ABBA Glitter Bell Bottoms

I am lucky enough to be going to the ABBA "concert" in London this summer! ABBA is pretty much my favourite band in the world. Even though they were in the charts before my time, I love almost all their songs and their vibe of sparkly, upbeat, lyrical pop is my thing. 

Of course, their visual imagery is so strong too, and if I'm going to their show, I want to dress up! When I was in my 20s, my mum made my sister and I matching bell bottoms, in turquoise sequins. We wore them to a 70s fancy dress party and I remember how much fun they were to wear, we spent the whole night dancing. Probably to a lot of ABBA!

I couldn't find any turquoise sequins at Fabricana, but I did get this silver-rainbow-shimmer-glitter-stretch fabric. They call it Liquid Lame. I got 2.5 yards, and used it all. I love how it has a holographic rainbow effect, especially in artificial lighting. It is silver, but shows a lot of blue, green, pink and yellow too. It is not sheer, in that you can't see through it, but it is very sheer in that it shows all the lumps and bumps under, it really is like liquid. I might have to wear sports leggings underneath, just for a bit of modesty. (Plus, I wouldn't have to wear them on the London Underground, just pop them on and off at the show!)

For my pattern, I looked through my trousers patterns, and settled on New Look 6057. Considering I have never sewn an actual garment, as designed, from this pattern, it has been one of the most useful patterns I own! That wide, low, scooped waistband is ideal for me and I've used it four times now.

I cut a size 10, even though that does not correspond with my measurements. The fabric is stretch and I wasn't sure I wanted negative ease, but I knew I had room to play with. I cut the pattern to the lengthen/shorten lines at the knee and then, for the bell bottom, flared out to the remaining width of the fabric that I had. I also left the leg hem long so that I could decide after trying them on, ideally with footwear.

I cut the front and back waistband on the fold. There are two pieces each, one for the outer, and one for the lining. I used my own traced pattern piece for these. I made up the waistband and added elastic inside for extra security. I made the whole thing up on my overlocker, with the exception of the back darts. I left the hem unfinished.

I went back and carved out some more ease above the knees. It has messed up the lines of the leg, they are pulling in a funny way now, but they are pretty baggy, and bell bottoms make your legs look so slim that I didn't want to miss out on that effect. I should really make them a whole lot smaller overall, take out all the ease, but the fabric is so sheer that I don't exactly want to dress like that. Any more. 

Supplies:

  Fabric: 2.5 yards, Fabricana, $23.57

  Pattern: New Look, used previously, $0

  Notions: elastic, upcycled, $0

Hibiscus Mock Wrap Dress

Proof (as if I needed it) that good fabrics give good results. I got this stretch cotton sateen at Fabricana in Vancouver this summer and knew that it would become a mock wrap dress. I aim to only buy stretch fabrics for apparel in future. But I still have a lot of wovens in my stash. It is quite lightweight, but doesn't drape. I love the hibiscus print and the navy on white is an unusual pairing for a summer print. The pattern only needs 1.5m, of which I have substantial scraps left, making it a very economical dress.

The pattern is New Look 6123, in which I managed to look past the comically woeful styling on the pattern cover and spot some amazing style lines inside. Pattern review also has some great versions, and I can see it becoming a great shift dress, if I can get past my beloved New Look 6968. I went for the bodice from version A/B and the skirt from B/D, without the sleeves and the flounce. There are some great sleeve options that come with this dress, but this was for summer, and I can't imagine that I'll ever wear a flounce. But never say never. I made quite a few pattern alterations for fit, most of them quite familiar to me now:

Short Waist: 1 inch
Sway Back: 1.5 cm
Reduce shoulder seams: 1.5cm
Side seams, seam allowance, 1cm @ waist area
Bias binding neckline, 5mm seam allowance.
Lowered length by 1 inch. Haven't moved vent down.
Waist seam 1cm @ front
Back Seam, 1cm at waist
Peg side seams by 1 inch

I also used bias binding instead of the facing. I left the full seam allowance in place, so it gives an extra 1cm around the neckline (5mm for bias binding, instead of 15mm for facing). In truth, it is a bit high, but I prefer to keep everything inside. For the bias biding on the armholes, I did trim 10mm off to keep them to 15mm seam allowance.

