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

jaywalkin' & some new duds for elvis

on friday 13th june i was overwhelmed to find that i won the tessuti jaywalk competition.  as i said in my last blog post there were some fantastic entries and i am over the moon to be named the winner.

i had never entered a sewing competition before and i am really grateful to tessuti for putting on the competitions they do and offering such generous prizes. there are not many opportunities to enter australian sewing competitions and the tessuti competitions are great in offering a challenge to sewers, as well as showcasing the amazing support and positivity in the australian online sewing community.

on to some recent makes (er well, maybe from may…).  first up some oliver + s raglan t-shirts for elvis.  i'd never made raglan sleeves before, but am a big convert, given it eliminates the need to set in the sleeves.  i combined a variety of sizes for arm length, torso length etc based on elvis' measurements.  all of the printed fabrics came from either fabric.com or girl charlee.

i also used the oliver + s pattern to make a jumper from some fleece from spotlight.  for this i used smaller seam allowances and added cuffs to the sleeves and hem.

in this pic he has teamed the jumper with pj pants, made from some japanese cotton with bullet trains, purchased at pandora house in narita by mr flagg on a work trip. 

and this time with some different pjs, made from flannelette from either spotlight or lincraft - can't remember.  i also made him some black cords and one more pair of pj pants, all using my TNT kids pants pattern OOP simplicity 3584. phew that's enough sewing for him for a while. 

are you getting the picture that my kid has a thing for 'transport'??

lastly can i say a big hello to all my new readers, i hope you find some interesting things in my posts and thanks for all the lovely comments i received on my jaywalk dress!

emma

kirsten kimono on safari

happy new year!

having made my kirsten kimono dress, i always knew i wanted to make several of the tees.  when girl charlee had a sale in november i snapped up a bunch of yard cuts with a plan to make several kimono tees for summer.

i cut out 4 tees in early december and worked on them when i could in among christmas parties and festivities.  i finished them late on 27 dec in preparation for a trip the following day.  mr flagg does a lot of travel for work and sometimes i am lucky enough to go with him.  i hadn't been on a trip for several years though and 28 dec saw us flying to south africa - kimono tees would be perfect!

cotton jersery $3.85 yard

slub cotton jersey blend $4.20 yard

cotton jersey $3.84 yard

cotton jersey slub $3.50 yard

before i started sewing the tees i glanced over the instructions again and noticed that while the pattern has you add your own seam allowance you are not supposed to do this for the neckline - no wonder my neckline for my dress version didn't look like the photo on the front page of the instructions!

i rectified this issue for these versions, constructed them on my sewing machine and used a twin needle for the neck binding, arms (which I again added a binding to) and hem.  i also used a knit stay tape on the hems.

this is me in our accommodation on a game reserve just before going on an afternoon safari.  i also made the shorts.  i made them around oct/nov last year, i had great plans of trying a new shorts pattern like here, here or here, but in the end to get a quick outcome i used now OOP lisette 2245 which i used the year before to make up a pair of shorts, using the pants pattern.  next summer's sewing will definitely involve trying a new shorts pattern!

the fabric is a red sateen from spotlight. i didn't consider it when i purchased it, but it has no stretch - i do prefer to have a bit of stretch when making shorts/pants.  but these shorts are comfortable enough and i like the colour.  the construction is pretty straightforward - darts at the back, waistband and side zip.  i used a black conventional zip from my stash. i bought 80cm of the sateen on sale, i think it was about $8.00, but i did need to cut the back pieces on the cross grain. 

here's kirsten on safari checking out some rhinos - wow safari is amazing.  we saw heaps of animals including giraffes, zebras and hippos as well as this elephant below who wasn't too happy about letting us past.

this is me at lunch on the second day in the game park.  its another kirsten i made prior to the colourful ones and prior to sorting out the neckline issue.  cheesy i know but i wanted to take this version on safari, the fabric came from rathdowne fabrics from a trip to melbourne in the middle of last year.  again a cheap but cheerful make at something like $8.95 - i can't quite remember.

at the entry gate to the game reserve there were some craft markets, i picked up some fabric for $15 AUD which is probably outrageous, but i wanted something to remind me of the trip.  am not sure what i will make from it, perhaps an a-line dress or boxy top as it is quite stiff.  i really like the colours and pattern.

one more pic kind of related to sewing and fabric - a lasting impression of driving through the country side to the game reserve was the colourful clothes lines, they were everywhere - this was snapped out the car window.

emma