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!

Truffle Muslin pt I

So I have finally made some headway on the next project in the Sew Colette challenge which is the lovely Truffle Dress.

I have traced the pattern doing the same as I did for the Pastille and cut a 14 top tapering to an 18 skirt (hope I have done the grading right).

I am really hoping that I wont have to do a short torso adjustment and a sway back adjustment but at least I know what I am doing this time (she says *& does a big big eye roll).

All cut out and marked up,double checked all the markings before I put the pattern away this time (these patterns can be a sod to fold up again)!!!!!

I have cut this muslin from an old bed sheet (god only knows why I had a bed sheet that colour)!!!!













So tomorrow I am ready to sew it all together and then work out what alterations I need to make for a great fit. Hope everyone is getting on OK and cant wait to see everyones finished garments :) x

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!!!! 

Spoilt with goodies!

Well I am still working on my Pastille muslin but I had to share these goodies I got :)

I think my beginners arsenal of equipment and info is near enough complete.

I know I can sometimes bog myself down with too much information but in an attempt to not be so distracted by the internet I have purchased some good old fashion books.

I seem to do a lot of alterations on patterns and am hoping to be doing some self drafting in the near future so I was told a French Curve/ Curve Ruler/ Dressmakers Curve was an absolute must! I got this one from Minerva via their eBay shop. It has a square ruler incorporated. Slits and spacings for button holes as well as markings for seam allowances. Changing necklines and armholes will be so much easier now!

            This book will probably be like my bible! I have the  
            strangest body shape and find that patterns just
            do not fit first time. I am so glad I got this as there
            is so much information here and so many alterations
            I doubt I will have to spend hours researching on the
            world wide web for a long long time :)

I can imagine there are some people out there cringing at my choice of book however this encompasses everything I could foresee me using for the time being. I am self taught and again this is a bid to not get distracted when I get stuck.















I can honestly say that I never thought dressmaking would be as complicated or expensive as it has been but I am thoroughly enjoying it and now I have no excuse. So I am off to clear my table and get on with finishing my Pastille muslin.

Colette Sew Along: Pastille Prep

So I have been a good girl and although I am way way way behind I have spent today tracing and cutting and preparing my muslin!

I am off to bed now but will finish marking up my fabric tomorrow and hopefully start sewing the muslin tomorrow night!

Has the weekend gone already?

Well I had quite a productive weekend. I re-padded Deirdre but despite have the same measurements clothes fit her differently from me but at least its close enough.

Her before and after shots, she now has a defined bust and waist. I have taken some off the hips too.

I also made my Colette Meringue skirt smaller and repositioned the zip.

Please excuse the over exposure. As you can see the zip is now nicely positioned and runs smoothly into the seam and on the whole is about a size smaller all over.

And on a rare occasion here is me wearing it!

I am one of these people that hates having my photo taken and certainly dislike looking at them afterwards!















And there it is the weekend has gone already!

Colette: Meringue Finished

Well I have finally finished the Meringue skirt (behind schedule I know but I am getting there) and I have to say despite adjusting the muslin and the pattern it has still turned out a tad too big. I made a slight balls up on the zip and need to practice the scallops but once I have taken it in more at the waist it will be wearable :)

I have posted my pics here, comments and tips are more than welcome.

Here we have the finished garment, not to bad to be honest for someone of my level.

I had huge issues with the scallops so I followed a tutorial on perfect scallops by Pattern Scissors Cloth adding interface to make the material easier to work with and voila.









I double topstitched the scallops too.













As you can see I made a complete mess of this, the zip was place too low, the seam did not quite meet with the zip and I accidently managed to put the seam ripper through the material when unstitching the zip the first time round!

Despite precise marking, checking and pinning of the darts one of them runs off slightly to the side but this is not too much of a problem and doesn't notice too much.

The back darts came out fine!

Once I have reduced the waist in size I will post a picture of me actually wearing the skirt.

Now onto the next project and I'd best knuckle down and get it done :)

Over and Out or Cut and Hem???

Firstly I would like to say I promise I am working on my Meringue skirt :)

However my new toy has arrived:

I will be honest and say as a beginner I am reluctant to purchase an overlocker (and am shocked at the price of them) so I had a look at some alternatives. There are a few 'cheap' portable overlockers but they didn't come to highly recommended but my Mum managed to find this on eBay.

I thought I would give it a go as I have material that is fraying quicker than I can make the skirt!

She was a little tricky to get on the first time and god help me when I loose my threads...very little room underneath when fully raised.

This is the finished result of my practice. Not bad for an attachment costing less than £20. I know they are not perfect but at least I can finish my seams with the knowledge they wont be unravelling beneath me!

I tried a few different tensions to see what was best this is the back view I think (got them a bit mixed up as you do)!







Right back off to finish my skirt :) xx

Colette: Meringue

Well I made up a muslin for the meringue skirt and will have to make a few adjustments :( Its way to long for my 5'3 frame and possible a bit to A line compared to the picture in the book. Back to the drawing board. I am happy with the waist which is a first for me! All that needs to be altered is the length and take out some of the volume on the thighs possibly?

I will adapt the pattern tomorrow, rip some seams and have another go. Quite looking forward to wearing the finished skirt already!

Colette Sewing Handbook

Being a beginner I have jumped in at the deep end somewhat but I have to confess I have had my eye on this book for a while now which comes very highly recommended. I am just so glad I managed to get a copy of it today from Waterstones.

I am halfway through reading and cannot wait to go to the fabric store tomorrow to pick up some new fabric!

For those who wish to look into Sarai's book a bit more check out her website.