Construction was very simple, and pretty quick. I was surprised by how much pleating and gathering there was through the wrap sections. The pattern has you pleat and then gather over the top of the pleats. In a stretch cotton it was fine, but a heavier woven might end up with a lot of bulk.

I sized down to a 10 and would make a 12 in a woven. It is pretty snug through the hips and my waist is always much larger than the rest of me, but I am really pleased with the look and the fit.
Costs:
 Fabric: Fabricana, 14.39
 Lining/binding: reclaimed sheet, 0.00
 Interfacing: not used
 Pattern: Minerva Crafts, 3.99
 Zip: Mood, 0.60
 Thread: existing, 0.00
Total: 18.98

Sashiko Birds Dress

My beloved Navy Spot Sundress is now, officially, replaced. Sadly faded beyond wearability, it had to go, so I made a new dress from the same pattern, New Look 6968. Now a TNT pattern for me, I have made it up three times.

The fabric is more fun, albiet less sophisticated, than its predecessor, and I love it deeply. It is Sashiko Birds by Gennine for Cloud 9. I got the quilting cotton, even though the collection also includes voiles, which The Village Haberdashery were stocking too. I wanted the heavier weight for the more tailored pattern. I bought 2 meters the day after I saw it on Annie's blog. I just had to have it, she hadn't even had time to put the bolts on the shelves - they were still on the community table when I rushed into the store.

I decided to skip lining the bodice and drafted new facings instead. Even though I had enough fabric to cut these from the fabric, I decided to hoard it and cut them from a deceased business shirt. The shirt was quite a bit thicker and stiffer than the cotton, so I didn't need to interface.

I've made quite a few fitting edits to the pattern, which now include: shortening the waist by about 1.5cm, a sway back adjustment, shaving width off the hip curve at the side seams and less depth on the bust darts. I made two small pleats in the skirt, instead of the skirt darts. I still need to take up the shoulders by about 1cm so I have gone back to the pattern pieces and cut .5cm from the top of each shoulder, ready for next time. On wearing the dress, I've discovered that the armscye is rubbing against the front of my arms. I need to take out about 0.5cm from the front edge of the armscye. I'm not going to re-do this dress because I don't want to take out the zip. But it will be much more comfortable to wear had I known this.

I kept to my new philosophy of simple seam finishes and just zig zagged all of them. I can't believe how ok with that I am! I promise it is not laziness - I'd be the first to admit that - but the simple fact of wanting finishes that add no bulk to the seams and don't make them pull or pucker. You can't beat pressing flat and zig zagging. I remember when I was sewing as a teen, I really, really, really wanted an overlocker. I wanted to avoid having my garments look home made, and an overlocked seam was the ultimate in RTW. Now, I am totally cured of that desire, I really don't need the extra hassle to get a finish like that. How's that for moving on and new-found maturity?!

After I had my fabric and decided on the pattern, I saw this dress in the window of a popular store. How on-trend am I?

Costs
Fabric: 2m, The Village Haberdashery, £28.00
Pattern: used previously, £0.00
Facing Fabric: reclaimed, £0.00
Thread: local art store, £0.50
Zip: Mood, £0.60
Total: £29.10

Broderie Shift Dress

Boden S/S 2015

A simple, white shift dress. Crisp and cool for summer. Sort of.

I'm not actually sure if this is a keeper or not. My style inspiration was from the Boden S/S'15 catalogue, the Verity Dress. Cute, non? I hesitate to post this picture because mine are not the same. As always, for the home sewer, it comes back to fabric choices. Mine is not a true cotton Broderie Anglaise, but a cotton voile embroidered with a silver thread that is quite metallic looking. I think this detracts from the sweetness of a true Broderie and makes it look more synthetic. I bought in the Isle of Wight two years ago and used some to make a white dress for my eldest daughter. Hers still looks lovely on her and it always comes out from the wash looking amazing.

