In Season Silk Comp: Boulanger Tea Dress

Another Tessuti competition, another entry. This time their In Season Silk Competition. Where the last competition was to make a version of their Kate Top, this time it was a make anything at all using one of two beautiful silk crepe de chines. Lucky for me (maybe not so much for my wallet) I work less than 10 minutes walk from Tessuti's Surry Hills store, so the day after the competition was announced on Instagram I walked over in my lunch hour to get my fabric. There were two fabric choices, I decided on 'Autumn Cluster', In Season Two. I chose it because I thought the floral print had more versatility on what to do.

It took me a long time to chose exactly what I wanted to make. Being a crepe de chine the fabric is soft and floaty, so a soft and floaty dress was what I needed. The colours are very autumnal, and also very 1930s, so I thought the 30s would be a good inspiration. I love Art Deco styles, so this fabric seemed perfect for something with that inspiration. But even with a chosen garment and time period it still took forever to choose exactly what to make. Pinterest was both a help and hindrance in deciding what to make. I have a Pinterest board of Art Deco gowns and they were all very inspiring, but a little too much - every time I had a look I wanted to choose a different dress as inspiration. But details like fairly open backs with some detail at the top and relatively simple skirts kept standing out.

This dress is my version of my favourite pattern, McCall 9043. It dates from 1936 and is designed by Louise Boulanger, a less well-known name but one of the most creative designers of the Art Deco period. As with a lot of spectacular 1930s dresses and patterns the back and shoulders are the focus. The open back was easy enough, just requiring the back pieces to be cut so they finish just past the shoulder blades. With the addition of the connecting strap at the base of the neck and the curved centre pieces at the lower back I was able to replicate the pattern.

The shoulders were harder to work out. I only had the picture of the final dress to go on, no idea of what the different pattern pieces were. They're curved so obviously part of a circle, and they fold back in around the front to join at the top of the shoulders. Finally I realised - it's a quarter circle! I tested with a scrap of fabric just to see if it would work and it did, so now I had a full plan for my dress.

Once I knew that I could design the shape of the dress it wasn't too difficult to make it. I drew up each pattern piece needed and set about making it. Where the original was a floor length gown I decided to shorten it to tea length so that I'd be more likely to have times to wear it. The contrasting fabric is just a soft polyester from Lincraft, but it was the right weight and colour.

The bodice is completely self-lined, but the skirt is unlined because I didn't want anything to affect the flow of the skirt. As the fabric is a light silk it does fray, so I covered the skirt seams in bias binding. The zipper is inserted by hand, and the lower edge of the bodice lining was also done by hand stitching in to the bottom of the contrast band. The sleeves have a rolled hem so they can flow as freely as possible, and the skirt has a 1cm hem.

The construction of the dress was relatively smooth. I did have to change what needle I used, though. Initially I used a size 9 needle as it's designed for delicate fabrics, and it worked alright for the silk bodice. But when I was stitching the silk to the contrast fabric the stitches were looking uneven and the thread broke three times. I dug out my machine's manual and it suggested using a blue tipped needle for fine fabrics if a small size didn't work. Once I swapped the needle over it all went much more smoothly.

 Because it took me so long to decide exactly what to make I didn't end up leaving myself a lot of time to actually sew this dress. The competition was announced back at the start of March, I cut into the fabric last weekend. Still, deadlines are a great motivator. I was also a little worried I woudn't be able to get good photos, because I don't have time in the mornings before work and by the time I get home it's dark and morning rain was predicted for today, but luckily the rain had cleared away early.

There are a few little things that aren't quite perfect, like the invisible zipper that is slightly visible, and where the contrast band meets the back bodice corners it doesn't sit quite flat, but they are only very minor. And I even have some fabric left over, so I can maybe make a small top or a matching 1930s capelet.

 Anyway, I have to say I'm extremely happy with the finished product. I hope you all like it as much as I do!

Florana Moana

The new Papercut Patterns collection was released at the end of February. Katie's patterns are always great, so I was tempted by all of it, especially when there was a 15% discount code on the weekend of their release. I was restrained, though, only buying 3 of the 6 patterns. This one, the Moana Dress, is my first make.

