Miss Marguerite Blows Out the Candles: Sew Over It Marguerite Dress

Good afternoon, kittens! 

This past weekend, I turned 33, a delightfully palindromic age that required quite a bit of celebration. There was Black Forest Cake, a bird-festooned pink birthday crown, lots of family togetherness, and--of course--a brand new dress. This year, I decided to try the Sew Over It Marguerite Dress, one of the newest patterns from the prolific British pattern company. 

I own two other Sew Over It patterns, but fizzled out after making muslins. Their pattern block is drafted for someone with radically different proportions than my own, so it's easier to draft a garment myself or find a similar pattern. While I love their designs, they're not ideal for tall, busty women. I need darts and extra length and wearing ease! 

The Marguerite Dress, however, was too pretty to pass up. It features a fitted waistband with a gathered bodice, full gathered skirt, and dolman sleeves. While it's designed for woven fabrics, I own a ready-to-wear dress that is almost identical and made of a stable ponte knit. I've meant to knock off that dress for years, so it seemed like a great birthday project. 

How does one take a woven pattern and make it suitable for knits? Knits don't need much, if any, wearing ease, which necessitates a few simple changes. A good rule of thumb is to size down at least one size, remove any closures, and use construction techniques you already love from other knit patterns. To alter the Marguerite Dress, I traced off the pattern and made some fairly simple alterations: 

1. Sized down. For a woven, by my measurements, I should have used the UK 20/US 16 size. Instead, I traced off a blend of UK16 (at the shoulders and waist) and UK18 (at the hips). 
2. Eliminated the back zipper. I took the seam allowance out of the back pieces, then cut them on the fold, to get rid of the closure all together. (For this version of the dress, I almost ran out of fabric, so actually had to seam the back bodice anyway.)
3. Rotated out the dart. This is one of the few SOI patterns where there actually is a dart in the bodice side seam. The one time I don't want one! To get rid of it, I rotated the dart into the bodice gathers and made the gathering a wider section. 
4. Full Bust Adjustment. I lengthened the center front of the bodice an inch and did a cheater's FBA for a knit bodice. 
5. Bound the edges. Instead of using the included facings and cuffs, I bound the armscyes and necklines. My usual method for making bindings is to measure the opening, then cut a strip 15% smaller. This worked well for the neckline, but I wanted to leave the sleeve shape, so I cut those using the same measurement as the original armscye length. 
6. Added clear elastic. There is clear elastic in the shoulder seams and both waistband seams of this dress, so that it doesn't bag out over time. The waistband elastic is covered on the inside by a facing, so that it doesn't irritate my skin. Strictly speaking, you could also face the waistband in a very stable knit, to prevent bagging out, if you hate elastic.
7. Lengthened skirt. Even with a knit, I'm still too tall for this pattern! To that end, I lengthened the skirt by two inches. 

Aside from the structural pattern changes, switching the pattern to a knit made construction much, much easier. I sewed everything with either my serger (for major seams) or a lightning bolt stitch (for fiddly bits), then finished the skirt hem with a twin needle. Poof! A chic knit dress in less than three hours.

The fabric for this dress is the real star, despite all the focus I've put on the pattern. This is a gorgeous floral cotton jersey that was given to me by the generous and lovely Susan of Moon Thirty, a few years ago. We met up at Chuy's, ate our weight in Tex Mex, and talked endlessly about sewing and blogging and general creativity. Since then, I've hoarded this fabric, waiting for the right pattern to come along. Of all the pieces I own, this fabric is one of the most "me" prints in my entire stash. It's the pretty--but not dowdy-- dark background, richly colored modern floral print of my dreams. It's all the more special knowing that it came from one of my favorite sewing friends. 

In the end, I was inordinately pleased with how well the fabric matched with my knit-friendly Marguerite pattern. The jersey has a really nice stretch, so the dress looks fancy and ultra-femme, but feels like yoga pants. Since having a baby, I value stretch in my garments 100 times more. It's not only the ability to move freely, but the actual comfort of it. I haven't been able to abide tight waistbands, since having Louisa. Anything constricting drives me mad, thus rendering many of my old projects unwearable. This dress, though, blends both my aesthetic love of floofy femininity and my newfound need for comfort. Joy! 

This Marguerite was such a success that I've already made another one and cut out two further. We're going to languish in summertime for a few months longer, so sensible, comfy dresses will get plenty of wear before sweater season starts. Even then, I think these would layer up well with booties and a cropped cardigan! 

What are you sewing during these transitional months, friends? Do you have any patterns that work even better in a knit than a woven?

Currently Reading: My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan

Currently Listening: Dressed Podcast (Specifically, the recent interview with Dr. Colleen Darnell, Egyptologist and vintage fashion enthusiast.)

Note: Any Amazon links on this post and other posts are affiliate links. If you click through and buy something, I get a small percentage of the sale. 

Miss Bernadette Decks the Halls: Butterick 6244 and Cashmerette Turner Dress

Good evening, kittens! There's time for one more 2016 blog post, right?

We originally had grand plans for tonight, but after two straight weeks of travel, decided to plant ourselves on the couch and watch college football instead. Sam is making steaks, I may whip up some brownies, and we'll ring in the new year in my favorite way: clad in pajamas and drinking mimosas at home. I would make such a fabulous hermit, y'all. 

