Minerva Blogger Network - The Swirly Smoke dress

I really love this dress - It's a great pattern, the Gather Mortmain in one of my favourite fabrics, cotton sateen.

Cotton sateen is great to work with - it's so easy to sew and that little bit of stretch makes it easy to get a great fit.  I got a swatch of a different sateen as part of the Minerva Swatch Club and decided to look at their range.  I picked this digital print as I love the colours - the swirls of purple and blue are mixed with a lovely bright turquoise.

I decided not to pattern match this exactly, but I lined up the turquoise lines in the print on the bodice and skirt which was an easy way to get continuation of the lines in the design.

This is my first Gather Kits pattern and it definitely won't be my last.  Other than adding 2" of bodice length and 2" to the skirt, I had no other alterations and it fit me perfectly! I made the sleeveless version.  I did take in around the waistband piece after it was constructed as it was a bit loose, and I may take in a little bit more at the waist after wearing.  But it is so comfortable and quick and easy to construct.  I didn't do the exposed back zip as I'm not a huge fan of them, so I replaced it with an invisible zip.

The box pleats on the skirt are really easy to do and look great.  The separate waistband piece is flattering and allows the fit to be adjusted quite easily.  I didn't have to curve the waist darts as I often have to.

If you want to make your own version, you can get a kit from Minerva here with fabric, an invisible zip and matching thread.

Sewing Inspiration - Boden

OK, hands up who looks at fashion spreads in magazines and starts trying to work out what patterns/ fabric they could hack to make it themselves? 

I recently got sent the latest Boden catalogue, and in addition to a coupon which will allow me to replace a couple of seen-better-days fine knit cardigans (if you know me in real life or follow my Me Made May daily pics, you'll see I wear these just about every day!) there are some excellent knock-off-able looks which I am considering for summer sewing.

I have been somewhat scathing about Boden in the past, totally putting them into the Yummy Mummy box, but their last few seasons collections have been great!

The Lovely Linen dress could easily be made with a Colette Pastille dress bodice with a bit of piping and a gathered skirt (like an Emery if you needed a pattern rather than just using a big rectangle!)

Source: Boden, Colette Patterns (from the Sewing Handbook), Christine Haynes

I would use a lovely blue graphic floral rather than the yellow pictured here.


The 60s Ponte Dress is a dead ringer for a sleeveless funnel necked Coco:

Source: Boden, Tilly & the Buttons

With a little bit of tweaking (stitching down the pleats a bit and adding grosgrain ribbon to the waist), Maria Denmark's Paula pleat skirt could be just the ticket to make a version of the Poppy skirt:

Source: Boden, Maria Denmark

I think with a bit of tweaking of the wrap bodice pieces and addition of some braid (perhaps in a more tasteful colour than Boden's neon orange!), Cake Patterns Tiramisu could make a fab version of the Rosie dress:

Sourc: Boden, Cake Patterns

You could use Sinbad and Sailor's new Hepworth pattern with a little bit of neckline reshaping to make your own version of the Nancy dress (what is with all the yellow Boden?):

Source: Boden, Sinbad & Sailor

Do you like the new Boden looks?  Any you are planning to recreate?  What other fashion brands are inspitring your sewing this summer (or winter if you are in the southern hemisphere!)

FO: The Gertie Portrait Blouse

Anyone who followed me during Me Made May will have seen this - It's become a wardrobe staple!

It is the Portrait Blouse from Gertie's Book for Better Sewing.  I loved this from the first time I saw it.  It's such a pretty style with very clean lines and shapes.  I am really getting into blouses after being a t-shirt girl for most of my life - I have several more planned.  This one feels very ladylike!  Maybe I fear the ironing board less than I used to since starting sewing?

For such a simple pattern, I did have to make a lot of adjustments however.

Of course, I consulted the fabulous #sewcialists on Twitter - there's always some fab advice available - and found that Katie had made it already so she gave me some great tips.

The sizing on Gertie's book patterns is quite different from usual pattern sizing - I made an 8, and added slightly (about 1/4" at each seam) to the waist and hips.  I have heard that the book is quite wide across the back which suits my broad shoulders and I think the shoulders fit well!

Gertie says in the book that it is a short style, so I knew I'd be in for some considerable lengthening - she wasn't wrong.  I lengthened by 4"!  I also did a small FBA.  For me, the neckline is perfect and I love the loose tucks rather than darts.  I did have to lengthen them quite a bit to get them to sit flat - the fabric would insist on poofing out above them, but I kept extending them until this stopped happening!  I suspect this was to do with my lengthening making the end points hit in the wrong place.

I also did a couple of new techniques on this make - narrow hems, following the instructions from the book.  It was fairly easy and looks nice and neat.  I also handpicked the side zip.  I don't know why I haven't done this before, as it made the zip so easy to insert neatly.  My only complaint is that the thread matches the fabric so well that you can't see my pick stitches!  As you would expect, Gertie's instructions on both of these were nice and clear with good photos and illustrations to help.

The fabric was a poly remnant with lovely drape that I picked up from the legendary remnants table at Ditto in Brighton (I love that table!).  I had just over 1m and I think it was the princely sum of £1.80.  So that plus the cost of the zip makes it a practically free make!  I've worn it lots and have a couple more in the pipeline (OK they are in my head but they'll get done sometime!).  They definitely smarten up my jeans!

And finally a back view for Nessa:

Me Made May - the holiday edition!

