Tag Archives: dress

Appleton Dress (#sewingdares)

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I’d had the Appleton Dress in mind for a while.  I don’t generally wear dresses and skirts, but the promise of secret pyjamas had been calling to me.  When I joined in with the sewing dares (#sewingdares) on the ‘Crafting a Rainbow’ blog, and Gillian suggested a Cashmerette pattern it felt like a sign.

DSC_0124I’d had plans for a sewing date with my friend Catherine, who has just started sewing, and so we decided to both make an Appleton Dress.  Due to lack of space, and general chatter and tea drinking time, we only got as far as cutting out our pieces, so no actual sewing was done on this sewing date.  It was still great fun and to be repeated when we can synchronise diaries again.

The pieces sat for a while until the end of my last contract on 30th June, but then I attacked it with vigour.  I decided to use a zigzag stitch on my sewing machine rather than the overlocker, in case I needed to take it out as I thought I was pushing the sizing over the hips a bit. As it turns out the caution wasn’t needed.  I’m really happy with how it turned out and have plans to make more, once I’ve tackled some of the things from my Me-Made-Made review list.

I think this may be the very dress I need to get my legs out this summer, and with a modesty vest it may even be wearable for work when I get my next contract – which I’m hoping to put off until September to allow for plenty of sewing time.

Have you done a Sewing Dare? How did it work out for you?

Jx

Pink Paisley-ish Gypsy Top/Dress

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Last month I took advantage of being between contracts to catch up on all of my sewing blog posts.  If you’re a subscriber, apologies for the number of emails you received.  Now that I’m up to date, and I’ve started a new contract, I’ll be posting much less frequently.

I also used last month’s free time to clear out my wardrobe and make a plan for what I really need.  I’ve been sewing haphazardly until now, which led to the Walkaway Dress I’m not sure I’ll ever get a chance to wear.  With this plan, I’m hoping that I’ll meet my goal of wearing 100% me-mades during May 2016 (excluding underwear), as well as reducing my fabric stash.

IMG_7013aMy first planned item was Burda Young 6950 (view A), using a pink paisley-ish fabric from my stash.  I need more tops that I can wear when I go out, but that feel comfortable.  I found the gypsy tops that I made recently were flattering, so this seemed like a good option.  I made the longer version for more coverage, and this length will probably work well for me as a dress too.

I decided to take things more slowly than usual, to try to improve the quality of my end garment and avoid silly mistakes.  I still managed to sew the top portion to the bottom inside out (I’m getting pretty good at unpicking), but other than that, it came together nicely and I’m really pleased with the results.

I’d be happy to wear this top/dress with jeans or leggings, and perhaps even as a dress with tights, as I kept it nice and long. I should get plenty of wear out of it.  I think I’ll be considering this as another TNT pattern, although this is the only one I’ve made and I probably won’t make another for a while.  I think I have enough gypsy-style tops for now.

One thing that I’ve started doing while sewing, is listening to podcasts.  I find that it helps me to keep my sewing speed down; if I go to fast I can’t hear the podcast.  This is especially helpful when I’m getting near the end of the project and I get the urge to rush to finish it.  At the moment, I’m working my way through ‘Happier with Gretchen Rubin’ on iTunes, which I would definitely recommend.

My next two projects will probably be PJ bottoms, to replace some that have worn out, even though the tops are still in good condition.  I’m not sure when I’ll get time for this though, now I’m back at work.  I’ll just keep trying to fit it in where I can.

Jx

Pink Scottie Dog Walkaway Dress

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I am a member of the Minerva Crafts ‘Craft Club’ and each month they send through a discount voucher for a particular item in their online shop.  One of these was for the ‘Walkaway Dress’ (aka Butterick 4790) as made famous on the last Great British Sewing Bee.  I love 1950s fashion and so I thought I’d give it a go.

Walk Away DressA ridiculous amount of fabric and black biased binding later I had a 1950s walkaway dress ready for trying on.  Due to the amount of fabric needed it just wasn’t feasible to made a toile, but with hindsight I should have made the bodice at least.

When I tried on the dress I found that the armholes gaped indecently and the bodice was too long.  The press studs on the front wouldn’t hold closed and the front part of the skirt had a tendency to ride up in just the few minutes I was wearing it.  I hated it.  I put it to one side and got on with other projects, not sure if I would come back to it.

A few weeks later, I was feeling ready to look at the walkaway dress again.  I added in another dart to each side of the bodice and exchanged the fake buttons and press studs for real buttons and button holes.  I then hemmed the bottom of the dress to finish it off.  I’m still not feeling too happy with it, although it is now wearable, but I think that’s partly to do with the ordeal of making it and that I don’t wear dresses or skirts very often.  Perhaps I just need to get used to it.  I do think the shape is flattering though, showing that I have a waist, so I may see if there are other similar patterns I can try.

I’ll see if time makes me feel any warmer towards it, but I can’t imagine making another one.  I have learnt a lesson about toiles for bodices though.  I think I was simply very lucky with the fit of the first blouse pattern I made.

Jx