Despite my introverted inclinations, we did spend most of the holidays celebrating in style. Not only were there a million parties to attend in December, but our third anniversary fell right before Christmas. Usually, I make up one fabulous holiday dress, then wear it endlessly for a month. This year, I made a dress and a coat. It wasn't overachieving, so much as self-preservation. We had a series of cold fronts, before Christmas, and I would've been a beautiful popsicle, without a festive coat to throw over my festive dress. 

No shivering under the mistletoe for me, this year!

Butterick 6244, the coat in this ensemble, is a pattern I've longed to make. It's one of the new Lisette patterns for Butterick (she moved from Simplicity, last year) designed by Liesl Gibson, of Oliver + S fame. The pattern features two pieces: a simple princess-seamed dress and a drape front coat to pair with it. The dress is cute enough, but that coat! Be still my heart. Unlined, with that dramatic collar and flat-felled seams, it's the elegant, but easy-to-sew outerwear of my dreams. 

Gorgeous versions of this coat first popped up, last winter. Lori, of Girls in the Garden, made an elegant camel version; Margot, of Creating in the Gap, made this glorious red one; and 

The Frougie Fashionista made a buffalo plaid iteration that I have coveted ever since. We had a remarkably mild winter, last year, and I never got around to cutting it out. This year, however, coats seemed like the smartest thing to sew. We had a cold snap early and those Arctic waves of weather keep on coming. I'm relishing them, if only for the opportunity to wear my favorite layers. 

For the fabric of this coat, I chose a dishy boiled wool from Mood Fabrics in cayenne red. This color is, sadly, no longer stocked on their site, but a dozen or so other colors are still available. Boiled wool is exactly what it sounds like–wool fabric that has been agitated in hot water, so that the fibers shrink up into a tighter, more felted fabric. It has a gloriously soft, nubby texture and a bit of springy stretch in one direction, thanks to this process. In addition to coats, I’ve had a couple of winter skirts made from boiled wool and they are such cozy layering pieces. It is one of my favorite fabrics to wear during colder months.

It's also a bit strange to work with. Boiled wool is densely packed, but isn't opaque. It's super warm and a bit heavy, but also drapes beautifully. This is the first of two projects that I'm using boiled wool for, this season, and I'm treating it differently in each case. This fabric works brilliantly for unstructured, drapey pieces like this one, as it doesn't unravel and has beautiful movement on its own. However,  if you add the right lining and understructure, it's also a fantastic fabric for a more structured coat. It's almost more chameleon than cloth.

The construction of this coat was about as easy as outerwear gets. There are two darts at the neckline, no lining to fuss with, and only five pieces in total. The instructions are pretty clear, with a lengthy explanation of flat-felled seams for beginners, and there’s a sew-along on the Lisette website for the entire pattern. Boiled wool doesn’t actually unravel, as mentioned above, so if you wanted to leave the drape unhemmed and the seams unfinished, this pattern would be easier. You’ll see unhemmed boiled wool in ready-to-wear all the time and it gives a bohemian, casual look to the finished garment. Despite my penchant for perfectionism, I almost did that myself. This wool looks seriously beautiful left on its own. 

In the end, though, I hemmed everything and finished all seams as instructed. The armscyes are the only seams left unfelled in the directions, which I kept out of pure laziness. The fabric is a little bulky for flat-felled seams, but it takes both pinning and pressing well, so it’s not too big of a challenge. My seams aren't perfect on the insides, but look nice and neat on the outside. I'll take that!

My only note is that, if you’re going to use boiled wool for an unlined design, expect it to wrinkle. I wore the coat for an hour, before these photos, and signs of wear are evident even after a good pressing, earlier that morning.  Its organic, unstructured nature is part of the charm, in my book. For more tailored designs, definitely consider those lining options well, however.

Underneath this coat is another version of the Cashmerette Turner Dress, which is easily my favorite pattern of the last few months. It's a simple design, but also a timeless one. Depending on fabric and design variations, soooo many different looks are possible with this pattern. Plus, those multiple cup sizes are amazing. I will never be able to praise Jenny enough for making the FBA a thing of the past. It's freeing to skip such a major fitting step! 

For this Turner, I used black and white geometric rayon jersey, also from Mood Fabrics. This fabric is extra stretchy, drapes like a dream, and has abstract hearts and circles marching diagonally across the print. It's absolutely beautiful and just a little strange, which I dig. In order to take advantage of this fabric, properly, I made a few small changes to the pattern: 

• Rounded the neckline and subbed in a neckband, in place of the lining. 
• Elongated the shoulder seam slightly to give it the illusion of a cap sleeve, which I thought would be fun with those diagonal stripes. 
• Kept the 1" added to both the bodice and skirt, last time. 

Like my other knit makes, I constructed this one in the usual way. It's sewn on my machine, with a lightning bolt stitch for the seams and small zig-zag for the hems. Lightweight fusible webbing is used on both the skirt and sleeve hems to stabilize them and make sewing much, much easier. 

