Better late than never: I made a purple Coco!

I have to admit that at first I wasn't convinced that Coco would be my style, but having seen so many pretty versions I started to yearn after the pattern. So, I went to the backstitch shop one rainy afternoon and got it (along with the Francoise dress by Tilly and the Dahlia dress by Colette, ahem.)

I only realised after taking these photos that the fabric is a bit clingy.
So excuse the folds.

Pattern: Coco Dress by Tilly and the Buttons. It is a jersey fabric pattern and contains instructions for a dress and jumper. I made the dress with long sleeves, turned under hems and funnel neck as the fabric still screams winter.

Size: I cut a size 2 for the bust and a size 3 for the waist.

You might be able to see the backdarts I added.

Fabric: I used some plum colored jersey that was living in my stash since last year. It was one of the few solid colored fabrics I have and I wasn't at all sure about it. I tried desperately to sneak in some patterned fabric for the pockets, but Lescha kept insisting that both styles didn't go with each other, meh.

Alterations: On the tissue I made my standard pattern alteration which is a 5/8" forward shoulder adjustment. You might have spotted already the biggest alteration I made: I added two back darts. These darts have a diamond shape and thus take out a lot of extra fabric in the area of my sway back. I didn't intend to do this alteration, but when I tried on the finished dress, I just didn't like the fit of the back on me.

You can actually "see" how much fabric I removed with the darts.
Just imagine a straight line going from my back to bum. 

One of the big problems I have with similar style RTW clothes is that the fabric clings to my bum and then there is the excess of fabric just above my bum because of my sway back. Not a pretty sight. I didn't mind, but after starting to sew and caring about the fit, I just can't ignore it anymore.

Construction: With the help of Tillys instructions a joyous ride! I just love her photo instructions and how clear everything is. The whole dress was sewn on my overlocker and I used a simple zigzag stitch for the sleeves and hem. (I'm not happy with the twin needle on my Brother machine sewing machine, so avoid it as much as I can.)

Do I like it? I love the dress especially when wearing it with my mustard colored tights! I wouldn't have thought I would enjoy wearing a solid color so much. Maybe I should buy more?! Fit-wise I think there is still some room for improvements. The sleeves have some drag lines. I've had this problem before and usually the addition of height to the sleeve cap helps.

Can you wear a slip under a jersey dress? After seeing these pictures
I really wonder if I should!

Will I make it again? I definitively will! Indeed I have made another version already! I just say polka dots! Hopefully it will make an appearance on the blog soon (fingers crossed for some sun!).

So tell me: Have you made the Coco Dress or Jumper? Do you find them as comfy as I do?

Me making silly poses. The sun was out - it made me so happy!

Here come the Racoons!

So here it is, another Megan Dress :) I love it! 

Fabric: Cotton with adorable racoons. I bought the fabric at backstitch.co.uk last year as a treat after driving the first time without the driving instructor. It was £14/meter - more expensive than the fabrics I usually buy. But how could I resist?

Pattern: Megan Dress by Tilly and the Buttons featured in Tillys book Love at First Stitch.

Fitting: Having made the Megan Dress once, solving the residual fitting issues should have been easy. However, taking into account that I hadn't done any pattern alterations for several month, it took longer than thought. I had to retrace the bodice because I messed up completely. See that's the reason I'm tracing all my patterns!

I made the following changes:

1. added 2 1/2" to the length of back and front skirt
2. broad back adjustment of 1/2" because in my first version I can hardly move the arms forward
3. deepened the back skirt darts which have now a diamond shape
4. shaved off the curves for the hips on both back and front skirt
5. lengthened the front and back bodice by 1/2"
6. moved the bust dart down by 1/2"

The neckline still gapes a little, so I have to take it in a bit at the shoulder seams for my next version :)

Construction: It took my about one weekend including cutting. I didn't want to hurry, but enjoy the actual sewing process.

I tried to pattern match the seams, but failed. Luckily the front looks fine with a row of racoons going down the center and also the matching at the waist line is not bad. But the back or side seams are not matched. I blame that on the fact that I cut the fabric double layered. Obviously the bottom layer was not straight :(

Have I worn it? Yes I have worn it to work and I can attest that it feels super comfy. No more strain on the back bodice when stretching out my arms. I can sit down without exposing too much leg. I even got compliments at work from my colleagues which made me happy :)

Will I make it again? Yes! I'm hoping that Megan will become a TNT pattern for me. So far none of the dresses I've made qualify as a TNT. So fingers crossed.

The fabric is bunching over my bust. But that will be gone after I take it in
(on my next version) at the neck shoulder seams.

Wedding Dress Progress I: Muslin and Fabric

In the absence of good weather to take pictures of new makes outside, I thought it will be nice to update you on my progress on my wedding dress.

