Almost Perfect

An African wax print pencil skirt - yes please!

I bought this length of wax print from Abakhan in Liverpool last August. It was a pre-cut piece and was not very wide or long. I knew that I wanted a pencil skirt in this print, but as with all my makes it sat washed but uncut for months. I finally got around to cutting it out at our monthly Crafternoon back in December and it sat in one of my project boxes until March, when I finally made it up.

I used the pencil skirt from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing. I made the size 6 without alterations. This is my go to pencil skirt pattern. When I started sewing back in 2011 I was an avid reader of Gertie's blog and bought the book as soon as it was released. I've made a few things from the book and do keep revisiting it - so it was well worth buying and is a great resource, especially when teamed with Vintage Casual. I also have the Ultimate dress book, but use that a little less. At one time I was very into vintage styling, but I think my style has changed. I love the full skirts, but don't always find these styles practical for day to day living. Anyway I digress, back to the pattern.

This pencil skirt is long. It sits mid calf and looks best worn with a pair of heels. It has 8 darts. Four in the front and four at the back. For me, the back darts are essential to help fit a small waist and large booty. However, I used to find I needed the front darts, but they seem to add extra fullness that I don't need. I have a fairly flat abdomen and need less shaping here. I think I might have to alter the depth of the front darts or even omit them altogether in future versions. The waist band is fitted and sits at the natural waist, which can give a really nipped in look. There is a kick pleat/ vent at the back, which is necessary so you can walk in it. The skirt is closed with a lapped zipper and a button.

This is a quick sew, especially with the waxed print. It's sturdy enough not to need interfacing and still keep it's shape. It presses well and the darts went in beautifully. due to the nature of the fabric, it is less prone to fraying so I simply used my pinking shears on all seam and hem allowances, pressing them open. I did line this, as there is a high probability that I will wear this with tights in cooler weather and unlined skirts and tights just don't mix! I used what I had in my stash, which was a plain black synthetic lining, left over from another project.

As ever, with a fitted pattern I basted the side seams togther before stitching to check fit. I ended taking a little from the hip area and pegging the skirt towards the hem to give a better shape.

So why is almost perfect and not actually perfect? Take a look...

...yup, pattern matching is just not happening - nope, never gonna work. Actually I didn't even try. There was too little fabric to allow me to get a good match so I just went with it. No matchy match here, and do you know what - I actually don't care. I'll wear it. I love it and if the pattern matching police want to call me out, well let them! Gonna throw my hands in the air 'cause I just dont care.

via GIPHY

So I'm interested, what have you sewn, that you know isn't perfect but you just dont care?

Long shift dress - Gertie/ burdastyle frankenpattern

I started this dress way back in September 2017. I had big plans, big, big plans and they came to nought.
I was going to make the surplice dress from Gertie's Ultimate Dress Book. I made two muslin's of the bodice and wasn't happy with the fit of either.
Then I tried the Wiggle dress from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing, most of this fit ok, but I just don't think it was right for the fabric I had.
So my Solution - Franken Pattern - two tried and true patterns merged together.
I used Burdastyle Seamed dress 08/2012#120 for the bodice and the Pencil Skirt from Gertie's new book for better sewing.

My fabric is a floral woven cotton with just a bit of stretch and I have some white Tana lawn for the lining.

I assembled the front and back panels for the dress in both the shell fabric and lining and then put in the invisible zip.

Not a bad job at all. The next step was to sew the dress and facing together at the neck edge and then understitch. This gives a great finish and prevents the lining from peeking out. I sewed the armholes using the burrito method. This is my go-to way of sewing an all in one facing or lining. It's always worth cutting the lining a few mm narrower than the shoulders to allow the fabric to roll under. It also gives an opportunity to adjust the fit at the side seams too.

That's what I did next - sewing up the side seams, just on the dress fabric initially as I needed to check the fit. It's a good job I did as I needed to take in quite a bit at the waist and grading out to the hip. I pinned the dress and marked the new seamlines in chalk. I also pegged the skirt about 5cm at the hem.

Then Nothing!

I

Did

Nothing

For

Two

Months.

This dress had been thrown over the back of a chair for two months. Granted I've been busy, I hadn't blogged in that time, or even done much sewing. I'd fallen out of love with the dress, didn't like the fabric, couldn't be bothered with it.

Then after Christmas (yes  - that's when I finished it!) I had a couple of spare hours, the right colour thread in the machine and decided to sew up the alterations. I'm so glad I did. As soon as the side seams had been adjusted the dress looked so much better on and I like it again.

I even took the time to hand stitch the hem!

This make hasn't ben worm yet as I haven't had the occasion to wear it, but I did finally get my hubby to take photos for me last week - so I can post it at last. I'm hoping to wear it to a party in a couple of weeks.

Have you ever taken so long to make something that you've changed your mind frequently about it?

Frida Fantastico

I have been waiting to blog this for ages. 

At Christmas my husband bought me 2m of this lovely fabric from Fancy Moon.

I decided I wanted a dress, but with only 2m and a very distinct pattern it had to be a slim skirted version.

I drafted a bodice using my own block, added some cap sleeves and used the pencil skirt from Gertie's first book.

I was really careful with the pattern placement on the bodice and managed to match the pattern on the bodice back quite well. Unfortunately I didn't have enough fabric to match the back of the skirt.

The bodice is lined with a light cotton muslin and I underlined the skirt with the same fabric. The shell fabric just needed a little extra body.

I finished the dress way back in February, but it had been too cold to wear. I did wear it a couple of weeks ago when we had the warm spell. Just waiting for it to get warm enough to have this in regular rotation.  

What would you make out of fabric like this?

The Lucinda Skirt - Be My Goth

I was overwhelmed when Parnuuna from Be My Goth asked me to test her skirt pattern. unfortunately I've had so many things to complete it's taken me a while to get around to making it.

I cut it out two weeks ago and have just finished it. I made my version as a wearable muslin in black stretch poly as I wanted to see how well the skirt went together before making it in a nice suiting - so what's the verdict?

The Lucinda pattern is superb; I especially love the high paneled waist and gathered pockets (although I might omit those on a work version). The drafting is spot on and the sizes exactly matched the measurements given. I ended up grading from one size on the waist to a size larger on the hips as i'm more pear shaped. This worked fine, although i might take a little more off of the waist for a really close fit. I also added some rigiline boning into the facing at the waist to help keep the high waist in shape.

The instructions for printing and assembling the pattern are excellent and accompanied with photo illustrations in the tutorial.

Things I'd like to see - the pattern doesn't include seam allowances and It would be good if it did. I also needed to shape the added hem allowance on the skirt and didn't. as it's tapered the hem was actually smaller than the edge of the skirt, so adding a slight flare to the seam allowance would ensure that the hem will sit evenly when it's stitched in place.

I love this skirt and I will definitely be making it again - in a nicer fabric. I plan to make a matching jacket and trousers so I have several suit combos for work.

Thank you Parnuuna for sharing this with me.

Sorry for lack of detail on photos - I hate photographing black!