Another Heather Dress

It was only a matter of time before I caved in and made another Heather dress.

My navy version has been a runaway success this winter, so much so that I needed to dilute it to stop it being worn to death. This second version was made using a luxury ponte knit in aqua, sent to me to try out by The Sewcial Studio. It's not quite as weighty as the ponte I used for my first version, which made me think it would be better suited to a short sleeved spring version. I was right, it's a lovely quality jersey and the perfect weight for a spring dress. Personally I wouldn't want to use anything lighter than a ponte for this pattern as the princess seams and pockets require a bit of structure.

I sewed the same size as last time (size 10, grading to size 12 at the bust), with a couple of additional changes:

• Shortened the neckband. It wasn't quite snug enough on my first Heather dress and it does bag a bit, which is annoying.
• Shaved the top curve off the sleeve heads. For some reason the sleeves jut out at the shoulder on me, a bit like a low key Krystle Carrington. I didn't change them on my first version but it was far more noticeable this time round (probably because of the lighter coloured fabric), so out came the scissors.
• Added another 1.5cms to the front side seams at the bust for a better fit.

That's it, nothing major, and like last time, it was a quick, easy sew. Everything on the inside was sewn on my overlocker and the hems were finished with a twin needle. I think I've been lucky with the fit on this pattern - it's comfortable but still figure skimming on me. I like the short sleeves for the warmer weather too. I'm wearing the dress with tights in these photos to spare you the sight of my blue/white winter pallor, but as soon as the false tan kicks in I'll be baring my legs and wearing it with clogs!  x


Fabric was given to me free of charge by The Sewcial Studio for review. All views my own.

A Heather dress for winter

This is the Heather dress from Sew Over It, the first completed pattern from my #2017makenine list and my new favourite thing! It's a chic little number, with interesting curved seams (great for colour blocking) and fab oversized pockets. What's not to like?!

Size-wise I cut a size 10, grading out to a size 12 at the bust on the front side panels. The only other changes I made to the pattern were to shorten the hem by two inches and shorten the sleeves by an inch, both of which are standard adjustments for me. The fit is exactly what I was hoping for - it's a reasonably tight fit with just enough ease to make it comfortable to wear. The pockets are really cosy too.

There are no instructions to stabilise the shoulder seams, but I stabilised mine with twill tape to cope with the weight of the dress. All construction steps are illustrated with photos, making this a nice, straight forward sew. The only area where I puzzled for a minute was the pockets. Just remember that you're attaching the pocket bags to the front side seams, not the side seams as you normally would. Once I'd got my head round that, the dress came together very quickly - I think I sewed the whole thing in one afternoon.

Fabric recommendations are for medium weight knits with a low stretch percentage and I used a navy ponte Roma, that Alice at Clothspot very kindly sent me as a gift. They have a few other ponte knits in stock, but this particular shade of navy really called out to me. The weight and drape is perfect for the pattern - it's stable enough to cope with all the curved edges, but doesn't stretch out of shape. I loved working with it, and have already made a second garment from the remnants (coming soon!)

I've sewn with quite a few knit dress patterns over the years and this is by far my favourite. It's soooo comfortable for lounging on the sofa and can easily be dressed up for a night out. I want to wear it every day! I already have plans for a striped version with short sleeves for summer, and at least one more winter version.  What's your favourite knit dress pattern? x

A Tale of Two Walkleys

Remember the striped Walkley top by Wendy Ward I made last year? It's been such a favourite of mine (I wear it at least once a week, often twice) that I knew a dress version for summer was on the cards. I like the fit, it's quick and easy to sew and you only need a metre of fabric.

The fabric I used was a lovely cherry blossom jersey from Girl Charlee - a light cotton blend with a good stretch to it. I originally ordered one metre but ended up with two, as a 'print smear' was discovered on the original batch and I was sent a replacement. It took me ages to actually find the tiny print fault and I'm sure I'd never have even noticed it amidst all that cherry blossom. I appreciate the gesture though and I did end up with two metres to play with, so thanks Girl Charlee!

When I first made the top, I deliberately cut the smallest of the three sizes offered as I wanted a closer fit. This time round I cut the next size up as I didn't want the dress version to be too clingy. Apart from removing a 1" wedge from the neckline, I made no other changes to the pattern. It really is an easy sew: shoulder seams and side seams sewn with an overlocker, then neck, armholes and hem turned under and sewn with a double needle. That should have been the end of it, but alas, I sewed the side seams with a 1.5cm seam allowance instead of the specified 1cm. Doh! The resulting fit was a bit clingy for a dress, but perfect for a top… so I chopped the bottom off and hemmed it accordingly. I then cut and sewed a second dress, making sure I used the correct seam allowance this time. Lucky for me I had that extra metre to fall back on!

