Sweater Mania

I'm having a massive shortage of sweaters in my wardrobe. Especially sweaters that I can wear with my high-waisted skirts. But you know how it is, basics usually end up at the end of the sewing list. Not anymore.

Before Christmas I decided it is time to overcome that sweater shortage and dug out my Colette Moneta dress pattern. Colette patterns have a great tutorial on their website showing how to turn the Moneta bodice into a vintage-style sweater.

I've made the Moneta once before (here) and struggled with the big sleeves. This time I substituted the sleeves with the sleeves from my Tilly and the Buttons pattern Coco - the sleeves fit me much better. I also copied over the armholes to make sure the sleeves will fit.

Although not perfect (yet) I'm more than happy with the result: three sweaters :) and all are made from leftovers! (Although not all of the main projects have made it to the blog)



Sweater No 1: Made from an orange sweater fabric (it has fleece on the inside) with beige rib knit for the waist and cuffs. The neckline is only turned and stitched with a zigzag stitch. I found it quite hard to find a color that goes with the orange and think my color combination is a bit retro (but very autumny). The sweater goes best with my Colette Beignet which I'm wearing in the pictures. I've made a Coco from the fabric, it is already photographed so you will see it soon.



Sweater No 2: I've made the Oslo Sweater (Seamwork) from this fabric and sadly didn't like the outcome at all (I think the Oslo in this fabric is just not my style). But I do love this sweater. For the waist and cuffs I used the wrong side of the fabric to have a bit of a contrast. Also I added a neckband to stabilise the neckline. For this version I made another change: I tightened the sleeves as they were massive on me. They don't look as massive on my version 1, because the orange sweater fabric is much more stable than this blue (ikat?) knit. This sweater goes best with my denim Delphine skirt.



Sweater No 3: This was the sweater I was most looking forward to. Because I've made a Coco from the fabric that I love (here). But for some reason I have not fallen in love with this sweater. It might be that I have troubles to pair it up with any of the garments I have. I'm wearing it in these pictures with an old H&M chiffon skirt. Lescha doesn't like this combination at all. I think it goes well together and the outfit looks very 1970s. This is probably enhanced by the rolled collar. So far I hadn't the courage to wear the outfit in public. Any suggestion what you would wear with this sweater?

In other news: As I said in my last blog post, we were house hunting for the last couple of month. Beginning of November we've made an offer that got accepted. However, the chain here moves rather slowly so we haven't moved yet. But because of all the house buying stress, I was depressed and not in the mood to look at my sewing machine at all (I'm one of these people who get easily overwhelmed with big projects - it reminded me of certain phases when I was sewing my wedding dress). Hence my absence from the blog. I'm much more relaxed now (probably because we can't do anything anyway) so I've made a couple of things that I want to share with you. Happy sewing ;)

Two Ms: Mimi and Mabel.

I think I’ve given you enough time to forget about my last version of the Mimi Blouse :) The pattern is from Tilly and the Buttons book “Love at first stitch”.

Fabric: My first version was made from a drapy and soft fabric - it was actually a fabric used by the Oasis retailer to make a blouse. I found out about it on twitter because JessB had the blouse, haha. I always try to get my hands on shop fabric and I actually succeeded without knowing! For my second version I used a liberty copy print cotton lawn. It is a lightweight fabric, but much stiffer than the fabric from version one. I’ve used this fabric before to make a dress at a sewing class and was happy to finally use up these leftovers!

For the collar I used some leftover cotton lawn also from my stash. The buttons come from my button jar as well. So you can say, this blouse cost me almost nothing :) I love it when this happens.

Fitting: The fit was quite good in my first version but I was not 100% happy with it, because the collar was laying not flat. It wasn't that obvious because of the drapy fabric. But you know how it is: when you know it’s there, it bothers you. So back to collar drafting I went and a thorough measuring of the neck curve revealed that my collar curve was longer than the one on the yoke. I can’t remember the exact measurement, but it was something around half an inch. I removed the fullness and after some more fiddling on my dress form was happy with the fit.

I hand stitched the hem on the sleeves.

Construction: Having sewn the blouse before, sewing this one was really fast. I mostly followed Tilly’s instructions. The only change I made was to sew the collar in flat. That means I sewed the collar to the yoke before sewing the side seams. I think it results in a nicer collar because you can press it much better :) and it is easier to pin and sew.

