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. 

Style Arc Blaire in Upcycled Duvet!

 

I'm very happy with my new Style Arc Blaire blouse! I had a lot of fun making this one. It's the blouse I cut out in April intending to make it for the various upcycling challenges that month - but I have just now had the chance to finish it! 

The lines of this boxy blouse are really interesting -- lots of chance to play with colour and/or print. I picked up this duvet from the thrift store a few months ago, finding the print irresistible. It's a lightweight cotton-poly blend, quite crisp but not a heavy fabric. Perfect for this blouse, both for the stripe play and for the double layer required on the bottom part of the pattern. 

I found this a straightforward pattern for Style Arc. The instructions are of course quite sparse, being Style Arc. But they are logical, and there are some illustrations for the more confusing bits, which was very helpful. The most unique thing about this pattern is that the bottom piece is two layers: the inner is a straight bottom band , and the outer has a large U-shaped cutout on the sides, to highlight the underlayer, whether that is stripes in a different direction, like mine, or any colour blocking you might be doing. It's quite fun! I did find the U angle a bit hard to hem neatly, but that could be because my fabric has zero give at all. In a cotton or linen you might be able to smooth out the curves a little more easily. But my fabric is so busy it hides the small wrinkles so it all works out LOL! 

I love the cut on sleeve as well, it's just the right size for my preferences. There is a sleeve cuff, which gave me another option to play with stripe direction. The instructions are to sew the outer cuff, turn it under and stitch in the ditch to catch the inside. With the small size and angles I thought that would be too fussy for me, so I just sewed the cuff on in one go with a zigzag finish and pressed toward the bodice. That was very easy and gives a tidy finish as well. 

I was really lucky to find the perfect buttons in my stash. I had a card of vintage buttons that were just the right size and finish for this blouse. I had another set in mind at first, but found they were too shiny and distracted from the black tones of the blouse. These ones are matte and have just a little extra interest to them. I love how they run down the white stripe on the button placket. 

This is super comfortable - the fit is great. The only alterations I made were just for length - I added 2" to the bottom sections only. I like this length and the whole vibe is a lot of fun. I'm really happy with this one, so glad I finished it :) 

Free Patterns on my mind, inspired by SewFrugal26

The SewFrugal Challenge ran in May this year, and it is always an inspiring one for me! I had so many ideas for this year's challenge. I have a lot of free patterns in my collection to choose from -- I went through my options before finally deciding to make the Kelly Watch the Stars top by Festive Road as shown in my last post. 

But here were some others that I considered as well! 

Tiana's Closet has a ton of free patterns. I looked at, and even downloaded, three tops - the Isla, Basilie, & Nomi. I also looked at the Madera dress and may end up trying that someday also, it has nice lines! 

I have the ITS Deba Topper in my stash and think it will be a useful addition to the summer wardrobe. Just couldn't find the right fabric for it this time around. 

I also even briefly considered the Hanbok vest Baeja, a free pattern by Sewing Therapy. But I'm not sure how it would fit into my style so didn't go for it after all. 

The last one I considered making was the Manhattan Top by Sewing and the City (which you can get for free when you subscribe to her newsletter). It's so cute & can be made as a dress, too.

And of course, once all the #SewFrugal26 posts were shared for all the amazing things that others were making, I got even more cool ideas for further free projects in future! Here are a few I am eager to try later on.

I liked the look of the Declic Top by Atelier Scammit as a simple summer top. This was new to me. Quite a few people made this one and it looked great on everyone. 

The Janet Celeste Zero Waste Top was also new to me. It's just the kind of design I like, and now I want to try it too. 

Another discovery was the Maeve Dress by Violette Field Threads. This is a flowy summery style and might be fun to try. (It's also available in child and tween sizes if you sew for younger people).

And I had forgotten about Imby's Flowy Top from Karmme Apparel -- I will have to investigate that one again for another summery option. 

Do you have a favourite free sewing pattern to recommend? 

SewFrugal with the Kelly Watch the Stars Top

 

#SewFrugal26, a fun IG challenge, was running during the month of May this year. I decided to sew along, but had a hard time deciding on what to make - there are so many great free patterns out there. I finally decided on the Kelly Watch the Stars top, a pattern by Festive Road, which I first saw over at PatternReview. It's in French, but if you don't know any French, Google Translate can help! It's a pretty straightforward design in construction terms, anyhow. 

I decided that I also wanted to make this from stash fabrics. So I looked through my stash for smaller pieces that would go together. (this pattern is a great scrap-buster). I finally decided that I would upcycle an old skirt (Simplicity 4236) which I made in 2014 but have only worn a couple of times. I hadn't given it away because I loved the fabric. And there was *just* enough once I'd unpicked the skirt. 