The Moana Dress is a relatively simple shape, slightly trapeze-shaped, with curved peplum ruffle and fuller skirt. It's less fitted than I normally wear, especially on the top, widening from narrow shoulders out to the hips. The peplum acts as a bit of shaping for the waist, in look rather than fitting. It also has an exposed zipper at the top.

While I like papercut patterns a lot, I have found they tend to be a bit loose under the arms. This is a fairly common problem for me because my ribcage is narrow, but the trapeze shape of the dress makes that looseness more obvious. So when I first made the dress up and tried it on it was gaping. Luckily I tried it on before I'd finished stitching the facing down, so I was able to resew the seam in by a couple of centimetres. That allowed the dress to still be loose, but not hanging off.

The fabric is a cotton sateen from Spotlight. I bought it last year, and I'd gotten it out a few times as a possible for a number of projects but it was never quite the right choice. But this year I'm trying to mostly use fabric from my stash rather than buying, so for this dress I decided to shop my stash. I got out a couple of fabrics, this and a black and white check, and got Instagram to help me choose. Although this fabric still needs to soften up a little more - the ruffle especially sticks out a bit more than it should - I think the bright floral was the right choice. Because the dress is relatively simple, the flowers everwhere print doesn't overwhelm it.

So there was one new technique on this dress: an exposed zipper. I've sewn zippers that were exposed before, but not done a proper exposed zipper. My ones, it was just because I decided to do that, but this pattern has proper instructions. Which is helpful! It wasn't particularly hard, but knowing how to trim the edges back at the bottom so the stitching is squared off around the zip gives a much nicer look than just guessing how to do it.

 So I'm quite happy with this dress. I'm also hoping that it will be versatile, something I can wear in summer and also in cooler weather with tights an a cardigan like I did today. It's also a dress that can be casual but the print and shape are nice enough to wear to work. So thanks once again papercut for another great pattern!

The Perfect Blouse Pattern

I found my perfect blouse pattern.

It's from 1974 (so is 2 of 8 for my Vintage Pledge for the year), the pattern is Style 4478, and I bought it for agrand total of 50 cents at a Salvos. It's also sized for pre-teen girls, but the measurements on the envelope were just right for me.

I'd been looking for a nice blouse pattern for a while, but none of the ones in the big four's catalogues really grabbed me. This pattern was cheap, and was much more what I was looking for. I did lengthen the hem by an inch, and could lengthen it further if I want to make a blouse that will tuck in to a skirt or pants. I also changed the bust darts to be straight rather than angled up so they'd sit at the right spot. But apart from those two minor modifications, the pattern was pretty much perfect.

The fabric is a rayon from Spotlight, bought last year. It's beautifully soft, and I love the vibrant colours in the print. Because it's an all over print I decided it had to be a long sleeve blouse - need to show off as much of it as possible! It frays a fair bit so I did French seams once again. Honestly I rarely do anything but French seams lately, they give such a nice clean finish.

I'm also really happy with how the sleeves look. I was worried that the gathered cuff would look too puffy and costumey, but it didn't end up as full as I thought it would. Instead, it's just got a nice bit of flow that really complements the drape of the rayon without the worry of getting in the way or dragging inadvertently in food.

Mostly it sewed up really well, apart from the hem. You can see in the photos that the centre fronts are slightly uneven. They were cut the same length, but when I folded the fabric under and stitched the hem the end got slightly stretched out of shape. I tried to redo it, but wasn't able to get it to fix properly. It might have worked better if I'd left the interfacing off the front, but it was necessary given the weight of the fabric.

Because the print is so nice I wanted to avoid visible stitching apart from the hem. So all of the front facing and collar are hand finished. I also used press studs instead of buttonholes, because as beautiful as this fabric is, it does love to fray, and I really didn't want to deal with buttonholes falling apart after the second wash. The buttons I used on top are maple leaves in a dark green-grey. They're cheap craft buttons, but I think they match the colour and print perfectly.

