Monday 17 March 2014

gekkeiju (japanese laurel)

'gekkeiju' as i am reliably informed by google translator, means laurel in japanese.  this is a sleeveless colette laurel in a soft japanese cotton from tessuti.  one of the things i love about a sleeveless shift is the ability to wear it all year round - when it is cooler i wear them with a long sleeve tee, tights and boots.


i bought this fabric during the recent sydney sewcial - a fantastic day of eating, drinking, chatting sewing and fabric shopping.

here's an awesome pic taken by susan from measure twice cut once inside tessuti's surry hills store of little betty, sew amy sew and i having a great old chat behind these amazing japanese cottons.  i loved them all but decided on the blue.  actually looking at this pic i wouldn't mind getting the pink for a laurel top.


here's another one of susan's pics of me purchasing the fabric.  i had no idea she was taking these - i was too engrossed in the sewing chat and buying fabrics! i do love having a photographic memory of purchasing the fabric - wish i had susan out fabric shopping with me all the time.


on to the dress.  i hadn't made the laurel before, i bought it recently as i like the sleeve and top options.  i was a bit turned off previously that colette patterns are drafted for a c cup, but decided i really should just buy the pattern and do a sba.  i didn't realise it before i bought the pattern but the front does not have waist darts, meaning the pattern on this fabric remains intact.  like.




you can see the back waist darts here which mess with the look of the print.  overall i am pretty happy with the fit - i can still do some slight tweaking for future versions, but in general am pretty happy. particularly as the photo below shows my first muslin.


according to the pattern size chart i am a size 4 bust and size 8 waist.  i hadn't read anything on any of the blog reviews i read saying the pattern ran super large for them so i cut a straight size 8 and did my first sba. though i must admit i mainly just checked out the photos and scanned the reviews.

looking back i really should have flat measured the pattern and paid a bit more attention to the clues in the blog posts i read, particularly posts from similar sized sewists noting that they cut size 0 - 2.    after a couple of muslins i finally settled on cutting a size 2 bust (no sba) and graded down to 0 for waist and hips, with the following alterations:

  • 3/8" forward shoulder adjustment (next time i will do 5/8" - this alteration was a first for me)
  • redrafted armscye for a sleeveless version, i did this using style 2622 as a guide, as well as trial and error - as i wanted to be able to wear this dress in winter with a black tee underneath
  • i also tapered the side seams further from the waist down when sewing up the dress.  i will probably taper a bit more next time.

i lined the dress with 'elegance' from martha pullen - 55% cotton and 45% silk, which i purchased online for $5m during a sale.  i read about this fabric on gertie's blog when the topic was suitable linings for summer dresses.  it was great to sew with and feels really nice on.

i finished the neck, arms and hem with black bias binding also from tessuti.  i sewed it on with the sewing machine and hand stitched it down.  it was a great job to do in front of the tv, particularly as the opening round of the afl took place over the weekend.




it's great to have a dress to remember the fun of the sydney march 2014 sydney sewcial by. 

just one last pic of the first outing for the dress - billy bragg @ the sydney opera house.



emma



14 comments :

  1. This is perfect in so many ways.

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    1. Thanks heaps Maria - was pretty happy how this turned out. The fabric is just so lovely to wear.

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  2. I love it and I'm sure it will get a stack of wear

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    1. Thanks, I think so too - have it on for work today!

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  3. Fabulous print for this dress - love it and the fit is great!

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    1. I love the print - now i can't get the pink one out of my mind, think i'll have to head to surry hills and pick some up - looking forward to seeing what you make in your black and orange print.

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  4. I am in awe of your hems and lining!

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    1. Thanks - I did the hand stitching as I was sure I wouldn't be able to achieve a clean look on the sewing machine!

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  5. This looks great. Love the fabric and it looks like you got the fitting spot on.

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  6. The dress looks fabulous and I am more than happy to come and photograph all your fabric shopping!

    So glad you liked the photos, was such a lovely meet up and shopping day.

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    1. I would love it - makes for a more interesting blog post with photos about the fabric adventure!

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  7. That pattern, that dress.. I loves it! Looks fab on you Emma. I might have to convince my sister to make me one, too.

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    1. Thanks Tara! Amy has some amazing laurels too. Thanks heaps for the vego links. A few of the cafes we were keen to try weren't open on the weekend - only in brisbane. We went to Mondo Organics for dinner which was pretty good, unfortunately the mushroom tart main was a bit stodgy, but apart from that it was pretty good. thanks again!

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