The fabric is very sheer, so I underlined it with white quilting cotton. I considered a lighter weight underlining but it would have been too sheer. I'm pleased I went with the quilting weight, even though it adds just a touch too much body to the dress. Both of my fabrics came in very generous widths, so I got this dress out of just over 1m of each fabric.

Close up of the embroidery

The pattern is New Look 6176, made before in a knit fabric. This time I made View C but made the pockets slightly larger and more square. There are significant gathers appearing in the sleeve heads. They are supposed to be eased in so I don't know why there is so much fullness. If I make this again, I'll have to pinch out about 1cm at the top of the sleeve, to eliminate this. It might seem a bit less odd to me if they were smooth.

I omitted the back zip, and cut the back on the fold, but I am reconsidering and thinking about inserting a zip post-make.  I would like it just a little more shaped, with a tiny bit less ease. I made a load of other fitting adjustments but I am not going to list them on the blog. I am using Trello instead. It is a great program that I use to track my sewing projects, patterns and fabric stash as well as a multitude of to-do lists from other areas of my life.

I'm trying to work out if this is a go or a no-go. It's not very "me", and I hardly wore it on a recent holiday. But looking at these pictures, it doesn't look so bad. This is a shape that suits me, but is not very current, despite the Boden catalogue. I think I will take a little break from this pattern. Some fit and flare dresses are on their way!

Costs:
 Fabric, outer: £3.74
 Fabric, underlining: £6.60
 Pattern: £0.00 used previously
 Thread: stash
Total: £10.34

Little Garden Skirt

Like I needed another skirt made of quilting cotton...

This Amy Butler fabric jumped out at me so I bought a half yard. It is from the Gypsy Caravan collection, called Windflower in colour Linen. Yes, I know a half yard is basically a quilting supply, so this was a bit risky. But, with a contrast waistband, the half yard was the perfect amount for a summer mini.

I had this cream polycotton in my stash and it was the perfect colour match for the waistband. 100% cotton would have been better but this is what I had. I applied interfacing to both the front and back waistband pieces to thicken it up and luckily the seam allowances don't show through. Much. I should have added another layer of heavyweight interfacing at the buttonholes so they don't pull as much.

How is this for a skirt fastening? I am pretty proud of this. I didn't want to buy new supplies for this project and I have a huge button stash so I decided to fasten the skirt with buttons rather than a zip. To make the opening, I enclosed it in a pocket. It took a bit of working out (and just the slightest bit of unpicking) but I got there in the end.

Here is the pocket when open. You can see the opening where a zip would normally be, it now has a pocket behind it. The pocket bag is not attached to the waistband, only to the side seams. The top of the pocket bag is reinforced with a strip of binding, cut on the straight grain, not the bias. I still need to put in a tiny buttonhole at the top of the pocket and a tiny button on the inside of the waistband, this will help it stay up when the skirt is on.

Here is how it looks, inside out, with the pocket turned out.

For the waistband pattern, I used my standby New Look 6057. The pocket piece is from the Sewaholic Cambie, cut on the fold. I gathered the excess floral fabric to fit the waistband. I liked it better for casual wear, rather than darts or pleats. I hand stitched down the inside of the waistband. I didn't want the skirt any shorter, so I made a bias facing for the hem.

                 
I'm really happy with how this turned out, it is a casual and flexible summer miniskirt. I'm treating the colour as a neutral so that it is not an orphan.

Costs:
 Fabric: floral, £5.19
             contrast, gift
 Interfacing: stash
 Thread: stash
 Buttons: stash
 Patterns: stash
Total: £5.19

Wild Red Skirt

How much fun is this print? I just love it! I have loved it from the second I saw it, and I continue to love it. It is Taza, Caroline, Red by Dena Designs. Until I made this skirt, I did not realise that I had bought, and used, the same fabric in pink for a child's skirt. The pink is in a smaller scale but we have matching skirts!

