Bloody Angel

This is the inspiration drawing for the Halloween costume of a Bloody Angel. So good! I was hoping to do it justice and not let the artist down.

I decided to go with the dress pattern from Simplicity K1699. The double seam in the sleeve would make it easy to increase them to the bell shape. Based on her measurements, I cut a size 12, which is the same size as I used for my Scuba Dress. It came up pretty small though, I wouldn't make this size again. 

Fabric was just an old sheet, and the blood is fake blood from a Halloween store. All in all, materials for this dress were very cheap! I got fancy and added a panel of Broderie Anglaise fabric to the front bodice. I wanted to make it more angelic and less sheet-like. I got this fabric as a scrap from my mother-in-law.

I decided on a bias binding facing for the neckline. This pattern has a real problem with how high the neckline is. I lowered it after a fitting and it is still very high. 

Fastening is by buttons. Nine buttonholes!! I added a facing for support and modesty. I also reinforced the base of the opening with a little triangle of fabric. I was getting fancy! But I didn't do any seam finishes, and I had to press the life out of the hem to get that curved edge to sit flat.

To finish off the costume, kiddo added wings, a halo and a bloody knife.

Happy Halloween!

🎃 👻 ✞ ☠️ 🧹 🕸 🕷 ⚰️ 👽 🤡 

The dress that wasn't

Sometimes a fabric that speaks loudly about what it wants to be doesn't work out at all. The dress-that -became-a-shirt was wanting to be a long sleeve shirt dress from the second I saw this rayon in Spotlight earlier this year.

I wanted to make more dark background florals, figuring they would be easier to wear. I loved the muted pinks, greens and blues in the foliage and then I spotted that there are two tiny birds hiding in there and I feel in love with it all over again! It is identical fabric to my Alex Birds Shirt, which seems to be a polycotton blend. Despite this, the fabric drapes nicely and is cool to wear.

I decided that a summer dress with long sleeves would be just the thing, our English summers typically being mild but not hot.

I really admired Sewaholic's Nicola Dress with it's soft drape and feminine lines, and decided that I could get pretty close with Simplicity 2447. I really like wearing my sleeveless version and wanted to try adding the sleeves for the look I wanted.

I cut View A in a size 8, without the bib, and lengthened it by 6 inches. I tapered the skirt sides out and removed the scooped hem. This is almost exactly what I did with the linen version, but I changed the construction order a bit. I added a double yoke and used the "burrito method" for attaching the yoke. (I forgot to put the right side facing outward for the lining, so I only got pretty seams, not a pretty facing.) I tried an inward double box pleat, but there wasn't enough fabric in the pleat to make it truly noticeable. I attached the sleeves so that I could flat fell them. Then I sewed up the sides and sleeves with flat felled seams too. I regretted not adding side seam pockets, but this was serendipitous because I would have had to remove them for the shirt.

One element of the construction that I didn't pay attention to, but has affected the finished garment are the two different weights of interfacing that I used. I chose lightweight for the collar but I had some ready cut strips of "waistband interfacing" that I used for the long lengths of button bands. This was much heavier, almost equivalent to my heavyweight interfacing and because the button bands meet the collar stand, it is noticeable. I was sorry that I did this, the collar could have handled a heavier weight. It does, however, seem to lie evenly, something which my other two versions have not done.

I lost a bit of motivation to finish this. I cut it out in June, went away in July, sewed the button bands to the side seams, unpicked them, added the sleeves, decided it looked like a kimono, started another project, and finally made myself finish it - one step at a time, and a sprint to the finish.

Then I tried it on.

It was OK, but not great. Far too frumpy and Granny-like. I tucked it into my jeans and liked it three times more. So the next day, I cut off 34cm and created a faced hem on my new shirt. 

I really like the feel of the fabric, and I love the way it drapes into the cuffs. I didn't make cuff fastenings, I just measured a distance as small as possible that I could still get my hand into. I pleated two knife pleats to fit the sleeve into each cuff. 