Top version….

…and dress version!

The Walkley pattern is a very simple shape, but it really works for me. The neckline's just the right height (and I'm fussy about anything too high) and the cut of the capped sleeves gives it a youthful edge without making me feel too mutton-like.

I now have two garments from the same fabric and I couldn't be happier with them. The dress is slightly fitted but still roomy enough for a few ice creams. It's also easy to dress up or down with flip flops or clogs. And the top is perfect for jazzing up a pair of jeans or a denim skirt. I'll be packing both of these for my holidays this summer.  x

Karen Drape Dress

Let me introduce you to the Karen dress by Maria Denmark. The pattern is quite a grown up, slinky design and despite having very few opportunities to wear grown up, slinky designs, I felt a burning need to buy it as soon as it was released! There's a lovely pleat detail on one side that drapes artfully across the stomach - for me, this transforms a simple jersey T-shirt dress into something far more elegant.  

The pattern is sized from XS to 2XL and for reference, I cut a size M. The advice is to choose your size based on your high bust measurement. Maria shares her own measurements and size on the website and very fortuitously they happened to be the same as mine, so that bit was easy! The sleeves can either be short or ¾ length, but I chose to lengthen them to full length to keep out the cold. I also shortened the front and back pieces by about 7cms. 

Maria claims that the pattern is almost as fast to sew as a T shirt and she's not wrong. The only thing you need to spend a bit of time on is pinning the pleats correctly. The pattern includes a brilliant tip to help with this - simply mark each pair of pleats with different coloured pins - such a simple idea yet so helpful when it came to folding the pleats in place. There's a video here to show you how it's done. Once the pleats are basted into position, the rest of the dress is as quick to sew up as the pattern claims. I sewed most of it on my overlocker, apart from the neckline and hems, which are simply turned under and top stitched with a double needle. 

The pattern recommends using clear elastic to stabilise the neckline, but to be honest I've never had much luck with it and when I've used it my necklines have always ended up baggy. Because my fabric contained 10% spandex, I thought I'd try something that looked a bit sturdier to stabilise the neckline. I used Vilene Fusible Bias Tape and was delighted with the results. The tape is bias cut, so easily fits around curved necklines, but it also includes a line of chain stitching which I think gives it stability. After top stitching and a good press, that neckline was as flat as a pancake - so satisfying!

Let's talk about the fabric - it's called Tropical Silhouettes, a cotton French Terry knit from Girl Charlee. For ages I presumed French Terry was from the same gene pool as terry towelling, but this is nothing like it. It's a smooth jersey on the top side with a sort of tightly looped pile on the reverse. It's not too heavy and feels really cosy, and because it has a high spandex content (10%) it has a marvellous drape.

The fabric recommendation is for something drapey with at least 5 to 10% spandex and this does a great job. If anything, the fabric is almost too springy - when you hold the dress from the  neck and let it hang, it bounces almost to the floor and back again! The pleats probably drape a bit lower than they're supposed to because of this, but you don't really notice it because the fabric design is so busy. 

This is definitely a pattern I'll return to, probably in a solid colour next time to showcase the pleat details a bit more. In the meantime, I'm now the proud owner of a grown up, slinky dress! x

Fabric was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.

Cold weather sewing

The word on the street (as Huggy Bear would say) is that the UK weather is due to turn distinctly inclement. Phrases such as 'Arctic blast' are being bandied about by BBC weather people, which has forced me to bring a couple of knit garments straight to the top of my sewing queue. 

As easy as they are to sew, I do find sewing with knits a bit boring, which is why I've decided to liven things up a bit by trying out a new pattern. It's the Maria Denmark Karen drape dress - as chic and classy as my sewing pal of the same name.

I like the fact that the dress can perform equally well as a casual dress (with boots and a cardi) or tarted up a bit with heels for the evening. The detail that reeled me in was the draped section that artfully skims over the stomach - yes! The fabric recommendation is for a knit with 5 -10% spandex so I've chosen this lovely tropical French Terry knit from Girl Charlee UK - it's soft and drapey so should work well. 

