Gathered Traffic Blouse

It's Me Made May once again, so with lots of sewists around the world I'm aiming to wear me-made clothes every day this month. Hopefully it will also prompt me to post my unblogged makes here as I wear them. Like this blouse started late last year and finished last month.

The pattern is the Gather Blouse from Japanese pattern book She Has A Mannish Style (English-language version now called She Wears The Pants). The oversized shape gives it a more masculine line which is softened by the gathered back, curved hem and close-fitted round collar. The fabric is a Liberty tana lawn from The Fabric Store. The print is Hunter Truck C which The Fabric Store don't seem to have in tana lawn anymore but the corduroy is still on their website. I thought the more stereotypically masculine car print in feminine pinks made it a perfect match for the pattern.

The piece of fabric was not quite large enough to fit all the pieces on it. So I had a look through my stash to see what else I had that would work with the print and match the weight of tana lawn. I'm not sure when or where I bought this basic black cotton, but it was exactly the right fabric to complement the cars. I decided to cut the front yoke, placket, sleeve cuffs and collar stand out of the black fabric so that it would be enough contrast but not become the focus. I think using the black for contrast helps the blouse not be so overwhelming with its print and also highlights the design lines of the pattern.

I made most of this blouse last year, except for the collar, buttonholes and buttons. I really wanted to make this blouse look as polished as I could, and collars and buttonholes have tripped me up a bit before so I put them off initially. The collar includes a collar stand, not just a basic top and undercollar piece, and my copy of the pattern book is entirely in Japanese with just illustrations to guide me, so I was a bit daunted. I did it very slowly over a number of days, doing one step or part step at a time, then taking a step back to look at it and check it looked right. Sewing the front and back collar stand down evenly was difficult and I had to redo it because my first attempt was uneven and didn't catch both layers. The curved edge at the front doesn't look fantastic, but it's not really visible so I'm happy enough with it.

I then still needed to do the buttons and buttonholes. At first I delayed because I hadn't decided what buttons to use, then had to go and buy some black buttons to match the placket. But I'm really not a fan of doing buttonholes, and had just finished making a skirt (not blogged yet) with a button front that my machine had some real issues with, so I wasn't in the mood to do another set of buttonholes. In the end when I pulled this back out last month the buttonholes were very quick and easy. The placket is interfaced and the black fabric has a slight stiffness to it which meant it was stable and smooth through my machine, so the buttonholes were all done in about half an hour. It took at least twice as long to sew the buttons on!

I used a twin needle to do black topstitching along the around the pockets, on the front and back yokes and along the hem. Because the pattern is quite busy the topstitching is not particularly visible - with the possible exception of around the pockets - but it gives a much neater and more professional finish, especially in keeping the seams flat along the yoke.

It took a long time but I'm incredibly happy with how this blouse turned out. I think the fabric and pattern complement each other perfectly. The style is also good for the current social distancing work from home situation - it's not a formal workwear blouse, but it is dressed and a few steps above pyjamas. It's a relaxed style but with professional touches, and I'm sure it will get lots of wear for many years.

Nita Trousers Tester Version

In another lifetime at the beginning of the year I agreed to be a pattern tester for Amy Nicole's Nita Trousers pattern. I made these up and gave feedback to Amy but it's taken me a couple more months to write it up here. Initially, I hadn't posted these trousers because I had planned to make a pair to wear to work. I had a nice wool blend ready to go, but made this wearable toile first to make sure I got the fit right. Now with COVID-19, there's no real need for new work clothes, so that turned into laziness and I haven't made the work pair yet. Still, it was about time to put this version up.