Costs:
 Fabric: Spotlight, £20.00
 Pattern: Minerva Crafts, used previously, £0.00
 Notions: 
   Black thread, £1.90
   Interfacing: scraps, £0.00
   Buttons: old shirt, £0.00
Total: £21.90

Girl's Summer PJs Refashion

With sincere apologies to my mother's lovely, gorgeous and talented friend, who made this nightie for her: I have refashioned it into girls' summer pyjamas.

The original nightie was super-fun to wear for the "before" photos: floor length and billowing fabric, but not so fun to sleep in. There was just too much fabric, and the underarms were a little too tight so the lace scratched my arms.

When I opened it up, I could see that it was just two straight rectangles, sewn selvedge to selvedge. It was very nicely done, and yielded about 2.5m of fabric, plus a lot of lovely lace and ribbon. I used almost all the fabric for these pyjamas, with none to spare. Partly because I had to work around a few stains as this nightie is quite a few years old.

For my pattern, I used Simplicity 1504 in the Child/Teen size M. There are a few printing mistakes on the pattern pieces, some of the child ones say teen/adult and are in fact child/teen. The sizing on this pattern is also a little funny in that the adult XS fits in between the sizing for the child M and L and then the child L fits between adult XS and S. They shouldn't bother with the whole child / adult sizing and just carry on up the chart, but I suppose customers are used to picking a certain size.

I shortened the sleeve to 28cm, to include a cuff detail. The legs, I shortened to the lengthen/shorten lines and then removed another 1 1/2 inches. I should have flared out for the cuff piece, the legs taper to the cuff and I lost some width when I turned them up.

I spent a long time adding piping to the front facings, the collar and the pocket pieces, plus the hem and sleeve cuffs. All told, it needed 3.4m of piping cord. I used one of M's old work shirts for the piping fabric. It was nice and stiff, which I needed since I was pulling apart a 3mm piping cord to make 1mm and the bumps show through if the fabric is not made of stern stuff. Plus, free fabric! All I had to put in to this whole project was the interfacing, piping cord and waistband elastic.

I made two breast pockets - the fabric is very sheer - and did a top hem, rather than piping around the bottom. I stitched a line of stitches around the fold lines of the pockets, and a row of gathering stitches around the corners to draw them up more neatly. Still didn't get rounded corners 'though.

I tried to start tracking my hours of work on a project. Not that I am trying to put a value on my labour - this is a hobby - but I thought it would be interesting to see how much time I do invest in these things. But I sew in bits and pieces of stolen time and if I record when I start, I usually forget to note when I finish.

After piping, a huge chunk of time was spent doing flat felled seams on every single seam. I stitched the seam allowance to the underside for the top, because this looks neater, and to the outside for the shorts, because I think this is more comfortable to wear. I used Carolyn's tutorial for sewing a flat felled seam on a curve. These meant that I had to set the sleeves in flat, and then sew up the side seams and underarm seams.

I added a back facing too, as I did for my adult version. I had forgotten that I'd done that. I think the collar is too heavy to just sit there on the back piece all by itself, and it neatens up the whole back neckline easily.

I made the cuffs by turning up the sleeves and leg cuffs. By sewing the piping to the bottom edge of the wrong side, I could fold it up, right sides together and flip it to the inside of the cuff piece. So the cuff is an additional single thickness, plus seam allowance. I made the separate casing for the waistband, thinking it was slightly smaller than the top of the shorts, meaning a few less gathers on the elastic itself. But it turned out to be the same size, so a higher rise would have been easier. I used 71cm of 20mm elastic. Since I can't at all tell the front from the back, I'll add a ribbon tie at the front.

The pockets would have looked better at hip height, but I wanted a bit of additional modesty at the front. You can see a pattern of her swimsuit through the sheerness of this fabric. Which my iron told me was polycotton.

