Butterick Granny Nightie!

 

My sewing took a bit of turn over the last week or so! I decided I needed a new warm flannel nightgown (just in time for our cold snap here!) I have a couple of older thrifted patterns like this (this Butterick 4939 is the newest one, and it's from 2006) because it's so hard to find a sleepwear pattern currently that isn't a tee and pants set. I prefer a good old granny nightgown! 

I chose View B, mostly because I was a bit short on fabric. Actually I was quite a bit short. I had bought this pretty floral flannel on sale at Fabricland and when I went back to top up, there wasn't any more. So I had to puzzle it out. 

As it turns out, this was quite creatively satisfying. I had an old pair of flannel pj bottoms that I've been meaning to cut up to reuse - they were in great shape but somehow too small... They were an offwhite so I thought they'd blend okay with this print. And let's face it, this is just for sleeping ;) 

So I cut the yoke and yoke facing from the pants. I had to cut the full back with a side seam right down the middle, and was able to cut the two front yoke pieces with just a bit of seam along the edge. If I'd narrowed the yoke first (which I should have done, as the shoulders are quite wide - I could have taken each outer side in by almost an inch) I'd have avoided seams altogether. It's very wearable though, and I'm not going back to take anything in on the shoulders as I've french seamed everything; side seams, sleeves and armscye. It will have to do! 

I also had to cut the sleeves a lot shorter than the pattern, as I was out of fabric. So when I finished the main body, I felt that the stark yoke didn't really look great. Sigh. I made covered buttons from the original green fabric, and that added a bit of tie-in. But it still wasn't quite right. So instead of hemming the sleeves, I cut a 5" wide cuff from the remainder of the pants - that's as big as I could go before running out of white flannel. That really tied it together and it was starting to look good. 

But then my husband offhandedly remarked that I could embroider on the yoke. And I thought, not sure I want to embroider them, but I have two longish, narrow strips of the green flannel left over and I could probably harvest some motifs from there. So I did -- I chose the bits that I thought I could get most of a flower from and fused them to some Steam-a-Seam. Then I cut my chosen motifs and a few little extra leaves and added foliage and put together a design. I really love it! It was really fun to noodle around with the fused fabric and try to see how I could make complete motifs. And they are fused on for now, although I will likely have to stitch them down as well so that they stay put. 

Anyhow, for a project that was supposed to be a fast & easy, functional garment, this turned out to  be challenging in the sense of finding enough fabric and getting a look I liked. I certainly didn't expect to be spending an afternoon choosing decorative add-ons! I had a lot of fun, though, and now I have the perfect William Morris feeling nightgown, both useful and beautiful. 

Day & Night Dress Challenge

Because I have nothing better to do and so much spare time (hahaha) I decided last minute to join the Day & Night Dress Challenge hosted by Elizabeth Made This.

I highlighted my "Coffee Dress" yesterday -- this sunny day dress is made from a soft and lovely cotton flannel, and the Jennifer Lauren Laneway Dress Pattern. It's perfect for day wear and cozy enough to sit around in having coffee and danishes, I think. I will have to test that hypothesis immediately.

My "Cocktail Dress" is made from a sparkly knit I picked up at the Goodwill a few years ago now. I thought its nighttime feel contrasted well with the sunny feel of the Laneway. Also, as you can probably tell by now, prints are really my thing.

I used a favourite TNT pattern, Kwik Sew 3559. I love the way this pattern looks, either as a dress or a tee, and how it changes its feel according to fabric. I would definitely wear this one with some sparkly beads and heels to a cocktail event. Or with these gold accented flats for after work drinks.

It's such a simple pattern, really 3 pieces and a bias neck facing. I quickly turned under and stitched the sleeve hems -- probably too quickly, as I didn't press, and looking at these pictures I can tell! Time to toss it under the iron... But I started it at 9:45 last night, and was hemming it by midnight. So it's really a quick and easy standard for me. I really love how it fits and the overall shape.

It's loose but not baggy; in fact I might have benefitted from an extra inch across the lower back. But then each version is different, according to stretch of the fabric. This particular fabric was a thrift store bolt -- I had 5 m. of it, and since this only takes 1.5 metres, I still have a fair bit to use in future.
I think this dress suits this sparkly print, and can see wearing it in many different settings.

Here is how I wore it today, accessorized. I was also wearing a little black cardi but took it off for photos so that you could actually see the dress ;)

Thanks once again to accommodating coworkers who will snap pics of me on our breaks!

I'm also participating in a "Dress a Month" sewalong on Pattern Review so these will go right into my count there. It's fun to have some incentive to stitch up something new.

Speaking of new, I'll soon share some first looks at my project for the Literary Sewing Circle & our  reading of Dance, Gladys, Dance. I've been inspired by Frieda's colourful canvasses... hope you have some ideas too.

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!