I made the pattern as close to how the original was meant to look. I'm long waisted so I added 3cm to the rise to get the high waisted fit. I made size 0 but graded to a 2 between the hips and waist as part of the lenthening. I wanted to ensure my make was as close to how the pattern is meant to be to give the most accurate and useful review. The rise sits at the correct spot for the pattern, but I have to admit I personally prefer a slightly lower rise. I find with pants - especially fitted pants - that a high waist is a bit less comfortable and free to move than a slightly lower waist. I tend to fidget a lot so ease for comfort in movement is important. But this isn't a problem with the pattern itself, just a personal preference. Given I had to make an adjustment in order for the pants to fit "correctly", I'm pretty confident that removing the extra rise will be easy and suit my personal preference.

I wasn't paying attention when doing the fly and forgot to topstitch the right fly allowance and didn't stitch the zip down properly on the left fly allowance. Unfortunately I didn't notice my mistake until I was trying on my almost finished pants, so I had to do what I could to fix them but it still pulls slightly open at the top. But I've since made a different pair of pants and used Amy Nicole's instructions - followed properly! - and it's probably the best fly I've ever sewn.

The pattern also has a back welt pocket. There was an option to add a button, but I chose not to. I hadn't done a welt pocket before and thought it would be tricky, but Amy's instructions are very easy to follow. I did however use pins to make sure each layer was aligned correctly. Most of the time I did follow Amy's no pins method, but for a few of the trickier steps I found pins essential for keeping things in place.

One thing I particularly like about Amy Nicole's patterns is she gives the instructions twice - a cheat sheet of written instructions and then illustrated instructions. This makes them accessible for both those who know all the techniques and just need the order of the steps and those who are new to it all and want to see every detail. Amy's instructions are well labelled, so this is a good choice of pattern for someone who's making their first attempt at a pants pattern.

A couple of extra thoughts about the pattern. First, the pockets are excellent and deep. Too many women's patterns either have no pockets or shallow ones, but these are genuinely useful. The pattern is designed for a non-stretch but mine is a stretch woven. The stretch is fairly minimal, but is enough that the cuffs don't quite hold their shape properly without extra tacking stitches to hold them in place. I think if you're nervous about sewing pants it's probably best to stick to a light or midweight woven like the pattern recommends, but if you are more confident you can make it work with some stretch.

Overall I like how these turned out. I found the cut had no fit issues, it is easy to make basic adjustments, and the instructions are very clear. And, once there's a reason to make work clothes again, I will be making these again.

Wagtail Dress

It's been a while since I last blogged, but it's not because I haven't sewn. I made this dress back in August and have worn it a dozen or more times since. It was even photographed in December, just waiting for me to get around to writing about it on here.

The fabric is a Jocelyn Proust design from Spotlight, with a Willy Wagtail print. Jocelyn Proust makes great fabrics, mostly with Australian flora and fauna prints. The pattern is Vogue 9199. It's a Very Easy Vogue pattern, and I don't think I've made one before. I was looking for a simple knit dress pattern and this was what I could find. I almost dismissed it because the illustration on the front isn't great, but I was wanting a pattern to make a dress to take on holiday so had to go with what was available.

Because the print is directional it turned out I didn't have enough fabric to make the dress exactly as it is in the packet - the pieces were slightly too wide and the fabric slightly too narrow, and the print wouldn't work with some upside down birds. So I decided to cut the bodice half using the pattern and then use the leftover fabric to do a simple rectangle skirt. It wasn't enough to be able to do even gathers around the entire waistline, so I just did gathers at the four princess seams - two at the front and two at the back.

The fabric is lovely to sew with. It's a relatively thick jersey with moderate stretch that retains its shape well but isn't too hot to wear. It goes through the machine smoothly, and has kept its colour and stretch through multiple washes (the benefit of not writing a post until six months after finishing a make is I can review how it holds up in real life). 

 The pattern is a slightly looser fit than I had originally planned, but I do still like it. I think it works better with the rectangle skirt than it would with the full length princess seams as it gives it that slight bit more shape. But I really like the neckline and the sleeve shape and length. A good cap sleeve that is fitted but still allows movement is often hard to find in sewing patterns - too many are restrictively tight or far too long but these are just right.