Costs: 
 Fabric: upcycled, £0 
 Pattern: used previously, £0
 Notions: 
   Lightweight Interfacing, 50cm: £2.26
   Piping Cord, 112cm: 49p
   20mm white elastic, 71cm: 49p
   Buttons, from school uniform: £0
Total: £3.24

Floral Scuba Dress

Blegh! It looks nice, but remind me never to wear scuba. I'm afraid that it is the worst fabric! It is pure plastic and it behaves as though you are wearing a plastic bag. It makes you feel cold if the weather is cold and sweaty if the weather is hot. Also sweaty if the weather is cold. Sweaty no matter what the weather.

Sorry scuba. I wanted to love you. You print such beautiful pictures onto yourself. You sew nicely, don't fray and don't need pressing as you go. All wonderful qualities, but I can't buy a knitted plastic fibre again. There is lots coming out in the fabric stores and the blogosphere is producing a lot of test garments.

Shall I talk a little bit about the dress? I wanted a pattern with a cap sleeve and a full-ish skirt, so I decided on Simplicity K1699. It is a pretty good outfit-maker pattern, with a dress, a top, a jacket and trousers in one. I got it with a sewing magazine a few years ago. The top and dress have raglan sleeves and princess seams. The skirt has a centre front seam, but I cut mine on the fold to remove this. 1.5m of fabric would have been plenty for this dress.

I cut a size 12 and did not make my usual short waist, sway back or small shoulder adjustments. It should be higher at the sides of the waist, but I didn't adjust it. You can see the puckers at the side of the bodice when I move:

I sewed almost the whole dress in March, and then put it aside for almost two months. There were two reasons for this:

Firstly, trying it on, it looked incredibly dressy. Like, wedding guest dressy. Since I am not invited to any weddings, nor Chelsea Flower Show, I felt like I was wasting my time on something I would probably never wear.

Secondly, the scuba fabric wasn't handing a facing well, so I was going to have to work out different neckline finishes. I thought I might have to experiment with a binding, or just a hem. Neither of which were making me feel the love for the dress. In the end, I just turned it under and top stitched it down. It looks fine as a finish and the spongy fabric creates quite an attractive rolled edge. I should have done this for the sleeves and the hem. These edges don't look that good, puffing out as they do.

The neckline on this pattern is extremely high. Way too high. It is because of the collar on the top, the bottom of the collar is about the right level for the dress neckline. I didn't lower it because I was going to experiment with the aforementioned different neckline finishes. But in this instance, I didn't change it - again, because this is not a dress that is going to be worn.

I broke one of my Sacred Rules of Sewing - I put it aside and worked on something else. I have never done this before! I was terrified of getting on a slippery slope of starting new projects and leaving them aside every time I get into a little bit of difficulty. I would never finish anything! I always make myself keep going until the bitter end. But this dress was truly a waste of time, and I needed something new to wear while Me Made May was still in full swing.

In the end, it was Me Made May that made me finish this at all. Since I pledged to wear something different each day, I have been a bit stuck on some of the days. I decided to finish this to wear while I was watching the royal wedding on TV so that I would have something to photograph that day. Then I could change back into my leggings afterwards. I finished it remarkably quickly, helped along by the fact that I was finishing it to wear in front of the TV, rather than out and about.

Cheating a bit on the whole Me Made May concept, but hey-ho, it's my challenge. And the pictures do look very nice.

Costs: 
 Fabric: £10.99 
 Pattern: £5.99 
 Notions: 
  Zip: £0.60
Total: £17.58

Red Fleece Zip Jacket

After the success of my pattern hacking on the Girl's Coco Dress, I decided to push the pattern even further and go for a zip up jacket. Big Sis needed a non-hoodie top for sports and I had this red fleece and this red separating zip so decided to make up my own pattern to suit them.

I decided to trim this jacket with new silver ribbing, the only thing I bought for this project. I had navy, but red and navy are their school PE kit. I think the silver looks sort of Italian. I have no idea why.

She chose the slightly smoother side for the right side and I used silver thread for the overlocker. 

