McCalls Josie in a purple print

My latest dress is one I had in mind for a while. I wanted to use a colourful batik in my stash and decided that McCalls 8030 (otherwise known as #JosieMcCalls) was a good pattern for it - I always like a shirtdress! 

I cut it at 16/18, and found that it went together quite easily. I decided to make the longer version with the straight hem and standing collar only. I didn't add sleeve bands to this version, either. 

I made a few changes to the pattern: I lengthened it by 2" since when you put a belt on, it usually lifts the hem somewhat. I don't think I needed 2" -- could have gotten away with just 1". I may go back and shorten it even if I do have to unpick the bottom of the button placket to do so neatly. But maybe I'll just see if I get used to it... ;)

I would also change the pockets - the opening for my hand is really small, just big enough to fit but I don't like to have to wiggle my hand out again! I find the armhole openings really deep (definitely would show off the side bra at a certain angle. I might pin it up to test whether I can reduce the depth without it looking too weird. 

I chose vintage buttons with a bit of contrast, and since I'm not that fond of D-rings, as called for in the pattern, I replaced those with a vintage sliding buckle that I had in my stash - I picked up a whole bag of random vintage belt buckles a while back at a thrift store and so many of them are very pretty. I made sure to slightly adjust the width of the belt when I sewed it up so it would fit snugly into the buckle.

What do I think? I like it, but I don't love it yet. I like the fabric, the buttons, the overall shape - but I'm not crazy about the fit. I think I need to do a few adjustments and then will be more satisfied with it. Or perhaps leave it in the magic closet for a bit?? It's a really cheerful, bright fabric, which I love, so I do want to be able to wear it! 

Foxy Patterns' Bria Dress: It's a Real Green Dress!

I recently tested a dress pattern, the Bria by Foxy Patterns. I haven't done any testing for a long time but this was an interesting design so I signed up. It was an interesting process, and Foxy Patterns made some changes in response to tester feedback - and the pattern is now live if you like it too, and want to try making it now! 

This was my tester dress - I only have to redo the neckline a little, as it gapes a bit in the front. This was an issue that she has fixed in the final pattern. I made the dress version with the short, tulip sleeve option. I also made it with the slit, but closed that up once the test process was done. I have short legs, and didn't feel like the slit really looked or felt great on me. 

I really love how it went together. It was easy, with some nice details (optional front slit, sleeve options, top view with side zip, etc) that could make it a pattern that you could get a few different looks from. I found the instructions pretty clear, and the steps quite logical. 

I used a rayon from my stash, which I picked up at a thrift store a while back. There was just enough of it for this project, and the drapy nature of the fabric works very well with this design. I will have to wear a slip, though, as the fabric is a bit see-through in the skirt, but lining it would have added too much weight - and also, I was trying to follow the pattern closely since it was a test make, so didn't want to add in anything besides basic fit adjustments (mostly shortening the bodice & skirt, as usual for me). I may also go back in and add some pockets, I haven't quite decided yet! 

In any case, this pattern is now available and I may make another with a few more personal taste changes if I do. I really like the fit and the sleeves are a great look, in my opinion. 

Weekend Review: The Party Dress Book

The Party Dress Book / Mary Adams
NY: Potter Craft, c2010.
160 p.

I picked up this book at the thrift store just before the holidays - I mean, how could I resist it? It looked fun and that impression was right. I enjoyed this one a lot, even if I'll never actually make a little party dress from the included pattern (runs sizes 4 -14, I would fit into the 14) since this isn't my style, to wear anyhow. To look at, it was a delight. 

I didn't know about Mary Adams or her fashion house based in NY in the 80s. But there is quite a bit of discussion of it and the things she made for various celebrities, brides, and so on. That part was so interesting in itself! But there were also great photos of so many dresses. You can really see her vision; almost all of the dresses are similar, highlighting a strapless/halter bodice, fluffy shorter skirts, and ruffles, bias, and lots of poof. She shows some that are a bit different, like her Marie Antoinette inspired dress, which I really liked; it has a squared neckline and wide shoulder straps that are almost cap sleeves. Lots of embellishment, of course! She also loves colour and spends a chapter talking about it, and how to blend layers of organza to get original colours.

