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

Winter Wardrobe - Flannelette Pyjama Pants

In preparation for winter (that I thought had started a few weeks ago but apparently not quite yet judging by the weather today) I thought I would whip up a couple of pairs of new pj pants.  I found these flannelettes at Spotlight this season and knew I had to have them, I mean dandelions are my favourite and who could resist cute cartoon animals wearing glasses?!

I used an old simplicity pattern for these, so old I have no idea where the envelope is and couldn't tell you the number for anything.  I've been using a traced copy for as long as I can remember.

I do think these are a little on the large side for me, but I would prefer them to be a bit baggy because they are pj pants after all. 

I do have a few little tricks when I make these though, just to make them a little bit nicer and add a few other touches too them. 

The first one is adding a tag ( I just use ribbon) at the back so you know which is the back and front.  I find this especially important if I'm not adding a ribbon or embellishment at the front, which I haven't to these.  You might want to make sure you check which is the back and front before you add it in (NOT that I'm speaking from experience or anything.....)

The next one is to stitch the elastic in at the side seams.  This is helpful as it keeps the elastic even around the waistband and keeps the gathers even so they look a bit nicer.  I do this as I tend to have quite a lot of material for the amount of elastic. You can see the little row of stitching in the ditch in the photo below.

I got my overlocker back from being serviced a day or two ago, after a few teething (read tension) issues, I'm pleased to report it is working much, much better than before! So much quieter and nicer to use.

I've also linked up with Amanda over at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday!

How often do you get your sewing machine/overlocker serviced?