Second on my cold weather sewing list isn't quite so exciting - it's a sweatshirt. Come back, come back, it's not that boring I swear! I was originally going to use this lovely Aran sweater knit fabric from Miss Matatabi  (the fabric has since sold out unfortunately).

My plan was to make this into a fab snuggly jumper for the cold weather. But then Annie from the Village Haberdashery sent me samples of the Alison Glass Andover Jersey knits and I was torn - so many lovely colours to tempt me! The pattern I'm thinking of is the Capital Chic White Russian sweatshirt which I've made once before here. I fiddled about with that version and amended the pattern so it should be a quick, easy sew. I do think that two different colours (one for the body, one for the sleeves) works really well on this pattern, so that could be the way to go instead of the cable knit. What do you think? Cable knit effect or baseball style? Or one of each?!

I already have a wardrobe full of handmade knits, so this little batch should be enough to see me through the forthcoming Arctic blast!  Have a good week. x

Coco round two: the dress

I told you I had another Coco up my sleeve and here it is: a dress version with slash neck and long sleeves!

If anything, this was even quicker to make than my first Coco top, probably because I'd been through the whole process once before. Even allowing for matching up the stripes on the side seams, it can't have taken longer than 20-30 minutes to whip up once it was cut out. Definitely my kind of sewing! The original dress length is quite short and flirty so I lengthened it by just one inch, and that's the only change I made to the pattern. Once it was sewn up, I did have to take the arm seams in (about 1cm all the way down from underarm to wrist), which I didn't have to do for my Coco top. I think this was simply due to the double knit I used for the Coco top being thicker.

The fabric I used for the dress version is a very lovely striped Campan Jersey, kindly gifted to me by Dragonfly Fabrics. It's not cheap, but the quality absolutely shines through - it's gorgeous and feels very luxurious to wear. It comes in every conceivable colour/stripe combination, but in the end I played it safe and went for a classic navy with narrow beige stripes. Photographing narrow stripes is a nightmare, so here's a close up to give you a better idea of the colour.

Campan Jersey isn't strictly speaking the stable knit that the pattern specifies. Even though it's only 3% lycra, it has slightly more stretch than a truly stable knit, but I think it just manages to sneak through the net as suitable for the Coco pattern. It's not overly clingy, just clingy enough to pull you in, in all the right places. For the dress version especially, it gives a slightly drapey effect which I really like.

I love this dress, the simple cut and classic stripes make it an effortless outfit. It looks great with tights and a cardigan and I can see it being equally easy to wear in the summer with clogs or flip flops. Another Coco win! Happy Sunday. x

Fabric was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.

Lady Skater dress

My November make for the Minerva Blogger Network is the Lady Skater dress by Kitschy Coo.  The Skater Dress was originally released as a children's pattern, but so many people asked owner Amanda  to make a larger version that she eventually caved in and drafted a grown-up version for us Lay-dees. I'm so glad she did because for me, finding this pattern was like finding the Holy Grail. I'm really not joking either - I've been on the hunt for a basic knit dress pattern forever. I mucked about with the Colette Peony pattern in the past (here and here) and to be fair, I was more than happy with the results. Both dresses get a lot of wear, the problem was that I felt I was floundering a bit during the sewing process and very much making it up as I went along. Having a perfectly drafted pattern that ticks these boxes, along with excellent online instructions, has made this dress an absolute BREEZE to sew by comparison.

You choose your size according to your high bust and high waist measurements. Annoyingly, I was slap bang in the middle of a size 4 and a size 5, so blended between the two sizes, cutting a 4 around the waist, hips and neck, and a 5 in the bust area. Amazingly, this seemed to work! Amanda strongly advises making a test muslin of the bodice fit, which for once, I fully intended to do, but the fit was pretty good so I just steamed ahead. I added clear elastic at the shoulder and waist seams as directed and they really help give the dress shape and hold the weight of the fabric. The other thing I've always struggled with when sewing knits is the neckline. They're either stretched, or too baggy, or just plain rubbish. The neckline instructions on this pattern are ACE.

The only changes I made to the pattern were to shorten the arms to allow for my T Rex affliction and to shorten the skirt very slightly. There's a super helpful bit in the pattern that indicates exactly how long the dress is in its original state. If you're interested, it's designed to just hit the knee if you're 5'5".

