third time lucky - named inari tee dress

this is my third attempt at a named patterns inari tee dress and it is definitely a case of third time lucky.  i bought the pattern when it was first released as i liked the slight cocoon shape and high low hemline.  my first two versions were disasters that never got finished.  the first one i made in merino knit but i cut it slightly off grain which meant it had an odd drape.  the second one i made in a stretch sateen but after sewing up the front and back i quickly worked out the stiffness of sateen is not great for this design. for this third version i used a lovely drapey rayon from the remnant warehouse and its a definite case of third time lucky.

i um'ed and ah'ed a bit over what size to make, my measurements best match size 40 in the size chart.  in the end i went with a size 36 making this decision based on the finished measurements chart.  the 36 would give me a couple inches ease in the bust and 3/4" ease at the hips.  i basted the front and back together at the side seams to check the fit and see if i needed to let the hips out a bit, but i was happy enough with the fit so went ahead and finished the dress as a straight 36.

now the dress is finished i am very happy with the overall fit - snug enough for a 'sack' dress, but still enough room to move.

i quite like the high low hem line.  the high hemline at the front and side splits are a bit higher than i would normally wear to work, but given the low back hemline i think overall the hemline is ok for my work place.

the dress does not have any closures and went together easily and quickly.  so beyond choosing an appropriate fabric and size there is not that much else to say about this dress.  it would be a great pattern for a beginner given the straightforward construction.

i am often tempted to put fish eye darts in the back of sack dresses to reduce sagging at the back and give them a bit more shape, but the back of this dress is pretty straight up and down so i wasn't tempted to put in any darts.

its a bit hard to make out the cocoon shape when the dress is being worn, but the photo below gives a good indication of the shape.

i must admit that when i was sewing up this dress and had the front and back basted together i tried it on and thought i'd made another dud.  but i persisted with putting the sleeves in and finishing the dress.  i'm so happy that i did as now i have worn it once to work i think its a great comfy dress.  again i must admit when i first tried on the dress i was thinking that i would be putting the pattern in the recycle bin, but i am now planning another in a black and white rayon i have in my stash.

third time lucky - winner winner chicken dinner!

til next time,
emma

double denim - decades of style 3s a charm jacket and megan nielsen brumby skirt

i've got a thing at the moment for denim and chambray so it was only a matter of time before i went for the double denim'ish look.

the jacket is the recently released three's a charm jacket from decades of style.  when it was released i was immediately drawn to its clean lines and fitted shaped.  i have been wanting to make a jacket for a long time, but have been waiting for the right pattern.  when i saw this pattern i bought it straight away as i thought it looked like a fairly straightforward make and a good starting point for jackets!

the sizing of the pattern is based on bust size and i decided to go with a size 34, being the size that most closely matches my bust measurement.  i didn't make any alternations and am very happy with the fit of the jacket. i am going to add a button at the front so i can wear the jacket open or closed.  wearing it closed eliminates the wrinkles you can see at the upper front area in the photo above.

the fabric is a stretch denim i picked up at spotlight durring a sale.  i got a metre of the 150cm wide fabric and was able to just squeeze this jacket out of the metre by piecing the bottom of each sleeve - you can see the seam in the photo below of the jacket inside out.  the metre of fabric cost $6.00, making this one cheap jacket!

the jacket went together beautifully and the instructions are very clear, although i only gave them a quick glance. one of the times i did look at them was before stitching on the facing - i love the instructions for turning the points by folding the seam allowance back over.  mine turned out quite sharp, even given the weight of the denim.  the only thing i would have liked to see is the wide point of the fisheye darts marked on the pattern like the big 4 do, but this is easy enough to work out for yourself.

 

oh yes i really like this jacket and can see me making several more - definitely a black one, but i am also thinking about bright colours too.

 

while the jacket is pretty clean on the inside unlined, i would also like to have a go at underlining and hong kong bound seams too on another version.

the skirt is the megan nielsen brumby skirt. i made version 1 in chambray that i picked up in fabric town on our recent tokyo trip. i made a medium as my waist measurement is spot on the medium waist measurement.  one of my sewing friends lee has made up this skirt and said she had got a perfect fit matching her waist measurement - thanks lee!

the skirt fits beautifully, although for the back seam i made the seam allowance the width of the zip - eg marginally smaller than the 1.5cm specified to give me just a smidgen more breathing room given my waist measurement was exactly the same as for the medium size. i am very happy with the fit.  the skirt went together beautifully.  i really love megan's drafting and the quality of her instructions - not that i really needed them really for this skirt - but they are so lovely looking you just want to have a look at them!