I really adore this pairing, y’all. A black-and-white print worn with bright red statement pieces is one of my favorite combinations, especially at the holidays. It’s festive, but also works at other times of the year. You can deck the halls or just bundle up for an elegant evening out. Even better, this coat is eerily similar to wearing a gigantic blanket. Between it and the secret pajamas factor of a knit dress, it feels like I’m cheating at dressing up! When I’ve eaten record amounts of holiday food, that’s a definite win.

Happy New Year, kittens! I hope you had a joyful holiday season, filled with friends, family, cake, and maybe even a little selfish sewing time! I'm really looking forward to seeing what 2017 has in store for us all. 

Note: The fabric for this post was provided by Mood Fabrics, free of charge, as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network. All opinions and thoughts are my own, however, and I choose all my MSN fabrics. 

Miss Georgia Knows These Woods Well: Cashmerette Turner Dress

Good evening, kittens! It's hibernation season, down here in Texas. We've had a surprisingly chilly beginning to winter*, the kind of weather that demands tights and coats and copious amounts of tea. It's also the kind of weather that makes me want to do nothing but lounge around, reading books and eating spice cake. Some selfless sewing has happened--a few shirtdresses for my mother, perfecting a pants pattern for Sam's lovely aunt, and the unstoppable tide of Christmas gifts--but most of my inspiration has curled up into a ball, trying to keep warm. 

Luckily, the indomitable Jenny has rescued me, once again. Last year, my winter sewing obsession was the Appleton Dress, with its slinky fit and elegant wrap front. This year, my new love is another Cashmerette Pattern, the Turner Dress. This fit-and-flare knit dress has a v-neck bodice, three sleeve variations, and a swishy, semi-circle skirt. No doubt, you've already seen a parade of Turner Dresses marching through your Instagram feed and blog reader. It's been a smash hit with the curvy sewing community, since its release last month. After sewing it up, I am absolutely on board with the lovefest. This is a fun, easy project with elegant results. Who could ask for more?

*Yes, Virginia, we do have winter here. Well, kind of. 

Of all seasons, winter gets the least amount of love in my sewing cave. December through February are legitimately cold months in Central Texas, but I rarely sew for them. It's all ready-to-wear coats and sweaters, nothing at all like summer wardrobe, which is entirely sewn. This season, I plan on addressing that discrepancy. I prefer wearing cold weather clothes, so why shouldn't I start sewing some?

The Turner Dress is ideal for such purposes. It's a fairly basic pattern, which means fabric choice and small design variations can produce a whole wardrobe of looks. Shorten the sleeves, it becomes a casual sundress. Add an overlay, it's a super chic cocktail dress. Plus, knits are so quick to sew up. If you want to build a mini-wardrobe in a hurry, knits make life easier. 

Luckily, I have a few great knits languishing in my stash. Lillestoff  sent me this jersey, last year, along with the blue tropical jersey used in my 30th birthday Myrtle Dress. It's a retro floral, with yellow and pink poppies on a plum background, which makes the perfect winter print. Like other Lillestoff cotton jerseys, it's a true medium weight, with good stretch and very springy recovery. That makes it easy to sew with (No bagging out! Yay!), but clingier than other cotton jerseys. 

Alterations wise, this was a cake walk. Like other Cashmerette Patterns, Jenny drafted the Turner Dress for multiple cup sizes, eliminating the need for a Full Bust Adjusment. Based on my 46.5" bust measurement, this means that I'm either a big 16 G/H or a small 18 E/F, depending on waist and hip measurements. I opted for the 18 variant, to counteract the fabric's clingy tendencies, and did my only adjustment: adding length to the bodice and skirt. An inch on each, to make up for my height, and voila! Adjustments finished. 

The v-neck of the Turner Dress is achieved by fully lining the bodice, instead of finishing it with a neckband. I didn't have quite enough of my main fabric to pull this off, so I lined the bodice with a bright orange bamboo jersey. (Just visible in the photo above!) I ordered that jersey from Mood, last year, but it was sooooo much brighter in person. Cheetoh bright, y'all. Instead of gritting my teeth and using it for a traffic cone costume, I'm calling it a lining and hiding it inside other garments. 

The construction of the Turner is that of a classic knit pattern. If you've sewn up the Colette Moneta or the Sewaholic Renfrew, there will be no surprises here. In fact, thanks to the circular skirt, this pattern is even easier to sew than the Moneta. There is none of that fussy elastic gathering to worry about! I can't tell you how many sewing machine needles I've broken on that particular task. Jenny does have you understitch the neckline, which gives a neater turn to the fabric, but there are no particularly tricky steps. Mark everything well, make sure your tension is right, and use a ballpoint needle. You can't go wrong. 

Due to its simplicity, the Turner dress can be sewn almost entirely on a serger, but I used my sewing machine instead. I like that extra control it gives, especially when working with the smaller seam allowances of a knit pattern. For main seams, I used the lightning bolt stitch on my BERNINA 350 PE and for hems I used a narrow zig-zag. There is elastic at both the shoulders and the waist, for added support, and fusible webbing in the hems for stability. 

Huzzah! That's it. How sick are you of reading my This Is How I Sew Knits spiel? I feel like the technical details must be included, for those who are coming to only this review, but it's the same on almost every knit pattern. Stabilize, be careful, and use a sewing machine. Maybe next time I will use a serger, just to keep things exciting. I'm channeling Fixer Upper, it seems. Inventing drama through perfectly planned disasters! If I accidentally slice off important fabric pieces and ruin something, I'm blaming Chip and Joanna. It's only fair. 

