Tessuti Cut Out Lace LBD

First post in a month! And this dress almost didn't even make it.
This dress was made as an entry for Tessuti's cut out lace competition. Even though I'd bought the fabric a day or two after the competition was announced (perks/dangers of working a less than ten minute walk from Tessuti's Surry Hills store) there were quite a few things that almost got in the way of the dress being made.

The first thing that delayed this dress was a holiday, and some holiday sewing of shorts and cargo pants to wear while bushwalking in Western Australian national parks. Because of this, I didn't have time to start on my competition entry until I got back from holiday a week and a half into September. But the bigger problem was that I just couldn't seem to get my make to look how I wanted it to look.

I'd decided as soon as I saw the lace in store that I wanted to do as little as possible to it, and just let the fabric speak for itself. I decided to buy a single panel so I wouldn't be tempted to do anything too fussy. I also wanted to use the half flower piece at the centre top of the panel as my neckline, so I thought a simple fitted sheath dress would be the go, and started pinning and draping on my mannequin.

It didn't quite go according to plan. First, I needed to do the centre pack seam and insert the zipper. I had been going to use an open ended zip, but when I got the black open ended zipper I had out, it wasn't long enough. Given this was last weekend and entries closed yesterday, I decided I didn't have time to go searching for a long enough open ended zip and instead searched through for other options. 

Initially I went for a normal black zip about 45 centimetres long. I pinned it in, folding the fabric in further as it got down to the waist. I stitched the zipper in, and then for the lower half of the seam eased the seam back out from the waist to the hip and then straight down to the bottom. I then folded in some double pointed darts to fit the bust and waist, putting in two long darts and four short darts - two near the centre front, two close to the sides. I made sure they fit my mannequin, sewed them up, trimmed out the neckline, stitched the shoulders together, and cut out some of the lace for armholes.

Then I tried it on and it looked terrible.

The darts sat too low, leaving a weird billowy gaping at the bust, and the zipper at the back didn't sit flat either. The neckline was the only thing I was fairly happy with. Even the lace at the armholes was droopy at the back. That was going to be an easy fix, it would just need the extra pieces cut out once everything else was done, but the rest required going right back to the start. 

The first change I made was to rip the zipper out and redo it. I decided that I'd just put the zip in straight, rather than playing around trying to get it to fit in to the waist. I also decided to change over to an invisible zip, although I'm not entirely sure why as it's a shorter zipper. So I unpicked all my darts from the front, put small shoulder pleats in at the back to make sure the neckline was even, and draped it back over my mannequin.

My thought then was maybe I could make the dress so it was fitted at the front but hung loose at the back. So I did a first run of pinning the front in again, and tried it on. Unsurprisingly, it didn't really work. I had pinned the front darts in higher so it was better fitted, but there wasn't enough fabric for it to give the loose effect I wanted at the back. And honestly, I'm not sure this idea could have worked, because trying to keep one half loose while the other half is tight is just too complicated. I'd contemplated using ribbon ties from the underarm to the back, but I really don't think it would have sat evenly at all.

I hadn't sewn anything for that second arrangement, so there wasn't any more unpicking to do, but by this stage it was Thursday night and I was a bit at a loss of what to do. My next thought was to make separates, with a cropped top and high waisted skirt. The lace at the bodice would be long enough to work as a cropped top, but I decided against this idea because I really don't think I'd wear the top. And given the neckline was the first decision I'd made when I saw the fabric and was the one element I was happy with, I didn't want to lose that on a garment I wouldn't wear. So I discarded that idea.

Then I finally worked out what to do.

It's an obvious realisation, but if your mannequin doesn't have the exact same measurements as you then pinning and draping a fitted dress completely on the mannequin isn't going to end up fitting properly. The answer, of course, was to pin the dress directly onto myself. So I put it on and folded in two darts for the front and two for the back and pinned them in place. I stitched them down, leaving them open at the bottom so they have a soft pleated effect. And after all of that messing around, mid-morning yesterday I finally had the dress I'd pictured in my head.

Then it was just a case of taking some pictures and sending them in as my entry. 

And so that's the saga of my lace LBD. With persistence, sometimes you can manage to pull of the image in your head. Now I just need a reason to wear it!

Magical Merino

Both of these makes have been finished for a while, and have had multiple wears. Both the top and cardigan are made with New Zealand merino jersey from The Fabric Store.  I'm finally getting them posted before winter disappears completely. The cardigan might get all-seasons wear, but the long sleeve top is definitely a cooler weather item.

First, the cardigan, although this was sewn second. It's actually an edited version of the Gather Blouse from Japanese pattern book She has a mannish style. I've made the blouse before, so when I was looking for a pattern to base a loose and drapey cardigan on, it seemed like a good choice. To make it more of a cardigan I narrowed the lower back piece so it isn't quite so gathered, and lengthened and tapered the sleeves to be full length. I went through my buttons to find some to use for the closure, but ended up deciding the shape of the cardi works better without a closure.

