I am Patterns - Irma Dress

 

I was busy scrolling on my phone when I saw the most beautiful shirt dress pattern. The Irma Dress and Shirt by I Am Patterns. This pattern company was completely new to me. I have never seen their patterns or made any of them up before so with my Christmas money I bought the pattern, had a good look at it and decided which view and style I would make.

This is a roomy pattern and is designed to be very loose. I compared my measurements to the size chart and made the size 36. I am normally a size 38 in Burdastyle patterns. The pattern features two length options and two sleeve options. The dress version has a high/ low hem, concealed button placket and a deep back pleat, sewn in a flowy fabric that will swish beautifully while a more structured fabric will carry the shape well. The shirt version has an even hem and is just a little lower than the waist. It has the same button placket and back pleat.
The sleeve options are a standard shirt sleeve and a balloon-shaped sleeve with gathers at the cuff.

I decided to make the dress version. This pattern is drafted for 5ft 5in height. I am taller than that so I did a bit of investigating about the sizing of this dress and to see if I needed to make any initial alterations. After reading a few reviews I added 2.5cm to the length. I think this is just about right for me, and as I used a baby hem for the finish the length was perfect. I didn’t alter the length of the sleeve. I made the full gathered version and despite measuring my arm length and thinking this would be ok - it is a little short. To solve this issue instead of using the cuff pattern piece I doubled the width of the cuff, which gives a little more length, but it’s still a little bit too short. I will be adding about 5cm to the length of the sleeve for my next version.

Otherwise, the pattern is well-drafted and the instructions are pretty clear. It came together super quickly and I’m very happy with the result. This will be getting lots of wear as it’s a perfect transitional piece of clothing.

When I decided to make the I Am Patterns Irma dress I knew that I wanted something with some movement, but not too shifty and tricky to sew. I also didn’t want a stupidly busy print and I’m not really a fan of florals - with a few exceptions! I decided to use a viscose as I knew that the drape would be good. I noticed this fabric as I was browsing the lovely fabrics on Minerva and the slightly woodblockish design of this fabric had me hooked. I ordered the required amount for the pattern, but really could have done with a few cm’s more to allow me to lengthen the sleeves. I will know for next time!

As usual, I prewashed the fabric on my normal 30 wash. I did overlock the cut edges as this type of fabric can tend to snag and pull in the wash. Being quite light it dries quickly, even in my slightly cool house and pressing it was a dream. Medium hot iron and just a little steam and it was perfect. It was pretty stable to sew with. I did use a little side table to support the weight of the bigger pieces to prevent stretching while sewing, but had no issues with anything stretching out of shape. Due to the design of the dress, I interfaced all the plackets, cuffs and collar to give some structure in these areas.

I sewed this up using a microtex needle (my favourite type). I only used the overlocker to neaten the seam where the sleeves and bodice meet. Elsewhere all the seams are enclosed. I even took the time to do French seams on the sides/ sleeves as these would be visible due to the high-low hem. For the same reason I created a baby hem - It takes a bit longer but is worth it.

The only issue I had with the fabric was a few times when the threads snagged on the needle. I think this would have been way worse if I hadn’t used a microtex, but it would have benefitted from a slightly finer needle.

Enjoy all the swishiness of this dress.

 

Spotty Circle Skirt

 

This is a ¾ circle skirt. As such there is no pattern. You can work out the sizes you need to cut using an online calculator. I had decided That I wanted a maxi-length skirt. I can’t remember which online calculator I used, but they are app pretty similar. You input your waist measurement, the width of your fabric and the length and fullness of the skirt you would like. It tells you which measurements you need and how to cut the fabric. The issue with using an online circle skirt calculator for this length of skirt is it will tell you that you do not have enough fabric to cut the skirt out - this is not true, but you do need to cut out more than one piece. You need to cut a front and a back and a waistband.

The calculator does give you the radius that you need for your type of skirt. I used this to help me check that I had enough fabric and could fit the front across the width of the unfolded fabric. As this fabric is 150cm wide, it fits well.

