A Completed Emery Dress

I have joined the party!

Meet my latest make - Emery. I did make this a few weeks back so I have got a lot of wear out of this especially at the games and laterally at the festival. A little fox pas though - at the time of making this dress I did not realise how much it resembled the school tunic of Glasgow academy....

Outside St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh

So following in the footsteps of my philatelists dress, this is the Glasgow Academy dress. Usage strictly limited to weekends and halowe'en. Heh.

Lurking the close - Well as it is an emery I had to get a Dolly Clacket esque shot outside the door :p

I bought the fabric back in April at Sherringham market in the pretty Norfolk town where me and the other half went on holiday - to visit where he grew up. I'm not really sure what the composition is but I melted a little bit of the inner waistband when I was presing it so there's at least a good %age of polyester in there... it was also all kinds of stretchy which made it a pain to sew.

I've read a few places that the bodice of the emery was a little short and sure enough after making a muslin (:O:O:O (only of the bodice though)) that it was indeed a little short. I also didn't like how high the neckline sat so edited the pattern to remove a small slice starting at the botton of the shoulder and along to the centre front.

After adding a little bit of length at the lengthen/shorten lines allowed the bodice to hit my waist

I didn't fancy the bow or the collar so made up the dress with none of the options but made sure to keep the inseam pockets. Im not sure I could wear this style with no pockets they're so darn handy! They're the perfect size for keys and a phone (both were totally in my pockets while taking photos) and are so effortlessly hidden within the fabric of the skirt when you're wearing the dress.

there was a slight offset occurred when hand stitching the waist - im not gonna lie you can notice it when worn but meh the front looks good!!

I'm thinking the back of this dress is still a little broad so the next time I'm going to either make the top back darts a little bigger or maybe cut the size down and only use 1/2 inch seams - does anyone have any thoughts on this fitting issue?

Added bonus - the zip lined up!

I really like the pattern for this dress - it really lends itself to large prints so much so I have another one ready to go - once the back issue is sorted!

The only thing i would do differently next time is to shorten the hem by about an inch so I don't have to take such a large hem.

Has anyone else made up the emery dress?

Also while i'm here I have a couple of shots of the cat print bronte I posted last week

Another photo lurking around next to St Mary's

This one is a little far out but I think it's just possible to see that the fit is prety good.

A slightly closer shot the top is a little loose around the waist but then - thats how she wanted it!

Have a good week guys
JCS

A Second Cat Print Bronte

Happy Monday!

Where has time gone?? So after a busy two weeks of taking part commonwealth games activities, and another week of the Edinburgh festival plus a thesis which has now passed the mere planning phase, free sewing time has been strictly limited!
 On the plus I did manage to whip up this Bronte top for my mum on Friday night. (I'm also waiting to find a tripod for my camera to arrive so the picture is awful at best)

Bronte Top

 It really was a fast make this one and because I had made it before and there were now the full compliment of sewalong instructions ( here) I was confident I knew what I was doing! I kid not I am like the slowest sewer ever and i started this at 6 pm on friday and after a dinner break and a beer run and an hour long battle rethreading my overlocker it was finished by about half 10.

The top is a little tight on me but my mums measurements are that of the patterns size 10 and I cut mine in a 14. Although on seing this I think i'll make any subsequent versions for me in a size 12.

The fabric for this was a cat print lightweight jersey from remnant kings - I picked it up near the end of the sale and they don't have it online any more, but yeh! cats :-D. I also think the binding worked out better this time than the last - it sits flatter and doesn't droop the same after a full day at the festival! (after giving it to her it was put on straight away and she loved it!) so she liked it, I'm proud of how it turned out and I have some fabric left over for a tank top. WIN!

Has anyone else made up the bronte? I really love the neckline (as i've said before) and reckon when the cold breaks through the window in the flat it will be a useful extra layer!

Also a recent purchase I made was some woven labels to add to my makes! Does anyone else use these? I thought they were pretty cool.

 

Hopefully I'll have my big project finished soon and can share a few more makes.

Have a good week all

JCS

Tilly and the Buttons Lilou dress

Meet my Lilou.... or rather the Philatelist Dress! (I've given a name to a dress :-O it feels weird however apt)

Lilou dress at culzean castle!