Inspiration dress (source)

I've chosen Butterick (B5325) which looks similar to my inspiration dress. It comes without straps so I will just add them. I've traced the pattern and graded it up several sizes for my waist and hip measurements. The only problem was that the biggest pattern size was 12 and according to the chart I needed size 16 at the hip. Thus I measured the distance between size 12 and 10 on the pattern and added it twice to the hip area. I then graded down to size 14 at the waist and size 8 at the bust.

I had to step on a stool, otherwise the fabric is just bunching up.

A quick tissue fitting of the bodice showed me that it fit well and I went ahead to make a muslin. I used a cotton (a former bed sheet) for the bodice as it has to be structured. For the skirt I used some old curtain - a very thin polyester with some drape.

I really like the fit at the waist. You can see that I pinned out some fabric at the side seams.

Surprisingly, the bodice fits me well. I expected to change the position of the apex but didn't need to! You can't imagine how happy this made me :) I just need to take out some fabric at the top of the bodice because otherwise my neckline is gaping. I might also add some horsehair braid to the neckline to stabilize and shape it. I've got the idea from a great tutorial by Gertie.

Bodice dropping towards the side seams.

The bodice is dropping towards the side seams. I think this is because the skirt is heavy and pulling it down. I'm not sure if this will improve if I add boning to the real dress. However, the addition of straps helps a bit in keeping the back more straight.

I couldn't decide where to attach the straps. I moved them further outside in the end (see below).

The skirt also seems to fit fine. I haven't decided yet if I want to keep the train or not. I really like the look and feel of it and when wearing the muslin kept walking in front of the mirror just to see the train. It makes such a nice noise when dragged on the floor :) However, because we are going to have a small wedding with only our parents and sisters, I don't feel the need to have one. Ah, I just can't decide!

Ignore the bunching at my hips - I'm holding the dress up in the front to avoid
stepping on it.

I've bought already the fabric. I got a lavender chiffon for the shell fabric and some sand washed silk for lining. The chiffon bodice will be underlined with silk dupion. It was the first time that I bought silk (and such expensive fabric). I have also bought a craftsy class about sewing with silk. So before touching the silk I'm going to watch that class. Do you have any tips about sewing with silk?

From right to left: silk dupion, chiffon, sand washed silk. The colors are darker than in reality.

So what's the next step? I have to make the changes to the pattern and order some horsehair braid. I also don't have any lace flowers yet, so if you have any suggestions where to find some please share!

Happy Easter to everyone!

A full slip to wear under cotton dresses - a necessity!

The big problem of cotton dresses (at least in my opinion) is that they stick to your undergarments. They stick to vests, shorts, not to mention leggings. It does not look nice when your dress is clinging to you and it restricts your movements.

To solve this problem, I would usually fully line a dress. It takes a lot of time because you have to make to dress essentially twice. I decided it was time to sew a full slip. I had planned to make the Ruby Slip pattern, which is pinned to my pinterest board since last year, but sadly couldn't access the website anymore. I found another free slip pattern, but there was a problem: it didn't have any online instructions (by now I remembered that there is a slip pattern plus instructions in my GBSB book series 2 - next time!).

Pattern: Vintage slip pattern from House of Jo (in association with the Sew Magazine). It's free!

Fabric: I bought some 2-way stretch shinny fabric on a market stall. It was only £2.99/meter. It is blue, feels soft to the skin, frayed like crazy and I guess is polyester.

Construction: When I made the slip I couldn't find sewing instructions, but I've just seen that they are on Jo's website in the comment section. I decided to use french seams to have a neat finish and hide the fraying seams. Surprisingly this went very well.

However, I had problems finishing the neckline. In hindsight and as suggested by Jo, I should have finished the neckline with a binding or some lace. But I decided to attach the straps to it and then fold the raw edge of the neckline under twice. Which didn't work well. The neckline stretched out slightly and because of folding them twice, the straps are now too short.

It means the bust does not sit on the bust but above. It makes the dress too tight over the bust. I'm thinking about cutting the straps off the back and making a new piece of strap that I'm attaching to the old one and then to the back. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

You might notice that the bra cups look pointy. That is because the pattern tells you just to sew a triangle dart. I'm not sure if this is the style of vintage patterns? It does not show under the dress, so I'm inclined to leave it like that.

Have I worn it? Despite it's fault I have worn the slip underneath some cotton dresses and it fulfills its function. It prevents the clinging of the cotton to my undergarments, yeah!

Will I make it again? I would like to make it again, now that I know how to finish the neckline. The only problem, there are too many other garments that tempt me and not to mention my wedding dress.

A knitted Cardigan: Myrna

Today I'm showing you a knitted make. A cardigan that I finished last year in November. I call it my commuter cardi because most of it was knit on my commute from Cambridge to London. Sometimes I got surprised views and remarks from fellow commuters.