I spread the fabric out on our laminated floor which is part of the issue I had. The fabric moved around a lot, resulting in rather uneven cutting. If I were cutting smaller pieces for a smaller project I would use tissue paper to prevent the fabric slipping or a gelatin soak. For this project I should have cut out on my carpeted floor as it would have prevented the shifting, but it is a nightmare to cut on.

I used tailors chalk to mark the pieces directly onto the fabric. I also interfaced the whole of the straight waistband to give enough structure to hold the weight of the skirt. I stay stitched the top of the skirt pieces to prevent them from stretching out and interfaced where the zip was going to be inserted. I only had a green concealed zip in my stash, but as I always use the Kenneth King method I was happy to use this. At some point, I’ll use a bit of black nail polish on the pull so it blends in.

Unfortunately midway through this project I managed to break my overlocker - not sewing this, but it did mean I had to wait almost a week until I managed to get it sorted. Shout out to Ian at The Sewing Machine Guy in Ashington for getting it back to me in super quick time.

Once it was fixed, I finished sewing the skirt up and then hung it up for a few days. As part of the skirt is on the bias, it stretches out and can be much longer than the seams, which are cut on the straight grain. Once it had time to relax, I trimmed it level and sewed the hem using a baby hem method. I find this is perfect for heavily curved hems on very light fabrics. A good press at the end, meant that it hangs nicely. When wearing this it is slightly translucent and needs an underskirt/ leggings underneath. I hadn’t realised this as I made it or I would have added a lining. But you might want to consider that if using this fabric.

This type of skirt is flowy and ideal for the warmer weather I hope we’ll be getting soon. This is going to have to wait a few weeks for it to warm up though before it gets much wear as it’s flipping freezing right now!!!!!

 

New Year New PJ's

 

When I originally saw this fabric I had thought that I would make the Solina Dress from Named Clothing’s Breaking the Pattern book. 

However when it arrived I was just not feeling it - I think the pattern was just a bit too busy for that dress and it would have been too much.  

 

 

As the fabric arrived just before Christmas and I had begun to notice the threadbare nature of some of my PJ’s I decided that this fabric 

would make a cool set of nightwear. The smooth cotton sateen with a touch of stretch is a perfect luxury fabric and feels amazing against 

the skin - almost like silk! What could be better for nightwear?

 

 

I scoured my stash of Burdastyle magazines for an appropriate top and found one in the January issue from 2017. 

This top required piping - I didn’t have any, and once I had time to sew it was the Christmas break and my local haberdashery 

was shut for the holidays. Being the impatient sort I am - I decided to use a flat ‘piping’. In other words - self made bias tape from some 

white cotton sateen in my stash, without any piping cord in it. This was a mistake as it is incredibly tricky to make sure you have an even, 

but tiny amount of the trim showing. Piping would have been easier.

 

 

The pattern itself is well drafted and I know that I can cut a size 38 in Burda and it will fit. This pattern came with more detailed instructions. 

I followed them and wished I hadn’t. Some of the finishing techniques left a lot to be desired and there were some clunky joins that 

I’m not that happy about! But Hey, apart from the slightly uneven trim - it’s only me that will see the bits I’m not happy with!

 

 

The PJ bottoms were self drafted and I used the same pattern as the green drill cargo trousers I made in the summer, 

but without the drawstring or the patch pockets. I did keep the hip pockets though. I make the elastic waist just a little looser for evening 

and sleep comfort.

 

 

I think these look classy and I can feel comfortable and stylish when lounging around at home in the evenings now. 

It’s just a shame I didn’t have them completed in time for the holiday period, when lounging around is the perfect thing to do!

 

 

This was my most successful PJ set made (i’ve only made one set before - for my daughter). It’s not something I think about making often, 

which is why most of my PJ’s are threadbare. It certainly won’t be the last pair I make. But it was quite involved and did need a lot of 

concentration and accuracy to get a good finish.

 

 

 

Here’s to chilling out in your PJ’s!