This dress is such a hit! It's already in constant rotation in my wardrobe, worn a half dozen times before I even snapped these pictures. Not only is the fabric super cozy, but the fit is great. There is some light pulling above the bust, but everything else is perfect: the shoulders are slim enough, the neckline isn't too deep, and the waist sits at my narrowest point. I will switch to a different cup size on the pattern, next time, which should get rid of that pulling. My only other slight quibble is that the point of my v-neck has rounded itself off, after a few cycles through the washing machine. I obviously need to reinforce that neckline a bit more in future versions! 

And, yes, there will be future versions. I've already made a rayon jersey one for my forthcoming Mood Sewing Network outfit and two sweater knits are in line for another round. I'm playing with the neckline and design elements, as you might expect. Bell sleeves, jewel necklines. Those are just my initial evil plans! Be warned, kittens. You're going to be sick of Turner Dresses on Idle Fancy, before this season is out. 

In the meantime, I hope you're having a lovely holiday season! We're about to embark on The Grand Danielson-Perry Christmas Extravaganza, where we bounce between Austin, Waco, and Houston for a few weeks, visiting family and catching up with friends. Thank heavens for knit dresses and e-readers! I wouldn't survive all that driving without secret pajamas and new Gail Carriger novellas. 

Fabric: c/o Lillestoff 

Pattern: c/o Cashmerette -- Jenny originally sent this pattern to testers, last spring, but I was traveling during that testing period and couldn't fit it into my sewing schedule. This is the final version of the pattern, which she kindly sent along anyway, right before the launch

Miss Georgina Changes Direction: Style Arc Nina Cardigan

Happy New Year, kittens! Admittedly, I am twelve days late on that score. There are any number of legitimate reasons for my brief blogging absence, but honestly, it comes down to one fact: I loathe January. Of all the months, this is the one I would gladly Rip Van Winkle through. It's bitterly cold, the holiday merriment is packed up in boxes, and every commercial snidely suggests that I join a gym or buy a juicer. 

With all that in mind, it should come as no surprise that my first garment of 2016 is a waterfall cardigan, the sartorial embodiment of a sign that says, "Leave me alone. I've just gotten cozy." Now, that's a New Year's ad campaign I could get behind. Waterfall cardigans: for those days when you wish it were socially appropriate to wear a blanket. 

There are heaps of draped cardigan patterns out there, both in the Big 4 and among Indies, but there's only one which tempted me. My wearable blanket of choice is the Nina Cardigan from Style Arc, which I've previously reviewed for the Curvy Sewing Collective. Unlike other similar patterns, the Nina pairs that luxurious fall of fabric with actual garment shaping. There is a defined waist seam, natural flair toward the hips, and a princess seam effect to the front drape. This cardigan doesn't hide a woman's body, but works with her curves. It's not simply a Snuggie worn in reverse. (Which I approve of wholeheartedly, but wasn't my intent with this project.)

The Nina also provided a chance to finally try out Style Arc patterns. For years, I admired their fashion-forward designs, but couldn't rationalize the high price point and shipping to the United States. When they opened their Etsy Shop, last year, I did a happy dance.* Finally, print-at-home Style Arc patterns! Such increased availability sealed the deal and I bought three designs, the Nina cardigan, the Mavis tunic, and the Misty jeans. The Nina was the quickest project of the three, so it served as a good crash course in Style Arc drafting and sizing. 

*Note: Style Arc printed patterns are now available through Amazon Prime, as well. Unlike other Style Arc offerings, they come nested in sizes 4-16 and 18-30. Unfortunately for me, I straddle the middle sizes there, so will probably continue buying PDFs, instead. 

Style Arc is infamous for their single-sized approach to patterns. When you order a print version, three sizes come printed on three separate pattern sheets–the size you requested, then one size up and one size down. The PDF versions work much the same way. They’re grouped by size trios, starting with 4/6/8, then going upwards from there. While it’s nice to have a back-up from your original size, this individual sizing method prevents easy grading between sizes. Worse, if you’re not the middle size of the PDF trios, you don’t actually get that advantage in the first place. I ended up not fitting perfectly into any one size, as you’d expect, so I chose based on the best size for my shoulders, waist, and hips, figuring that the bust is rather loose fitting in this design anyway. My 46-36-47 frame ended up aligning best with the Australian size 18, according to Style Arc’s sizing chart. 

My first Nina was a straight 18, without alterations, which turned out pretty well. I was left wanting two things, however: more stretch in the fabric and much, much narrower shoulders. I took in the pattern's shoulders by almost two inches and decided on a 50% stretch sweater knit for my second version. 

This navy-and-white striped fabric came from a now (sadly) defunct store in Austin, bought during a meet-up in 2014. Originally, I thought it was a cotton blend knit, but a burn test proved otherwise. My best guess is a rayon blend Hacci knit. Who knows! It is, however, perfect for the Nina. I played with stripe directionality, cutting everything but the front drape on the horizontal. As the back hip band curves into the drape, the stripes meet up for a semi-chevron effect, before straightening out together. I'm utterly smitten! 

