FO: Simplicity 8014 - The Shirtdress

So following on from my last post, once the fabric was washed and the jet lag subsided, I started to look at shirtdress patterns.  I narrowed it down quite quickly to two patterns that fitted my vision: Simplicity 8014 and McCalls 6885.  The McCalls was the right shape and had cuffed sleeves and a terrible envelope picture.  The Simplicity won out because it had a yoke, the right sleeves and buttoned all the way through.

I haven't got that many pictures of the construction.  Having cut it out I did a quick baste together to assess the fit which seemed fine - I didn't change anything. At some point I managed to lose the cut pieces and the pattern piece for the sleeve tabs. It was very frustrating, but I had just enough scraps to draw out replacement pieces. I kind of guessed at the size - seemed to work out OK! Really annoyingly, I was having a tidy up the other day as my sewing space is going to occupied by a Spanish exchange student for the next week, and I found the missing pieces - bit late now, but at least I have the proper pattern piece again!!

 There was lots of top stitching:

I found the perfect buttons at my local fabric/haberdashery shop and bought all that they had

 Modelled by Lola - rolled sleeve and full sleeve

and modelled by me - Slightly out of focus, taken by one of the girls at about 7am, hence the bleary eyes.

and here worn at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Ally Pally at the beginning of October, with Charlotte from the Sewing Bee

I am really pleased with this dress - it is exactly what I was planning. I love the buttons, it is the perfect length and I love that the fabric came all the way from NYC along with the memories of that trip! 

FO: Ginger Jeans

Oh my gosh, I made JEANS!

Having always thought that jeans and underwear would be things that I would never sew.... I have made jeans! I kept seeing amazing versions of the Closet Case Files Ginger Jeans pop up all over the internet and began to think that sewing my own jeans might be feasible.

I was nudged closer to this decision by the realisation that I would need new jeans soon-ish and I didn't particularly fancy several hours in a jeans shop trying to find the right fit. Finally, I was tipped over the edge by Winnie of Scruffybadger. She posted sometime ago about a pair of jeans she had made that were one of her Minerva Makes. Because it was a Minerva Make post, Minerva Crafts have put together a kit including the fabric, top stitching and normal thread, twin needle, jeans button and metal jeans zip, so one can grab all the supplies all in one go.  I quizzed Winnie about the feel of the fabric and then eventually purchased the Minerva kit and the download version of the Ginger Jeans pattern.

The denim is a very dark indigo, which is my preference in jeans, and the top stitching thread is a more muted bronze rather than the usual brighter orangey colour. I washed my denim at least twice, but still had dye coming out on my hands whilst I was working on them.

I read a lot of the construction and fitting advice that is available on the internet, along with Heather's instructions and the very useful sewalong. I referred  to this post quite a lot as I felt her fit and wrinkle issues looked similar to mine. I still managed to cut the wrong size - thankfully a larger size - so it wasn't a disaster. I think I confused the body measurements and the finished garment measurement. I cut the high waisted skinny leg version.

In construction I used both the instructions included with the pattern and the sewalong available on the Closet Case Files website. The instructions go into a fantastic level of detail and make each stage of the process very manageable.

pockets and top stitching

The best piece of advice for these, is to baste the whole jeans together to assess fit - the front  and back pieces are all assembled and top stitched to start, then basted together with a long machine stitch. It is very satisfying whizzing these up - I then had the fun of  working out what changes I need to make.

baste fitting

assessing crotch fit at basting stage

I had to take a big wedge out of the yoke and waistband. I took most of the excess out of the centre back,  took in the side seams quite a lot, adjusted  the front crotch curve a little, and also took in the inside leg seam. This is where I made a mistake - I think I took too much off the the front leg pieces on the inseam.  The seam comes round towards the front. I cut the the denim very carefully on grain, so being off grain is not the cause. Having said that, and having worn these a lot since finishing them, they are the most comfortable jeans I have.  I was unsure about the high waist initially, but I really like wearing it.  I still don't like the way it looks if I were to tuck in my tops, but since I never do that, it is not a problem.

high waist

high waist

It is actually a relief not not be cut in half by my waistband when ever I sit or bend down!

waistband detail

I was concerned about the wrinkles in the back view, but I tried pinning them out to get rid of them and then discovered I need that fabric there in order to sit down! Having looked at these photos, I might straighten out the back pockets a bit if I make them again.

Picture overload there.... I love these jeans and have worn them a lot since I made and I am pretty sure I shall be making more!

Since I made mine, Heather has released a Jeans E-book with all the construction info in one place and a flares add-on. I may well be purchasing these!

