.

This one was a better fit for my neck; it's the right circumference and I like the design. The only thing I realized after I'd finished was that once again I forgot to add seam allowances to my Burda pattern! Thankfully it still works on a project like this, it just made a skinny collar. I have retraced it and have plans to make another Burda shortly to test that out.

Tied tightly, pretending I have a full black background there....

The final one that I tried out was the free, downloadable Alva Collar from Named Patterns. I don't have any Named patterns yet (not even the Alva), but thought I'd try out this free addition. It's a different style of collar, as instead of tying or clipping at front centre, it has a button closure at the back. Imagine the ways you could personalize this shape.

 I laid the tissue around my neck first to test it out and determined that I needed more length. I added in 3/4" at each side, at around the shoulder, and I like it -- but I've reduced the extra length to 1/2" at each side for future attempts. It is just a smidge too long. But I really like this style and can see it done up again in many different ways. I was pleased with the design & the back closure; it works best of all of the designs so far.

These will be handy to add some spark to a bland tee or shift dress, for sure! I also have a very vintage pattern with some pretty wild collars to test out in future.

Have you ever made accessories like this?

Monthly Stitch Hack It Week: Floral 'Lindeta' Dress

This week at the Monthly Stitch, sewists are challenged to Hack a pattern -- whether that's changing up one pattern or combining a couple. I thought about this challenge, and looked through my fabric and pattern stash, finally deciding on this project.

I started with a pretty dark blue/pale blue/mauve floral knit that was given to me by a friend's Mom who was weeding out her own stash. It's a thin and stable knit, not overly stretchy, but enough so for a comfy fitted dress.

\Lightweight, as shown via the Petal Skirt crossover

I trialled a few ideas, and settled on this combination: an Itch to Stitch Lindy Petal Skirt, with cut-on pockets added, based on the Sewaholic Cambie dress, and a Colette Moneta bodice.  

The bodice was the most straightforward part: I cut my usual size but added a bit of width at the waist to compensate for the lower stretch of this fabric compared to my last Moneta. I also cut the neckline much higher and narrowed it slightly, to give a more retro feel to this make. I used the short sleeve version, and used a bias binding at the neck rather than facings.

Then I got to the skirt. I used the free Lindy Petal Skirt pattern from Itch to Stitch (my first make from this company, btw) and found it well-drafted and with solid instructions. It would have been quite straightforward but I decided to add on some cut-on pockets as I can barely stand to wear pocketless clothing. But I didn't want the pockets to interrupt the lines of the skirt, so cut-on it was.

I used the Cambie pocket design as my base, though I found that I had to reshape the pocket bag to fit this pattern -- only a few inches and different angles here and there. It's still not exactly right but fairly close to what I was going for -- a smooth pocket in this shaped skirt. On my first try, I cut an angle at the side seam on each piece to add the pockets, and only realized as I was putting the skirt front together that it meant that one pocket would be completely covered up under the seam - doh! So on the second try, I cut one layer of the skirt piece normally, and added the pockets to either side of the piece I wanted to go on top of the skirt. That means that on one side you sew through a few more layers than the other, but it works out if your fabric isn't too heavy.

The only real difficulty was with the waistband. I wanted to maintain the waistband of the skirt to give the dress some definition, but had to totally change the construction, as it's not a folded over elastic casing any longer. I basted in on to both skirt and bodice and then tried it on. I had to take about 1.5" out of the full width to make it balance & fit right, and then narrowed the side seams from 3/8" at the skirt edge to 6/8" at the bodice edge (seamed on an angle). This gave it the correct shape and made it fit both edges without any gathering or puckers. I also stitched it down permanently with some clear elastic in the skirt seam to give it some support and structure. I should have interfaced the waistband piece with some knit interfacing but didn't think of that until I was done.

I really like the look of this combination, and the fit is both close and yet comfortable. I am also considering making a detachable collar that I can add to this dress whenever I want to change up the look (something like this one)

I don't think I would have gone to all this effort if it wasn't for the Hack It challenge, so I really do appreciate the impetus to try something new! I really like this new dress.

All my photos were taken on a lovely evening at one of my favourite local churches, St James Anglican Church. I get to walk through this gorgeous garden-filled churchyard on my route to work, always a pleasure. This church has a 15 Bell Chime & gives chime concerts, and it also is the site of the *best* local rummage sale every spring, notorious for multiple rooms chock full of things, including a linens room where I've found many treasures over the years. They have some spectacular volunteer gardeners among their parishioners and I've always wanted to take photos there. I'm glad I finally did...and so are the mosquitoes!

Monthly Stitch New-to-Me Challenge: Washi

This week's challenge for the Monthly Stitch's Indie Pattern Month is to make something from a company which is completely new to you -- no wadders, muslins, or other semi-makes allowed -- they also count as having tried a pattern maker previously!