I was always going to make a skirt with it. I went for a similar A-line shape to the last quilting cotton skirt I made. This one is more A-line, and I used a pattern.

I used the waistband from New Look 6057. It had worked really well for me in my striped skirt and I will probably use it in many future skirts. I did make some modifications to the waistband, which I detailed earlier.

I also modified the skirt pattern, I changed the straight-ish shape to an A-line by drawing a straight line from the waist, through the hip and carrying on to the hem. I skipped the back vent because there is enough space in the hem for easy movement. I used a 1cm seam allowance throughout.

And... I added a pocket! In the right place! And it doesn't show! There's a first time for everything!

I eked this out of 1 yard of fabric. It was not easy. How can I get a whole dress out of 1m and yet I can't get a skirt out of 1 yard? I had no chance of pattern matching, but I did spend a long time laying all the pieces out flat to get the most out of the flowers. I particularly like the massive yellow flower but, sadly, I was not able to keep it intact. It is sitting there on the hemline. I was careful to make sure none of the flowers or leaves sat in embarrassing places, and I lined up the front waistband so it would show a small scale print.

I would have done the back of the skirt in one piece, but I didn't have enough fabric. I cut half of it on the cross grain, that is the piece where I was able to keep almost all of the statement yellow flower. I used a piece of plain red cotton for the back facing, but otherwise, it all came from the pattern, pocket included.

I tried something new during the cutting out process. I traced around the pattern pieces with chalk and then cut them out using the outlines. It was born of necessity, making sure I had space for all the pieces, but I really enjoyed it and thought it was a great way to lay out and cut out.

I finished with a minimal hem and I am very happy with my new skirt. I feel bright and summery when I wear it!

Final tally:
Fabric: £6.77, inc postage
Pattern: £0.00, used previously
Zip: £0.30, Mood
Total: £7.07

Grey Flannel Dress

 

Victory! I wrestled with this dress and I won! It was a hard-fought battle, I came close to defeat, more than once, but I persevered and I got there in the end.

I have been planning this dress ever since I got the fabric from Clothspot, almost a year ago. It is not really a flannel, I don't know what it is made of but my swatch did not shrink in the wash. It has a shiny, knit backing and the front has a nap. It has some drape and is lovely and cosy, soft as anything but it moves like crazy and does not press well / at all.

I have stayed remarkably faithful to my original vision for the dress. I knew I wanted to use the same pattern I used for my navy spot dress, New Look 6968. Version D with the collar and sleeves.

I like this pattern a lot, this is the first time I have ever re-used one of my patterns, and I am sure it won't be the last time I make this one. The navy dress is still one of my favourite dresses. I don't know if it worked great as a muslin because this one does not fit perfectly. It could be because of the slippery, stretchy nature of this fabric.

There are also quite a few things I prefer to change about the pattern construction. Mainly, I don't like the way this pattern attaches the bodice to the lining. The way the instructions describe makes it more of an underlining than a true lining. It says to baste the lining to the bodice pieces and then use a facing. I basted at the collar but attached the lining as a real lining at the sleeves. I hand sew the lining to the zip tape at the end. I machine hemmed the lining to the sleeve hem, then hand stitched the lining closed where the sleeve attaches to the bodice. I also lined the skirt, which the pattern doesn't call for.

I made a size 12 but I have reduced the curve over the hips and lowered the front of the neck. I also omit the darts on the front of the skirt and reduce the bodice darts to fit. I made a sway back adjustment by lowering the back neckline and taking in the shoulder seams at the neckline. I should have raised the waist seam ever so slightly.