 So now I have a colourful and elegant blouse to add to my winter work wardrobe. And I've already made a second blouse from this pattern, a short sleeved version. I'll definitely be making more in the future.

Polkadotted Twirling Dress

I can't think of a better name for this. It's a dress, it's covered in polkadots, and it's impossible to put it on and not start twirling, so polkadotted twirling dress it shall be.
This dress is made of 5.5 metres of vintage nylon chiffon-like fabric. I don't know the date that it's from, but it's probably from the 1950s looking at the print and the type of fabric. It's semi-sheer, has finished selvedges and is very vibrant in colour, but not the most breathable fabric.

The dress is self-drafted for a number of reasons. I wanted to use as much of the fabric as I could (only two very small offcuts didn't make it into the final product), and the finished selvedge meant I'd need a pattern that had straight edged skirt pieces. In addition, the width of the fabric wouldn't work for every pattern, so I decided I should just come up with something myself. It still took me about four years to both come up with how to use this fabric and have the courage to cut in to it. I haven't seen vintage nylon fabric any other time, and I doubt I'd be able to find much again, let alone something as glorious as this print, so I didn't want to wreck it.

In the end the width and amount of the fabric meant a very full maxi dress was the only choice. Because the fabric frays like crazy - not exactly a surprise for a nylon chiffon - I wanted to use the selvedges where I could. For all the other seams, I decided to cover them in bias binding. The larger polkadots were a obvious choice to have at the bottom of the skirt. The fabric was fairly wide, so works for an empire line to floor maxi skirt. I cut off about 50cm to be the bodice, and used the rest of it for the skirt.

Now I'm pretty small, and have a very narrow ribcage, so reducing the five metres I had for the skirt in so that it fitted me was fun. I briefly thought about gathering it, but that wasn't going to work with this fairly delicate fabric, so lots of pleats was the only other option. I've honestly forgotten how many pleats were involved, but from memory it was a bit over 60. In fact when I'd done the pleats it was still slightly too wide, so at each side I pleated the pleats in a further inch each. There's a lot of thread ends I still haven't brought myself to do something about!

The bodice is incredibly simple but effective. It is two strips of the fabric, slightly overlapped at the front, and folded over the shoulders to meet at the centre back. They're overlapped at the sides and hand stitched together to form simple sleeves. The effect gives it a simple V front and back, with hints of 1930s and 1970s styles. Given how big the skirt is I wanted the top to be as simple as possible. The bias binding just gives it that little bit of a finished look.

I decided to use blue bias binding rather than red to match the polkadots. I wanted a satin bias binding but couldn't find one in the darker shade of blue. Still I decided I preferred the sheen to the colour matching, so went for the royal blue shade. As it's only visible as a finishing for the bodice and is meant to be noticeable I felt the different colour was fine. Fortunately I already had a red zipper in my giant stash of zips.

When I started sewing I was using a size 9 needle, but the stitches were a bit loose. I had a look at my machine's instruction manual ,and it actually suggested using a blue-tipped needle to sew very sheer fabrics. I was a bit unsure, but it worked fantastically well. Because the fabric is delicate I of course was careful putting it through the machine, but didn't have any problems with it catching or tearing which I'd been scared would happen.

I have to be honest that I'm not completely sure when I'd wear this dress. It's very light, but it's so big that it's far too easy to step on. I think it's something that Florence Welch would love to wear, but it's not necessarily practical for most peoples' day-to-day lives. And as someone who's pretty good at tripping over and getting myster bruises. I don't know that a dress with five metres of skirt to tread on is something I should really be trusted with.

But the fabric was too beautiful to resist. And the twirly factor of this dress is so much fun, too. I think half my photos had to be discarded because they were fuzzy, but I just had to play with its movement. So I will find reasons to wear it, and just make sure to bundle it up in my arms when I walk so I don't tread on it or tear it.

 

Tula and Henry Retro Blouse

These very girly fabrics were just made for this 1940s blouse. Such old fashioned girly fabrics, such an old fashioned girly blouse. Both in a good way. The main fabric is Tula Pink, from her Parisville collection, and is called Topiary. The pink peplum and collar fabric is a Henry Glass, and is called Miss Modd.