Well I seem to have lost a couple of days of photos, probably on another memory card floating around the house somewhere!

They were immediately pre-holiday and I have no idea what I wore altho I think kimono tees were definitely in there somewhere!

Here's the pics for the first part of the holiday:

17th May - no pic of this day as we flew and got up at 3am!  You don't need to see my baggy eyes!  But I wore my Deco cardie on the plane
18th May - Burda knit dress
19th May - Debuted as yet unblogged (but fabulously photographed by hubby!) red denim Pavlova skirt and navy Pavlova top
20th May - another not yet blogged one - Sinbad & Sailor Magpie dress.  Don't have a good front pic of this as I slimmed the skirt after taking original pics.  We need good enough weather for me to get it out again!
21st May - strpied BurdaStyle Handbook dress
22nd May - Red Pavlova top

And the second:

23rd May - striped Kimono Tee under my Anise jacket (in case you can't tell from the state of my hair it was seriously windy!)
24th May - Birdie Hazel
25th May - navy knit Burda dress again!
26th May - travelling home so no pic, but I wore Deco cardie, Anise jacket and grey marl kimono tee
27th May - rose print kimono tee

I love holiday Me Made May - it makes the pics so much easier (and you tend to have 2 outfit changes in a day so twice the chance to get in a me made!)

Only one more day to go and a couple more pics to blog, so I'll post a final round up and what I've learnt this weekend.  Then I can get blogging on the backlog of garments (oh yes, and actually do some more sewing!).

Finally, a Burda Success!

For the past few weeks I've been in a weird sewing place - somewhere between Me Made May panic and holiday sewing (we are going to Sicily in mid-May - so some of my Me Made May photos will hopefully look more exotic than my back garden/ dining room!).

But I think this dress will hopefully cover me for both.

Despite having terrible reviews from most bloggers, I actually quite like April's Burda -- it's the first one I've bought for ages! 

Source: Ooobop

In addition to the cover dress - vaguely Laurel-esque?  Ok without the huge sew-on gemstones.  I have plans for this pattern, hopefully you'll be seeing it soon, acceptable muslin permitting! - I liked this pattern:

Source:  BurdaStyle (who make it very difficult to link directly!)

I wasn't so keen on the shiny fabric but thought it could make a good basic knit dress for holiday and at home.  I had some nice navy viscose knit fabric from World Fabrics (their website isn't great, but good prices, speedy delivery and the quality seems good from what I have seen so far!).

In terms of pattern modifcations, no way was I doing welt pockets in a simple knit dress so I left them out.  The pattern includes a belt but I don't love self fabric belts for this sort of dress and thought I'd be more likely to style it with a leather belt as per the picture.

Spotted anyone?

The pattern was nice and long so no length adjustments needed.  I did take it in at the sides slightly to give it a bit more of a waist and make it more fitted around the bust.  This was really due to my fabric choice rather than the pattern as the original size would have made it too bunchy around the waist to wear with a belt.  My only annoyance was that I didn't follow my sewing spidey sense and ditch the fiddly little neckband pieces.  I wasn't clear how much seam allowance to add and it was hard to attach them over the top of the pleats at the front neckline, meaning a bit of unpicking.  But again could have been due to my fabric choice being thicker than theirs.  I should have gone with my idea of cutting a wide bias strip (or I guess i could have just cut a straight grain piece since I was using stretch fabric!), which would have been much easier.  Still, live and learn!

It's not exciting but I like it a lot - it's simple and I reckon it will get worn a lot this summer.  Now I just need to find the perfect tan sandals to wear with it!

Photobomb!

More Burda, less burden

Completed my second Burda top that I had planned. This one was considerably
simpler than the previous one - they really weren't joking when it was
marked "easy" in the magazine! 2 pattern pieces, 4 seams and a hem. But it
was great as my second foray into the world of knits.

I did have (as ever!) a small disaster with cutting. This is my least
favourite part of sewing - I think I'm just not very good at it and it
seems to hold me back from getting on with the actual sewing. This time, I
didn't lay out both pattern pieces onto the fabric before I started and of
course on cutting the front, hadn't left enough room for the back to be cut
on the bias as it was supposed to be. I got around this but cutting on the
grain (since the back didn't really need to be drapey) and taking about an
inch off the length (it's a long top so this was fine).

Having not properly read the notions before buying the things I needed, I
had totally missed the fact I was supposed to use Vilene stay tape and had
bought normal twill tape. But undeterred I soldiered on and attached using
a wide zig zag stich onto shoulders and back of the neck.

I stitched the shoulder and side seams and realised that as with the
previous burda one, it was miles too big! I ended up taking it in about 4
INCHES in circumference, which must be at least 3 sizes down from my
measured size. In future I'll be taking Gertie's advice about measuring the
pattern and comparing to a similar item that I like the fit of. It was hard
to tissue fit this due to the stiffness of tissue vs the drapiness of the
jersey. But still, why Burda? I have also read about sewing using the high
bust measurement rather than actual bust so that's worth considering too.

Given the taking in I had to do, the top has more of a sleeve than in the
picture as I had to curve the seam under the arm to avoid unpicking the
shoulder seams (lazy me!). But I'm happy with it.

And my first successful attempt at hemming with a double needle! It's not
perfect but I think it's OK. There are a few bits where the edge curled and
it didn't catch and you can't see as you are sewing on the right side - I
think perhaps improving my cutting accuracy would help there.

So that's one item on my summer palette done and blogged!