I changed the collar, I wasn't sure about that cravat-style knot. I love a Jackie O funnel neck so I made one by drafting my own. Using the measurement of the whole length of the neckline, I added seam allowance and cut a piece 20cm wide x neck width, on the bias. I sewed the edges right sides together then attached the outside of the collar to the outside of the neckline. I hand stitched the inside of the collar to the bodice lining. I didn't need the facings that came with the pattern. I considered it and it could have been a way to conceal the lining and the seam allowances, under the facings. I preferred to put the seam allowances inside the collar, I wanted to add a bit of bulk there. I didn't interface the collar because I wanted it to fall naturally in a roll. I had to stitch it down at the back to make the fold, it was sticking up at a funny angle.

I seriously considered pockets in the skirt but decided that I would be unlikely to make a success of them and they would probably gape. I also skipped finishing the vent properly as it kept catching in the seam and making that back seam even worse than it is now. The hem could do with some more work. It is very noticeable and I would like it to be invisible, but I don't know how.

I am feeling so, so, so proud of myself that I didn't give up on this project. I really wanted to, many times. It would have been so easy to pick up some quilting cotton and make a bright, summer skirt. I did allow myself another project or two along the way, but I made myself keep going on this one too.

When I first sewed the fabric the seams were so badly puckered that I didn't know what to do. I pressed them like crazy but I think that made them worse. I got matching thread and topstitched over the puckers. No result. I purchased a walking foot, convinced that was the answer. Over £40 later, nope. Eventually, I read up on seam stabilising on Gertie's blog and got myself some iron-on stabilising tape. I stabilised every single edge of this fabric. I used Vilene tape in charcoal from Sew Essential. When I ran out of tape, I ordered more. I was not going to be beaten.

It would have been so easy to put this in the back of the cupboard and forget about it for another year, or forever. But I decided that I don't want a cupboard of UFOs (unfinished objects). I kept going and made myself sew just one process per day. Every day, I had to do something before I turned to another project. Even if it was just putting one single pin in. It never ended up being just one pin, but the day I pinned one half of the zip was a pretty minor procedure. It did not matter, every tiny step got me closer and got me there in the end and made sure I didn't give up. I'm fortunate that I can leave my sewing out on a day to day basis. The dining table doesn't get used for family meals - we eat in the kitchen.

I'm really glad I kept going. I still have enough fabric left for a jacket, but I am going to be making a blazer rather than the collarless style I planned. But not for a while, I need a long break after this effort.

Final tally:
Fashion fabric: Clothspot, 1.5m @ £4.95/m + shipping = £8.97
Lining: Clothspot, £5.78
Thread: (half for this, half for future jacket) John Lewis, £1.25
Seam tape: Sew Essential, £7.95
Zip: Mood, £0.60
Walking foot: (half for this, half for future jacket) Brighton Sewing Centre, £21.00
Total: £45.55

Verdict: Yes! (Just)

Striped Skirt

I'm feeling the love for some black and white monochrome drama. You don't get to fade into the background wearing this skirt.

This bold stripe has been speaking to me ever since Ikea began stocking fabric. Yes, Ikea! I am certainly not too proud to get out and about in London sporting clothing made from Ikea upholstery fabric. Very Sound of Music!

In truth, I am really preparing for a coat. This was a test run to see how I like wearing something this bold. Horizontal stripes, no less. Verdict: Yes please! Wearing the outfit out and about today, I realised that I've made something that is a lot dressier than I thought it would be. The skirt is so full and stiff that it stands out by itself, even when I'm sitting down. I can probably take it to work but it is a bit too dressy for day, not dressy enough for evening. (Besides, I don't go out in the evening more than about twice a year.)

I spent a while thinking about how the trial run skirt should turn out. I even drew some sketches.

The sketches led me towards the pleated skirt. I wanted the pleats to break up otherwise solid hoops of horizontal bands. I love the way they become 3 dimensional inside the pleats.

I wanted to do a better job on the wide waistband than I managed on a previous skirt. To do this, I used a pattern that I recently purchased, New Look 6057. I bought this for the dress, but I do love the value of the extra patterns that often come with this type of pattern. I know I complain about the sizing of commercial patterns, but I really do think they are incredible value for money. I had a serious think about using the skirt pattern as is. But the pleat idea won.

