Lady Renfrew/Skater-frew Frankendress

This fabric is from the market in Delft and it's consistently been in the wrong country while I dreamed about what to make with it.  The one thing I wanted was the stripes going down sleeves. For awhile I thought of doing a Named Geneva tee, but I made a bunch of them and was kind of tired of them so I lost interest and this kind of rayon - lightweight, but heavy, jersey, cool feeling - doesn't suit everything because it stretches so much.

Finally I decided to do a Lady Skater Renfrew frankendress. This has been done loads, but the most memorable to me is Lauren's.  It's the first time I used the cowl neck.  In order to combine the patterns, I applied all the neck stuff from the Renfrew onto the skater pattern.  They don't have the same seam allowances, but I honestly think I could have put the Renfrew cowl on the skater with no other changes, and it would not have looked much different.

Renfrew size 4.  Skater size 3.  It's my third skater with a third type of fabric and the same size, and it's interesting to me how each one is very different.  (Versions 1 and 2.) I thought I had way enough fabric with my two plus meters...so I was going crazy picking pieces of pattern...and then I got to the cowl.  The massive, fabric needy cowl.  Oops.  So I found a scrap of pale jersey to be the underside - I guess it's visible sometimes but luckily it matches really well and maybe it's kind of nice to break up the pattern a little bit.

I got worried halfway in that this fabric is too heavy to be a skater.  I didn't add the elastic at the waist because it is scratchy and I don't really understand how elastic in the seam allowance stabilizes the dress, anyway.  But.  Is this kind of dress doomed to drag downwards and fall apart?  How to avoid?  After wearing for one day I can see the stitches at the waist pulling. Does the elastic stop that from happening?

I don't know how much I like it.  I think it's cute but I kind of lost interest at some point.  I'm getting into moving phase again and I want to make make make (because travelling with fabric is heavy) but I don't really want to keep keep keep...

Ondee Skater Frankendress

I debated what to do with this beautiful fabric for quite awhile.  It is a batik terry cloth from emmaonesock.

Finally I decided to start by making an Ondee, and then making something else with the leftovers.
The repeat is a square with the blue border and I wasn't sure how to approach it.  I went for centering the pattern and placing the strips in a visually neat place (and the bindings) and I adore it.  I made a size 38, and as my previous Ondee, it was a very easy pattern with no news to report.

But...my caveat is that the waist is really tight and I was feeling like Houdini getting in and out of it.  Also, I wanted to make a skater with the rest of this fabric...and I didn't have enough.  So I decided it was time for my first Frankendress...an Ondee-skater.

I didn't have enough fabric to really plan how I laid out the skirt, but once I got the two attached they matched up perfectly...except for having the pattern in the middle driving me crazy!

I switched the front and back panels, which helped a bit.  The dress is cozy, and it's stretchy, and it's roomy - either because the Ondee was a bit wider than the skirt panels, or because of the multiple times that I ripped out the waist stitching.  The lightning bolt waist stitching.  Grrr...

So it's a bit more roomy than I'm used to.  I love the pattern, I love the fabric, but I can't quite escape that the Ondee was a better match for it in some ways.  The dress is comfortable to wear but everyone else likes it more than I do!  Not sure whether I'll keep it. 

stretch silk Lady Skater

This is a living example of how different fabrics change a pattern.  This particular fabric is a (not-very) stretchy silk twill, I think.  It has certain shifty silk characteristics, but with weights on, it was pretty easy to cut out without distortion.  And it's easier to sew than the merino I used for my first skater dress!  I did kind of grimace at just how tight I had to pull the neck binding, but it doesn't show.

The topstitching along the binding edges was unusually awesome and straight!

I have to thank my coworker Jennifer, who is getting quite enthusiastic about taking blog photos (although she insisted on some greenery instead of all urban chic...)  I adore this dress!  Even if maybe it's a bit short for work...

I used the same size as the merino skater - a size 3.  In this much tighter knit, it's a perfect fit (although as always a wide shoulder adjustment would have been awesome).  I noticed after washing my first skater that the skirt weight pulls the dress much longer - this lighter-weight silk doesn't do that.  I managed to squeeze cap sleeves onto my tiny piece of fabric by cutting the skirt 3 inches shorter.  (Maybe a touch too short!)  Using the bad*ss instructions meant I was finishing my seams as an afterthought, but I did finish most of them with a zigzag stitch.  Also, I didn't have the trouble this time getting the clear elastic sewn on.

I have known for awhile that I should start to shorten my bodices, and this dress would also benefit from about 1/2" out of the bodice...and a swayback alteration...I am still so against such an ugly name that I haven't learnt how to do the alteration yet.  What swayback??  I don't have a swayback!!  (except that apparently I do, ugh.)

I waited a long time to make this dress!  I really didn't want to mess up my incredibly beautiful stretch silk, and I'm super happy with the result!  The only thing I notice with the skaters is that I always have so much stuff at the waist seam that it sticks out - the layers of fabric plus the clear elastic don't all settle down flat.  I know it's a fact of the pattern but I still find it annoying because I never ever ever wear belts.  

Kitschy Coo Lady Skater in Merino

This is the Lady Skater pattern by Kitschy Coo.  It's such a nice, simple design and all the reviews have been pretty spectacular.

Once I got through the boring pdf cutting/pasting, I cut out a size 3 based on my high-bust measure of 34.  I was using a very stretchy thick brown merino wool to start, and I have a second skater planned in a tighter knit.  I wasn't sure if I'd need to go up a size, but in fact I'm wondering if I should have gone down a size!  I used a stretch needle as recommended (I didn't notice any difference from the ball-point needle I usually use for knits.)

The construction of the skater is very fast and the instructions are available in a long or a short version, as you prefer.  I went by the short version, which means I didn't finish most of my seams...I had a lot of trouble getting the clear elastic to actually sew onto the dress.  I'm wondering if using a straight stitch instead of a zig zag would help, or if it would then not be stretchy any more  My elastic kept zig zagging straight off the wool!

Otherwise, this was super fast and easy.  I cut it in the morning and sewed it in the afternoon!
For my next version I will definitely be making it shorter both in length and in the bodice, but I think that with my less-stretchy knit, I will not go down a size.