Unfortunately, the separating zip that I had (bought from a charity shop on the Isle of Wight) wasn't long enough to make a turtleneck, which is what I wanted. This is a v-neck, and is a little too low to be truly practical. But still worth making, considering I had almost all the materials to hand, and no other plans for any of them. 

After studying some of my RTW zip up tops, I decided the order of construction should be:

1. Sew shoulder seams together
2. Set sleeves in to armscye
3. Sew up side seams and under sleeve seams
4. Add ribbing to cuffs and hem band
5. Insert zip, leaving a small part not attached at the top of the zip
6. Add neckline ribbing, reducing width so that it will finish at the top of the zip  
7. Sew remaining inch of zip into place, meeting at neckline ribbing 
8. Add band of bias binding to inside of zip seam to hide the raw edge of the ribbing and the top of the zip tape. Where they meet gets quite messy.

I loved putting in the separating zip! Easiest type of zip to insert ever! And I can't believe I changed my thread colour so the topstitching created by the bias binding was red through the body and silver for the ribbing. Too bad it was a terrible mess at the top of the back. I left it as is. 

She has gone on her trip now (sob!), and we didn't have time to get photos of her wearing it, so we will have to do that when she gets back.

Costs: 

 Fabric: very old, purchased 2011 to make Christmas crafts, £0

 Pattern: Simplicity 1584, used 7 times before, £0

 Notions: 

  Zip: Charity Shop, 20p

  Ribbing: eBay, £5.25 

  Bias binding: Granny £0

Total: £5.45

Mini Me Coco Sweatshirt Dress

Getting my sewjo back with a Coco dress seems to be how I need to ease myself through January. Even though I made my NYE Tablecloth between Christmas and New Year, I still find that the Christmas comedown and preparing for two birthdays in January means that I don't sew at all in January. Then I start to panic and think that I'll never sew again. Then I calm down and make something easy. Like a sweatshirt dress.

Big Sis has been an admirer of my Coco Sweatshirt Dress ever since I finished it last February. She, adorably, asked for one of her own. I had plenty of fabric left over from mine, so I added it to my sewing queue.

For the pattern I went back to one of my all time favourite children's patterns: Simplicity 1584. Seriously, this pattern is amazing! It is a perfect basic pattern block, the long sleeve dress can be made short sleeve, or sleeveless, I've done a drop waisted dress from it - actually, three; it also has a long sleeve knit t-shirt, pull on bottoms - which together would make great pyjamas - and of course capes. Because everybody needs capes. I've made three myself. Between this pattern and the Cottage Mama Party Dress, I think I have everything I need to keep my children in clothing. And it goes up to a size 8. Which still fits my 11 year old. Best Pattern Ever!

It was also FAST! On Thursday night, I got inspired to get on with it (two days until her birthday), dug out the fabric and pattern, cut out, realising I could cut the back on the fold - saving another seam in the process - and overlocked all the seams together. Win for already having dark thread in my overlocker. She tried it on and I scooped out about an inch from the front neckline. I didn't lengthen the sleeves because I was adding ribbing. I did add two inches to the hem length, and then shortened it by the same amount in the end. The side seams also needed shaping at the waistline. This is a very shapeless dress.

The next night, I found the navy ribbing I bought at the same time as the fabric and sewed that on to the neckline and sleeve cuffs. The fit was really good, but the colour (Dark Navy) is darker than the main fabric. She knew it was on its way, so I didn't have to rush to get it finished for her birthday. She was pleased that I was working on it though.

She liked the idea of pink patch pockets, and these scraps from my Liberty Sweatshirt (also Coco) are a very nice match with the navy. I really struggle with patch pockets. I never get them exactly right. And this style, with the marked contrast, is very unforgiving. I used the small pocket from the Coco pattern, and added 1/4 inch all around. I also topstitched the top edge of the pocket facing so that these were held down properly. I forgot to add a proper allowance for folding over at the time of cutting out. The pocket pattern piece should not really be square, but rectangular to allow for this.