How's this for a first? I made a toile! Just of the waistband, but a toile nonetheless. It was definitely worth it. I was planning to make the waistband/yoke of a different fabric, a white cotton twill in my stash. But the white in the stripe is not a pure white so the stash fabric did not match. That meant I had to piece the yoke out of the stripe fabric.  I took a bit of a risk, piecing along the stripe was going to take away the stretch component of the yoke, but I had to do it or the pattern would look awful.

I was looking forward to my first real attempt at pattern matching. If I couldn't get a 6cm wide single stripe to match, how rubbish was I? (Phew, turns out, I'm not too rubbish!)

The toile was necessary to find out how much I needed to add to the fabric to get the seam allowances  I would need to do the piecing. The whole band is made up of 7 pieces, each cut out individually. I found it essential to mark the seam line on the pattern pieces and match the pattern at the seam line.

The toile also showed me that the sides of the yoke did not meet properly, I took 1cm off the top at the side seam and added .75cm to bottom to get a smooth curve around the whole band.

I didn't piece the facing piece, I cut that from 3 pieces to get the bias component of the band. I moved the side zip to the centre back so the facing was 3 pieces, not 2.

When I use this waistband again, I will reduce the top and bottom seam allowances to 1cm to get a wider band. It could also be graded out within the seam allowance at the top which would avoid the need to make notches, or layer the seam allowance. I made notches for this skirt, preferring to keep the bulk in lieu of interfacing.

After I had cut out and pieced each section of the outside waistband, I used it to form the pleats in the skirt. I took great care to get the pleats to match up to the seams in the waistband. I am terrible at this kind of precision work so I really made myself try hard. I think I got it pretty right!

As I was cutting the fabric on the cross grain, I had the pleasure of being able to make the skirt from a continuous piece of fabric. I measured and pinned until the pleats were in place, then took a deep breath and cut with an extra 5 cms to spare. The total circumference is about 155cm.

I made 4cm inversions for each pleat. The front pleat is 15cm wide. I did a quick drape in front of the mirror to work out that I should stick to two pleats in the front and two in the back. The fabric was too heavy and stiff to handle the 4 that I originally drew. The finished skirt is heavy enough. I moved the back pleats to roughly where darts would be placed. I deliberately left the sides plain and smooth to reduce bulk. No seams, zips or pockets.

Once I had it pleated and cut, I pinned it to the waistband and joined them together. I cut the waistband facing after that, keeping it on the intended grain. You can see how the stripes change through the diagonal.

I had a black zip in my stash from Mood. I was pretty pleased with myself for even having this one but why, oh why, did I not stuff my suitcase full of their invisible zips? (Note to self: go back to Mood). My main pattern matching challenge came at the zip and then I had no excuses for not getting that back seam right. I think I got it.

The final step was getting the waistband facing sewn down. I was not going to manage stitching in the ditch. The fabric is surface dyed, not yarn dyed, and the needle punctures show in the black sections. I decided to zig zag the edges and leave them loose. I really should have bound them, maybe with ribbon.

I was pleased with where the hem finished up. I got to make the underside out of a strip of black - just like a ribbon hem!

Costs: Fabric:  £9.00
           Pattern: £3.61
           Zip:       £0.30
Total:              £12.91

70s Aztec Knit Dress

I made this on a whim and it has turned out to be a winner - whim to win!

I ordered a meter of this fabric on eBay and I was delighted with it.  The colours are fabulous, the knit is soft but not thin, it washed like a dream and has no static.  De-LIGHT-ed!   It sat in my shopping basket for about a month and I'm so glad I hit "Buy".

I've had my eye out for a patterned fabric, I wanted to make view A from the pattern for a while.  The illustration is in a print and I am not terribly imaginative.  The pattern calls for a contrast hem, a contrast neckline would be nice too, but I was not about to go about fabric matching online so I made the whole dress from the same pattern.  My 1m order generously came out at 1.25m so, with 150cm width, I had enough for what I needed and (mainly) matched the pattern.