So I went through my stack of Indie patterns and pulled out my Washi dress pattern. I've owned this for a couple of years and keep meaning to make it up. I've never tried a pattern by Made by Rae but when this dress took over the internet I bought the pattern with the best intentions. So the time is now!

I read the many reviews at PatternReview plus more at varied blogs, and came away with the idea that I would make it out of a rayon that I've also had in my stash for ages, since many people who've made it thought that the quilting cotton that it was designed for made the cap sleeves a little bit "wing-y" plus a stiffer fabric caused pregnancy vibe via the empire waistline. I wanted to avoid all this. I kind of did, but I do think that a bit of pregnancy vibe is unavoidable with this design.

Front view with fishpond

Back view with fishpond...and flowering waterlilies

In any case, I lengthed the front bodice by an inch to further reduce the maternity look, something recommended by a few other bloggers. I also lengthened the skirt about an inch to give me room to play with hem length. In the end I liked the balance of the longer skirt so much I just narrow hemmed it and kept it longer and flowy. I also used self-bias for the armscye finish, as suggested. I considered using a vintage green bias tape but the weight wasn't quite right so I just made my own from the leftover bits of the fabric. Unfortunately it's so lightweight that the hand stitching to fasten it down started pulling on the threads -- thankfully I'd started at the underarm -- so I switched to just ironing it down with a bit of stitch witchery. That didn't work 100% perfectly but better than the stitching did.

zoomed in, you can see the bias edge

I didn't do too many alterations besides lengthening the bodice and skirt, other than deciding not add the keyhole slash at the neckline. Since I was using a soft rayon, even with interfacing it would have been too floppy with a cutout. I cut the rounded neckline higher by about 1/2" and took in a 1/2" wedge out of the right side (my usual alteration for my uneven shoulders).

I learned a few new techniques with this dress, too! I love pockets intensely but had never tried cut-on pockets like this pattern includes. I like it -- makes it quicker to cut and sew. But I'm still not sure I like the way they hang inside the dress or not...will take a few more wears to be sure about it! The major new thing I tried was the elastic shirring at the back waist. I have lots of elastic thread but in all the years I've been sewing I've never tried this. It was so easy! And I love the effect -- it's my favourite thing about this dress ;)

The only drawback to this project is that the rayon was not the best quality, even though it looks so pretty. I think that while I was steaming the elastic shirring after sewing it, the rayon also shrunk a bit more. Thus when I am wearing this dress, it's a bit tighter around the midriff than planned for when measuring and cutting in the first place. Oh well, it forces me to have good posture! It also creases almost immediately from sitting or slouching. Yikes.

Anyhow, I had a lot of fun figuring out how to make a Washi from this kind of fabric and really love the lines of it and the flow of the skirt. Finally, the nudge I needed to try this popular pattern by a company that is new-to-me only in the actual sewing part of things, a company I've been following online for a long while and have been intending to try for ages and ages.

I headed down to the gardens outside our Festival Theatre for some photos - lots of beautiful flowers, statues, and the fading remnant of a giant flag painted on the ground for Canada Day last week! Happy Canada Day - and Indie Pattern Month!

Monthly Stitch: A Tropical Cambie

This month's Monthly Stitch theme is the long-awaited Indie Pattern Month. Unlike other months, this is also a competition of sorts, with prizes for each weekly theme.

Week One's theme is Dresses (posting til July 7, voting starting on July 11), which is in my direct wheelhouse over here.  I love making and wearing dresses. Love it. This gave me the incentive to make up my third Sewaholic Cambie (second which follows the pattern exactly).

I bought this tropical print cotton just a couple of months ago at a thrift store, and knew immediately that it would make a fabulous Cambie. It's a medium weight with a crisp finish, and it just called out for a sundress.

Love these cut-on pockets!

Back View

Since I was already planning to use this fabric for a Cambie, the Monthly Stitch theme gave me incentive to get moving on it. I cut it out on a Wednesday night, and was finishing up the hem on Sunday morning. Sometimes a group deadline is really helpful!

The busyness of the fabric was both blessing and curse. I had to lay out the pattern pieces carefully, and moved them around quite a bit before cutting, since I wanted to avoid a red flower or yellow stamen landing in the wrong spots. I think I managed in the end. You can see the print clearly in these closeups.

 It's a very well-designed dress, fully lined, with the nice suggested detail of making the inner waistband piece in the fashion fabric. I love that detail even if only you know it's there. It gives the inside such a nice feel. And there is a fabulous technique for sewing the lining to the invisible zip so that you don't have to hand stitch it, which I love as it is both quicker and tidier looking in the end.

 I also love the cut-on pockets -- they hide visually in a print, but are so convenient. They lie smoothly and don't rumple up like side seam pockets can. And they are also fairly easy to sew up.