By the way, the skirt I'm wearing is the Colette Mabel Skirt. It is made from a Romaknit Jersey that I bought in Goldhawk Road. It is a bit see through and I can wear it only with similar colored tights or underwear.

Here is the reason why I'm not showing you the skirt in its total glory - I had a big afternoon tea before taking the pictures.

I made the pencil skirt version 3 in size M. The pencil skirt has side seam details and a kick pleat. I'm not sure if I cut the wrong size or if it was because of my fabric, but I had to take out 8 inch from the waistband and then from the top of the side and back seams to make the skirt fit. The skirt is sitting now on my natural waist - I'm not sure if that is the right position because the pattern says mid-rise. But anyhow the skirt felt very loose before and I was afraid it would slide down when stretching over the day.

The skirt was easy to sew otherwise and I sewed it mostly on my overlocker. It was a race against time. I have to stop sewing at 9 pm because the walls in our new flat are so thin. I started cutting the fabric at around 7 pm and then participating in my own little sewing bee. And lost. But would have won, if I wouldn't have fitted the skirt :P

I'm a bit disappointed with the kick pleat because it is only a mock kick pleat. My mum asked me actually if I had forgotten to open the pleat. Nope it is closed - unless I misunderstood the instructions? Any thoughts from your experience with the pattern?

Despite it little quirks the skirt is a favorite of mine and I wear it at least twice during the week. Yeah for basics again :)

My most loved Colette Hawthorn - so far

I made another Hawthorn! It's already my fourth version (click here for versions ONE, TWO and THREE). Because I have sorted out most of my fitting issues it should have been a fast make. However, it took me 4 weeks to actually finish the dress.

 

Fabric: I used a heavy brocade for the shell and some cotton-silk to line the bodice. I only lined the bodice this time because I made a slip to wear under the dress. 

The slip made from yellow polyester lining.

 I wanted to make a slip for ages, but couldn't find the motivation to do so. The slip is made from polyester lining and gathered with some picot elastic. 

Embellishments: I think the most pronounced feature of this dress is the off-white piping and self-covered buttons. I bought the piping in Shephard Bush market (London). I can't remember the price but it was really cheap. I have to say the buttons were a pain to make and I actually needed Leschas help to assemble them. It took us an hour and we were both glad when it was done. For the facing and under collar I used some poplins with flowers on it. You know me, I just couldn't resist to sneak in some flowers :)

Alterations: As I worked out most of my fit issues when sewing my other Hawthorn versions, I actually didn't do any fitting this time :) I know the sleeves look really creasy but that's because I was wearing the dress with a tight fitting cardigan before. 

Construction: Because I added the piping I had to change the assembly order of the dress completely. The instructions have you assemble the bodice first and then attach the skirt at the waistline. But because I wanted the piping to be continuous all the way from top to bottom, I first stitched the front bodice and front skirt panels together and than attached the piping and facing. The pattern doesn't come with a separate skirt facing, so I drafted it myself.

It took me two evenings to handstitch the hem - I used a slip stitch - but I'm so glad I took the time because you can't see the stitches on the right side.

You can see that the collar isn't completely flat and the facing is peeking out. That's despite me trimming as much fabric on the seams as I could. I guess I would need a clapper to flatten it completely.

  

Finally, I just would like to thank you all for your kind words regarding my engagement. The last couple of weeks were really exciting and I have bought a couple of wedding magazines to get some inspiration for wedding dresses, cakes and decoration. I haven't decided on a wedding dress yet. But have already a vague idea in my head which involves lots of chiffon and flowers :)

Colette Moneta

Didn't I say in one of my last posts that my life started to settle after having started a new job and moved into a new flat? I guess I was wrong. Life has taken another excited turn. I got engaged :) You can imagine that I'm the happiest woman ever! 

It also means that I'm having not much time at the weekends (to sew, haha) as I'm trying to find out what you actually need to do to get married. Apart from that there is also the questions if I should sew my own wedding dress? I think as a seam stress I can only answer with YES. I haven't decided on a pattern yet. Luckily there is no need to rush as we are planning to get married earliest next summer. 

But now let's move on to my most recent creation, the Colette Moneta which is a jersey dress.

Fabric: 1.5 meters of lacy jersey. I bought the jersey in Walthamstow market (London) and fell in love with the lace pattern. Unfortunately the quality of the jersey is not very good. You can actually feel that it is low quality polyester. It keeps reminding me of very cheap bath towels. That's why I plunged ahead with this fabric to cut a Moneta before sewing a muslin.