Never mind that, it is a minor niggle with an otherwise great pattern. I mainly got my pockets sewn on straight, without too many wavy edges. The hem is finished with two rows of top stitching too. I would have liked a deeper hem, but chose to leave it just a smidgeon longer than requested because she is growing fast, this big little girl of mine.

Costs: 
 Fabric: used previously, £0.00
 Pattern: used previously, £0.00 
 Notions: navy ribbing, £6.45
Total: £6.45

Feather PJ Top

Ahh, family jammies... We should all have dreams in life. 

The full set of matching family jammies is still quite a distant dream. I have started with a top. 

Just a top. Not even a proper set of pyjamas. I'm calling it a finished project, because I have not got enough fabric for the bottoms and I'll have to wait until I am lucky enough to go to Spotlight in Australia again, and hope that they still have this fabric. If not, I have another set of jammies waiting in the wings; and I will make bottoms with one half this fabric, and the other half from the other set. Matching!

But back to the top.

Simplicity 1504 jumped into my online basket when Minerva were having a sale in 2014. I couldn't resist the idea of making Christmas PJs. Again: distant dream.

This feather fabric was on sale at Spotlight, for an astonishing $3 per metre. That's A$ ! Unfortunately, I thought I needed 3m and I actually needed 4m. But 3m has been enough to make a top and cut out half the bottoms. Actually, the sizing on this pattern is so GINORMOUS that I might have been able to make the set with 3m.

Adjustments

Based on my measurements, I cut the size Adult Small. Next time, I will most definitely make an XS. I didn't bother with my usual waist shortening and sway back adjustments, because I knew it was a loose design with lots of ease.

• Reduced collar width by removing 1/2 inch from the outside edges.
• Added piping to the notched collar
• Back facing added and stitched down across back.
• Smaller cuff on sleeves: Added 1/2 inch to length of main sleeve, reduce cuff by 1.5cm
• Reduced sleeve with. Took off 1/2 inch from width of sleeves at cuff. Graded out to meet original sleeve head.
• Cuff dimensions 14 inches x 5 inches. Should have interfaced cuffs.
• Reduced total length by 2 inches. 1.5 inch hem allowance.

Piping

I was planning to use a solid pink cotton that I bought at the Knitting and Sitching Show. But, it turned out to be not quite the right shade. There are three shades of pink in this fabric and I felt that the piping should match one of them. Instead, I discovered that I had saved a knit toddler dress, intending it for a refashion, and it was exactly the shade I was looking for. Making piping out of knit fabric was a bit of a pain. Of course it stretched out of shape during the making, and I had to hand baste it to the edges.

The piping widths do vary. I had a length of No2 (2.5mm), which I used for one front, before I ran out. My replacement was not the same. It was actually 3mm wide and twisted from three strands. Instead of returning it, I found that if I untwisted them two of the strands were 2.5mm thickness. I tried this along the other front edge. I didn't like it that much because you can see lumps and bumps through the knit fabric. For the collar, I used just one of the twists and I liked that finish much better. Total requirement for piping is about 2.7m. (Collar = 70cm, front facing x2 = 60cm, notched collar x2 = 3cm, sleeve cuffs x2 = 78cm). The pattern envelope very helpfully calls for "two pkgs. of piping".

While we are talking about baffling, why doesn't the pattern instruct you to add piping to the top edge of the front lapel? They have quite carefully hidden it in the photos, but it definitely isn't there. I added a small section of piping to this edge, about 2.5cm. I didn't join it to the main edge, just stitched it down with the seams. I don't think the joins show too badly. If I made a rounded edge to the lapel, I could make one continuous strip of piping.

I skipped the front pocket. If I had made it, I would not have made it with the piped edges. Who has ever seen a pocket like that? A more traditional pyjama pocket has the piping across the top of the pocket, set about 2cm from the top. I am still open minded about adding a pocket. Having a monogram would be fun, but making it would not be. I would have to do it by hand since my machine does not do embroidery. I'll decide after I have made the pants, in case I need every last scrap just to get them completed.

