The Sangria dress (and my first outing with scuba!)

Scuba is a fabric that's never really appealed to me before now - it always seemed too rubbery for my liking. I changed my mind about this shortly after discovering this wonderful bonded lace scuba from TMOS (The Man Outside Sainsbury's) in Walthamstow last year. I didn't even realise it was scuba until one of the other sewists I was with put me right, but by that point it was too late - I'd fallen for it! 

As I'd never worked with this fabric before I decided to start with a pattern specifically designed for scuba knits - the Sangria dress by Capital Chic. The pattern is beautifully simple - no darts or pleats, just a smooth sheath dress with short sleeves and a neckband. Hopefully easy to sew and a good blank canvas to show off the lace detailing of the fabric.

Sally kindly sent me a copy of the pattern when it was released, along with a link to this post by Thumblenina. Nina had also used bonded lace scuba to make her stunning Sangria dress and noted that it didn't have as much stretch as normal scuba. Based on the finished measurements and taking Nina's comments into consideration I cut a size 14, grading out to a size 16 at the hips to give me room to sit down in comfort! I also shortened the dress by 9cms to make it knee length on me. The fit is just right - clingy enough to show off your curves but not so restrictive that you can barely move. Don't forget that seam allowances are 1cm on Capital Chic patterns, so don't use 1.5cms by mistake or you'll get an even tighter fit!

The scuba was interesting to work with, not exactly troublesome, just a bit difficult to manoeuvre in places. The clingy nature of the material means it doesn't shift around whilst sewing, which was a good thing, and the main body of the dress came together quickly and easily on my overlocker. Hemming was a little challenging as the scuba didn't respond well to being pressed flat. It took lots of steam and a tailor's clapper to get those hems flattened into submission. But my main problem was the arm binding - it's attached with a very small seam allowance, then folded round and stitched in the ditch, so all raw edges are enclosed. This should give a lovely neat finish, but unfortunately mine didn't turn out that way. The bulkiness of the fabric and narrowness of the binding both conspired against me and it ended up looking like a tight, uncomfortable ridge around my arms. I eventually removed the binding and sewed a simple turned hem with a twin needle instead. It's not as neat looking on the inside, but infinitely better on the outside, and it doesn't stop the circulation in my arms!

The other area where I ended up deviating from the instructions was the back opening, otherwise known as the zip! Because of the previously mentioned bulk, I was hoping I could get away with a much shorter zip than the recommended 60cms, or even better, no zip at all! Sadly the scuba didn't have enough stretch for me to get it over my head without one, but I only needed to unpick a few inches at the top, which was good news. My compromise was to fashion a keyhole opening, fastening with a thread loop and button at the neck.

If you've never worked with scuba before then this pattern is a really good place to start. There's minimal fitting involved and the well written instructions make it an easy, stress-free sew - I highly recommend it. And I'm delighted with the finished dress - despite being a tight fit, it's still comfortable to wear and is a really smart looking 'going out dress' to add to my wardrobe.

The finished dress is very clingy, but the fact that it's knee length, with a relatively high neck keeps it classy in my opinion. I'll be proudly wearing it out for cocktails with friends this weekend anyway. And I'll be very smug about the fact that it only cost me £8.00! x

Sneaky peak of my new coat!

The Sangria dress pattern was given to me free of charge. All views my own.

#2017makenine

The word on the street at the moment seems to be #2017makenine, an Instagram initiative to make nine items during the course of the year. I can never resist jumping on a bandwagon so immediately started making lists of fabric and patterns. In my typically contrary way, I could only come up with six patterns that I really want to make in 2017 though! I don't want to include patterns just for the sake of it, so my version will have to be #2017makesix instead. My sewing strategy for the past couple of years has been to sew fewer items and focus more on wearability and fit. This seems to be working, so I'm sticking with it! I have lots of sewing plans spinning round in my head at the moment and am fully intending to sew more than six items in 2017, these are simply the six I've set my heart on.

1. Heather Dress - Sew Over It 

I've had my eye on this dress since it was first announced as a class at Sew Over It, so when it was released as a PDF pattern last year I snapped it up immediately. 