The black yoke was made from the scraps from a Matchy Matchy Skipper top that I made in 2023 - fortunately it has no clear nap so I could cut the front and back differently, one crossgrain, to make it all fit on my leftovers. 

I made a couple of small adjustments - I found that the sleeve cuff wasn't quite long enough so added an extra 1.5" -- maybe a little too much but my fabric would not stretch to fit, as it's interfaced (and my cotton poly is zero stretch). Also, instead of sewing on the cuff and then turning it in with a pressed edge and stitching in the ditch I just sewed on the folded cuff in one go with a zigzag. Much easier. 

I found the fit around the shoulders and arms really good, but it's a bit tight at my hips, even with grading to the next size. I will add another inch to the hem width if I make it again but for now I just opened up the side seams with a little side slit. Does the trick! 

The curved yoke was actually quite easy - they do mention clipping the seam to get it to sew smoothly, but do be careful doing this as the seam allowances are only 1 cm. (3/8") so don't clip too enthusiastically! I really like this pattern and can see using it again. A great option with nice details, for a free pattern. 

Altering a thrifted skirt suit

Last week I shared how I shortened the sleeves of two thrifted blazers to make them fit right and look like they were made for me. And one of the blazers was part of a skirt suit. The skirt needed a bit more work than just shortening in order for me to be able to wear it, but the suit together made it worth going to the effort to get this just right. 

When I tried on the skirt, I found it a good fit across my hips and posterior, but the waist was too large. The waist is finished with a bias binding, essentially, so it's pretty easy to unpick. The zip is at the centre back so I could easily adjust the side seams without too much extra fuss required. I unpicked the binding for about 4 inches, pinched in the side seam and the lining seam by 1/2" and stitched it down in a wedge about 4 inches long, trimming both and the binding (including the interfacing under the binding). Then I folded everything back down, stitched the binding back on to the outer skirt, and then basted, pinned and hand stitched the lining back onto the inside of the waist binding, as it had been originally. 

I forgot to get a pic of the skirt all unpicked but here it is
 ready to have the lining stitched back on

After this the skirt both fits and is much more functional. After about an hour of work or so, I have a great suit that fits and that I can mix and match with things already in my wardrobe. I think that's worth it! I may still shorten it at the hem by another 1/2" but I'll try it all together to see if I really need to. 

Skirt all done! And the hanging loops sewn back onto the side seam area

Now that it fits properly at the waist, I may still add in some side seam pockets. The seam allowances are pretty wide (at least 1/2" each) so it would be easy to stitch on some pocket bags. But I do wonder if that might throw the fit off. The matching jacket does not have pockets because of its design (pleats from shoulder to hem) so I might have to try it if I actually want to wear this as a complete outfit.  I will think on that idea a bit longer!

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. 

Altering Thrifted Blazers for a personalized fit

Even though I make most of my wardrobe, I still love thrifting, and sometimes come across wonderful jackets and blazers that fit well and would be both expensive and time consuming to make for myself. This is one garment I often buy because of these elements. I recently found a houndstooth blazer, in petite sizing, that is perfect except for the sleeve length -- that is always an issue for me. But it's an easy fix, I usually just have to tuck the existing hem depth up and stitch it and it's the right length for me. 

With this jacket, there were two non-functioning buttons on the sleeve vent. So I took off the bottom button and moved it above the other one, about the same distance as the original. This gave me lots of room to fold up the existing hem and catch-stitch it. Easy fix. 

I also found a purple skirt suit for $15, which fits in beautifully with my fall colour scheme. The jacket has interesting details and fits nicely, again just a sleeve length adjustment required. This jacket had a simple sleeve with no details at the cuff, so very easy to shorten in my slapdash way. The sleeves were quite long here, so I had to fold up 2". I carefully catch-stitched this to the lining so that nothing was showing or pulling on the right side. It's quite amazing how just ensuring the sleeves are the right length makes the whole jacket look so much better! 

The matching skirt needs more work though, and it will be a bit more complicated. I need to shorten it and narrow the waist too, and maybe add some pockets! More on that next week. With, hopefully, photos of the whole altered suit!

Thrifted Threads, literally

On a recent thrift store round, I found some DMC perle cottons and rayon stranded thread, priced very affordably. I have a lot of regular cotton 6 stranded threads but I haven't actually seen DMC rayon thread before. So of course I bought as much as I could. It's so shiny! 

I'm looking forward to experimenting a bit and seeing how I like working with it. Maybe I will even use it on my next project, one I've designed for myself. Here's a sneak peek. 

I first designed the colour version in Canva, then made a line drawing from it that I will use for the pattern. The original can serve as colour inspiration. I'm planning on doing a lot of sampler style filling stitches according to whim, as I go. Once I start on it I will also start sharing my progress! Can't wait to show it to you :) 

Thrifting Day!