Finishing

I finished the inside edges of the facings with a hem that I also zig zagged into place. These will get a lot of wear and I want them to be durable. I also added a back facing. The finish at the collar on the pattern instructions is quite nice, but the front facing shoulder edges are just left dangling which I didn't like. I had a look at my RTW pyjamas and they have facings. They are stitched down with stitching that is visible from the outside, but I was completely surprised that I had never even noticed them before. I drafted mine from the back pattern piece and matched up the width of shoulder seam at the front facings. I am also happy to have the reinforcement in this area, which gets a lot of heavy wear, plus it will give extra warmth. 

I should have done flat felled seams at the shoulder seams. Instead I overlocked them. I did do flat felled seams for the side seams. I used a contrast thread for the outside, partly because I had almost run out of the main thread. (Bought by my Mum to make me curtains for my very first solo bedroom - when I was 13! I still remember those curtains, and I have found the light silvery grey blue an incredibly useful thread colour.)

I hemmed by turning up twice. Nothing fancy. 1.5 inches hem allowance was fine.

Thoughts

As I went along, and tried on the finished pieces, I could see how large it was. The shoulder seams fall about 10cm from my actual shoulder. I knew the pattern was large, but this was ridiculous! Who wants an overcoat instead of a pyjama top? Double breasted, not less. There was that much space. I would not go to a great deal of fiddling around with the pattern to make it smaller. I'll just go down to the XS size. I could even go into the children's sizes, they may not be cut for a different body shape, since the adult size is for men too. When I eventually get around to making the kids PJs, I might size down for them too. Especially if they actually need them to wear in the same winter. I'm all for children growing into things, but there is no point wearing things out before they have grown into them.

Materials
 Fabric: 3m (Spotlight) £5.46
 Pattern: (Minerva) £4.65
 Interfacing: medium weight (Spotlight) £2.20
 Piping fabric: upcycled £0
 Piping cord: (£2.20 + £0.44) £2.64
 Thread: silver £0, pink £0, overlocker (new light grey spools x4) £7.57
 Buttons: 5, up cycled from school uniforms
Total: £22.52

But... I have counted all the fabric, all the pattern, new overlocking thread, and all the piping, some of which went on my Peony dress. True total is more like £12.75 with £1 bottoms to follow.

Navy Linen Shirt Dress

I am trying so hard to make more wearable garments for myself. Bright, patterned cotton is super fun to sew with, and pretty fun to wear, but it is not really what you would buy in a shop. Solid navy linen, however, is a classic. A linen dress: sleeveless, cool, classic, easy. Just in time for Winter.

Yes, my last planned make for the Summer dragged on. It was difficult to find the motivation to finish when I knew I wouldn't be wearing it any time soon. Not to mention needing to sew it in bright light and photograph it in full sunlight, scarce to be found at this time of year. But it will be lovely to pull it out on the first nice day next Spring and have it ready to wear.

This is actually a knock off of a dress I saw in a shop window, from a bus. I went back to the website and found it in cream. A very simple, sleeveless shirtwaist with a tie belt and no shaping.

Uniqlo S/S2015

I immediately thought of my last make, Simplicity 2447. I lengthed the hem by as much allowance as I had fabric and ended up chopping off about 15cms. Views A and D are so long, that I only needed to add about 10cms to the length to get a dress. I flared out to a slight A-line shape. I couldn't manage the shaped hem, so I hemmed it straight instead. The Uniqlo dress doesn't have shaping and this pattern has princess seams, so it is different in this respect. I also left off the pocket. I didn't trust myself to work with the linen well enough to do a first class job on it. Patch pockets are one of those finishes that can give away a home made garment. When in doubt, leave it out.