Based on my measurements I cut a size 5 - forgetting to check the 'finished garment sizes' and ended up with a dress so big that I could have fitted a friend inside too :-(. So after 3 hours a bit of hand sewing and a full tub of pins I had a dress which fitted!

you cant expect to go down the west coast and not get attacked by wind!

The fabric is a lightweight cotton picked up in mandors (as usual) for only £6.99/m. I only picked up 2m of it as it was originally going to be something else...so had to change the skirt from the pleated version suggested to the clemence gathered version from near the beginning of the book. this dress therefore is a marriage of clemence and lilou. a match made in heaven methinks :p

so as a result of all the pinning and adding extra bust darts, the back and front waist differ in height by about an inch. this is a 'feature' of the dress that definitely bothered me - until i woe it out! I received a compliment from my ultimate critic, my mother and when I asked her "but what about teh wonky waist" she said "well if you didnt tell me I wouldn't have known". BOOM. the dress is a win! I think this will become my travel to the states dress when I go in September.

well someone looks awkward...

I love the stamps on the detail and even placed the fabric so I would have queen Vic slap bang in the centre front - i didn't really mind about not matching the pattern at the sides though because its rather busy and so interesting it doesn't (in my mind) make a difference.

rather awfully taken picture ahem...

I think my favourite stamp print is this Hannover one... although it did take a while to realise that it was Hannover NH not Hannover DE :-( oops!

I'm definately going to make this up again - this time though i will line the skirt too so i don't need to wear a slip. :-) - oh and make a muslin so i don't end up with a wonky waist (or maybe just try the size 4....)! I think i'll also try the pleated skirt variant too.

Has anyone else made up Tilly's Lilou?

even my vogue coat made an appearance!

 So I went to the table tennis today for the commonwealth games - it was really great actually - we didnt arrive in time to get a seat to see the scotland ladies so we went around and saw the indian vs NZ ladies and the malaysian vs northern ireland ladies and it was amazing! we also saw the trinidad and tobago men in the second session - its reminded me how much i enjoyed it back in school! It's so fun to watch too. We're going to the boxing tomorrow too can't wait! The whole town is buzzing its such a great experience :-D

outtakes!! haha i look horrified!

Take Care guys is anyone else watching the games?

JCS :-)

Simplicity "1460"

So the whole point of keeping a blog is to document progress right? and part of progress is leaning from your mistakes right? well simplicity1460 was one such mistake.

This was going to be my first piece for my vintage pattern pledge - a pretty tunic in a 50's style which was suitable for both work and play.

I picked up this cotton lawn and the pattern from Minerva back in March/April and made it up almost straight away. That's how long this has been sitting. collar unfinished, unhemmed, no buttons and generally unloved.

I kind of gave up by this point and just attached the cuffs

 The problem with this tunic is partially I cut this before putting on weight but mostly that the shape around the shoulders was just - weird. It was like walking with my shoulders hunched forward and together.

The overlocked facing edges worked well enough...

 I even tried it on my slimmer friend and although it came together at the front the shoulders were still weird.

So the things I liked about the pattern:
I liked the darts, maybe seems strange but I think they worked well in giving shape to the front
I liked the potential - I can see that with the right tweaking and alterations that this could be a really pretty tunic
the peplum style - i have said before and ill say again this is a style that works for me and i love it!

I think i'll maybe try again with this at some point with more experience under my belt with shoulder/back altering. and as for the fabric, I see a woven tank style in its future - a sorbetto perhaps?

what does anyone else do with their 'not quite perfect' makes?

JCS

A Completed Bronte

So this wasn't in the sewing plan however when this pattern was released I couldn't resist! Meet [Charlotte] Bronte!

Apologies for the distance shots - I was trying to keep the sunburn out of view!

 Made up in an Alexander Henry jersey knit, this is the softest fabric i have ever had the pleasure of putting next to my skin!

this was a metre long remnant I have had in my stash for about 6 months and was just waiting to be made into this top. There were vague musings that I would draft a tank top but I thought the fabric deserved something a little better...