I've actually had both fabrics for almost five years but couldn't find what I wanted to make with them. I'd thought of using them together, but was a bit in two minds about it, and didn't have any patterns that really felt like they were right for either fabric. But when Spotlight had a pattern sale a few months ago I managed to snap up a few reproduction vintage patterns, including this one. Although the original pattern doesn't call for two contrasting fabrics, when I was going through my stash to find something to make the blouse with, it was clear that yes, the fabrics do work together, and this was the pattern that would make that happen.

This blouse is another addition to my work-appropriate clothing needs. The pattern is Simplicity 1590, which is labelled as a "Misses' 1940s Retro Blouse". There are two variations, this high necked option or a scoop neckline. Because I wanted to use the contrasting fabric I decided to make the high necked version so I could make a contrast collar. But I did leave off the waist ties and neck bow, deciding they were probably a bit much on an already very girly blouse.

I'd forgotten how high the necklines tend to be on 1940s patterns! I've made a few in the past and generally lowered the neck a bit at the front so it didn't feel tight, but I forgot to do that with this pattern. So because it is slightly uncomfortable done up, I decided to leave the top button undone. Also the way the collar is made it won't sit properly if I have the top button done up even though I'm sure I followed the pattern correctly, so I'll just leave it undone when I wear it. It kind of makes it a bit more modern and less costumey, too, to wear it not done up to the top.

When it came time to choose buttons for this blouse, I wasn't really sure where to start. There's a lot of colour in the two fabrics, so trying to find something that matched was a clear possibility. But then I had to work out what colour to match. I decided not to try and match one of the secondary colours in the main fabric's flower circles because I thought adding anything extra to the two already dominant colours might be a bit much. Pink buttons was my next thought, so that they'd join the collar and peplum as a contrast. But when I went through my tin of vintage buttons I inherited from my grandma I found these green ones. The colour isn't a perfect match but works tonally, and there were the exact number of them that I needed. I did do the buttonholes in pink thread to keep the contrasting going.

 I'm mostly happy with this blouse. I've alreay mentioned the very high neckline which I can't button all the way up and have it comfortable and have the collar sit right. I also should have slimmed in the front bodice from the waist to the underarms. I don't do it for every pattern, but the way 1940s patterns emphasise the shoulders means they can be a little baggy on me around the bust. I could always go the whole way down the 1940s path and add shoulder pads to give the blouse a lift, but I think it's fine without it. Pattern placement for the main fabric was another issue I was conscious of, and I don't know that I got the best result, but I did manage to avoid anything inappropriate. But weirdly the thing I'm least happy with is the back seam for the peplum. It tickles me whenever it moves, which is going to take some getting used to.

But still, it's a lovely pattern, and gloriously girly fabrics. And it's nice to have used some fabrics that have been in my stash long enough they could be starting school this year! This is also my first vintage pledge make for 2016. I'm aiming for at least eight, so we'll see how I go.

Midsummer Day's Dress

This is the Midsummer Night's Dream Dress by Papercut Patterns. Papercut are a great New Zealand independent pattern company who make some really elegant but easily wearable patterns.

I've so far only made a few Papercut Patterns but I've really enjoyed them. The packaging is lovely, and the instructions are clear and well-written. This dress was fairly quick to make in terms of the actual sewing. It's quick to make because although there are a few pieces - three skirt, three bodice, ties and binding - it's very straightforward to put together. All the stitching involved is straight stitching. Attaching the self bias needs a little more attention and effort to make sure it's folded and placed correctly, but it is easy enough. My fabric didn't entirely press down sharply so I had to use more pins to hold it in place, which makes sewing a little slower, but made sure that it was all even and correct.

I did find that the bodice was initially a little loose around the arms and potentially would slide down and expose bra sides. I'd already added the binding andstra ps and didn't really didn't want to undo all of that just to trim the bodice in, so I decided to put a few quick tucks/bust darts in at the sides. There are two on each side, and the print of the fabric makes them imperceptible. They're just enough to pull the dress in around the arms without affecting how the shape of the bodice or how the dress sits.