Which brings me on to the fabric, the linen. I went looking for this when on holiday in Vancouver. I had to pay a visit to Fabricana and I spent a wonderful two hours browsing the entire store. I could have spent longer, and I definitely could have spent more money, but I was very happy with what I got. Considering it has taken me two years to work through my previous Vancouver stash builders, I consider the 4 fabrics I left with to be plenty. They had about three different navy linens, so I chose based purely on price. It is quite heavy and has a lot of drape. The warp and weft appear to be black and a bright blue to make up a navy with lovely texture. 2 meters was the perfect amount for this dress.  

I must confess that I didn't find this fabric terribly easy to work with. It moved around a lot. I had to re-cut the yoke because it was so badly off grain that it was completely unusable. It frayed a lot too. I zig zagged the princess seams and french seamed the side and shoulder seams. I got the flat fell seam wrong for the back yoke seam, so I just folded the ends under and stitched them down. I stabilised the shoulder seams with a section of grosgrain ribbon. I changed the pleat in the centre back to a gather. More dress, less shirt.  I pieced the belt and added two belt carriers.

The buttons came from an old shirt, I love the look of the brown with the navy. I seriously considered large, white buttons, but decided that it was far less classic. Fun, but not classic, not in keeping with my primary goal of RTW-type garments. The dress does have a moderately serious boo-boo. The collar stand is seriously off grain. I didn't notice until I had finished it and couldn't get the collar to sit evenly. It is even, but the collar stand pulls it to one side so the one is higher than the other. It is still wearable, but not perfect.

I have never owned a shirt dress before. Whenever I have tried one on in a store, I believe they don't suit me. But I was still keen to make one. I was so pleased with my yellow top, that I didn't mind having another try, in a dress version, and I wear navy more than any other colour. I think the sleeveless version is more suited to me than the traditional shirt dress style with short sleeves.

It is not perfect, but I am pretty pleased with it. It does exactly what I wanted it to do: knock off a RTW linen shirt dress.

Costs:

Linen: £13.00

Pattern: used previously, £0.00

Interfacing: medium £3.60

Ribbon: used previously, £0.00

Thread: stash, £0.00

Buttons: stash, £0.00

Total: £16.60

Compared to: £39.00 for the RTW version.

Yellow Spot Shirt

Summer sewing at its best! Yellow! Spots! Seersucker! Sleeveless! I feel like I am on holiday!

I bought this fabric about 18 months ago, from Spotlight, in Australia, at the height of my spot obsession. They are getting a little dated, so I am really pleased that I finally made something with it.

I originally thought of a skirt, and bought some cream polycotton to line it with. I’m so pleased I came to my senses and made a top instead. I had been hoping to find a copy of the out of print New Look 6732. It even has a yellow spot version on the cover. But I haven’t been lucky and I knew that with only 1m (96cm) of fabric, I wasn’t going to get sleeves, or a Peter Pan collar, out of this. I shopped my pattern stash instead and came up with Simplicity 2447. View F, the sleeveless version would fit the bill. the princess seams make it easier to be frugal with fabric layouts. I don’t know why I grabbed this pattern on sale at Minerva, but I am very pleased to have it.  Based on my measurements, I cut the pattern tissue to a size 12. But when I checked the ease, it seemed enourmous so I had a look online for some reviews before cutting my fabric. Goodbye Valentino has made a lovely silk version and posted a very helpful review on Pattern Review. She said it came up huge, so I sized down to an 8.  I’m really glad I did because it is loose and fits me fine through the front, no pulling on the placket at all. A larger one, especially the sleeveless version, would have been ridiculous.  I might do it one day but I'll save it for a very sheer, or very drapey, fabric.

I made a sway back adjustment through the seam where the yoke and the back join. I also shortened the waist by 3cm. Otherwise, I made no changes. I should have trimmed 1cm from the armholes before adding the binding. The holes allow for a 1.5cm seam allowance and my binding only uses up .5cm of that. They are too small. I might go back and re-do the binding. But, equally, I might not! [Update: I re-did the binding - will wonders ever cease?!]