For fabric, I used a medium/heavy weight Ponte Roma jersey in Forest, which is a lovely quality. Soooo smooth and silky, I keep having to stop myself stroking it, it's so touchable. If you fancy making your own knit dress, then you can purchase the Lady Skater dress kit from Minerva Crafts here. The kit comprises 2m of Roma jersey in Forest, matching thread and a pack of clear elastic. This amount of fabric is enough to make a size 5, long sleeved Skater Dress and a practice bodice if you're that way inclined.

Now that I've made this once, I can see this pattern being my go-to winter dress pattern.  It's comfortable, sassy and SSOOO easy to wear, I love it! In true Lady Skater style, I leave you with my very best Jayne Torvill impression…. x

The kit was given to me free of charge as part of the Minerva Crafts Blogger Network. All views my own.

My fourth and final Peony dress

This is yet another variation on the Colette Patterns Peony dress.  Yes, this is now my fourth version (here are the first, second and third), but I love the shape, it suits me and I can get it to fit me well, so why not? 

It's made from navy sweatshirt knit fabric (Goldhawk Road, £4.50 a metre), with leftover red double knit scraps used for binding the neck and cuffs.  Sweatshirt knit isn't the most glamorous fabric in the world, but it's so cosy and warm, I love it. I sewed it in exactly the same way as my last knit Peony, the only difference being that this time I tried some extremely fine fusible knit stay tape from A Fashionable Stitch on the neckline and hem.  I'm still not entirely sure what I'm doing when I'm trying to stabilise a neckline, but it seemed to give a good, smooth finish. I can definitely tell the difference on the hem, it hangs perfectly. 

One big plus is that whenever I wear this dress, I get a distinct Star Trek vibe. If you reversed the colourways and shortened it by about a foot, it could almost be something Lieutenant Uhura would wear.  Sort of.

I think my cold weather sewing has now come to a bit of a natural end. My plan was to make a few dresses that I could wear during the arctic UK winter whilst still retaining a modicum of style, and I'm pretty pleased with the final tally.  You can layer them up with cardigans and tights and still be warm and stylish (well that's the theory anyway.) Now I know I've got enough knit dresses in my wardrobe to keep me warm, I can get on with what I love most - making pretty clothes for the summer. Live long and prosper my friends. x

Raglan Sleeved Knit Dress

Top of my sewing plans for 2013 was to sew more knit dresses to wear during the colder months here in the UK. The reason was partly to keep my Peony-esque dress company and partly to prevent it from falling apart from overuse. I have two Maria Denmark knit dress patterns that were perfect candidates, and as I'd never used her patterns before, I went with the more simple of the two - the 2007 Kjole raglan sleeved dress.  

Onion is the name of the company but I'm not sure what a Snitmonster is, any ideas? 

I made the basic, long-armed version, without the bias panel at the bottom and it was pretty simple to put together: front piece, back piece, sleeves, neck binding. It was my first time sewing raglan sleeves but they were easy once I'd figured out how they fitted to the front and back pieces.The actual dress could hardly have taken more than half an hour to sew up. Add another half hour for adding the neckline binding and hemming and you have a dress in an hour. Hoorah, exactly what I was after.

You can see the raglan sleeves and bust darts in this photo

I used a £3.50 a metre turquoise sweater knit fabric from the Goldhawk Road that actually looks like it's knitted. I got carried away and bought 3m but barely used half of it to make this dress. I'm quite tempted to make a knit top with the rest and pretend I knitted it… The fabric is almost certainly a polyester blend (I've heard some suspicious crackling going on) so I'm not expecting it to keep its shape and look good for years, but if it lasts this year I'll be happy as I intend to get some serious wear out of it.   

I made a size 40, which is a size larger than I'd choose in a woven fabric, but I was worried about unsightly bulges showing through as the dress is a straight up and down style. It was a bit too big though, and not very flattering. After mulling the problem over for a whole minute, I simply sliced off about 1cm from each side and arm seam. The difference was dramatic, the dress was now fitted and about a trillion times more flattering. The moral of the story: sew the size that corresponds with your measurements instead of trying to be clever.

If you're looking for a simple pattern that's specifically drafted for knit fabrics, then this may well be it. The pattern that arrived in the post is in Danish, but an English translation of the instructions was emailed to me as soon as I'd purchased the pattern.  And the finished dress is SSSOOO cosy, it makes me want to make a cushion nest on the sofa and eat crumpets. Which is exactly what I'm going to do. Happy Wednesday everybody. x