It was just a long weekend here in Canada - we have a Victoria Day weekend, apparently we are the only country to still celebrate Victoria's birthday, not even the UK does! I guess we just like a holiday ;) 

In any case, not only did I get to do a bit of sewing room cleanup, and cut out a blouse over the weekend, I also did a bit of thrifting -- of course! I did my regular rounds and at my favourite shop (the one with the big craft section) I was able to find 3 beautiful solids. The pinkier red on the left and the blue are both a cotton/linen blend, I think, maybe some rayon? They are heavy and soft. The orangey red on the right is a stiffer linen, we'll see how it looks after I wash it. It may be a bit too orange toned for me, I'll decide later. I don't tend to buy solids but lately have come across a bunch all in my wardrobe tones at thrift stores so now I have a good stash of non-poly solids.

At another store I was fortunate enough to find a few of my favourite things -- patterns! One from the 90s and the two "Non-Stop Wardrobe" McCalls from the early 2000s. I love wardrobe patterns. Have one or two of those and you could sew up an entire capsule wardrobe. I actually feel like taking on a challenge to sew up every piece in a wardrobe pattern -- as long as the size range crosses both my upper and lower body sizes ;) I'm usually right at the break. But these are fun and I've already enjoyed just looking over each one.

Then I stopped in at Fabricland for a couple of basic notions, and went through the pattern discard rack. I ended up with a random Butterick Katherine Tilton top, and two Vogues that have been on my wishlist for a long time. Now I just need an occasion to sew up the Tom and Linda Platt dress for! 

My plan to sew down my stash this year is being thwarted by the amazing thrift fabrics I've been finding. But I am sure it will all balance itself out in the end. And I have some fabulous fabrics to draw from now. 

Embroidered Simplicity 3684

I finally did it -- made my very own Vyshyvanka! A vyshyvanka is a Ukrainian embroidered blouse, but mine is not traditional. I found this lovely soft yellow cotton at the thrift store recently, and decided to use it to make Simplicity 3684. I chose View C as the one with the most "vyshyvanka" feel to the sleeve and I also liked the simple collar band.

I did all my regular adjustments to this blouse pattern - shortened above the waist by 1/2", shortened the sleeve (in this case I shortened both top and bottom parts of the sleeve by 1" each) and graded from 14 at neck to 16 at bust and 18 at hip. This usually does the trick for me. I do find the shoulders a bit wide, so may take those in at the shoulder seam a bit, would definitely remove some width if I make this again. And the fit is quite close, check those finished measurements before you choose your size. 

It went together quite smoothly. The sleeve/cuff used a continuous lap, which I am used to from Burda patterns, but I do have to stop and think hard about it every single time! I found that the most difficult part of the whole thing, the construction was pretty straightforward otherwise. And as it turns out, I don't have to unbutton the cuffs to slip this on, so it was unnecessary anyhow! There were also two fisheye darts on the back, but when I tried it on I didn't like the way the blouse sat with those darts, so unpicked them and pressed them out again. This fabric is pretty forgiving.

As for the embroidery: 

I tested out various stitches and thread weights on my scraps, to see what I liked best. This cotton is lightweight and translucent so I was concerned about shadowing from the threads on the back. I found a simple motif that didn't require heavy stitching, again because this fabric doesn't have the weight to support lots of stitching. 

I ended up using the rhomb pattern, which can symbolize nature's rebirth, abundance, fertility, etc. From what I could find, this is often used in men's traditional designs, but I thought it would work nicely in my modern, non-traditional project. I used single, small motifs on the cuffs, button placket and collar, but created larger double rhombs for the sleeve decoration. All of these except for the sleeve are interfaced, so the stitching is supported well. I will keep my eye on the sleeve and see how it holds up. 

I chose three threads from my stash - all DMC. White, light blue (827) and a darker blue (996). I used three strands of each and the motifs were all done with buttonhole stitch and a few straight stitches, while the white was all straight stitch. I considered french knots but when I was testing I realized they would be too fragile for regular wearing. Using buttonhole stitch means there isn't much thread on the back, either, which is perfect. The stitching, after the testing and tracing, took me about 4-5 hours to complete. Not too bad, but these are simple motifs so it wasn't as lengthy. I don't know how to cross-stitch so went very basic here, also I know I am a slow stitcher so didn't want something really complicated for a first try. 

Buttons were a lucky match. I searched through a big box of shirt buttons that my sister gave me a few years ago, and found the perfect size and muted colour for this project. I wanted buttons that would blend in and not distract from the stitching. I think these worked really well. 

Well, after much dithering, I finally went ahead with a first simple Vyshyvanka project. I have a handful of other blouse patterns to try out and see if I like them for this purpose, but I had to start somewhere! This Simplicity pattern, which I put on my 2025 MakeNine list, was the one to begin with. Now that's 2 Make Nine projects completed for the year :)