Given I've worn this dress many times I'm obviously happy with the outcome. It's a comfortable, easy to wear dress, and the print is fantastic. I'm not sure if I'll make the pattern itself again, but might use it as the basis for making t-shirts, removing the princess seams. At the very least I will use the sleeve pieces in the future.

Temperatures Climbing Dress

What do you do when it's going to be 40 degrees celsius (104 fahrenheit) and you still need to go to work? You make a light, loose dress the night before in preparation.

It's already been a hot summer here, and we're barely two weeks in. When the forecast for Thursday was for a 40 degree day I had a look through my wardrobe but there was nothing that was cool enough and ok to wear to work. So I decided I'd grab some cotton from my stash and make something.

Initially I was thinking of making a more typical sundress and even selected a pattern, but then realised its large number of pieces, zipper and fitted shape would be more complicated and be hard to get done in one night. So I decided a loose shape would be best, something with minimal shaping and only a few pieces.

I didn't use a pattern for this dress, instead drawing a quick sketch of the image in my head on my phone's note taking app. I decided to make the front with three pieces with diagonal seams to give a hint of shape. Although I didn't use a pattern the trapeze shape and lines are similar to a few other patterns, such as the Collins Top from In The Folds or the Sway Dress from Papercut Patterns.

The fabric is a Liberty of London tana lawn, Howells Ladders in orange/yellow from The Fabric Store. Tana lawn is beautifully soft and light, which makes it perfect for the heat. And the ladder print goes well with the "climbing" name for the post.

Because I didn't use a pattern the dress isn't quite perfect. The neckline is a little deeper than planned, the shoulders a little wider, the length a centimetre or two short. It's probably more of a beach coverup than workwear, but on extreme heat days comfort is the key.

It has been a long time since my last update, but I do have a few makes from this year that are ready for photographing and posting. Now that this very busy year is almost over, hopefully I'll have time to catch up a bit.

Clear Sky Princess Coat

This coat has been a long time coming. I made my first winter coat back in 2006, when I had minimal experience and had never attempted anything at all comparable in terms of difficulty. It turned out pretty well and I have worn it ever since, but there were errors that I noticed more and more as I got better at sewing - the sleeve is caught slightly, the hem is not very neat, the thread I chose doesn't quite match the fabric, it's not quite warm enough. But making a coat was such a big task and battle with my machine that I put off making another one for a long time.

This coat is made with an Australiam Home Journal pattern that looks to be from the mid-to-late 1950s. Unfortunately Home Journal patterns aren't dated so I can know for sure. The coat has princess seams, a round collar and full-ish skirt. The sleeveheads are fitted, but the sleeves are slightly gathered at the cuffs. I've had the pattern for a few years, but had been daunted about making a new coat. I also wanted to make sure I found the right fabric to use. It needed to be thicker than my older coat, but also in a nice colour - just because it's winter doesn't mean coats have to be muted and dark colours. Wool is normally pretty expensive, too, so I wanted to be very sure and ready before I bought (and potentially ruined) pricey fabric.

I found this wool at The Fabric Store in June. It's thick and warm, and at $42 was surprisingly cheap for wool coating. I loved the crisp winter sky colour, and the fact that it isn't a flat blue. If you look closely, you can see that it's a yarn dyed fabric with some variation from a light blue through to a grey. There's also a bit of pinky grey in the fabric according to all the fluff I cleaned out of my machines. The differences aren't large, but enough to give it some more depth.

Being a vintage pattern, it came in only the one size and did not include seam allowance. Markings on the pattern pieces are almost non-existent, so I had to make sure I paid close attention. I kept the fabric pinned to the pattern pieces until I needed to sew them to make sure I didn't get mixed up. I made only one change to the pattern, lengthening the sleeves as the original is bracelet length. I added about 3 centimetres, so they are long enough to keep my wrists warm but not too long to bunch up on my hands.