I really like the interesting side panels and pockets and I think it will be a big success in my winter wardrobe. A length of navy Ponte Roma is currently winging its way to me from Clothspot and once it arrives I'll be wasting no time sewing this up. If I can get the fit right I'd like to try a short sleeved version in a lighter knit for summer too.

2. Sangria Dress - Capital Chic

Remember the lace bonded scuba I bought from The Man Outside Sainsbury's last year? Well I think I may have found the perfect pattern to do it justice! 

The Sangia dress is a simple, elegant sheath especially designed for scuba fabric, yay! And to further inspire me, Nina has already made a beautiful bonded lace version here, which looks amazing.

3. Easy Short Sleeved Kimono Sleeved Dress - Pattern Runway on Craftsy

My simple, kimono sleeved New Look tops were a big success in 2016, so I was on the hunt for a dress version. Yes, I could probably have drafted one myself, but this pattern that I found on Craftsy seems to be absolutely perfect, so I'm saving myself the trouble! 

For my first version I'm going to use this fab, boat print rayon from Fabric Rehab (sadly they closed for business last year).

If that turns out well then I'm already dreaming of a second version in red luxury crepe.

4. Wrap Dress - New Look 6123

This pattern first came to my attention after seeing Rosa's dreamy vision of a dress here. Her dress was a mash up of two different New Look patterns, but it was the wrap style of the bodice that really caught my eye. 

Annoyingly the pattern is now out of print and I promptly fell down a rabbit hole online trying to track down a copy. Eventually I found one on eBay and am sooo excited to use it, as the pattern includes lots of different bodice and skirt variations. I find New Look patterns are a great fit on me more or less straight out of the envelope, so I have high hopes! For fabric I'll be using this firework print Liberty Tana Lawn, which was a Christmas present from my lovely husband.

5. Melilot Shirt - Deer and Doe

I love a summer shirt and this pattern has some nice details such as dropped shoulders and a rounded collar. 

I'll be using a cute sailor print viscose twill that I picked up at a Fabric Godmother open day last year (now sold out).

As an aside, I saw a gorgeous version of this shirt worn by a lady at the Handmade Fair in September. It was made from Atelier Brunette fabric, worn with a denim Arielle Skirt and she looked FAB! I chatted to her but I'm afraid I didn't get her name, so if you recognise yourself from this description, please let me know in the comments as your shirt really inspired me!

6. Maritime Shorts - Grainline Studio

I made a pair of these shorts last year and they were a roaring success on holiday so it makes sense to sew another pair. 

The stretch cotton sateen from Fabric Godmother was a good match for the pattern so I'll be using the same fabric again, probably in red. Hopefully this time round it will be a more straight forward sew, especially if I remember to use the most up to date instructions!

No doubt there'll be more than a few in-betweeny patterns, but these are the six I'm most looking forward to sewing. Have you put together a #2017makenine list? Which patterns are top of your list? x

A colour block White Russian

Today I made a sweatshirt. Not the most exciting garment to talk about I'll admit, but this one turned out way better than I was expecting, so it gets its own blog post!

My plans for sewing a sweatshirt were hatched after I was sent some rather lovely Andover Jersey samples by the Village Haberdashery. I wanted to see what two different colours would look like used together and the idea for a colour block sweatshirt was born. The pattern I used was the White Russian from Capital Chic, which I've sewn up once before here. I made a few adjustments last time for a closer fit and made some further tweaks for this version: 

- Increased the sleeve length by 5cms. 

- Lengthened the front and back pieces by 6cms.

- Added 1.5cms to the side seams.

Looking at these photos there's one other adjustment I'll made next time round - reduce the size of the neck band. At the moment, there's a slight hint of Vicar's Dog Collar going on! Apart from that I'm pleased with the final fit - the additional bit of room means I can wear an extra layer underneath without everything becoming too tight for comfort.  