Is that a phone in your back pocket or are you just edgy, Mary?

Other than the taxing process of cutting out striped fabric, this was an easy project. Style Arc's directions are sparse, but who really needs more? If you've sewn up any knit garment, you can confidently sew up this cardigan. I went my own way anyhow, as per usual. 

The shoulders are stabilized with clear elastic and most seams were sewn on my sewing machine, then finished with a serger. Y'all, the simple thought of sewing striped fabric on a serger gives me hives. It's hard enough to match everything correctly with tons of pins and variable speed. Sending it straight through an overlocker is for braver souls than I. To finish the drape and bottom hem, I stabilized the hemlines with fusible webbing first. This kept the fabric from rolling, as I sewed, and prevented the stitching from getting wavy. 

Honestly, the shoulders are still a touch wide. Despite trying it on, before adding the sleeves, the fabric's heavy stretch causes them to slip down a little. I didn't want to mess up the stripe intersections any more, so I'm going with it. It's a drapey cardigan, after all, things are going to drape a little. 

There you have it, my very first project of 2016! I really love how this sweater turned out, especially in comparison to my first Nina. It's both cozy and a wee bit dramatic, which is what I require from my wardrobe nowadays. Please don't tell me these cardigans are going out of style, though. I shall cling to my wearable blankets, like my favorite diner waitress clings to her six-inch tall 80's bangs. Ardently. 

Now, I'm going to go bake a lemon tart. Maybe I can force January to hurry on with doggedly cheerful pastries? Here, have some sunny citrus. Turn into March already, please. 

Reading: Act Like It by Lucy Parker
Listening: GTO by Puss N Boots

Miss Lenore Wraps up Her Year: Appleton Dress

Good evening, kittens! Happy December!

Honestly, I can't believe that sentence is applicable. How is it December already? Autumn slipped right by me, a whirl of pie making, furious writing, and family invasions. I've been taking time to sew, but I haven't photographing anything. The sun starts to dip on the horizon and I start thinking about taking pictures...

Then, nothing. My mind is too busy to go through the whole process of primping and hair curling and thinking about smiling, but not pointing my toes, but also not doing a duck face. Egads. Just the thought makes me want a glass of wine and a nap. 

A streak of sunny weather (We've had heaps of rain in Texas, lately!) and a new camera lens* shifted my attitude, though. With changing leaves, soft sun, and a gorgeous new dress, the impulse finally came. 

*Photography Nerd Redux: The lens is the new 50mm f/1.8 STM from Canon, which the reviews claimed was leagues better than its predecessor. We don't have a ton of extra cash to spend on lenses, so I've been living with my old temperamental 50mm, but finally broke down and used a birthday gift card for this one. Y'all, it's amazing. There's absolutely no post-production on these photos and every single one (out of 150) were in focus! Trust me, that's a huge improvement. Plus, look at that light quality! I'm swooning over here. It's definitely worth the reasonable price. (Note: That's NOT an affiliate link. I just found the best price on Amazon.)

This is the Appleton Dress, from Cashmerette Patterns, which I've reviewed once before. However, this version of the Appleton is from the actual pattern, instead of the tester version. This new version is an even better fit than the original, thanks to a few crucial changes to the finalized pattern, and I didn't have to change a thing. Cup-sized patterns, I adore you. 

What really makes this particular Appleton is the fabric used. We have a fairly short winter here in the South, but I love cold weather sewing. As soon as the temperature dropped, I ordered a whole heap of wools from Mood. Among them were five yards of this dishy "Hooker Green" wool jersey, enough for both a sweater and a sweater dress. This fabric is a true medium-weight jersey, with a ton of stretch and complete opacity. While it doesn't quite come across in these photos, the color is a clear, dark emerald. Perfect for the coming holidays! 

As mentioned, I didn't change anything about this pattern. This dress is a straight-from-the-envelope size 16 G/H, which lines up with my 46-36-46 measurements perfectly. Picking a size from a cup-sized pattern can be a bit tricky, but the Appleton sewalong does a great job of walking you through the decision. 

For me, this fit was spot-on, from my fairly narrow shoulders to my extravagant waist-to-hip curve. There's been some discussion about what sort of shape Cashmerette patterns are designed for. Personally, I think they cover a good deal of the spectrum, particularly if you're either hourglass and apple shaped. I'm a textbook hourglass and favor styles that emphasize my waist--wide skirts and fitted bodices, particularly. Though the Appleton doesn't have a waist seam, the way it nips in provides exactly that definition I gravitate toward. At the same time, the hip ease is not snug in a way that makes me self-conscious. It skims over the belly, rather than clinging to it. Even with all the holiday eating (pies!) I've been doing lately, this dress is amazingly comfortable! 

TL;DR: It fits well! I adore it. 

When it comes to construction, the Appleton is a sensible, well-drafted pattern. Every piece goes together beautifully and there are enough notches to guide one along the way. Honestly, I skim most instructions at this point, but Jenny's process is the one I would default to anyway. Two thumbs up on the directions! 

You can sew this entire dress on a serger, but I would advise against it. On the neckbands/waist tie, specifically, you're going to want more control. I sewed everything on a sewing machine, with a lightning bolt stitch, then finished my seams on the serger. It takes a little more time, but it keeps mishaps to a minimum. To stabilize potentially wonky bits, I added clear elastic at the shoulders and used Wonder Tape in the skirt hem. All hems were done with a twin stretch needle, as per usual. 