It took a long time to get this coat finished, partly because I took a three week break in the middle of making it. I'd been following the instructions closely, but vintage patterns don't give much detail, and no illustrations of the steps. When I got to the cuffs, the instructions just made no sense at all. The weather wasn't cold despite it being winter, so there wasn't a need to get a warm coat finished quickly, so I put it to the side. I reread the instructions every few days but it never made any more sense, so I didn't do any more work on it until the weather was predicted to turn cold again.

In the end I ignored the instructions for the cuffs and just worked it out for myself. They're probably the least neat part of the coat and might have been better if I'd followed the instructions, but I didn't want to run the risk of making a mistake. They still look fine, and I think anything I did to try and 'fix' them would probably end up looking more uneven, so I will just leave them be. And apart from the cuffs it was a smooth - if slow - sew.

Originally I was planning to use a different lining for this coat. I have some vintage 1950s lining with orange and blue roses that perfectly match the wool. Unfortunately, the piece was too small. I tried any and all pattern placements but simply couldn't get them to fit. Luckily I also had this cream and black polkadot lining in my stash, and the piece was big enough for the coat. The polkadots also match the buttons better than the floral lining would have, so I got over my disappointment of not being able to use it this time.

The buttons are also vintage, although I'm not certain when they're from. I found them at Rozelle markets about five years ago. I decided to do snaps rather than buttonholes because the thick wool was hard enough to sew seams, let alone doing buttonholes. I didn't want to run the risk of ruining expensive wool when I could just as easily have decorative buttons and snaps. Hand sewing on eight buttons and snaps did take a lot of time, but I'm happy with the neatness of the end result.

All seams and facings are overlocked to stop fraying. I stitched the princess seams down flat to keep them neat and reduce bulk. Stitching the seams down also accentuates the shape of the seam lines. The side seams aren't stitched down, however, because I added in pockets. In terms of time, there's probably as many hours of work hand sewing as there is machine. The eight buttons and snaps are sewn by hand, as are the facings and cuffs. I considered machine sewing the hem but decided to hand sew that too to keep ot neat.

I am extremely happy with how this coat turned out. It definitely shows the benefit of all the experience I have in the last 13 years in the quality of the stitching and attention to detail. But my machine still wasn't very happy with me making this, so I suspect it will be another 13 years before I make a third winter coat.

The Meridian

This is the Meridian Dress from Papercut Patterns. I've made quite a few patterns from Papercut and always find them well designed and clear to follow. The styles are relatively straightforward but often have nice design details that make them a little more interesting. The shape of this dress is pretty simple but the shaping the waist ties give to the bodice a lovely shape.

The fabric is a vintage Viyella I was given by a friend of my parents. Her aunt had a large fabric collection, and I was given this Viyella and a few pieces of raw Thai silk from the 1940s/50s. I have no ideas for the silk, but this Viyella obviously had to be a winter dress. Luckily it's the right time of year here to make a long sleeve wool dress. Being Viyella it's beautifully soft, light and warm.

This dress is the shorter length version of the Meridian Dress with long sleeves. I didn't make any adjustments in making it, and made a straight size XXS. The dress is pretty straightforward to sew. The front bodice pieces are a little confusing, and there was initially a slight gap when connecting the bodice and skirt pieces together. Because the bodice has a centre front seam as well as the ties it is a bit awkward joining it to the skirt. What I found worked was following the pattern and the stitching up the small gap the was left in the centre front. Given that the ties wrap across it also doesn't matter if the stitching is perfect because it will be hidden anyway when worn.

Viyella tends to fray so all the seams are overlocked, including inside the waist ties. The back is closed with a zipper and button. The button is a self cover button made with one of the leftover scraps. I bought an invisible zipper foot for my Janome machine so this invisible zipper is properly sewn in. I was even able to match the print up almost as close to perfect as possible. I had been pretty careful with the layout of the pattern on the fabric to try and make sure it would match on the back as that's the most visible seam, and the bodice back worked out really well. The bodie front is not evenly matched, but given the wrap ties it isn't really noticeable.

