darn cheap fabrics seasonal challenge - autumn 2015

woot woot it's a blog post, it's been a while and i am very happy to be back posting.

firstly, i should note that my blog graphics have been vastly improved by the very talented alex from when all you need is...  she has done an AMAZING job for me and am really happy that my graphics now reflect a bit of the real ernest flagg.

back to the challenge - a seasonal challenge where lara and i use the same fabric from darn cheap fabrics and make up whatever takes our fancy.  i had some surgery on my leg and haven't been able to travel to melbourne for a while so lara did the choosing this time.  when she messaged me a pic of the fabric i loved it immediately, if i had been at dcf with her it is definitely a fabric i would have been drawn to straight away. lara's message said it was a poly knit, almost like a fine gauge jumper knit. its a lovely fabric and very stable to sew.

my make is a moneta / lady skater mash up and i am thrilled with how it worked out.  i have never hacked patterns together before but figured a knit would be very forgiving so went for it without a stunt run.

i have made the lady skater previously, a great pattern but the main problem for me, as rachel points out is also an issue for her with the dixie diy ballet dress is that it hugs the tummy a bit too much for me.  hence i thought the moneta would be a good option as it has a gathered skirt.

i bought the colette moneta pattern before googling for reviews.  once it was in my inbox i started to look for some reviews and rachel's was one of the first that came up.  she points out that she got excess fabric in the upper bust area.  when i stuck the pdf together it struck me that the bodice looked like a weird shape at the side seams so i decided to do a mash up with the kitschychoo lady skater.

i did the following simple mash up:

• used the lady skater bodice, straightened off the bottom and added the moneta neckline
• used the moneta skirt

i used 3/8" seam allowance throughout, except for joining the bodice to the skirt where i used 1/2" to give me a smidgen more allowance to help get some nice gathers. when joining the bodice to the skirt i started the gathers in ernest from about 1 and 3/4"from the side seams so that i don't get extra bulk near my hips.

i constructed the entire dress on my overlocker (a first for me) and used a twin needle on my sewing machine for the neckline and hems.  about a minute after sewing the shoulders and sleeves on it occurred to me that i really should have lined the bodice but at this stage i couldn't be bothered unpicking the sleeves. its ok, but i might look into getting a slip to wear underneath it for a bit of extra warmth in winter.

this will be a great dress for work and works well with a black jacket.  it is a perfect addition to my 'no iron' work wardrobe. win!

doing all of the construction on my overlocker made this an incredibly quick make and i will be on the look out for another suitable fabric to make this dress again to add to my no iron work wardrobe. i am quite new to turning under necklines and sewing them down with a twin needle.  does anyone have any tips on how to approach the shoulder seams? my machine struggles getting over the seam bulk.  having said that i really should just start using my cover stitch machine now i seem to have conquered my fears with overlockers… 

even though its been a while since posts i have been doing a lot of sewing so if i can get some photos taken i have lots more to show you in future posts.

now i'm excited to go and check out lara's make.

emma

Stripey Lady Skater & scrappy Flashback tees

This is the first Lady Skater I made.  I got the fabric from The Remnant Warehouse during a 25% off sale.  Its mid weight and stable, perfect for this dress.  I purchased this as I was after something stripey to recreate an inspiration dress originally posted by Portia (being new to blogging, I must say it is quite weird creating this personal link to someone I don't know).

I can't quite remember how much fabric I purchased - I think maybe 2.5m which was enough to cut the skirt on the bias with a centre front and centre back seam.  I cut a size 4 which is pretty much consistent with my measurements.  I followed the instructions of basting the side seams once I had the bodice together to test sizing as I didn't make a muslin.  I then went ahead and sewed the straight size 4.

I am new to sewing knits, but this went together easily.  Most of the care was given to stripe matching which worked out quite well in the end.

Stripe matching at front centre seam + water stain I somehow managed to get from the plants just before this pic was taken

The stripe matching didn't start so well for the sleeves.  Not having sewn stripes much before I originally cut the sleeves matching the stripes at the shoulder seam.  When I started pinning I realised this was a problem and luckily had enough fabric to cut some new sleeves.  This time I chose a stripe to match at the upper bust area and it all worked out OK from there.

Sleeve stripe matching

I used my coverstich machine for the neck, sleeves and hem.  I have never used an overlocker so it is a bit of learning curve with the differential.  Here's another stripe matching pic, just cause.

As I was pretty happy how this turned out I went and cut 2 more, but with short sleeves.  I didn't consider it at the time, but the fabric for the new dresses was lighter weight and not as stable.  I should have shortened the bodice a bit due to the pull of the fabric, but in the end I just gave the dresses bigger waist seams.  I still wear the other 2, but do think that I should unpick the seams and elastic and shorten the bodice marginally.  The only problem is I have way too many things on my to sew list so I doubt this will happen.

I also had some small scraps left over, perfect for some little tees for bub presents.  This is the flashback skinny tee pattern, which is a great pattern that goes together easily.

The second tee is made from a few tees I got for myself on sale, but when I got them home I realised I was tempted by the sale and they were just a bit tight...