Lisette 1878: diplomat dress in wool

I know I need to retire this pattern, and after doing it one last time, I'm sure of that.  But the "one last time" was the leftover piece of luxurious Marc Jacobs pink herringbone wool that I used for my Peter & the Wolf pants.

I did a 1" shoulder widening.  Otherwise I cut out a size 8 without any adjustments.  I initially cut the little collar V smaller, and was considering not doing it at all, but at the last minute I (unfortunately) caved in.  I sewed the dress without any problems until I got to that.  I got the facings on and then attacked the underneath of the facings and dissected them so thoroughly...that when I turned out the top points of the V, I had totally cut it open at the bottom and it was full of fraying ends.  Ugh.  Also it seems I've forgotten how to put in a non-invisible zip, and that took a few tries.  I was reading through some of Fiona's recent posts and she commented on sewing the zipper from the same direction on both sides instead of sewing up one side and down the other.  I am not sure I knew that, and it definitely helped! 

But once I got the dress on, it fits so amazingly that I knew I had to salvage that stupid little neckline problem.  So I stabilised the loose fabric on the underside with iron on stuff (like Stitch-witchery, but Swiss!), and then I passed the project on to my mother to do some thinking.  A lot of her ideas involved lacing, frills, or 1970's style details, which I nixed.  But the points of that dumb V were sticking out a lot.  I gave it to her to think about while I was in Arizona for a month and this is what she came up with.

I'm still not totally convinced and I did realise I could just cut that entire V shape more and make a new facing to fix it.  I'll probably wear this a few times and if I still love it, I'll do that.  The centerpiece is ok but it's just off center enough to drive me crazy.  This is now version 3 and I think I'm confident that there won't be any more in my near future. 

Lisette 2209- Passport jacket

This is the last of my Lisette patterns!  It seemed like the most daunting project and because of that I left it for last of the batch.  Of course in the end it was pretty straightforward and the fabric was incredible to work with.

For this one I used some lovely green silk-linen that I got at the Global Fabrics while passing through Dunedin.  I was planning to line it with pale blue chiffon but it ends up that I hadn't read the pattern very thoroughly and it doesn't require a lining.  Next decision was whether to use same-fabric facings or to use something else.  I didn't have anything optimal in my stash - plain black or white silk seemed a bit silly and I did end up having enough of the fabric itself so I just stuck with that.  After reading through Tasia's sewalong for the Lonsdale (an upcoming project!), I was super keen to go get some seam tape and make my seams beautiful....but the local shop didn't have any : (  Stupid small towns.

I cut a size 10.  I had cut the previous Lisette designs in an 8 and on this I had initially considered doing a wide-shoulder adjustment but I thought 4" of wearing ease might be enough to take care of that.  I know I'm mixing up design ease and wearing ease but the pattern is cut in enough pieces to make me hesitate before changing the wrong ones.  (And the various types of ease are a subtlety I'm only now starting to understand, I'm not sure if they matter in practice.)  I also hesitated because the front is cut in two pieces and I wasn't sure where to add in the shoulder width.

A lot of cute variations online made me consider more than one button and after trying it on before I put the facings in, I saw how totally shapeless the back was and went for three buttons.  The third button down is the key one in holding the jacket together so it's not too boxy (er, and so I can lift my arms...)

The ruffle went on without a hitch.  I ran out of thread near the end and used bright blue on the facings though...not sure if that looks stylish or tacky.  I had to give in and buy more so that I could sew the hem.  Hand sewing practice notwithstanding, I don't have enough faith in my abilities to slip stitch an entire hem.

The final word is that I truly have to work on putting in more effort into fitting my garments.  This is a project I put a lot of time into and it's really cute, but the shoulders are just too narrow.  I have only recently noted that my dresses and tops are all either tank tops, or are stretch knits.  There is a reason for that!  I actually don't fit into standard size shoulder width tops!  This is always obvious for me when I buy things in stores, but when I'm fitting patterns for myself, somehow I imagine I will fit just fine...by the end of the first day I noticed that the back seams were pulling apart just a little bit.

Also, my pictures are very unflattering.  I probably need to figure out the self timer because I'm too self conscious when others are taking pictures of me and I clearly haven't got much sense of what angles I need to actually show off the good work I've done. 