Y'all must be tired of my knit dress spiel by now, friends. Knits! They're comfortable! I sew them the same way every time! This one is particularly cozy, though, I promise. Wool jersey is such a fun fabric to sew with--it's resilient, mannerly, and creates such warm, breathable garments. With all the chilly weather we've been getting lately, this dress has already gotten plenty of wear. I've been layering it over tights and a slip (to prevent static build up), which keeps me perfectly comfy!

Never fear, though, kittens. My next three projects are, remarkably, not knits. Think velvet and denim and European pattern magazines! For now, I hope you're having a merry beginning to the holiday season. Stay warm and safe! 

Note: My knit bodice post is still forthcoming. There was a tragic accident with its almost-finished draft and I haven't  had the mental fortitude to rewrite the blasted thing. Soon. 

Miss Wren Attends the Ballet + Giveaway

Good evening, friends! As you know, I've been on a knit sewing kick lately. After years of using mostly wovens, my wardrobe is now bursting with handmade, stretchy garments. Fueling this obsession have been two patterns, the Myrtle and the Moneta dresses, from Colette. I've sewn a dizzying number of both dresses, steadily building up an army of secret pajamas.

You can imagine my delight, when Colette announced that they were adding to their range of knits. More stretchy dresses to love! The Wren Dress debuted last week, a charming mock-wrap dress with two skirt options, a gored slim design and a flowy gathered option. While it's something I would have auto-bought anyhow, Meg from Colette was kind enough to send me an advanced copy of the pattern, as part of the Wren Faire. Naturally, I was on that faster than Buffy on a vampire, Cordelia on a snappy put-down, or whatever Whedonesque metaphor you prefer.

My favorite part of the Wren dress is, hands down, the softly gathered neckband. It's a design element that ups the garment from the simple to the classic. As soon as I saw the line drawing, I knew a two-toned Wren was in my future, to make the most of that neckband. I love built-in potential for fabric mixing!

For this first version, I shopped my stash and came up with two beautiful wool knits, one full cut of a dusky rose jersey and remnants of a deep maroon, from last winter's Bonnie dress. The rose jersey has actually sat in my stash for ages, a victim of color doubts. While it's a shade I adore in theory, it's also a difficult one to pair with my complexion. To wear it alone, a ridiculous amount of blush is employed, or else I end up looking like the undead. (#normcorpse) With the deep, rich maroon as a buffer color on the neckband, however, it's sublime. The end result feels very winter-appropriate, the kind of dress one should wear on a snowy walk through the forest, with a coordinated berry pink cloak.

Not that we get snow in Waco. Or have very many forests, for that matter. Still...I quite like it. 

Before sewing this version up, I did make a quick muslin to check the bodice fit. The Wren calls for fabric with at least 25% stretch, which my rose jersey just met. Any issues that cropped up needed to be sorted out in basic jersey first, before trying something with a closer fit. 

As others have noted, the Wren does not resemble the block used to draft the Myrtle and the Moneta. The Wren pattern pieces are decidedly straighter, with a barely curving side seam. To accommodate my vast and wondrous bosom, I performed a Full Bust Adjustment on the XL, which added a curve to the side and lengthened the front bodice itself. Additionally, I raised and brought in the armscye, because I was getting a weird tenting thing from my arm to torso. These alterations were easy as pie, y'all. Knit FBAs are so easy to do that they feel like cheating! 

As you can see from the pictures, I still have some light pulling on the bodice, which wasn't present in my muslin. I did a bit of post-construction troubleshooting to find the cause of this and landed on a front bodice that still needs more length. Knits can be so different from fabric-to-fabric, that these latent fit issues do crop up. For me, perfectly fitting a bodice usually takes a few rounds of adjustments. I muslin to a point I'm pretty happy with, try it in fashion fabric, then keep improving. It's always going to fit better than RTW, after all. 

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When it comes to construction, the Wren was really fun to piece together. I gave the instructions a cursory glance and they seemed sensible, especially for beginners, but I went my own way on a few things. To better preserve the neckline, I reinforced it with clear elastic, just as I did the shoulders and waistline. As always, I finished the hem with fusible stay tape, to prevent a wavy hem. All the seams were sewn on my sewing machine, with the trusty lightning bolt stitch, then finished with my serger. 

There was one step that I went full on renegade with. Like the Moneta, the Wren has you gather the skirt by stretching and sewing the elastic. Y'all, I haaaaaate this technique. I know it's easy and super efficient, but it never works for me. My machine revolts; the elastic snaps. Other sewists perform it beautifully, but I've utterly given up. Instead, I like gathering knits with the dental floss (or embroidery floss, in my case) method. It's easier to control than the classic basting stitches method and gives nice, even gathers every time. 

For me, the Wren dress is another winning knit pattern from Colette! The finished dress reminds me of my old dance costumes from high school, all wide, swishy skirt and nipped-in waist. It's such a feminine silhouette. I will definitely be making more versions of this dress, starting with this floral Lillestoff jersey, which I've been hoarding for months now. Hooray for more knit dresses! 