This dress was also my first rolled hem. As with all sewing machines, mine has a few different feet, some of which I've never really used. After hanging the dress for a couple of days to let the hem settle, I luckily only had to trim off a little unevenness. I then tried it on to decide how much I wanted to hem it by, and was pretty happy with where it sat. So I decided to have a go with my rolled hem foot. I also thought a rolled hem would be a good choice for the flow of this dress, as a minimal hem would have no effect on the dress' shape and movement. The fabric did try and slip out of the coiling part of the rolling foot, but it turned out almost perfectly even, which I was pleasantly surprised by.

The fabric is a rayon crepe from Spotlight. Given that the skirt is pretty much a semicircle, the print couldn't be anything directional. The dress also has a soft flow to it, so the fabric also couldn't be anything heavy. Originally I was looking at some all over floral prints, but when I saw this one I thought it would be perfect. The colourful jagged waves already have the look of movement, so it was well-suited to a dress with flow. It's also lightweight without being completely flyaway, soft but not see-through.

This one has taken a lot longer to get to here than it should have. I got the pattern in June, the fabric in September, and made the dress over the Christmas-New Year's break, and finally got around to wearing and photographing it yesterday. When I bought the pattern and fabric it was of course still cold, but the summer's been long and hot, and this dress is perfect for that sort of weather. Better late than never.

I love this pattern because not only was it easy to follow and the final dress beautifully elegant, it's also a wrap dress so it's relaxed and comfy. And isn't that one of the best things about sewing? You don't need to choose between comfort and look - with the right fabric and pattern, you get to have both.

Flower Power Midi

Floral prints seem to be in at the moment. At least I've seen a lot on sewing blogs, in fabric stores, and in the windows of clothes shops. But I haven't seen so many giantly oversized florals like this 1950s-feel midi skirt. So I guess this skirt is both on-trend and individual.

The fabric is an old doona (quilt/duvet) cover I picked up at an op shop a few years back. Op shops can be great places for fabrics, and very cheap too. When I picked it up I didn't realise it was double sided - this skirt is only one quarter of the fabric. As soon as I saw the doona cover in the op shop I thought the giant flowers would look great as a skirt, but when I realised there were a total of twelve flowers, I thought I should come up with something that used more, if not all of it. But I didn't have any ideas, and so I put it away, buried in my overflowing fabric drawers.

From memory there was no label on the doona cover when I bought it, but the print seems to me to be a bit Skandinavian. Whether it is Ikea fabric or just trying to look like Ikea and Marimekko prints, it has that sort of style. Each flower has a different coloured centre: yellow for the centre front flower, red for the left, blue for the right.

 The skirt itself isn't really that exciting. It's self-designed, and without any measuring at all. I simply sewed up the back seam leaving room for inserting the zipper, and then went to work pinning it on my dressmaker's dummy Ilse-Jane. I eyeball measured to try and keep things even, although the side pleats are narrower than the front and back pleats. But the large-scale print means that these slight differences don't really matter - the flowers still stand out anyway. I hand-stitched the waistband down so that I only stitched through the insides of the pleats, allowing the pleats to stand out and so that there was no visible stitching line through the tops of the petals.

I have to admit that generally, the midi length isn't really my favourite. I think it can look a bit odd, either like a child playing dress ups in their mum's clothes, or  a kid wearing clothes they've outgrown. But with this print I really had no choice. There was no other way to show off those giant flowers. I do like how the length looks, I really do think it suits the print, but the length still isn't something I normally wear, so it is going to take some getting used to.

Although I'd had this fabric for ages and had known exactly what I'd wanted to make when I saw it, it took somewhere around 4-5 years to get around to making it. I do still have three quarters of it left (anyone want it?), but I have been thinking about the need to sew my stash, rather than just buying more fabric. And especially making something like this, which was not only something I'd already completely decided on but was also extremely quick to make.