And the embellishments and use of fabric are fascinating. She discusses her preferences for scraps, and for cotton organdy which she had to hunt through random NY fabric shops to find. (Now I want some...) The photos show how she creatively used trims and embellishment as well as things like piecing, quilting, french seams, pintucks, darts etc. to create a look. 

After the intro chapters, there is one on techniques, which I was really interested in, there are some unique ideas there. She discusses the things I've just mentioned, and shows how she uses applique, trim, patchwork, ruffles, and my favourite, bias strips. The cover photo shows a black dress which is covered with bias strips just sewn on in even rows, leaving a bit of the black to peek out. I love the effect. 

And the next chapter is more functional, entitled "Sewing Your Dress". As noted there is a paper pattern included in the back of the book if you are into sewing the strapless, fluffy skirt design. I'm sure many would like it! I might have when I was younger, too (in the 80s ;) )

I would say the sewing instruction is not for a rank beginner. There would need to be some familiarity with the basics before you could follow along without panicking, as there isn't a lot of construction advice. This was a great read, though, probably best as a history of her fashion house and a visual feast with lots of embellishment ideas. Along with the bias strip feature, I also liked the way she mixed fabrics and created ruffles, flounces, and an "apron dress" specifically made for Amy Sedaris. I got a lot of enjoyment from this over the holiday break! 

 

Style Arc Ines in Purple Knit

In another addition to my Fall wardrobe focus on purple, I thought I'd try a simple shift using a thrifted knit I picked up a while ago. I looked through many patterns to try to find something like I had in my head; I finally decided on the Ines knit dress from Style Arc. 

I used the Ines as my base pattern, but made quite a few changes. I lengthened the short sleeve to a 3/4 length, for more of a fall style. And I decided, because of the glen plaid print of this fabric, to leave out the seam at the waist, to avoid pattern mismatches. I just cut it with the bodice and the skirt pinned together on the fabric. It worked but does take out one of the interesting details of the pattern, the topstitched waist seam. 

I also added side seam pockets. Those pocket flaps on the front of the pattern are just decorative but I wanted real pockets -- I still find the buttoned flaps a nice touch though, and so still added them to the dress for a little more interest in this very plain outfit. 

It sewed up fairly easily. The pocket flaps take a little bit of concentration as you do want to get them perfectly even. And I had to baste and redo the neckline a couple of times; the first time I had to take it off and shorten the neck band by an inch to get it to sit smoothly on my neck. Then it seemed to be okay, although I don't think it's perfect, there is a little bit of pulling but I'm not redoing it again! 

I was planning on lengthening the dress quite a bit, as it looked pretty short in the pattern illustrations, and when I measured it, I thought I'd need to add a few inches. But in fact I did not have to add any length, rather, I had to shorten it by about 1/2" from the original length to get the hem where I wanted it. Style Arc does draft for 5'6", and I am barely 5'2" so that could be why! I'm not sure why I first thought I'd have to lengthen it. Oh well, better than making it too short to start.

It's okay, a functional dress, but I'm not loving it. I am wondering if that's because the fabric and the neckband make it feel a bit too casual or t-shirty for me. Or if the overall silhouette just doesn't work. I may test it out with a belt to see if that works. I'll give it a try and see if wearing it makes me feel good, or if this is destined for a donation to a friend. 

Hinterland #1

Well I made up my first Hinterland Dress, after much pattern fiddling & two muslins (two more than I usually do!) I had to make a lot of changes to this one for a variety of reasons. 

First I had to make a small bust adjustment, as this pattern is designed for a C cup. This was the first time I've actually gone to the trouble to do it, and I'm glad I did, it really worked out. Because of the size differential, this adjustment actually got rid of the bust dart entirely. 