There's more good news, however. If you comment on this blog post, Colette will enter you in a giveaway for their fabulous book, The Colette Guide to Sewing Knits. This is actually the same book that started my knit sewing adventures. If you're new to knits, it's the perfect resource to ease you into the techniques! Additionally, you can check out Erin's super cute animal print Wren and enter again on her blog. Thanks again to Colette Patterns, for letting me take this gorgeous dress for a spin! 

Update: If you're interested in my fitting changes for the Wren, stay tuned! I'll post pictures and details of my adjustments, early next week. 

Miss Myrtle Indulges Her Whims

Good morning, friends!

Strictly speaking, it's almost afternoon here, but I'm still insistently wearing pajamas and drinking coffee. This weekend was one for that sort of dogged relaxing. Sam scored free tickets to the Baylor game, which I graciously insisted he attend with friends. The pomp and circumstance of college football is a blast and Baylor has a swanky new stadium, but it's still too damn hot. Give me air-conditioning and ESPN, until November!

Left with an unexpected open day, I opted for total decadence. After a quick trip to the store for necessities (clotted cream), I spent the day baking scones, finishing Miss Fisher's final season (That last scene! Swoon.), and re-reading Evernight by Kristen Callihan. It was gloriously lazy, y'all. I feel completely energized and ready to tackle Sunday! Unfortunately, that means tackling the novella copyedits my editor sent over, last week. The horror.

Thus, the coffee. And the procrastination blogging.

Before putting nose to proverbial grindstone, let's go with one more bout of self-indulgence. This post is all about yet another Myrtle dress. This is my favorite one yet! 

Are you picking up on a trend? Yes, each new Myrtle is my favorite one yet. What this really means is that I can't get enough of this pattern. It's funny, really. None of Colette's woven patterns have worked nearly so well for me--I've made a few, with average success, but don't wear them often. Most of them were culled in my recent wardrobe pruning. Each of Colette's knit patterns, though, are on permanent rotation in my wardrobe. I just finished the Aberdeen from Seamwork, which looks to become another tried-and-true. Alyson Clair's knit drafting (in play on the Moneta, Myrtle, and Mabel, for sure) works splendidly for my figure, with minimal adjustments. 

Which is all to say: Another Myrtle! I love it! 

This Myrtle was specifically made, as part of my Sewing Indie Month mini-wardrobe. While Colette isn't an official designer/sponsor, this dress is meant to go underneath my still in-progress Luffa blazer from Waffle patterns. The fabric, a white-on-black polka dotted rayon jersey, is from Style Maker fabrics and was partially purchased with a gift certificate, received as thanks for participating in SIM. Honestly, I'd never heard of Style Maker, until this purchase. I was completely blown away by their stock of fabrics, though, especially knits. This rayon jersey is a really interesting fabric, with the weight and hand of a high quality cotton jersey. It has pretty good stretch, great recovery, and washed up beautifully. After sewing with this cut, I'm planning to snag its rose-print twin, as well. 

Back view! I didn't quite get the center back seam spacing right, as you can see, but the black doesn't bother my eye.

I won't bore you with construction details, since they're identical to my last few iterations of this pattern. It was mostly sewn on a serger, with details sewn on my sewing machine. The hem was fused with lightweight stabilizer, then twin-stitched in place, to minimize waving. It's a knit dress, kittens. You know how I roll on these.

This Myrtle is a particularly easy piece to throw on. The draped neckline and nipped-in waist keep it from becoming twee, despite the polka dots. While I was once all for the cutesy, as you know, my wardrobe has evolved over the last year. Now, every piece I sew feels both more grown up and more intentional, in relation to my personal style. That's a win, if I want to keep the wardrobe culls to a minimum. 

Now, I do have one final question. While I'd like to pretend it's all simple Myrtles and Monetas around here, there are grand sewing plans on the horizon. I just ordered some of the above red rayon velvet, from Mood, which is going to become some sort of 20's-inspired topper. I am envisioning something loose, to take advantage of the fabric's drape, but still structured enough to compliment my curves. All the better, if the garment can show off a little embroidery. I've been searching through patterns, but am stumped on what to choose. What would you make with this fabric, friends? Input is very much welcome! 

Note: The polka dot jersey was partially purchased with a gift certificate to Style Maker fabrics, as part of my participation in Sewing Indie Month. All opinions herein are my own, though. 

Miss Mona Plumbs the Depths: Colette Moneta

Let's begin today's post with an apology, kittens. This is, hands down, the most ridiculous pun-laden title I've ever used on Idle Fancy. The temptation was just too grape great. There should probably be a secondary pardon for showing you yet another knit dress, but you'll find no further prostrations here. My knit love continues, unabated and unabashed. 

This dress is, quite obviously, a Colette Moneta. It's been in my wardrobe for over a week now, but I was reticent to chat about it. There have been a thousand Moneta reviews, around the sewing world. After going back through the annals of this blog, however, it turns out I haven't talked about this pattern since its release. That initial post wasn't even a true Moneta--I pleated the skirt, instead of gathering, because my old machine was giving me fits. Considering my usual repetition of patterns, one Moneta every year seems like an acceptable rate of posting. After all, last year, I dedicated an entire season to McCall's 6696!