The fabric wasn’t too badly behaved. It is a very large scale seersucker so the puckers are very puffy and the rows of channels are large too.  It has a lot of thickness so it is not really a cool and light summer fabric. But I like that it is not sheer at all. My eight year old said in the sweetest voice, “Mummy, it looks like one of those cloths that you use to wash the dishes.” Why, yes it does, darling! Never mind, I like yellow spots, and it is so handy to have a nice bit of fabric close to hand when my sunglasses get smeary!

It pressed nicely, but pressing makes the puckers flatten, so I avoided pressing except through the seams. I am sure they will come back in the wash. I sort of matched the stripes, but princess seams don’t really make that possible. I can’t believe that this is my first time sewing princess seams! I knew from my favourite sewing guru, Caroline, that one should ease the curve to make it fit. So I did. And it did. Thanks Caroline!

It was also my first time sewing a button band and a collar stand. All went without a hitch. They are not hard, I just don’t really make, or wear, blouses. I haven’t made the inside plackets as neat as they should be. I forgot that they would be on show, that they are actually the right side, unless I am going to button the shirt all the way to the top. Which I am not. I’ll take more care with that area next time. I also forgot to interface one of the button bands, the buttonhole one, so I hand stitched a layer of interfaced fabric to the underside before I sewed the buttonholes.

I didn’t have enough fabric for the collar so I made the underside from the cream polycotton. I thought I would have a lot more trouble getting all the parts from my .96m than I did. I was planning to make the collar stand and the button bands from the same poly. It was nice not to have to. I used the poly for the armhole bindings and the hem binding. I learned from Lauren that a curved hem works better when bound, rather than turned, and it means you can be more miserly with fabric. Mine didn't end up curved. I don’t think I added back enough hem when I shortened the waist. I tried it on and decided that it was best at this length and didn’t want to lose any length from the sides.  My hemming isn’t great. I ignored the pattern instruction to hem before making the button bands and only discovered why this is a good idea after I had done it, so the front hem is too high. Next time, I will hem when instructed.

Finally, my dear yellow buttons. I have a massive stash of men's shirt buttons, but these yellow ones were just too much fun not to include. I think I got them in a pack from a dollar store. The fabric is so thick that I didn’t need to go any higher with my buttons, so it looks a bit rude. [Update: Since I took these photos, I have gone back and added one more button at the top. I put it on the buttonhole side of the placket, with no buttonhole. It would be covered by the shirt if I sewed it on the correct side.] The best part of making your own blouses is that you can position a button at the centre line of your actual bust so that there is no chance of gaping at all. Why do so many of my RTW shirts have one button above the bust, and one below? This creates a lovely window in my shirt, showing off my bra. Not pretty. Seriously, I have a number of shirts that I have to fasten with a safety pin to stop this happening.

I really like the back pleat. I think it looks very smart. The pattern instructions made no mention of seam finishing. The yoke seam just said press towards yoke. I decided to make a flat felled seam instead. I had cut the yoke on the straight grain and I wanted some extra strength there, plus it is a nice, neat finish to use on a horizontal seam. The fabric didn’t behave perfectly, the puckers ended up puffing out under the presser foot. My seam looks wobbly even though the stitching is straight. This happened with all of my seams in this fabric. Anywhere they went over the puckered part, it puffed out. This was also a problem when I tried to zig zag my internal seam finishes. They became really large and wavy so I ended up pinking them instead. Luckily they don’t show through and I hope they won’t fray too fast. If I make this again, I will do flat felled or French seams throughout, but this time was untested (no toile) so I didn’t want to unpick and re-do French seams.

The final verdict is that I am really pleased with this shirt and this pattern and I can’t wait to make it again. A light, airy fabric would be just perfect.

Costs

Fabric: Spotlight, (A$7) £4

Pattern: Minerva, £4.65

Thread: Stash, £0

Interfacing: John Lewis, £0.90

Contrast Fabric: gift, £0

Buttons: dollar store, £1

Total: £10.55