The dress sits at just above the natural waistline on me. I find Papercut's patterns are often slightly short in the waist. I'm 5'6" but longwaisted so with the skirt this pattern is still the correct length but I have found a few of their patterns in the past ended up a little shorter than I wanted. However being a narrow build, for this pattern the ties wrapping around at a low empire line probably works better than if they sat at my natural waist.

I made this dress back in June and photographed it in early July. It's been worn a few times in the last two months and has gotten many compliments. It's a very easy dress to wear - really the only thing slightly awkward with this dress is ironing the ties without leaving creases in the bodice. But overall it's a simple thing to throw on and a relatively easy sew for something that looks fairly elegant and much fancier than it is to make, which is generally my favourite type of pattern.

Chelsea Pattern Tester Dress

Just in time for winter and rain - here's a dress for the middle of summer.
Back in February I got the opportunity to be a pattern tester for the new Chelsea Dress from Amy Nicole Studios. I've previously tested her Patti Pocket Skirt and incorporated that pattern into a dress as well. I really enjoyed that pattern, so when I got the email with the first picture of the Chelsea Dress asking for testers I thought it would be fun to try.

As this was a tester version, this was made exactly to the pattern as it was at the time. I made size 0. There were a couple of small changes to the final pattern, but nothing significant and nothing that has any bearing on my experience sewing it up. There are options on Amy Nicole's blog to do a full bust adjustment or raise the deep v neckline, but I did neither. There's also an option to make this a maxi dress, but I made the short version. So my review is just on the basic pattern, but there are options for changing it if you need to.

The bodice is very closely fitted and designed to have no ease. It is fully lined and understitched, with elastic along the plunge neck to keep it in place and stop any gaping. Sewing the elastic in is very straightforward, but understitching is a bit fiddly as the pieces are pretty small. The width of the straps and the fact they are angled to be closer together at the back also helps the dress remain secure. As I said the pattern doesn't really have ease, so the waistband is meant to be snug. The zipper and hook and eye fit very close to the body, so it's important to check the sizing is right.

I didn't have any problems with making the dress, but I did make one dumb error - I forgot to check the printer settings and it printed far too large. The skirt was easy enough to adjust - just cut thesides and length off a bit - but the bodice pieces are not easily adjusted. So, I printed out the half dozen or so sheets again before I cut into my fabric.

The bodice and hem fabric is a linen-like remnant I picked up at a Sydney Spoolettes fabric swap a few years back. I had wanted to make a short sleeve blouse or shell top out of it, but the piece was long and diagonally cut which made fitting pattern pieces tricky. I tried a few times over the years, but couldn't find something that fitted well on the piece. When I got the tester pattern for the Chelsea Dress and saw Amy Nicole's colour blocking suggestions I got this piece out again to see if I could jigsaw the bodice and hem into place and excitingly it fit!

The skirt and pockets are a basic cotton poplin. It's just slightly stiff, so it stands out with a bit of fullness. The dark blue matching the spots on the bodice and hem band was semi-accidental - I already owned both fabrics, so when the bodice pieces fit on the spots this blue was the obvious choice for skirt. The skirt is very simple, just a very basic shape gathered at the waistband with good sized pockets in the side seams. Because I'd printed the skirt pieces out too large I couldn't use the marked notches to guide where to place the pockets, so that was a combination of measuring and guessing. But they are a usable size, which is always a great bonus.

I haven't worn this dress properly yet so can't report on how it goes with a full days' wear. But it's a lovely style and the colour blocking options make it very versatile. It is a slim-fitting design on the bodice so isn't going to suit everyone, but it is an easy sew. But if you like the look of the pattern I definitely recommend it.