I also added a 1/4" neckline dart (something I often do) and then had to take in a 1" dart on each back shoulder. It was a lot! But the back neckline still wasn't sitting quite right, so after reading a bunch of online reviews both on IG and in the blog world, I adjusted the shoulder slope. When I change the shoulder in a pattern, it's usually to take up the outer edge of (usually) just the right shoulder. But here I took 1/2" up from the NECK edge, tapering out to nothing by the shoulder seam. This was unusual for me, but it really worked. After that the bodice seemed to fit quite well. And so I went ahead with a wearable muslin! 

The changes I made to this particular dress were to lengthen the pocket bag so that I could anchor it into the waist seam - that reduces floppiness, which is great. I used an old rayon from my stash that I'm not overly attached to, so that I wouldn't balk at making mistakes! 

There are still a couple of things I would like to adjust with this pattern. First, the front neckline does gape a bit -- I hope I didn't stretch it out (staystitched it right after cutting but...) but thinking it might need to be adjusted by another 1/4" dart. I often have to take up to 1/2" out of the centre front so this doesn't surprise me terribly. 

The other change is that the waistline, after all my adjustments, is too hi-low for my tastes. I like the height of the front waistline, but then it dips down quite a bit to the side seams and across the back, and I'm not fond of that. I am going to straighten out the waistline to the length of the front bodice all around, and then make another to see if all these adjustments do the trick.

I don't usually spend so much time on fitting a simple dress like this. However, I bought the Creative Hinterland design course, so want to get the fit perfect so that I can begin on the design options and know any issues I'm having are from my redrafting and not the original I've begun on ! 

In any case, this is quite a wearable, light summer dress and I'm sure I will get some use out of it. It was a challenge but I'm happy I followed through on it. 

"Vintage" 90s Sarong Dress in Rayon

My Spring project for Fabricville has arrived! I was excited about this one -- this "vintage" 90s McCalls 8501 was so appealing, and then I found the perfect fabric option. This is a beautiful rayon-nylon blend, in my favourite blue and yellow colourway. 

As part of being a Fabricville blogger, I can choose a pattern and fabric and only have to share it on their blog. But you know I'm going to tell you about it too! 

This is called a "3 Hour Pattern". I find that was a thing I saw often on patterns from the 80s & 90s -- overpromising to get people to buy a pattern ;) That's 3 hours of sewing time, not the careful cutting part. And probably only 3 hours if you're a quick sewist, as I am not. 

But it wasn't too complicated. A front, back and overlay, plus a little tie piece and a neck binding. I of course overcomplicated things by trying to add pockets! But I can't imagine a summer dress without any. It was a bit fiddly to figure out where to attach the pocket bags, somehow that overlay confused me a bit. But it was worth the time.

This fabric is 90% rayon, 10% nylon, and that makes the hand a little different; it's not a challis, it's easier to handle than that. And I really like the way it drapes, too. The front has an overlay that is sewn into the side seam and then ties at the side with another little tie that you sew into the opposite side. Quite secure. 

The changes I made to the pattern:

• Shortened the body above the waist by 3/4"
• Lengthened the bottom hem by 1" (a bit tricky with those curves)
• Added side seam pockets

Isn't it strange to call something from the 90s vintage? I don't feel like it was that long ago. Maybe if you lived through the era, it's not vintage to you! In any case, this is a light summer dress that I know I'll wear this year, vintage or not :)

Sew Frugal with the Milou free dress pattern

 

This is a project I made for a number of reasons - a few online challenges, and the desire for a new spring dress in a nice yellow! 

I was inspired by the #SewFrugal challenge on IG, always a fun one; you are asked to make something from a free pattern using fabric from your stash. Add to this the "Mellow March" theme from MAGAM, also on IG, and a PatternReview contest, and I was inspired. 

I decided to try the free Milou Dress by Fabrics-Store.com. The loose fit, but with inset gathers on front and back, looked fun to me. I had a lightweight yellow cotton-poly sheet in my stash that I thrifted a few years ago, and thought it was the perfect match. 