the  tee is the free maria denmark kimono tee - i have made this so many times i have lost count, you can check out a few of them here.  its such an easy tee to whip up consisting of only 2 pieces and bindings.  the fabric is a lovely soft japanese knit from the cloth shop.
 

 
 yep this jacket and outfit are both winners!

 til next time,

emma

darn cheap fabrics seasonal challenge - summer 15/16 the leap year edition

welcome to the dcf seasonal challenge - summer 15/16 edition. both lara and i were a bit tied up with lots of fun festivities over the summer months, so we are just getting in our posts on the last day of summer which this year is the leap year day!

lara and i bought the challenge fabric together in late january.  we were both very tempted by some beautiful bright coloured silks, but decided against buying them in the end as we both needed a bit of meterage for what we wanted to make and the cost was starting to add up.  instead we chose a beautiful quality viscose with lovely drape.

i originally thought i would make the style arc olivia dress as i bought the pattern in a recent sale. Though the day after we bought the fabric i met up with crafty jane who generously loaned me the japanese pattern book 'clean and natural' and i really wanted to try out a pattern from the book.

i considered the peplum top on the front cover but in the end i decided to make 'G' the key neck pullover.

i have only used a japanese pattern book once before, when i recently made school shorts for my son.  That book had english instructions, while 'clean and natural' is all japanese - a first for me!  when i pulled out the pattern sheet to trace i was a little bit daunted, but once i located all the pattern pieces i was feeling pretty good!
 

when i found the general where abouts of each piece i put my tracing paper down and weights in the 'corners' of the pieces to help keep me on track with the tracing.  in the end the tracing was quite easy.  in terms of sizing i had decided to make size LL based on my measurements, but after tracing about 3 pattern pieces i noticed that it seemed to be one size 'fits all'.  had i been able to read the instructions i may have worked this out before i started tracing! anyway i decided to push on as LL is the largest size so i figured the top would hopefully not end up too big.

i loved the challenge of looking at the pictures in the instructions and working it out.  the construction was pretty straightforward and the pieces all went together perfectly, so it was a really good introduction for me to japanese ladies patterns.

i do feel a bit like i am wearing a tent, but the fabric drapes beautifully and its a nice breezy top to wear.

to take the photo below (well most of the photos really!) i had to carefully hold the key opening in place. i used a light weight interfacing to match the weight of the fabric, but the end result is quite floppy.  if you are planning on making this top i would recommend giving a bit of consideration to the type of interfacing you use for the key hole facings.

 

one of the main disappointments for me with this pattern is the sleeve cuffs, mine do not look like the ones in the pattern photograph.  mine sit on an angle and are not horizontal like the ones in the photo below.

i could fix the sleeves, but really i'm happy to move onto the next project.  it may be something to bear in mind though if you want to make this pattern up. overall this will be a nice easy top to wear with shorts or jeans, so a great trans seasonal piece now autumn is just a few hours away!

 

 

now i'm very keen to check out lara's make.  til next time,

emma

summer shorts - simplicity 1887

its australia day today in australia and we are right in the middle of summer.  for the last couple of summer's i have been wanting to make shorts and have a pinterest board with a bunch of possible patterns.  i finally settled on giving simplicity 1887 a go after seeing the great makes from megan on instagram. i particularly liked the flat front waistband and elastic back of this pattern.

i posted my intention to make these shorts on instagram and i am very grateful a number of sewers let me know that the pattern runs very large.  i ended up sewing a size 10 even though my measurements put me at a size 16.

  

over the summer i have made quite a few pairs of these in linen and chambray, but these ones are made in nani iro double gauze that i picked up on my recent trip to tokyo.  this fabric is beautiful and absolutely perfect for this shorts pattern. i was extremely lucky to pick up this fabric at nippori tomato in nippori fabric town for 780 yen a metre - or $9.50m AUD! at the cutting counter the girl pointed to the price label and said 'damaged', i hadn't spotted any flaw when it was opened up for cutting so i was happy to take it.  i still haven't spotted any flaws!

 

 having sized down a lot these shorts are a bit snug to get up over my hips, but once on they are very comfortable.  the version i made in chambray are pretty tight getting over my hips, but again once on they are very comfy.  the give in the fabric choice seems to make quite a difference here.

i felt my linen versions were not quite as slim in the legs as i would have liked so for this version and noting the snug fit getting them on i took 1/4" out of the larger front pleat and 1/8" out of the smaller pleat.  this meant i took a little bit of width out of the front legs, but didn't need to alter the front waist band.  i am very happy with the fit i achieved for this version.

 

 i haven't made the front ties for any of my versions.  instead for all my previous versions i stopped the elastic at the front where the ties would go, as the instructions provide for.  for my nani iro version i made the front waistband completely flat and just put the elastic in the back, stitching it down at the side seams.  again i am very happy with fit i achieved and the look of the completely flat front.