This top included a lot of firsts for me:
1st time sewing a knit
1st binding
1st time using twin needle and proper stretch stitch

and all in I think it turned out pretty damn well! I also think this was a good fabric/pattern to try working with knits on because it was dark - any snags of the thread have been hidden! and the small issue I had with attaching the binding at the end is cleverly hidden by the overlap :p

These pics were taken after wearing the top to work all day and apart from a little drooping of the front neckline it kept its shape pretty well.

Clearly the other half never got the memo to tidy the house...

 I cut a straight size 14 with no alterations - and the fit was perfect! I could have cu a 12 but would have resulted in a tighter fit which I'm not so keen on in knits. I also made absolutely no attempt to match the pattern... haha I don't even think its possible with this pattern

I don't quite know whats going on with the hem on the right hand side there...

another first for this make - it was the first make on my machine since it was repaired! and its running like a dream! :-)

So i'm not sure when i'll make this up again but it certainly fills a hole in the wardrobe. I really like the style and think it could work well made up in a more plain knit.

Has anyone else made up the Bronte top?

Take care guys

JCS :-)

The Sewing Situation

I'm beginning to think that it never really clicked that my poor wee machine was away being fixed... certainly not if you go go by the pile of WIP's and the shrouding of (Dirty) Diana....

Yet more WIPS!

Its interesting how things were left in various states of progress... theres still another stuffed into a plastic bag to help ease the pile (it's a knit so I figured that it didn't matter so much)

WIP Pile of Doom!

So this is the mystical starry black cloak that broke my machine. It's only 4 layers so I didn't think that it would be a problem? Maybe when I resume i'll use a leather needle coz it's so thick? Does anyone have any suggestions for this? Its just a regular weight dress cotton. :-(. On the plus side my machine has been returned, the downside is that they returned it to the wrong address and it is currently the other side of the country at my parents. Hopefully I will get it back on Saturday.

Yeh I count eight, thats right EIGHT WIP's. (although the pattern on the table doesn't reeeeeally count coz im only at muslin making stage. Is anyone else's WIP pile as unruly as this???

Applique Owls taking shape :-)

Improvising with pattern weights

I'm off to London for the day tomorrow me and the other half are away to see Black Sabbath at Hyde park. I'm hoping to take in Gold hawk road while we're down there too - does anyone have any reccomendations for where to start? Does anyone else have plans for this weekend?

Have a good one!

JCS

Completed: Chataigne Shorts number 2.

So I promised that I had some completed items to share with you - and here's the first!

 A second pair of Chataigne shorts from Deer and Doe.

The fabric I used was a black pinstripe woven concoction I bought at Christmas in Remnant Kings  - im not entirely sure what type fabic it was but it loved to frey! - I used it for a waistcoat and had about 1.5 m left. There were a few fit alterations I made to these ones from my last pair and I think they turned out well. the first change from the last time was that i graded out a size for the waist, this fabric is less partial to stretching with heat and so unlike the wool version I need the extra room that the larger size provided. I also graded in the legs - i may have a larger waist but my legs don't seem to need the same room. In fact the legs can probibly be brought in a little bit further.

I left off the back pocket flaps (even though I sewed them both up)- I felt in this particular fabric that they didn't look quite right I think the weight of the material was all wrong and they just didn't add anything in this particular variation.

The invisible zipper decided it was going to play on this garment so I was happy with that (although I did sew one side back to font DOH!) haha.

Woo! Waistband lines up :-D

And because i was only finishing edges inside the shorts I never changed the overlocker thread

I also slipstitched the waistband into place - not quite my neatest work but not bad either!

Squinty interfaced waistband

  The waistband is interfaced to within an inch of its life - I know it's probably not PC (I'm not caring!!) but i used all my scraps of black interfacing left from my Burda Waistcoat and made a patchwork effort on the inside. I do have a minor gripe that after a few tries to line up the point of the front waistband, it still doesn't *quite* match up - the fabric was a bit of a pain to work with so I can live with that! I'm definitely going to make these up for a third time - maybe in linen for casual summer wearing. this is probably/definitely my favourite pattern that I have made up :-).

I have a presentation of my work on Wednesday and I think these will make the perfect office attire! (with tights definately no bare legs!!)

Oh and have a look at how light it was outside at 4 am on the solstice the other night it was so pretty :-)

Looking east towards the park

Looking north west towards the park and town

Have a good week folks

JCS