Yay Yay Yay Jersey Dress Finished

**DISCLAIMER** The following pictures were taken with the aid of my 4yr old daughter so please excuse the poor focus in some and I also HATE having my picture taken :o)

 

This dress has been in my to do pile since I brought the fabric back in February and I am so please its finished.

The fabric itself is a very very stretchy jersey fabric. I had to use a pattern specifically for knits/jerseys as I have never sewn with it before and was unsure. I did run into a few problems but needless to say it turned out ok in the end.

I used Project Runway 2883 and after reading the reviews and doing a bit of research I decided to modify the pattern by adding 2.5 inches to the bodice and shortening the skirt so the gathering was on my waist not under my bust (it really would have looked like a maternity dress on me).

   I paid less than £1.60 for this little beauty on eBay!

My biggest problem was gathering the fabric. I don't have a gathering foot yet so I done it using two lines of long stitching. This part was fine but trying to stitch the gathers in place was near on impossible for me and bloody well frustrating. I ended up going round the skirt/bodice join and tried to manually gather as i stitched which got most of the gathering secured. Then I tried the dress on and realised that the stitching would not hold with the stretch of the fabric…I wanted to cry by this point!

so I decided to use elastic….

I dont know what made me think of it but I thought it would be more secure, give the waist line more definition and help with the gathering issue. It did thankfully (I would not have want to unpick all that zigzag stitching lol)

  This is the view from the front so I was relatively pleased with the outcome.

The seams were nice and easy. I just used a basic fold over hem on the neck, arms  and hem  being careful not to stretch the material and the great thing is you can hardly see the stitching.

Below is the front and back as the dress is un-accessorised.

 

And me being silly because my four yr old was getting the hump with pressing the shutter button lol!

From the Ashes: Sorbetto Finished

Well this is the final finished top and boy did I have some issues fitting it! I must have either the weirdest body shape or I am still thinking that all patterns should fit first time!!!! I am still not 100% happy but refuse to sew a dart of 4-6mm to reduce the tiny gaping at the armhole which I am sure is made worse why the bias tape (shop brought and quite stiff).

I ended up cutting a 10 shoulder, 12 bust and 14 hips but there was a tiny bit too much strain across the bust. Being lazy and not wanting to do a FBA as I have never done one before, I unstitched the pleat and repined to fit my bust with minimal gapage.

I altered the pattern and cut my fabric (from Ashley Brook Fabrics). It turned out well. Or so I thought. I decided to wear this for my birthday and as the day wore on so did the obvious flaws. The shoulder did not sit right on me. There was way to much gaping and too much room in the bodice which lead to twisting.

I altered the shoulder and pressed it. Without realising I had let the pressing cloth slip and it melted my new shoulder seam completely. Well ladies I nearly cried.

But I had to do a repair job which entailed redoing the bias tape on the front (and as you can see I had to do it wider to cover the old tape as the fabric ripped when I tried to unpick it). I then had to chop about an inch off the shoulders to remove the burnt material. The overall fit is not close to perfect.

Complete disaster has been averted and I have a lovely top in a print I just love that fits really well. So well in fact both my Nan and my friend want me to make them one....fitting for me was bad enough, not sure if I could fit for anyone else!

I will be making another at some stage but I want to really expand my wardrobe before the warm weather gets here :)

Great Print from Ashley Brook Fabrics priced at £2.95 per metre

A Quick Little Dress??

I thought I would take a day out from the Sew Colette to knock up a quick dress that I had already made. I knew the stretch jersey knit (purchased for £3.95p/m from Ashley Brook Fabrics in Romford) would not be suitable for any of the Colette projects so I thought I would make the Simplicity 2406 seen as though I already had the pattern traced and cut.

It needs another wash or two for the interfacing to de-bulk (my own fault as I think I used heavyweight instead of my lightweight one I used last time.

Not really the best figure hugging dress for me but comfy and wearable for school runs and house days especially with the pockets sewn into the seams. :)

Again excuse the picture I really do not photograph well.

I used view C on the pattern but wore this today with my own belt rather than the intended sash. I will admit I had some trouble with the sleeves, even though I used the same pattern as size as last time they just would not go right so I unpicked them and done them again :o)

I finished the facing with bias tape for a smart finish and was pleased with my gathering this time round.

I used bias tape again to fish the arms as was not keen on using elastic again. This gave the sleeves a really nice finish.

I run out of bias tape so just machines a basic hem which hangs quite nicely.

Sew Colette: Pastille Finished Finally.

Ok So I have now finally finished my Pastille Dress and it is well and truly wearable (just need to wait for some warmer weather)

I am off to do the school run now but I will post a pic to twitter and Flicker later of me wearing the dress once I set my camera up and find where I put my tripod.

So here is the final dress. Due to the disasters I had I have had to make a few alterations.
1. I added an extra pleat to the bottom of the skirt for personal preference.
2. I had to cover the neckline with a peter pan collar and I used Suzannah's tutorial to do this.
3. I removed the cap sleeves and converted them to basic short sleeves.

Now onwards to the truffle dress :) x

Louise picks her 1st lot of material

So I took my little one Louise (age 4) to the fabric shop with me. Ashley Brooks in Romford Marketplace (or now known as the Romford Shopping Mall) are really good with her and don't mind her sitting down behind their counter out the way while I browse and procrastinate over fabrics!

I asked her to pick some fabric she liked for her summer wardrobe and here we have her choices all priced at £2.40p/m and perfect for the hopefully hot summer.

I was very happy with her choices however I was thinking dresses and she has asked for skirts which would be easier but then I will have to match them with tops!!!!