A Modern Day Dorothy - Myosotis Dress

 So I might be the last person in the sewing community to make the Deer and Doe Myosotis Dress.  I feel like I've been seeing it everywhere for the last few years now.  Its a classic v neck dress with a gathered skirt and collar stand.  I made veiw A with allllll the gathering. 

I think the gathering was what put me off, I love the look of gathering, however I always think its more effort than it is.  Thankfully the result is always worth it.

I used a beatiful navy and white rayon gingham which I purchased from The Fabric Store during theire sale late last year.  This is one of the most beautiful rayons I've ever worked with.  It had a beautiful weight and drape, plus is just good quality. I purchased 2.5m and managed to just squeeze it out, even though the fabric recommendations state 3m. Nothing a bit of pattern tetris can't solve!

To save time, and be kinder to myself, I used my overlocker to do a rolled hem on both the skirt and sleeves.  This was so much quicker than doing a double (or single for that matter) fold hem, especially given the length of the hem - I think this is about 3m from memory, if not a bit longer!

This was a surprisingly quick make, I think probably about 3-4 hours from start to finish, if that. I made it while on a sewing retreat with some friends so it probably could have been done quicker if there wasn't so much chatting.

When one isn't enough - Another Allie Olson Highlands Wrap Dress

Do you ever have times when you make a pattern and just can't wait to make another?  That was me with the Highlands Wrap Dress by Allie Olson.  I finished my first one and by the next weekend I was working on another.

Given that I'm trying to work from my stash this year I picked out a large floral rayon I purchased from Spotlight in the boxing day sales.  It was a tight squeeze to get it out of the two metres I had.  To get it out I made the sleeveless version and used the shorter length which I'd worked out after my first version.

I was a bit worried this one would come out a bit too seventies but I think it's just 70's enough. The large floral and the style of the dress could have caused problems but I think it really works.

Anyway, there really isn't much more I can say that isn't in my previous post, all I know is that this won't be my last, I'm planning a maxi version for formal night on a cruise I'm going on in a few months.

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Pattern - Highlands Wrap Dress by Allie Olson
Fabric - Floral Rayon from Spotlight

A Little Highland Fling - Allie Olson Highlands Wrap Dress

I've been a fan of Allie Olson from Indie Sew's patterns for ages, but her Highlands Wrap Dress is the first one I've actually gotten around to making.  I'm pleased to report it lived up to all the positive reviews I'd read.

I used a Cotton & Steel/Rifle Paper Co Rayon I picked up from fabric.com during my last order.  They'd stuffed up the pricing and had it priced at $5/yard so needless to say it had to be included in my order even though it's not normally my colour.  I'm very pleased I didn't leave it behind.

There have been many positive reviews for this pattern and with good reason.  There are a number of little details which take the pattern to the next level.  These include button tabs which secure the dress so the ties are purely for looks.

Speaking of the ties, they have one of my favourite details.  On every other wrap dress I've owned or made you always end up with super uneven ties as one wraps around more than the other, but not with this pattern!  There are different pattern pieces for the short and long ties so they line up with they're tied.

The original pattern has midi and maxi length, I started with the midi but they really don't suit me. I ended up cutting six inches off the pattern length to make it knee length which I think suits me much better.  Nothing wrong with the pattern at all, just personal preference.

Another of my favourite details is the mitred corners on the hem, they were much better when the hem was the original length but they are just another one of those details which make this pattern next level amazing.

I also love the elastic in the waistband at the back, it just means you're ensured of that snug fit and no gaping at the back which I really appreciate.

I'm already planning my next one, a sleeveless version as thats all I have enough fabric for.  Shortening the length by as much as I am makes a difference to the fabric requirements, I'm hoping to get that one finished by tomorrow to wear out for drinks, it's a long weekend so I think I'm in with a chance.

Also random fact about me, I use to do Highland Dancing as a kid.  During my first competition I came first in the Fling and then came third for the title with the Fling and the Swords.

Pattern - Highlands Wrap Dress by Allie Olson
Fabric - Cotton & Steel Rayon from Fabric.com

Anna Dress

I made my first Anna Dress by By Hand London last week.  I'm very happy with the results!  I bought the pattern about a year ago online from BHL, so I consider myself lucky to have one of the paper patterns, they are wonderfully packaged and produced.