This jacket would definitely be awesome if it did have a lining.  I'm quite sad not to get to use seam bindings - etsy came through so some are on their way but I ended up just using shears on all the seams, and I will eventually seam bind the bottom. I will get some wear out of it, but the shoulder limitation means it's uncomfortable to bicycle in and that's my primary mode of transportation.  Seeing how one day damaged it makes me hesitate to put it through my usual rough wearing.  Also, silk linen is nice and shiny in certain light but it wrinkles a lot!  This would be really cute in corduroy.  And this fabric might make a nice Scout!  Hah!

So, are handmade garments inherently more fragile?
How do you decide what fitting modifications to make?  I know that making a muslin is the obvious answer but it seems like I don't figure out a lot of things until I wear the dress/shirt/jacket and see what happens.

Lisette 1878- Diplomat dress, take 2

I worked my way through the cutesy fabrics and now I'm finally on to some cheaper stuff that I got on a whirlwind first visit to Spotlight (=Jo-Ann Fabrics).  I had immediately envisioned a long sleeve version of my first dress in a cozy, sleepwear-like plaid flannel.

I'm also trying to slow down a little.  The first wild projects careening through my head are taken care of and I thought before I move on to the next ones, I need to actually start doing something well.  I have a host of Liberty fabrics in mind for upcoming attempts and I don't want to mess them up! (Heh - although that said Ebay pulled a trick on me and some fabric I ordered went to my parents house in the States!  So much for doing that dress for awhile...)

So on this dress I wanted to focus on matching up the plaid (arrrrgh no one told me that flannel sticks to itself, and shifts around, and never matches!)  and also on making a wide-shoulder adjustment.  I stuck to the same size 8 even though it was small because this fabric has more give than the muslin, and with the wider shoulders it will fit much better since the shoulder area was the main problem.  This time I also wanted to do the facing correctly.

Other than the plaid really not matching up that well (I tried!), this went smoothly.  It's definitely easier to do a project the second time around - I had a lot more confidence and there were no surprises.  With the shoulder adjustment - I added 2 inches across using the Colette online tutorial - it still pulls slightly in the front chest, but the back chest feels better.  If I hadn't done this I think the long sleeves would have been uncomfortable.  

For some reason I also placed the zipper in too low, so until I get around to sewing in the hook and eye, it gapes a bit.  Since it's winter that doesn't matter for now, I'm always wearing a cardigan over it. (But it's quite obvious in the pictures.)

I do like this dress now that I'm better at making it, but I don't think it's anything special - not enough to do again.  I've read a few posts by those incredible sewing bloggers creating multiple variations on each dress theme, but I haven't found a pattern I like that much yet.  I'm looking forward to getting on the bandwagon and trying out some of the popular things I've seen up lately!

It's taking awhile to get coordinated enough to photograph my projects - trying to get quicker at it but I've chosen to keep everything chronologically accurate even if I'm behind a bit on posting.

Lisette 2209- Passport dress

During my online shopping spree, one good friend of mine accepted my offer to make her a dress.  She picked the Passport dress out of my Lisette offerings.  So I got fabric to make two of them.  I made them at the same time.

Most of this construction was straightforward.  I cut a size 10 this time going by the finished dress size, and as before I gave myself a little extra room by hemming the side seams together very narrowly.  For my friend Sarah I didn't have to do this as she is slightly smaller than I am.  I used the dress for me as a muslin preparing the skills, and then copied them on her dress.

The pleats at the waist gave me pause because I think I might have done them the wrong way.  Is that possible?  The waist seems to billow out a bit.  Other than that, the dress is cute.  Unfortunately here I think my choice of fabric was terrible...after we had chosen fabric I searched online and found that this dress has more popularity than some of the others I've done, but no one else used the two-fabric scheme.  Before we bought fabric, I didn't know to hunt for the dress online and see what other sewers were doing.  However, Sarah's dress turned out well and I'm pleased with it. I did something funny at the armhole seams because it was the first time I made my own bias tape. It looks ok, just odd since there's no matching tape around the neck.  Another great thing about this dress is that the facings are held in place by the armholes so although they are still present, they don't flop.

 Sorry about that one being sideways...