 

 i love the construction of the pockets in these shorts, using just one pattern piece which you fold over.  it is nifty and makes construction of these shorts very quick.  the only other change i made was to use wider elastic at the back than recommended.  the instructions have you sew two casing to thread elastic through, i just went for one casing with wider elastic.

these are definitely my fav shorts of this summer, i am keen to get some more nani iro double gauze to make another pair.

lastly, fabric/habby shopping in tokyo is every bit as good as all of the blog posts i have read about it say it is.  i loved visiting nippori fabric town and also okadaya at shinjuku. this is a pic of me looking mighty happy after visiting okadaya - its  amazing!

emma

all the casual ladies (the casual lady dress by go to patterns)

i made quite a few of the casual lady dress by go to patterns last summer (i think maybe 6…) and i have just made a new one this summer.  the pattern description is:

"The perfect comfortable, easy wear, top or dress sewing pattern. With simple construction methods you’ll be making these quickly to fill up your closet. Choose your favorite knit fabric and get started today!"

knit dress and fill your closet - perfect!

this first one below is made from a soft ponte from girl charlee. the second one (my recent make) is a navy + white stripe knit from joys fabric warehouse (woo hoo they now have an online shop). the third one is a black and white spot from the fabric store and lastly a white + navy stripe ponte from spotlight.

i used medium size for all of the dresses as it is the size that correlates with my measurements and it is a good fit for me. depending on the type of fabric though i have also taken in some of the dresses along the hip line to better match my body shape. i used my sewing machine for all construction.

the pattern provides for a fully faced neckline, but i haven't done this for any of my versions.  i just removed 1/4" off the neckline and cap sleeves, turned them under and stitched them down with my twin needle - this makes for an incredibly quick make.  although for the white + navy ponte version i did use a contrast navy binding for the neckline and sleeves.

i added 2 darts at the back of all of my dresses to pull them in and give a bit more shape - you can just make out the darts in the photo above.

i've also changed the hemline around for a bit of variety, including different high-low finishes.

this is such a simple dress to make, its easy to wear and is another win for secret pyjamas - am sure there will be yet more versions to come.


emma

darn cheap fabrics seasonal challenge - spring 2015

welcome to darn cheap fabrics seasonal challenge - spring 2015.  this season lara chose the fabric.  she posted a pic of a number of fabrics she bought at darn cheap fabrics on instagram early in spring and i was immediately drawn to this printed viscose, so we agreed to use it for our spring 2015 challenge. its no longer available online, but lara said it was still available recently at the heidelberg store.

originally i thought i would make another pair of named alexandria peg leg trousers but when i got the fabric in the mail i thought it would be better made up as a dress.  

i decided on the april rhodes staple dress which had been in my pattern stash for some time. after a bit of review searching on the interwebs i decided on cutting a size small as that was the size that best correlated with my bust measurements - something the instructions suggest you do.

in hindsight i really should have checked the finished measurements as the 3" ease was a bit much for me so i ended up taking the dress in to what effectively is the extra small size.  its a tiny bit comfy around my hips, but not too tight and overall is a very comfortable dress to wear.

i do find that the neckline pulls up, as shown in the picture below.  many of the google images i looked at before starting do not have this problem.  i'm not sure whether this is because of the size i ended up making (a size small taken in to an extra small along side seams only) or the drapey nature of the fabric or that my waist shirring is not in the right place. regardless i don't really mind, i just pull it down every now and then when i am wearing it.  next time i will pay a bit more attention to where i put the shirring though.

i originally cut out and sewed the inseam pockets, but in the end removed them as i was worried they stuck out a bit through the fabric at hip level - which is an area i would prefer not to draw attention to. without the pockets this is a pretty straightforward make with no closures.

i used some left over brown voile to make the required bias bindings.  by constructing the dress with no pockets and using left over fabric for the bindings i was able to get this dress out of 1.2/1.3m of 55" fabric which is a lot less than 2 and a half yards suggested on the pattern for the full dress, pockets and bindings. 

i had never shirred before and originally i made an internal casing for the waist and threaded 2 thin pieces of elastic to bring the waist in.  this took a lot of time and in the end didn't look very good. so i purchased some shirring elastic and gave it a shot and was quite surprised how easy it was.  i did two rows of shirring as i think the print of this dress looks better with a thin belt.  i was quite enjoying the shirring though so could have happily done many, many more rows.

i am 167cm tall and i did a minimal 1/4" hem to keep the length just above knee level.  next time i will add a small amount to the length to allow for a bigger hem.

i really love this dress, it is perfect for summer work wear and i am definitely keen to make another. now to pop over to lara's blog and see her make as i know she was making a dress too.

emma