The one other thing I did for the cardigan was cover all the seams in bias binding. Given it's a loose cardigan and I'd decided against adding buttons, I wanted to make sure the insides looked nice because the could be seen. I'm largely happy with how they turned out, other than the collar not laying flat. The sienna satin binding stands out a bit more than I'd realised it would., and also is a little bulkier where the seams joined than I wanted, but that's only a minor quibble.

So on to the top. It's also merino, in a very pale shade of pink which unfortunately doesn't quite show up in the pictures. Unlike the cardigan, this top is self drafted. I used my bust and waist measurements to then draw up the front and back pieces. I did put the shoulder seam a bit too wide and ideally would have pulled it in about 1.5cm. However I decided it wasn't too far off that it was worth redoing, so I'll just put up with sleeves that sit a smidgen off my shoulder.

The collar and cuffs were designed to be slightly ruffled, and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I used the left over merino from the body of the top and cut curved pieces. The cuffs were easy, because they aren't too large, but I only just had enough room to cut a piece for the collar. Initially it didn't look like it was going to show any sort of ruffle, but finishing the raw edge with a rolled hem stretched it out just enough that it self ruffled. It's not over the top, just enough to give it a bit of interest and difference from a plain top.

 Also, the photos for once are with a nice background! That's thanks to a couple of the Sydney Spoolettes wanting to get some photos done, so we met in Hyde Park on Thursday lunchtime to take pictures for each other (thanks Susan for taking mine!). Makes a nice change from the retaining wall above our pool!

Lastly, sewing with merino was surprisingly easy. I'd been daunted by the prospect, partly because the fabric was very soft and stretchy jersey, partly because it wasn't cheap. But it went through my machine wonderfully, and I never had any problems with dropped stitches. It was a little tricky covering the back seam of the cardigan with bias binding, but that was due to the extra bulk from the gathering, not due to the fabric itself. So in the future, I won't be scared to sew with merino. Instead, I'll relish the opportunity because it is so nice to work with and to wear.

Silver Waves Bowline Sweater

I've said it before, I'm a fan of NZ company Papercut Patterns. I've made a few of Katie's patterns and they're always great. The Ahoy collection was released back in February, and I snapped up three of the patterns. I've already made the Moana Dress, and now here's number two, the Bowline Sweater.

The Bowline Sweater is a raglan sleeve jumper with a folded pleated front. The fabric I used is one I had in my stash, a silver knit I picked up last year at Spotlight because it was on sale. I didn't have a plan for it but bought it because sparkly and shiny are fun, and I knew I'd find something to make with it. It's the thickness of a t-shirt knit, but the metallic thread makes it slightly heavier and slinkier, giving it a different drape to most knits.

Because the Bowline has that pleated front I wanted a fabric that wouldn't look messy with drapes and folds. I've seen quite a few striped versions, which work really well, But I am trying to use my stash more this year (it's not entirely working, but I'm trying), so looked at what I already had that might work. I thought the silver would work well because although it's a plain fabric, light hitting the top would interplay with the folds and drape and bring out the shine, like light playing across waves.

As with all Papercut Patterns, the instructions are well-written and clear. The front is a very confusing-looking pattern piece, but it's actually easy to follow and put together. Although I didn't pay complete attention to the layout for cutting the pattern out, so my front is actually mirror imaged. I've done that before when I was in too much of a rush to get on to my machine. It generally doesn't change the garment at all, but it is a slightly annoying error.

The fit is a bit of a mix, but not in a bad way. The raglan sleeves are relatively fitted, with long cuffs to pull down over your hands (I do that a lot, as you can probably see in the photos). The rest of the jumper is fairly loose. When I first finished it I felt that the front hung down over the waistband a bit too much, so I removed the waistband, cut the front piece on a curve so that the centre was shorter than the sides, then reattached the waistband. It still drapes but no longer overhangs.

I say this with each Papercut Pattern, but I really like this. It's an interesting take on a jumper, and can be made as a casual top or a more fancy one - which isn't easy to find in a jumper. And I'm glad I bought the silver knit last year, because it really was the perfect fabric for this pattern.

Birthday Pants

It's been a few weeks. I have been sewing, but haven't been photographing. But now I have a new make to show.

Today's my birthday, so these are my new cosy birthday pants. It's a very sewist thing to do, isn't it, to have a new creation as a present for yourself? Although these weren't really made to be such, they were just made this week because I needed them.

I made them over the last two nights so that I had something warm to wear in the Antarctic blast Sydney and much of southeastern Australia has experienced these last couple of days. In fact, this morning when I photographed these it was 3C, with an apparent temperature of freezing. But luckily these pants and the (not yet blogged) merino jersey top I had on were warm enough while I took pictures.