I even talked with a couple of interested woman about knitting which was really nice. Sometimes people kept starring, which is especially annoying when the person in front of you turns around on her seat the whole time and watches you through the gap between the seats. Have you ever made something on public transport? How did people react?

I only realised when looking at these photos that there is button peaking out from the center of the keyhole, haha.

Pattern: Myrna by Andi Satterlund. In contrast to Andis pattern my cardi  has long sleeves. That's because I'm always so cold and my three quarter or short sleeved cardigans don't get worn in winter.

Wool: I had three skeins of Cascade Yarns Cascade 220 in lilac mist which I bought for half price when sadly the online retailer closed down. Because I had only three skeins, I was a bit limited for the length of the sleeves. I would have liked them to be 2" longer but had no wool left.

Construction: I think it took me about 1.5 month to finish this cardigan. I could have been faster but it took me a while to figure out how to knit the long sleeves.

I knitted too many buttonholes - 6 instead of 5 - by mistake. I was knitting in people carrier
with 5 lovely ladies and just got carried away ;)

Have I worn it? Several times although I'm not so sure the color suits me well. Saying that I have a color consultation in April, which hopefully will shed light on the colors that suit me best! I'm a bit scared that my favorite colors don't suit me!

You might remember my Megan Dress from last week. Here you can see that it is too short
and my slip is displayed because I'm lifting my arm.

Yeah for Buttons!

Fabric: Cotton with printed buttons on it. I would say the fabric and pattern match very well, as this pattern was designed by Tilly and the Buttons.

Pattern: Megan Dress by Tilly and the Buttons featured in Tillys book Love at First Stitch. This pattern tempted me because it has gathered sleeves. It meant I wouldn't need to do any sleeve alterations because there is space for my shoulders. I also love the fit under the bust.

Size: I'm a size 2 for the bust, a size 3 for the waist and between sizes 3 and 4 for the hips. Thus when tracing the pattern I graded between the sizes.

Fitting: Before cutting into the fabric, I did my usual tissue paper adjustment - a forward shoulder adjustment of 5/8" - and then "tried the tissue paper on". As the tissue seemed to fit, I went ahead and cut the fabric. Something I usually wouldn't do. I'm known for being patient and making many muslins. But this time all I wanted to do was sew! Do you know that feeling?

Construction: As I was sewing with cotton the sewing itself was no problem and Tilly's instructions are also very clear. But because I was fitting the dress when sewing, it took me about one weekend to make it. I made a couple of more changes: sway back adjustment of 5/8" on back bodice and skirt; shaved off the curves for the hips on both back and front skirt.

I lined the bodice with some polyester lining to prevent it clinging to my underwear. I didn't line the skirt as I've made a half slip recently which I can wear underneath - theoretically. I shortened it and it is still too long and peeks out when I sit down.

I really like the dress, however, sadly there are a couple of problems. Firstly, it is too short which becomes apparent when I sit down. This is the reason why I can't wear the dress in public or only to parties where you don't sit down, haha. Secondly, the back is a bit too tight and I have problems moving the arms forward. So for my next version, I will do a broad upper back adjustment. Moreover, the bust dart is (as always) sitting too high, so it will be moved down by half an inch.

Do I like it? I really like the style of the dress and think it suits my shape well. It means there will be further Megan Dresses in the near future, yeah.

I'm back...

I'm creeping back into the bloggosphere.

The last six month were exhausting. After I started my new job in September, I moved to Cambridge. The flat I rented was very small - too small for Lescha and me - and I hated it. Why did we rent it? Because we thought we can live there for 6 month, find a better place and town to live and then move on.

View from my sewing table. 

But as it happened, we were wrong. Being confined to a small space and being unhappy about the situation, my inspiration went zero. I didn't knit, I didn't sew. I read books instead (which is not bad).

Then before Christmas we started to look for a flat in Hertfordshire, aiming to live somewhere in the middle between Cambridge and London (our working places). We succeeded and moved into our new flat mid February. It is a lovely two bedroom house. So plenty of space.

L-shaped tables with cutting mat and sewing machines. The iron is also close by!

The new location means that I have to drive to work. Just the thought to drive on the left and on busy streets scarred me like crazy - I'm still scarred after having made my way to work for 3 weeks. I keep telling myself that I will be fine soon.

Our new flat feels like a home already. One of the first things I did was to get my sewing machines out and organise the sewing room study. Since then I made one dress, one slip and finished a quilt top. My Sewjo is back! I have started to read blogs again :)

Shelves full of fabric, sewing patterns, sewing books, notions... and my mannequin.

Which is about time because I have to start working on my wedding dress. I bought some lavender chiffon for the shell fabric and I'm planing to get my hands on a cream colored silk lining.

So tell me, did your sewjo ever go down because you were unhappy? I really expected the sewing to pull me back to happiness, but it didn't. Have you made similar experiences?

There is sleeping couch covered in one of my quilts as well. So if guest are staying - no sewing for me.