 

 I made my regular size alterations: a horizontal wedge out of the mid-back and a vertical one at the shoulder, for my shorter upper back. I also shorten the shoulder pieces by 1/2" as I need to raise the bodice a bit, again, short upper torso. I'm also not a big fan of a princess neckline on myself so I once again changed this neckline to a straight one; I quite like the strong square effect it gives with this shoulder straps. The only other alteration I made was to add an inch to the length, as I wanted it a little longer than my previous make to give it the right vintage feel.

It's not only well designed theoretically, it's also comfortable for sitting in. Because the bodice and waist are so fitted I find it doesn't ride up when you sit down. But this fabric has just a tiny bit of stretch in it so it's also very easy to relax in.

 Another win for the Cambie. It's a great pattern that makes a lovely dress. I found that I had to make a bodice muslin the first time around and did have to make a number of minor adjustments, as I've noted. So I do recommend muslining this one. But because of the drafting with the pear-shaped figure in mind, I didn't have to make major adjustments like usual with a fitted style. I love this design and think it is a really sassy dress. Here's me feeling a little like Anna Wintour in it!

Cherry Print Nostalgia with the Sally Shirtdress

Thanks to everyone for voting for my dress
 in the Monthly Stitch contest! I won a prize :)

Let me tell you all about my new Sally Shirtdress!

Why yes, Madge, it is a Sally!

After the completion of my first shirtdress ever (McCalls 7351) I got the bug - I needed to make more! I happily had picked up this new-to-me pattern at the Pattern Review Weekend pattern swap (thanks to whomever it was who let it go). Added to that, it's Indie Pattern Month over at the Monthly Stitch, and the first weekly challenge is to make something by a designer who is "new to you". I've never made anything by Serendipity Studio before, so the Sally Shirtdress moved to the top of the queue.

I thrifted a fabulous cherry-print quilting cotton which I knew would be perfect for a retro style shirt dress. This pattern fit the bill. I crowdsourced opinions on which trim to use, and the replies were overwhelmingly for the red polka dots -- about 50 to 1. So I went with it. I was also able to use some fantastic vintage buttons from a full shoebox of them - all still on their cards - that my sister sent me for Christmas this year (great thrifting score on her end!)

original trim options

look closely for the buttons

To suit the vintage styling, I thought that a photoshoot at The Stratford Antique Warehouse would do the trick - thanks to Tracy and her wonderful staff for letting me take pictures and for chatting about sewing with me.

Outside, about to head in...

A bright and beautiful little booth...now with laser eyes

And now for the pattern itself -- I really enjoyed making this one. The Sally Shirtdress is an interesting design. It has four pieces: the collar, one long front and one long back, and the sleeve. Plus the trims, if you want to count those as extra pieces. It is sewn together and then you fit it by adding pleats in at the waist - you make it as fitted as you want, and put the waist where you want it. There is a rather complicated mathematical calculation in the instructions that is a bit confusing, so I just used the measurement of the waist and then divided it evenly to space my 1" pleats. It shapes it up nicely!

The pleats are well-placed but do we really want to know more
about our figures? Testing out a retro grain scale

I slightly extended the pleats higher in the back to reduce puffiness in the upper back, otherwise followed the pattern suggestions for size. Once the pleats are sewn, they are pressed flat along the centre and topstitched to keep them tidy. I've shown a photo of the insides, as they are completely invisible on the outside!

I cut the "above knee length" view with no shortening done except for a small pinch out of the upper back length-- I am 5"2 so be aware if you don't like really short things. I also chose the trim that is a flat band. The pattern gives options like a ruffled band as well but I thought I had enough going on with cherries and dots.

I coveted this enamel red & white drop-leaf table
and all the red & white glassware too!

The flaw in this pattern is that there are no pockets included. I added basic side seam pockets using a pattern piece from another dress, and placing them as usual with the hand opening 4" below my natural waist. You'll have your own perfect placement, so if you add pockets just measure a favourite pattern and place accordingly.

The other thing to be aware of is that the pattern assumes quite a bit of sewing knowledge. For example, she states "make a bias strip" for the trim but gives no instruction. Or, when setting in the sleeves, she tells you to pin in place, put the sleeve side down when sewing and just stretch and ease the the excess fabric in the armhole as you sew -- no gathering stitches, just all freehand. And she adds, "if you have any tucks, unpick and just sew again". It's all rather freeform, and while I was a little suspicious of this technique, these are the first sleeves that I've ever set in perfectly smoothly on the first go. So there's that.

I cut the under collar from the contrast as well

I actually really enjoyed the way the pattern was designed. I like to figure things out as I go and learn new ways of doing things, and I did both with this pattern. It had a relaxed, freestyle feeling to it.

Does this necklace go?

And should I buy a purse? (full confession time: I went home with the black one!)

So if you are okay with a different approach to things and with looking things up as you go, you'll like this pattern. It is a great silhouette, really fitted to the individual figure, and goes together quickly. I like it!

We had a gas with my new Sally at the Antique Warehouse!