The pattern is from the late 1950s or early 1960s. It's Simplicity 4290, and is a highwaisted pant or short pattern with a side zip closure. I've used it before for my casual cotton summer pants. That time I made them looser and lowered the waistband, this time I kept the pattern almost as-is apart from lengthening the legs just slightly so the hem sits at the top of my feet rather than grazing the ankle. I wondered a bit about the high waist at first because it is very high - I'm longwaisted and the waistband sits above my belly button - but apart from it being a silhouette I'm not used to I am liking them.

The fabric was originally bought for a colour blocked dress I was planning to make with some remnant wool I have, but it turned out to be the wrong weight. It's a poly wool blend from My Hung in Hurstville. It's a slightly odd fabric, medium weight but with an almost fleecy underside. It's less scratchy than most medium and heavier weight wools and wool blends are, which makes it nice and comfortable. And it glided through my machine beautifully, which is always a plus.

It's an incredibly simple pattern to make, being just two front and two back pieces, two darts on each, a waistband, with trouser bar and zip to close. It's all very straightforward construction, and generally pretty quick. This pattern is vintage, but a modern pattern with a similar construction would be perfect for a beginner to making pants.

Although I have to admit I did have a little trouble with the waistband the first time around. My first go of stitching it looked terrible. The problem was I sewed it looking at the inside rather than the outside, and when I turned them right way around I discovered my stitching line wandered all over the place. And the one drawback of this fabric was it is terrible to unpick stitching from - the fleeciness makes it so that you basically have to undo each individual stitch, so it takes a bit of time. But once I undid it I was able to sew on the outside of the waistband and it was much better.

I'm not sure how much wear they'll get because they are warm fabric and Sydney generally doesn't get a lot of really cold days. But in today's cold I was very glad I'd made these.

The Bishop Sleeve Dress

It's really too cold right now for this dress. Made a few weeks back, even though it has long sleeves it isn't meant for winter days, so it's unlikely to get a proper wear for another few months.

The fabric is a rayon from Tessuti Fabrics that I've looked at a lot of times I've been in there but finally bought earlier this year. It has a nice wavey/shell print in pinks and greys and purples, but is still fairly muted. Initially I'd thought it would make a good maxi skirt, as it's very soft and drapey and has the right sort of breeziness. But I'm not really a maxi skirt wearer. So I found a dress pattern instead.

The pattern is another vintage re-release, a 1969 Simplicity Jiffy pattern this time. Being a Jiffy pattern, it was incredibly easy - they really are great patterns, especially for beginners. There are few patter pieces and none are complicated shapes, unlike my last make. The Jiffy patterns all seem to date from around the 1960s, and are all variations on classic shift dress shapes. In addition to the bishop sleeve this pattern's variation is deep shoulder pleats which gather it in at the top and open to fullness at the bust. Overall, the pattern has a last few seasons of Mad Men vibe.

I made three small changes to the pattern. First, I shortened the length by about 2 inches. Second, I didn't use a cuff band for the sleeves. Instead, I just folded over the end of the sleeve to make a channel, leaving a small opening to insert elastic. Once I'd done that I stitched the channel shut. In the end this has the exact same look as on the pattern sleeve, but with less effort. Finally, the original neckline was quite a bit more plunging, which combined with the loose shape wasn't exactly practical. So I pulled the neckline up and in about an inch each so that it sits flat and fitted.

The dress is quite loose, with a tie belt. I did take a photo or two without the tie belt which you can see below, but don't think I'll wear it that way normally - it's a little too sack-like for me. But for others who do like the loose shape it would make a good sack dress.

Although it isn't the right time of year to wear this dress right now I do like it. It's probably going to be a good trans-seasonal piece, the sleeves give a bit of extra cover but the rayon is lightweight and still fairly cool. And it was a very easy make, which I definitely recommend for less experienced sewists.

Phryne's Winter Blouse

After summer extended well into autumn, winter has decided to make up for it and arrive promptly here in Sydney. Last weekend was torrential rain, storms, and flooding, which stopped me being able to photograph another project I've finished. Instead, I spent the weekend (and the evenings of this week) on a new winter blouse that Phryne Fisher would love to wear.

The pattern is McCall's M7053. It's from their Archive Collection, originally printed in 1933. The lines and styling are very much Art Deco, but not overwhelmingly costumey. It means it's noticeably not you're average store-bought blouse, but doesn't slip over into playing dress-ups territory.

The main shape of the blouse is just a simple loose top with minimal shaping, with all the interest in the asymmetric cowl. It's a very weirdly shaped pattern piece. It curves around the back at the width of a slightly wider than normal collar and then at the front is basically a large distorted trapezium. Because the shape is very strange and it's not immediately obvious how it inserts into the blouse I wouldn't recommend this pattern for a new, inexperienced or unconfident sewist.