Construction: The assembly was straight forward. I thing it took me longest to assemble and attach the collar (which also was because there was some handstitching involved, see below). The skirt is gathered with an elastic which scared me a bit. Ever since I tried to insert elastic into a leggings waistband 4 years ago (which failed), I'm a bit anxious about elastic. However, you can see that it turned out well. Despite me stretching the clear elastic to the max. Luckily it shrinked back after giving it a good steam.

Fit: I think the overall fit is quite good (as I would expect from a jersey garment), however there are still some fitting issues. I need a square shoulder adjustment. You can't tell from the fit of the bodice on my shoulders, but the collar gave me very obvious signs. It didn't want to stay flat. The edges of the collar were pulled up towards the shoulders causing the collar to roll upwards on the outside. You can't see it in these photos, because I've tagged the collar down with several hand stitches hoping the neckline doesn't need to stretch too much when putting on the dress. So far all stitches are intact.

I attached a little ceramic button at the back and tagged it to the bodice to keep the collar down (you can see the collar pulling on the left), which I think looks really cute.

I've added the pockets that come with pattern, but I'm not sure I will do so again. It's handy to have pockets, but I didn't want them to exaggerate my hips. Thus I used a thin white jersey. But the jersey is peaking out and when wearing the dress I have to check every so often that the pockets stay hidden.

One more thing to change are the shoulders/sleeves, which is totally my fault. The sleeves are too big on me and I have to take them in. When tracing the pattern I made a broad shoulder adjustment by tracing a bigger size above the notches at the sleeves and bodice pattern. I guess I don't need this adjustment for the Moneta and will change it back next time.

One final photo showing you that this dress goes really well with my wardrobe, although I have to admit that's a bit cold for me already to wear three-quarter sleeved garments and cardigans.

Will I make it again? You can expect to see more Monetas on the blog, hopefully soon. I would like to sew the versions with all the different collars and I think there are 6 in total. I'm not calling this a personal challenge, because I'm not having time for any commitments at the moment. So we will see.

A Parfait in Corduroy, please

You might remember that I sewed the Parfait twice already, once in linen and once in cotton voile. I have worn both versions loads in the summer and decided to make a autumn/winter version as well. To add warmth and to prevent sticking of the dress to tights, I lined the dress.

Fabric: I used a soft baby rib corduroy for the shell. The color is fuchsia red (thus very difficult to photograph) and I brought it from Ukraine when visiting Leschas family over Easter. The dress is lined with a super slippery acetate lining. It was a nightmare to sew. A fraying nightmare. But it looks pretty with these massive red flowers and I could well imagine it as a bathrobe :) The facing fabric is some cotton lawn leftover I had in my stash - liberty copy cotton lawn. I used it for lining the pockets as well.

Embellishments: The buttons are made from coconut shells and I bought them a year ago in Canterbury. That brings me to the question: Can I put coconut buttons in the washing machine?

Construction: 

SHELL: I didn't follow the instructions and decided to press all seams open to reduce bulk as much as possible. To do so, I first finished all the raw edges with my overlocker before stitching the seams. I also trimmed the seams in the interfaced straps and pockets super small to avoid any problems with stitching the buttonholes. There weren't any :)

LINING:  I cut the whole dress pattern (minus the straps) in lining fabric as well. I used french seams to enclose the raw edges fully because these were fraying a lot. I couldn't overlock or zig-zag because the sewing machine ate my fabric. To say the acetate didn't press well would be understated. It didn't press at all, so putting in nice french seams was a challenge.

I finally understood how very very important it is to use the right needle size when sewing. I tried to sew lining with a big needle - it got stuck in the machine. Then lazy me tried to sew corduroy with a small needle which lead to skipped stitches.

I finished the hem of the lining with my rolled hem food. Which turned out ok but not great. Any tips about how to stitch a nicely rolled hem over side seams? 

coconut buttons!

Facing: I didn't plan to use a facing. I thought it would be alright to just use a lining. The lining would have been enough to give the neckline a nice finish, but it wouldn't have been stable enough to stabilise it. I realised this when trying on the dress. The neckline was out of shape and the whole bodice looked saggy. So I cut a facing, interfaced it and sewed it to the shell. I was planning to hide it below the lining, but sewed lining and facing in the wrong order, ups.

