Another Saraste Dress

I love this pattern. I love this fabric. Love Love. Love.

This is the second time I've made the Saraste Shirtdress from Breaking the Pattern from Named clothing. The first one was a sleeveless version that was a little shorter than the pattern called for but I only had a short amount of fabric.

This time I made the same version -  a sleeveless dress but this time I made it as the pattern directed. I did forget that the seam allowances are only 1cm and started by sewing at 1.5cm and had to do a bit of unpicking.

I changed up the construction a little from the directions to allow me to fit the dress a little more easily. I received the fabric from Minerva in exchange for my review of it. The buttons were sourced locally from The Sewing Box in Morpeth. I had a few issues finding buttons that were suitable. when I found the right colour, the size was wrong; When the size was right the colour was wrong! However, The Sewing Box came up trumps with these 'day of the dead' style skull buttons.

You can read my full review of this fabric over on the Minerva Blog.

Red Floral Saraste Shirt Dress

This is my first version of the Saraste shirt dress from the Breaking the Pattern book by Named Clothing and it will not be the last. After a few recent makes with some tricksy fabrics, this was an absolute dream to sew.

I'm always a bit nervous when I first sew a pattern as I wanted an easy well fitting garment. This week has produced both an unwearable pair of trousers (which I won't go into here) and this stunning dress, which I love.

I compared my measurements to the size guide and finished measurements and based on these I cut a straight size 3. The pattern calls for just over 2m of 150cm wide fabric. Unfortunately I only had 2m of the fabric and it was narrower than 150cm wide too, which meant I had to shorten the skirt portion of the dress considerably and cut the inner yoke, inner collar stand and under collar in a contrasting fabric, which I also used to make bias binding for the armscye as there was not enough fabric for sleeves. I quite like the contrast effect if I'm honest.

I'm not normally a huge fan of floral fabric, but there was just something about the colour combination of this fabric that I really like. I didn't buy it myself and I'm not sure where it's from, but it has a really nice feel and a slight stretch. My sister-in-law gave it to me as a Christmas gift and I've been looking for a project to use it on since then. The contrast fabric was also a Christmas gift. My sister had bought me some yardage from Simply Fabrics in Brixton and had also spotted some remnants. This was one of those remnants - there was about 1/3m of this one.

Once I'd managed pattern Tetris to make all the pieces fit. I started on the construction. I followed this exactly as directed in the book. The bodice back and side front are constructed and stitched together at the side seams, then the gathered skirt is added before the centre front pieces are added and yoke are joined at the shoulder.

I can see why it's constructed in this way, but it doesn't leave many options for alterations. I really like the fit and won't be making any changes to this one, but I would normally have a closer fitting waist, so taking a bit off the side seams and back darts would help with this. If you think you might need to make similar alterations I would construct the back and front separately before joining at the shoulders and side seams.

The drafting is excellent on this and all the pieces matched perfectly. I left off the frill at the edge of the collar and used the grainline archer sew-a-long for the construction of the collar as it gives a great finish. The Saraste instructions are similar here, but the sew-a-long just gives a bit more detail.

I finished all inside seams with the overlocker. The hem was also overlocked and a narrow hem sewn in order to keep as much length as possible. The armscye is finished with contrast bias binding.

This dress is just completely my style. I will get a lot of wear out of it and I think there will be more of these.

Chai Latte Kielo

I told you I was converted to this pattern.

This has to be one of the best independent dress sewing patterns out there. The design is flattering to all shapes and sizes. The pattern instructions are soooooooo easy to follow and it's a really quick make. Oh and you can make it in a woven - if you choose your fabric carefully. you can get it here.

As I've said before, I had bypassed this pattern, simple because of the styling on the sample. It was sheer and in a colour that I would never ever wear. However after seeing a few floating around the blogosphere and pinterest I was interested. I bought the pattern and looked for something to make it up in - a cheap fabric, just in case it was a train wreck. I bought 2m of this semi sheer fabric from the market. I then discovered that Dorothy Perkins have blouses in this exact fabric.

Despite the pattern being designed for a knit I made this up in a woven. I did measure the pattern and was convinced that it would work, and it did. The whole thing took less than 2 hours to cut out and sew and I already have orders for one for my daughter and a friend. I also made one for my mum. blogged about here.

I cannot recommend this pattern enough. I think this is my new favourite, I am going to make a knit version too.

Its great to wear as the fabric doesn't crease. I wore it with my upcycled denim jacket and flat shoes. perfect for sitting in the sun and sipping a Chai Latte.

Named Kielo Convert

I am a Named Kielo convert!

Mum in her Kielo Dress.

I had originally bypassed this pattern as I was not really impressed by the styling on the Named website. I think it was the really sheer fabric and colour choice that put me off. How misled I was!

However, recently I had seen quite a few versions around the internet including this one by busylizzieinbrizzie.

and this one by Wasted Weekends.

The styling seems to suit most bodyshapes and I had been on the lookout for a maxi dress pattern for the summer. As I'm going to be in Hong Kong and China for a few weeks I really needed a light fabric that wont crease and will look fab after being screwed up in a case for many hours! I found this blue fabric at a local market for £2 a metre. It's semi sheer so I will need to wear a half slip with it.

I know that the Kielo is drafted for a knit or stretch woven, but I thought I'd give it a go in my fabric as it had only cost me a total of £4 for the 2m needed. (On a side note, I went into Dorothy Perkins the other day and this fabric is one of their current lines, as a blouse and dress.)

I cut a straight size10 (38) and made not adjustments during the construction. I made a self bias binding for the neck and armholes, and made sure not to make the seams bigger than the 1cm included on the pdf pattern.

I allowed about 5cm more on the back vent as the fabric is a woven and others had said it was a bit low. I took off about 5cm at the hem and did a rolled hem. Unfortuately I haven't photographed my version yet as it's too sheer and needs a slip which I don't have. I will post this soon.

My mum was visiting when I was making my dress and was impressed by the fit and styling and asked me to make her one. We headed off to The Sewing Box in Morpeth and bought a beautiful drapey Crepe de chine style fabric (with no stretch), also synthetic and the sort of fabric that would look stunning even after being screwed up for hours. My mum travels quite a lot and this is the perfect dress for her to take out to Spain or on her travels.

I cut and sewed a Size 14 and finished it the same way as I did mine (mum made the bias binding - which was no mean feat with this slippery fabric). We are the same height and so the length of the dress was the same as mine. I am now convinced that this pattern works well in a light weight woven with no stretch, but I would like to make it in a knit to see the difference. I plan to make a shorter one for work and one with sleeves for the winter.

I am converted to this pattern - it's amazing what fabric choice can make to the styling of a dress.