So, the Moneta.* 

It's a simple knit bodice with a gathered skirt, sleeve options, and collar options. You know this, because you've seen a hundred blasted versions already. The thing is, the Moneta is popular for a reason. While I'm an equal opportunity pattern lover, the sizing of Big 4 knit patterns leaves something to be desired. Invariably, the best size ends up being two--or even three!--sizes below what I usually sew up. That's easy enough to work around, but involves guesswork. Colette sized this dress, and their other knit offerings, in a modern, sensible manner. There is the right amount of negative ease in the bodice for stretch jersey fabrics and the skirt is roomy enough to skim over one's curves. 

Honestly, I have yet to see a horribly ill-fitting Moneta. With an expansive size range, which tops out at a 54-inch bust, the Moneta fits many, many body types. Negative ease is forgiving and knits are easier to fit, which benefits the seamstress. This is a simple design, but it's also a necessary one. While I long for more advanced sewing patterns, there's a place for this beginner-friendly design. A plain, functional knit dress is an essential wardrobe piece. We need dresses that feel like pajamas! Wearing such garments is one of the most delightful up-yours actions women can give to society. 

Okay, maybe that's overstating it a bit. When I wear a knit dress, though, that's how I feel. Sure, you think I look pulled together and molded into your classic standard of femininity, but this dress is essentially whole-body yoga pants. I could kick serious ninja butt, with nary a twinge of discomfort. Come at me, froyo cashier. 

*Fun fact: Today, I learned this is pronounced Mo-nita. For years, possibly thanks to a lifetime of speaking Spanish, I've been saying it Mo-netta. While listening to the first Seamwork podcast, featuring my dear pal Jenny, my mind was blown by Sarai's pronunciation of the pattern. It was an embarrassing flashback to my teenage days, when I cracked my mother up by pronouncing Ms. Granger's first name as Her-Me-Own. 

That's all to say that sewing this up was an enjoyable, easy process. For this Moneta, I used a plum-colored bamboo rayon jersey from Fabric.com. This dreamy, soft knit was recommended by the ever-fabulous Liza Jane, who used it recently for a series of knit t-shirts. After reading Liza Jane's post, I ordered three lengths of bamboo jersey and impatiently waited for them to arrive. These fabrics are gorgeous and were so worth the purchase. They have amazing stretch, impressive recovery, and feel blessedly cool against the skin. Witness: I'm wearing three-quarter sleeves without a fuss, when it's still 95 degrees outside. That's road-tested comfort.

Compared with cotton jerseys, rayons hug curves more. For this reason, I chose my standard XL for the Moneta's bodice, with a small FBA, but cut a 2XL for its skirt. My measurements fall in line with the smaller skirt, but I wanted some extra swish, just in case. In these photos, I'm wearing the dress without a slip underneath, so you can see the fabric in its truest form, but I do prefer an extra layer underneath. 

As you probably know, the Moneta's construction is deadly simple. The sleeves are set-in flat, rather than in the round, which makes the bodice a gloriously quick task. To create the gathers on the skirt, it's shirred with clear elastic, giving even falls of fabric all the way around. There is one thing I changed, however. Instead of using the turn-and-stitch method of finishing the neckline, I grabbed the neckband from my BGD Bonnie dress, shortened it a tad, and used that to finish my Moneta off. I don't trust an unfaced or unbound knit curve! They get so wonky, over time. Next time, I'll shorten the band even more, for better tension along the front bodice. 

This entire dress was sewn with a mix of my serger and my sewing machine, as per usual. Sew to construct, serge to finish. In addition to the waistline, the shoulders are also stabilized with clear elastic and my hem was turned with lightweight fusible interfacing. 

Et, voila! A comfortable dress that fits beautifully into my everyday wardrobe. Between the Moneta's great fit and this fabric's sumptuous feel, this dress is a joy to wear. Plum is one of my favorite colors anyway, as it brings out the golden undertones of my skin, and this one has washed up really well. Fingers crossed that it remains a deep, vibrant color!

Currently, I'm in the middle of sewing up two different fall blazers (Simplicity 1066 and Waffle Patterns Luffa), which should pair splendidly with this Moneta and my recent Myrtles. That's my plan for autumnal dressing: cute knit dresses, tights, blazers, and fabulous boots. 

For now, I'm going to dive back in to Jenny Lawson's newest book, Furiously Happy! That odd hooting noise you hear will be my hysterical, uncontrolled laughter. In case you'd like a snort of your own, I'm leaving you with a ridiculous photo outtake. What am I doing in this picture? Posing for a Rejected Princesses of Disney calendar? Willing animated birds to appear from the ether? Summoning the change in seasons, with manic, silly twirling? It's anyone's guess. 

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Official Note: Some people have recently asked when my two Burdastyle classes would be running again. Good news! Another round of Pattern Grading for Plus Sizes kicks off today and Burda just sent me a coupon code for 20% off, until September 30th. If you use the code Mary20 at checkout, the discount will be applied. Additionally, the more rarely held Pattern Grading for All Sizes class will be hosted again, starting on October 20th. That class covers three methods of resizing patterns to fit your shape, both making them larger and smaller, as well as post-grading fit guidance. Registration is now open, if you've been waiting for that one!