The pattern specifics sweatshirt fabric, but the 100% cotton Andover Jersey knit I used was a perfectly good substitute. It's a medium weight knit fabric with a decent amount of stretch and good recovery. There was a bit of curling up after I'd cut the pieces, but nothing a good press couldn't sort out and overall it was a lovely quality fabric to work with. It's obviously not as cosy as a sweatshirt knit, but it still has a good weight to it and feels pretty warm and toasty too! It's worth noting that the fabric is wider than average (178cms), so I only needed 75cms of each colour and still had plenty left.

The Andover collection includes some gorgeous bright colours, but me being me, I was drawn to two of the more subdued ones for my sweatshirt: Cypress for the body (it appears to be out of stock at the moment) and Celadon for the arms and neckband. Both colours are a bit greener in real life than they appear in these photos and I really like the two together, they're very serene!

I think for my next version I'll be brave and mix up prints and solids together. Here are a few gorgeous versions that have inspired me:

Rachel's super classy Geneva sweatshirt 

Winnie's cool floral Linden sweatshirt

Josie's amazing faux leather Linden sweatshirt

They make me want to sew another one immediately!

This is the last thing on my cold weather sewing list to be completed and I'm amazed I've actually made everything on it. I suppose the threat of not being warm enough is a pretty good incentive to get sewing. Now that all my practical, cold weather basics are out of the way, I might just have to start thinking about summer dresses…! x

Fabric was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.

Cold weather sewing

The word on the street (as Huggy Bear would say) is that the UK weather is due to turn distinctly inclement. Phrases such as 'Arctic blast' are being bandied about by BBC weather people, which has forced me to bring a couple of knit garments straight to the top of my sewing queue. 

As easy as they are to sew, I do find sewing with knits a bit boring, which is why I've decided to liven things up a bit by trying out a new pattern. It's the Maria Denmark Karen drape dress - as chic and classy as my sewing pal of the same name.

I like the fact that the dress can perform equally well as a casual dress (with boots and a cardi) or tarted up a bit with heels for the evening. The detail that reeled me in was the draped section that artfully skims over the stomach - yes! The fabric recommendation is for a knit with 5 -10% spandex so I've chosen this lovely tropical French Terry knit from Girl Charlee UK - it's soft and drapey so should work well. 

Second on my cold weather sewing list isn't quite so exciting - it's a sweatshirt. Come back, come back, it's not that boring I swear! I was originally going to use this lovely Aran sweater knit fabric from Miss Matatabi  (the fabric has since sold out unfortunately).

My plan was to make this into a fab snuggly jumper for the cold weather. But then Annie from the Village Haberdashery sent me samples of the Alison Glass Andover Jersey knits and I was torn - so many lovely colours to tempt me! The pattern I'm thinking of is the Capital Chic White Russian sweatshirt which I've made once before here. I fiddled about with that version and amended the pattern so it should be a quick, easy sew. I do think that two different colours (one for the body, one for the sleeves) works really well on this pattern, so that could be the way to go instead of the cable knit. What do you think? Cable knit effect or baseball style? Or one of each?!

I already have a wardrobe full of handmade knits, so this little batch should be enough to see me through the forthcoming Arctic blast!  Have a good week. x

White Russian Sweatshirt - Jane style

It's been COLD in London recently. So cold in fact that three layers often aren't enough to stop me whingeing.  So when I saw that Emmie was selling off some sweater knit from her stash, I snapped it up. The intention was to make another Bonnie sweater, but lengthen the body a little to keep out the chill. I obviously wasn't paying attention to the description (fleecy insides, tubular knit) because when it arrived I realised it was actually a sweatshirt knit - which as we all know is a very different beast.

Sweater knits for the Bonnie pattern need to have 40-50% stretch which, even yanking it as far as I could, I was never going to achieve with a sweatshirt knit. Sweatshirt knits are far more stable and bulky, with surprisingly little stretch. All was not lost however, I liked the colour - a deep, forest green - and the fleecy, warm insides of the fabric were very tantalising. I would make a sweatshirt instead. I've never made a sweatshirt before and don't own any patterns, so after perusing what was on offer I settled on the White Russian sweatshirt by Capital Chic Patterns. The pattern is designed specifically for sweatshirt fabric which was exactly what I wanted - no faffing around trying to guesstimate stretch percentages. The pattern also comes with suggestions to use pre-quilted jersey fabric or customise with an appliquéd initial (very, very unlikely) or one of the animal head templates included (never in a million years!).