I enjoyed making this, although with a free pattern you often do get what you pay for. I found this one pretty good overall, with one major exception. The neckline is tiny, and I mean just under 20", when the average woman's head is 21-22". Mine, however, is a large head - I have a gargantuan cranium! So it was particularly impossible to fit this over my head, which is important in a pull on dress! Luckily, it is a neckline with just a bias facing, so it was very easy to enlarge the neck opening and bind it appropriately. Of course if you wanted to keep a higher, tighter neckline you could always add a back slit in the neckline and face it. 

Another slight complaint is that there were no tips in the instructions on how to get a clean corner on the insets. I looked up a tutorial on Youtube to remind me. There were links to a few other techniques in the instructions, including one on how to add side seam pockets. I did this of course! 

Otherwise it was a pretty good project. I do find that the sleeve is a bit wide at the hem, I'm not sure I like the straight line all the way down. I do like the sleeve rolled up, but I am thinking of going back and narrowing the sleeve down toward the hem a bit. I also added 2" of length but I could cut that to 1.5" if I make this again, as I ended up taking a deeper hem than my usual. 

One of the challenges in the PatternReview contest was to make a basic solid coloured dress and style it for day and night. I had fun with those photos, but do think I'll likely wear this most in the day verson. I consider yellow a basic in my wardrobe! This was a fun make despite the small issues that cropped up, which were all easily fixable. I like the finished pattern - the original was colour blocked (very subtley, in white and cream linen) so that's always an option, too, but I love my solid colour version that I think shows off the main feature of the pattern, those inset gathers. 

Evening look!

Cover Designs! #38: The Wonders

 

Cover Designs is a feature in which I try to match up the outfit on a book cover with a dress pattern and sometimes even potential fabric matches as well.

Today's pick is The Wonders by Elena Medel.

Summary from publisher:

The Wonders follows Maria and Alicia through the streets of Madrid, from job to job and apartment to apartment, as they search for meaning and stability in a precarious world and unknowingly trace each other’s footfalls across time.

Maria moved to the city in 1969, leaving her daughter with her family but hoping to save enough to take care of her one day. She worked as a housekeeper, then a caregiver, and later a cleaner, and somehow she was always taking care of someone else. Two generations later, in 2018, Alicia was working at the snack shop in Madrid’s Atocha train station when it overflowed with protestors and strikers. All women—and so many of them—protesting what? Alicia wasn’t entirely sure. She couldn’t have known that Maria was among them. Alicia didn’t have time for marches; she was just trying to hang on until the end of her shift, when she might meet someone to take her away for a few hours, to make her forget.

Readers will fall in love with Maria and Alicia, whose stories finally converge in the chaos of the protests, the weight of the years of silence hanging thickly in the air between them. The Wonders brings half a century of the feminist movement to life, and launches an inimitable new voice in fiction.

While we only see the cover dress from the back, this long sleeved shift dress should be pretty easy to replicate. It's the fabric that might be tricky! 

You might want to try the free Shayla shift dress from Tiana's Closet. We don't know what the front of this cover dress looks like, so it just might be the casual V-neck of the Shayla. This pattern also has a sweet button detail on the sleeve for that something extra.

Or you might prefer the Ultimate Shift Dress by Sew Over It, even if there is a bit of a difference -- the SOI shift has a back opening at the neckline, unlike our cover image. But it's close! 

Or if you wanted to try copying this in a knit, the Jalie Nicole might be just the one! The centre line drawing has just the same silhouette. 

Of course, to really get the look of this, a cityscape panel print would be the best fit. I couldn't find any quite like this one, but there are a number of city prints on Spoonflower that would be fun to try out, and the good thing about that is that you could go with woven or knit, whichever you preferred. Here are a few ideas! 

Urban Tapestry Abstract Cityscape by Paula Bagy

City Blocks by boldtvillemayor

City Big by j9design

Shades of Blue City by SweetCoolVibes

While none of these fabrics are exactly like the cover image, the city imagery could carry the theme over into a potential real life make! And if you're fortunate enough to find a panel print, a shift dress is always a great choice to make the most of it, no matter what the design.