It's made out of quilting cotton from Spotlight and fully lined with Bemsilk.  I really love the pleats for the bust.  It gives it such a sweet detail.  

The other thing about Anna that I love is the fit.  I cut a straight size 12 and as you can see the fit is great.  I don't remember the last time that I was able to cut a straight size in a pattern and not have to grade between sizes.  This is either due to the wonderful pattern or the fact I recently joined a gym.  I'm crediting the pattern ;).

My only slight complaint is that the skirt isn't as floaty as I had hoped, I do think that my choice of fabric was the contributor to that.  I have plans for a chiffon and lawn Anna for Christmas.  I was planning on replacing the skirt with a circle skirt.  That should ensure that it is plenty floaty!  I finished the hems with a rolled hem using my overlocker.  I've also decided I'm never hemming using any other method again.

My invisible zip isn't 100%, but I'm still pretty happy with it. 

Please excuse the quality of the photos, there is only so much I can do by myself :).  

Anyway, I've got plenty of sewing planned for the upcoming weeks, so I better get cracking.

Emma

Garden Party Dress - Simplicity 1105

I've mentioned this pattern before, in fact if you've read my blog before you might have even seen this fabric before.  When my sister moved home my other sister organised a garden party and we were instructed to wear English Summer attire.  Mum offered to take me shopping to find something to wear but instead I turned to find a pattern.  I stumbled upon Simplicity 1105 online and liked in instantly.  The only problem was it wasn't released in Australia.  Sad face :(.  Thankfully having a sister living in the northern hemisphere paid off and I was able to get the patterns shipped to her and she bought them home for me.

For this pattern I cut a straight size 14.  My bust measurement was a size 16 and my waist goes up from there, but taking into account the ease in the pattern, which is quite generous (10 inches at the bust!) I knew a 14 would be fine.  The only minor adjustment I made to the pattern was to cut it with some extra length.  I did trim most of the extra length off but I am glad it is slightly longer than the original pattern.

When I first tried on this dress I was not convinced. It made me look frumpy and larger than I am, as you can see below.

Thankfully simply adding a belt was all this dress needed to make it something more flattering.

Much better!  I should make a belt out of the binding fabric but I haven't got around to it.  Maybe sometime soon.

As I mentioned in this post the floral fabric is a polyester from Spotlight.   I bought a really cheap satin for the binding and the ties at the back, while it looks okay it was a pretty bad decision in hindsight.  The quality was really bad and made it quite hard to work with.  Thankfully they still look good.  I think the ties might be my favourite bit.

The neckline on this dress is relatively high at the front, Higher than I would normally wear, thankfully it is not too high and is still comfortable to wear.  You can see the binding in this photo better than the others.  If I was to make this pattern again I think I would just use the lining to enclose the seams and not have to worry about the lining.

I lined the dress with white poplin, I chose poplin because I wanted something that was a bit more breathable but also offered a bit of support and body to the polyester in order to try and get the dress to stand out in its A line shape a bit more.  Thankfully it worked and also helped alleviate some of the static.  As I mentioned earlier I cut the dress slightly longer than the pattern to add on some extra length.  I did however cut the lining as per the pattern piece and was pleasantly surprised at the length I had expected it to be much shorter.  You can see the difference in this picture.  I finished both hems with a rolled hem, thankfully my skills seem to have improved since my last attempts.

Overall I am pretty happy with how this dress turned out and I am sure I will use the pattern again.  My sister has already put in an order for one.  Now I just need to take her fabric shopping!

Until next time,

Emma

How I store my dress making fabric using coat hangers

So I figured I'd continue on with my little series on how I store my fabric, you can see the post here about how I store my quilting fabric.  Today I'll be talking about how I store my dress making fabric.  As you know I recently moved and I'm working out my perfect system for my new sewing room.

I knew when it came to storing my dress making fabric I wanted it stored in a way I could see it all.  Now shoved in a box where I had to dig through to see if I had a certain fabric or find what I want.  Thankfully I have a large built in wardrobe and enough clothes to fit in the wardrobe in my bedroom!

My storage system in now devised of coat hangers!  Normal standard plastic coat hangers.  Well maybe not the totally normal ones, the ones that you can hang your pants over.  I found packs of 12 for $2.50 at my local target.