The fabric is a remnant piece of wool I bought at Pitt Trading. It's very soft and lightweight, but also surprisingly warm. I normally feel the cold and the air conditioning system at my work tends to mean I'm always wearing a cardigan or jumper but I didn't need anything over the blouse. It was warm enough by itself. Which is great, because it's such an interesting shape that you really don't want it covered up.

Being wool it was great to work with. It pressed very easily, which was useful for some of the facings and the cowl section. The cowl section is self faced and requires the seam allowance on the facing piece to be pressed down so that it's already folded in when it is attached to the main part of the blouse. First the outer layer of the cowl is stitched to the blouse, and then the facing piece is stitched over, hiding all the seams within. This wool was so good to press that it took all of about 20 seconds to get the seam allowances sharply pressed. The only issue was that, given it's a woven wool, it frayed like crazy. So every seam is bound with bias binding. This did add quite a few hours to the time taken to make the blouse. but it gives the seams necessary security and a neatness of finish.

One important thing to note about this pattern though is that the fabric requirement is pretty absolute. I often manage to use quite a bit less fabric than the pattern asks for. In fact, for this pattern the piece of fabric I had really wasn't big enough. In the end I had to shorten the length of the blouse. I like the length it ended up at, but if you do want it to be hip length like it's supposed to be then ou must buy the required yardage. I also used press studs under the buttons rather than buttonholes. That way I get the look that the buttons give it but don't have to worry about the fabric fraying.

I've named it Phryne's Winter Blouse because it really is something that Phryne Fisher from Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (great show, and wonderful late-1920s costumes to look at if you're a fan of vintage fashion) would wear. The buttons on the blouse are in fact from the Miss Fisher Collection, which I picked up when I saw the costume exhibition recently. It's still on in Parramatta for another week or so, so Sydneysiders get down there quickly if you haven't yet. Looking in the gift shop I saw the buttons and thought not only were they beautiful, they'd also match really well with the fabric. This blouse was at the time my next-up make, so was already in my mind. I knew I needed buttons for it, so decided to buy these ones.

Overall this was a very involved make. The instructions weren't always completely clear, and they actually miss out telling you when to sew up the side seams, something you have to work out based on when the sleeves need to be insterted. But I'm extremely happy with the result. A fabric that suited the blouse so well was a great bonus.

Rainbow Weave Rigel Bomber

This is the Rigel Bomber from Papercut Patterns.
It's a loose fitting bomber jacket with raglan sleeves.

The fabric is a fairly heavy weight woven bought at Spotlight and made in Mexico. I loved the colours and immediately thought it would be perfect for the Rigel Bomber. It sort of was. At least, it was the perfect look and weight.

As much as I love the look of the fabric and think it makes a great bomber jacket, it was one of the worst fabrics I've ever sewn with. You can see from the insides that the fabric is woven with multi-stranded embroidery thread. Which means it frays like crazy and also gets caught in the sewing machine with far too much ease.

Because of how much the fabric frays I immediately had to make a couple of changes compared to the pattern. There was no way I was going to be able to put welt pockets into this fabric, nor side seam pockets for that matter, so I left those off. I also realised it was going to be essential to cover every single seam in bias binding to at least try and reduce the amount of fraying the jacket will do. But because of how awkward the fabric is, my bias binding isn't even sewn in particularly neatly. I'd also run out of black thread of all things, so my bad stitching is pretty visible on the inside.

For the facing I used some leftover grey cotton drill from a pair of pants I'd made. This meant I didn't need to add interfacing. Given the problems I'd had with the main fabric I wanted to limit any possible issues I could have with the rest of the garment. In the end the drill was just the right weight, and the grey is nice and calm compared to the brightness of the main fabric. It did take quite a few hours in front of the TV to sew it down, though, as it all had to be done by hand. But that's not difficult, just time consuming.

 The one last change I made was to raise the neckline. I did this for two reasons. First, I'd read in other reviews that the neck does sit lower than normal for a bomber jacket, and honestly it could still be lifted another 1-1.5cm easily. The other reason was so that I could use this zipper. I really liked the star pull zipper when I found it at Pitt Trading and so decided to buy it, but it was almost 10cm longer than the pattern called for. A little of that can be hidden or trimmed, but I raised the top of the neck 5cm by sharpening the front curve into the middle at a higher spot. Those changes made it the right length for the star zipper.

Overall I am happy with the finished product, even if I didn't enjoy all of the making. It got put in the corner a few times over the course of making it because I got frustrated, but I'm glad I did persist. As with all other Papercut Patterns I've used the instructions are pretty easy to follow, so this isn't a hard pattern to make. It's just better to choose a more practical fabric!