FO: Figgy's Sunki Dress - double take

Some time ago Youngest asked me to make her something and after a bit of research I decided on the Sunki Dress by Figgy's.

When I had first looked at it ( about a year ago) it was only available up to the age/size 8/9. When I was clicking around the internets in the run up to Christmas I found that tween /teen sizes had been added and the sizing now goes up to age 16(XL). I decided to purchase this larger sizing, just in case one of my older girls fancied it. I took Youngest measurements and she fell in the 'small' size.  At the same time the eldest daughter of my friend was coming up to her 10th birthday. Having made a couple of things for her younger sister I thought I would make her something too. Her measurements were roughly the same as my Youngest so I decided to make them both the same dress in same size.

Youngest had requested denim with a contrast panel - she chose a turquoise and white polka dot cotton that I bought ages ago just because I liked it.

I thought navy corduroy with a contrast would be nice for my friends daughter - I used scraps left over from my Polly top for the contrast panel.

I made them in tandem - sewing each step on both dresses before moving on. I didn't need to change out the threads on my machines as the main colour for both is navy which made life a bit easier. The style is a straight tunic with shaped panels at the side which also form pockets.

The shoulder seam has a pretty overlap detail and the sleeves have pleating at the sleeve head.

The style is similar to the Lisette Portfolio dress that I made a few years ago, including the style of pocket. Sewing the pocket was the trickiest bit even though I had done similar on the Portfolio dress and I was following the online tutorial provided on the Figgy's website. I think it worked out OK, there isn't too much puckering at the pocket seams. The corduroy was much easier to manipulate than the denim.

The zips when in without a hitch:

Both girls were delighted with their dresses.

picture taken at another friends birthday party

Considering that their measurements were within a centimetre of each other and I made the same size, they fit quite differently. I think because the corduroy has a softer hand, it drapes better and appears to be a fraction longer. The denim is quite stiff, although it is a stretch denim, and doesn't move with the body so well, which makes it ride up and appear shorter. Having worn hers several times, Youngest has asked me to put on cuffs made from the contrasting fabric as she struggles to get a cardi on over it at the moment - she needs something to hold onto on the sleeve as she pulls the cardi on. I thought I had made full length sleeves, but looking at the pictures I may not have done.  If I were to make this again (which I probably will in the summer) I would have a go at making the pockets bigger - they look like they are going to be nice and deep but are actually very shallow and not much use as pockets. These were also my first finished makes of the year.

Overall I hade two very happy girls!

FO: Skirts for Eldest

Happy New Year to everyone. I am probably not going to do a review of last year as the latter half was not much fun. I have lots of catching up still to do with blogging my makes, so here are a couple of skirts for Eldest.

Skirt one was started (as in she cut it out) by Eldest two summers ago, I think, in a heavy denim from my Mother-in-law. It was finished by me towards the end of the summer 2014. We used Burda 9562 view A, which does not seem to be available anymore.

top stitching and pleats

It was very short so I added at least 5 cm to the length before we cut it out and it is still a bit short! We used age 15 to ensure it would fit her as she is quite curvy, however her shape is still changing plus she prefers to wear things on her waist rather than below, so I ended up putting elastic in the back of the yoke at the waist.

This pattern is designed to sit just below the natural waist, but with Eldest prefering to wear it on her waist, it makes it shorter than planned when worn!


Skirt two was inspired by this skirt in the window of J Crew:

 and this skirt in Johnnie B, the Boden teen section:

Photo from Boden.co.uk

I could see that it was a pretty simple design and that I could 'knock something up' pretty quickly.  I bought some chambray from a local shop. I think it was 4.95 or maybe £7 (I can't quite remember) a metre and nice quality. I loosely used this chart for sizing and this tutorial for making skirt - which I think has probably made the skirt too poofy for Eldest. I thought for a future skirt it may be better to have a plain front to the skirt with any gathering just in the back.  I intially hemmed the skirt to be 22" at the back and 21" in the front (her curvy bottom lifts skirts slightly and makes the hem uneven). This was not a flattering length, so I shortened  it by 2" all round.

I also put a welt pocket on the front.  It is not brilliant but it looks ok and fits her phone. I only did one as I made it up as I went long really, and didn't fancy trying to do a second one and getting the placement wonky!

She seems pretty happy with them both and has worn them, but I only have pictures of her curled up in a chair in the 2nd skirt and you can't actually see much of the skirt!

I have just realised that this ties in with my previous post of using RTW for inspiration!