I chose my size(s) according to the finished measurements, cutting a 12 at the top and a 10 for the bottom half and the sleeves. From cutting out, the top took me just 1.5 hours to sew together. Half of that time was spent sewing up the basic raglan-sleeved sweatshirt, the rest was spent sewing the neckline, cuffs and hem bands which were a bit more fiddly. Capital Chic patterns are written with intermediate sewers in mind and this is reflected in the instructions. They're clear and to the point, bang, bang, bang, with no unnecessary flannel, which I quite liked. There's no mention of pressing anything in the version I made, the assumption being that you should already know to press seams and pieces for a professional finish. Unless you're me that is….it was only after trying to attach a cuff that curled in all directions that I realised a bit of pressing wouldn't go amiss!

First version - not really me

Showing boxiness whilst doing a monkey impression 

The finished waist measurement is the same as the finished hip measurement, which results in quite a boxy fit. This relaxed fit might work for some people - just not me and my obsession with a nipped in waist. I could have worn it as it was, but knew I'd feel frumpy in it, so I made a few changes:

Shortened sleeves (what's new?)

Shortened body 

Sorted out boxy fit

Removed cuffs and waistband (I just didn't like them)

I  fiddled with the first version and ended up totally ruining it in the process (I chopped the cuffs and waistband off which resulted in the sleeves and body being way too short, whoops!) I had plenty of fabric though, so cut a second version. This time I omitted the cuffs and waistband, just adding half an inch to the original body to allow for a hem. I also tapered in the side seams quite significantly to create a definite waist.  

The sleeves are the correct length when they're not twisted! 

The result may not be to everybody's taste and it certainly moves away from the original sweatshirt look of the pattern. It works much better for me though, and the changes I made will ensure I actually wear it. More importantly, it's soooo cosy and warm! Next up, shirt making. Woo hoo! x

Capital Chic Patterns

Exciting news today... Sally from Charity Shop Chic has launched a new range of PDF sewing patterns! I've followed Charity Shop Chic for a few years now and been constantly blown away by Sally's amazing refashioning skills; transforming ginormous men's shirts and sad looking grandma dresses into high fashion garments that look like they've just jumped off the pages of Vogue. She's finally put her impressive pattern drafting skills to good effect and created her first collection: Capital Chic Patterns. The difficulty levels of the patterns ranges from intermediate to advanced, perfect for those looking to move on from sewing beginner styles. Techniques such as using boning, French seams and machine-rolled hems are explained in detail, so they also offer a great way to improve your sewing repertoire. 

The six designs in the collection (two skirts, two dresses, one blouse and one sweatshirt) focus on work wear, cocktail wear and day-to-night looks and are inspired by the catwalk, red carpet fashion and London street style. Now I've got to be honest, my default mechanism for clothing inspiration is vintage rather than high fashion inspired. Plus, I don't require a work wardrobe, so a lot of the patterns don't really work for my personal lifestyle. BUT, the pattern designs have lovely clean lines (which I like) and excellent attention to detail (which I also like) and there's one pattern in particular that's taken my fancy - the Bellini blouse.

 

 

Bellini is a loose fitting, cap sleeved blouse with either a cutaway or scalloped collar. It features bias-bound armholes, a machine rolled hem and French seams throughout. The thought of making a classic blouse with a beautiful finish really appeals to me. If I choose my fabric carefully (lightweight wovens are recommended) then I can see this being an ideal dressmaking project for autumn. I also have a gap in my wardrobe for smart tops to wear with jeans or slim trousers in the evening and I think Bellini fits the bill perfectly. 

The patterns currently come in five sizes, from UK 10 to UK 18 - a wider size range may be available later in the year, depending on demand.  Further information and a closer look at all the patterns can be found here.  A great deal of time and hard work has gone into developing this new line and I really hope Sally's new venture does well. Cheers! x