The biggest issue I had was skipping stitches.  I believe it helped to go as slow as possible so the fabric didn't bounce on its way through the dog feet.  Sewing slowly was a real challenge.  I'm not super fast but I was going as slowly as the needle would move.  I also didn't do any kind of zig-zag.  My machine doesn't have a lot of stitch options and my basic zig zag was causing the most bounce so I just stuck to a straight stitch.  This was a problem on the hem in particular, which has already broken.  Perhaps also due to the 100% cotton thread I used. I was rushing to finish it in time for our holiday so I machine hemmed the sleeves and the hem.  I might go back and hand stitch these hems - it will hopefully give them a bit of extra stretch too.

The pattern is the other one that I purchased for the navy spot sundress and I knew I would be using it before too long.

I took 1.5cm off both the side seams and the sleeve seams.  I need to figure out how to do this without reducing the armscye.  There I was, sitting in my underwear, 45 minutes before the taxi was arriving to take us to the airport, frantically going as slowly as I could, reducing the seams for a better fit.  Don't tell me I am the only sewer who had ever done that!  I was so pleased I reduced the fit, especially with a knit, less ease makes it look so much better.

Other fitting notes/changes: I made size 12 all over, eliminated the zip (and have plenty of space to pull it over my head), took out back seam (and seam allowance), raised the waist by 2ins (should have done the whole 3), shortened the back darts by a lot to eliminate the ballooning at the back (raising the waist more will help with this) and lengthened the hem.  I skipped the elastic on the sleeves.

Costs:

Fabric: £4.84

Tools: ballpoint needle: £5.45

Pattern: £7.67

Total: £17.96

Rating: 9.75 out of 10.  I really love this dress.

Here's me, being delighted, on the way to the airport!

Navy Spot Sundress

This is the first made-for-me garment that I have sewn in over 20 years!

I am actually very pleased with how it turned out.  I have worn it to work and I have received more than one compliment.

The fabric is the same navy spot polycotton that went into the girls’ skirts. The pattern is New Look 6968 in View B.  It looks pretty much like the garment but I made some changes in the construction.  I didn’t understand why they had a lining and a facing.  In the pattern instructions, it appears as though you baste the lining to the fabric and then attach the facing as though there is no lining.  Perhaps this is normal and I just don’t have enough sewing experience, but I prefer to hide my seam finishes completely inside a lining, or have the lining join the facing, like in a jacket.  Instead, I attached the lining to the bodice as per the Party Dress and left the facing out completely.  I originally planned a version with sleeves but omitted them because I didn't want exposed seam finishes.  The fabric is so thin and the print so large that ending up with a sleeveless version has worked out for the best.

The lining fabric and the zip were reclaimed from a bridesmaids dress that I wore last summer.  I have plans to upcycle the main fabric and sash into a party dress for one of the little girls.  Because the reclaimed zip was not invisible, I inserted it showing, the colour match is good so it is not too serious.  The join at the bottom of the zip is a little wonky, but I don’t believe it is too noticeable.  The lining fabric is not marvellous, very static-y, but free lining is free lining and the dress really did need a full lining because the polycotton is so thin.  The lining also provided a useful toile for me.  I needed to skim a lot of curve off the hips, omit the darts in the skirt, make smaller darts in the bodice and lower the neckline by 1cm.  I didn’t have to shorten the waist, which I normally need to do.  I kept the hem above the knee for a large print, summer dress.

I will make this pattern again, I want to do a version with the collar and sleeves in a winter-weight fabric.  The other pattern, that I bought for this make and didn’t use, is going to be my first knit garment, as soon as I find the right print and colour.

All in all, I’m really happy with this: 8.5/10. 

Costs

Fabric: 2m = £7.50
Pattern: Bought two, used one = £13.35
Notions, thread: £0
New tools: Zipper foot ~£15
Total: £35.85

PS Here’s what you get when the only available photographer is your 3 year old.

Cost update:

Fabric per garment: £2.88

 used the second pattern, now £7.67

new total = £25.55