I've sewn the side seams with an 1/2" seam allowance only so that I can wear a jumper or blouse underneath the dress. Styled with black tights and boots, I think the dress is a great autumn/winter outfit.

Now have a look at this nice zipper: The only zipper I had on hand was a white one.

But I managed to make it completely invisible, phew.

invisible zip

Now I'm leaving you with another pic that's look like I was in an enchanted forest :) You will see this fabric soon again, because I had enough to cut out an EXTRA Kelly Skirt. Ah, I just love it when you can squeeze an extra garment out. And I had only 1.50 meter. And as it was end of roll, there were also some stains on it - stains that you can hide on the insides of waistbands :) 

The dress that almost didn't happen...

The dress that almost didn't happen is my butterfly Colette Parfait. You might remember from my last striped version that I had fitting issues: When doing the small bust adjustment (SBA) I had to take out 1.5" from the back and front bodice, which resulted in the back sitting to high and the appearance of a "propeller" at the back skirt. To solve this problem, I took out the too much "propeller" fabric. But because of this, the dress is bunching around my belly when sitting down.

The final dress

My first attempt in solving this problem, was just to make the backstraps 1.5" longer. This perfectly solved the propeller issue. And because the waist seam was not sitting on the waist, I also added another 1" to front and back waistband. I also decided to make a colour blocked version by adding a white waistband, which would be a nice contrast. Contrary to my usual "I make a muslin first" attitude, I immediately cut the fabric (and made my butterfly Sorbetto Top from the leftovers).

That's the first version I took apart. 

It took me two weeks to assemble the dress, because I was not really convinced by it. And only when I had inserted the zipper (and the only thing left to do was the hemming), I admitted to myself that I didn't like the dress: The colour blocking looked awful with putting all the emphasis on my bust - but not in a good way. And because I had lengthened the straps, the back bodice had dropped so far that you could actually see my bra closure.

. 

The waistband proportions didn't look good either. There was no way I would wear this dress. But the fabric I used is the most expensive cotton lawn I ever bought. So I put the dress away for a few days and decided the day before my PhD viva (and encouraged by a 35°C weather forecast in Germany) to adjust the pattern and cut a new bodice. The fitting and sewing kept me from freaking out :) and directed my thoughts away from the viva. Sewing IS good for you . . .

The only problem I haven't solved yet is that the backstraps don't cover the bra straps.

First of all, I unpicked the zipper and also separated skirt, bodice and straps. The skirt was good to use further, as were the straps.

Added centre back seam at bodice pieces.

Button details.

Adjustments: I started from the beginning and this time used Shaerie's flat pattern method to do a SBA - I removed 1" from the bust. The advantage of this method was, that the side seams were not changed at all and I could keep the original back bodice. I made a muslin of the bodice.  I pinned the skirt to the bodice muslin and checked that the waistseam was on my waist and I didn't have a propeller. I noticed that my front waist seam was riding up over the belly and added a wedge of fabric there: 1" at the centre front that tapered to nothing at the side seam. I made another muslin and it turned out fine and I was ready to cut the fabric.

Pockets with contrast detail and stripey buttons.

Cutting: I still had some butterfly fabric scraps left and managed to cut the front bodice pieces on the fold. But none of the scraps were big enough to cut the back bodice on the fold. Thus I added seam allowances to the centre back, cut the pieces twice and stitched them together. They do have a centre seam now, but it's on the back, so I don't mind. I cut the facing from white cotton lawn because there was no butterfly fabric left.

The hem is finished with a narrow hem.

Construction: As I had skirt, pockets and straps already assembled, it took me only a couple of hours to finish the dress. When stitching skirt and bodice together, I took out 3/4" at the centre back tapering to nothing at the side seams on both bodice and skirt. This accounted for my sway back. I stitched the whole dress with my sewing machine, but finished the raw edges with my overlocker first. I finished the hem with a narrow rolled hem, also with the overlocker (I love this function of my Bernina).

Have a worn it? Twice already. I had my PhD viva on the forth of June and I am now a Doctor of Philosophy  :) A day later I went to Germany to celebrate with my family and spent there an entire week. We had up to 35°C the first few days and I was wearing both of my Parfaits, yeah! They are both the perfect summer dresses and I felt very happy to wear them. So, although having troubles and almost not finishing the butterfly Parfait, I am so glad I did!