I simply folded the length of the fabric until it would fit over the coat hanger and then slipped the coat hanger in as I folded it in half!  It doesn't really need step by step instructions :)  If you have any questions leave a comment or shoot me and email and I'll get back to you.

 

Super simple and easy storage for your fabric plus you can see what you have!  Plus I love opening the cupboard and seeing all the clothes that I have yet to make!

Sewing for Service - Dress a Girl Around the World

As I've mentioned before I'm a Girl Guide.  A large part of being a guide is serving others.  At a camp for Olave Members (18-30 year olds) our service component for the weekend was Operation Dress A Girl. (International page here) But before I get too into what we did, let me tell you a little about who we did it for and why.

Operation Dress a Girl is a wonderful project which aims to give every girl in the world a dress.  The below is taken from the Dress a Girl Australia website.

"Dress a Girl Around the World" is about taking care of the world's future women and
envisioning a world " where every little Girl owned at least one dress because every little
girl deserves one".  It is a global campaign of the Hope-4-Women International which is
a US-based global organization that has been carrying hope around the world for more
than 37 years.  

 

As Girl Guides, we are the largest female youth movement in the world with over ten million members.  We work hard to promote gender equality and empower girls and women, teaching them that they can be whoever and whatever they want.  As we all know some people need a hand up.  Can you imagine if you had never owned a dress?  Or if they one you did was so worn through it was basically not worth wearing anymore? Giving girls a dress can give them confidence and courage that they never had before.  It can keep them in school which returns the benefits ten fold.  These are just a few of the reasons Operation Dress a Girl was chosen

 

We set a goal of making 50 dresses over the weekend.  As many people there had not sewn before I'm very pleased with how we went.  All 50 were cut, hemmed and had elastic threaded.  We had 10 completed by the end of the weekend with bias binding added as straps.  I bought a few home and set about finishing them and I thought I would share them today.

 

 

 

Operation Dress a Girl provided the pattern of a simple pillowcase dress is sizes from baby-7.  They were quite simple to construct and brilliant for using up those bits of 'why did I buy this?' fabric and bits from the clearance table.

 

 

 

 

They ask that the fabrics not be see-through.  Drills are perfect but we used anything thicker than Quilting Cotton.  As I saw it Lawn and Voiles were out of the running for this project.

  



 

So if you have some fabric you can spare and a little bit of free time please consider sewing a few dresses for Operation Dress a Girl.  It's a very worthwhile cause.

 

Have you ever sewn for a charity organisation or service project?

A Modified Simplicity 1877

I was looking for a dress pattern with a v neck.  I know it should be easy enough to alter but I'd tried and I just couldn't get it working.  Anyway Spotlight was having a great pattern sale, 3 patterns for $10!  We've been ripped off in Australia long enough with pattern prices so I am really pleased that these sales seem to becoming a semi regular thing!

I sat and flipped through the pattern books and spied Simplicity #1877.  I liked the bodice on it and for just over $3 I thought why not.

I got it home and made a muslin, and another out of rayon, but I'm not blogging about either of them today.  I had purchased three metres of a lovely teal cotton sateen from Spotlight during one of their 40% off sales (Can you tell I shop there a lot?  Most of the girls in Sew know me my name!), with the intention of making a v neck dress with a half circle skirt, so that was what I did.

I simply used the bodice from 1877, a view A, view B has some shoulder ruffles.  I cut the skirt longer than I needed to so I could compensate for the rise at the centre of the bodice.  I think this worked quite well for it, even if it did waste some fabric.  To calculate my circle skirt I have come to rely on the By Hand London Circle Skirt Calculator App. I did have another excel document I downloaded from somewhere but last time I looked it appeared the website had been removed.

Instead of cutting the facings from the pattern I finished the neck, sleeves and skirt with premade black and white gingham bias binding also from Spotlight (sensing a pattern?  They don't pay me anything I swear!).    Anyway enough rambling, time for some photos.


I really love the contrast the binding adds to it, plus I don't need to worry about facings.

I am also fully aware that the binding on the neckline is not perfect but it's not too bad really.

Again, not prefect but pretty good.

 

I really love the volume of a half circle skirt.  Especially in a fabric with some weight like this sateen.  I really should try a quarter circle skirt next time, I find full circles too much fabric for my liking.

I don't have any photos of it on me (typical) I'll try and add some when I get the chance :)

What volume of circle skirt do you prefer?

Emma :)