I did realise that I have no idea how to do invisible zippers.  My zippers were terrible, especially where they cross the midline, since I couldn't quite get my seams to match up.  This seems to be a skill I need to practice!  

Yet again, my dress is a bit of a fail - not something I'm too keen to wear to work so it's being passed on.  I might consider doing this dress again in a single fabric but not any time soon.  It's quite comfortable...the lesson on this one is the subtle one about picking the right stuff to match the design, I guess. 

Lisette 2059 - Continental dress

I was excited about the dress in Lisette 2059, even though the shirt was a disappointment.  After my initial successes I went on an online spending spree at www.stitchbird.co.nz, as one of the only online fabric stores in New Zealand.  For this dress I had some interesting green linen-cotton stuff.  I was figuring that it would be super comfortable.

The dress has a super easy construction once the gathers at the neck are done.  I had a lot of trouble getting my stitching to hide on those gathers, but I guess you are supposed to remove the gather stitches once the gathers are held in place, and I didn't do that.

I also really like using the self fabric as a bias tape.  It created a nice neckline - I so far totally hate facing!  It flaps around!  Argh!  I haven't quite figured out what to do about that and I am hoping soon I will only make lined dresses and never have floppy facing again.

The belt took me about 3 hours though because it would absolutely not slide through itself. Three hours with a pair of pliers!

Once I had stitched this dress together I lost a lot of enthusiasm.  It was so baggy...truly the neckline coming together improved this, but I had already gotten over it in my mind and offered this dress to a cousin who has a more generous figure than I do.  This dress would have been more appealing if I had some more shape at the waist (not to mention boobs to speak of!), but the belt is the only defining element.

I also noticed my habit so far - that each pattern seems to teach me some skills but I am so far not confident about the results.  I am still asking friends if they want dresses so that I don't keep a closet of the ones I'm not satisfied with.  My excitement about each new project has spurred me on, but I definitely don't have the drive to work on each project until I like it and would wear it.  I am not sure if this comes with time! 

Lisette 2059 -Continental blouse.

My second sewing attempt was in the wake of my excitement about project #1s success.  I was really thrilled with this blue spotted fabric from Global Fabrics in Wellington.  On this one I cut a size 12, assuming that I wanted more ease compared to the Lisette dress I had done, and also going by my measurements on the envelope.  This was a mistake!  The first shirt was big and even when I pulled in the side seams it was still floating all over me.  So I gave it to a friend and made a second one.  (I didn't take pictures of the first one before giving it away, but the spots were big at the bottom and graduated to small at the top.)

This seems to be possible because I hadn't learned about fabric width - most often in New Zealand it seems to be 150 cm. So I had huge amounts of leftover fabric for my two projects.  Enough, in fact, to squeeze two shirts out of the spots.  I had to move the spots around of course.

I cut a size 8 this time, as I had with the Passport dress.  It became increasingly evident that I may not ever need to make a bust adjustment but the Lisette patterns are not cut to accommodate my wide shoulders.  In the final version of the shirt I feel it pulling across my upper chest and if it had less overall ease it would be uncomfortable to pull my arms up.

In the end the shirt came out looking ok, but I don't think I would try to improve on this pattern in the future.  Trying it on again for our impromptu indoor photo session actually made me more fond of it!  Maybe I'll like it more in the summer since it's a very lightweight cotton fabric. 

Dress #1, Lisette 1878 - the Diplomat dress

I repeat, I didn't know muslin wasn't considered proper dress material!  So dress #1 was made out of muslin with lime green edging and a lime green sort-of invisible zipper.  In the whole excitement of having the equipment, the tools, the fabric and time, I had not really thought about the results - actually having a wearable item of clothing.

Cutting was first thing in the morning, and I followed the directions up til I had to use interfacing.  I watched some online videos about interfacing and got that done, and to my shock by midafternoon the only thing to do was install the zip.  I wasn't sure that I could do it so I took a break and had tea and watched another video.

End result: it's wearable!  I wore it to work the next day and got some compliments.  Not perfect by a long shot - I didn't finish any seams and the zip is not quite stitched straight.  The facing on the v-front somehow got stuck and I thought it looks quite nice so I left it that way and didn't do the vertical decorative stitching.

We did a little outdoor photo shoot to celebrate.

In terms of size I had no idea what to expect.  I'm about 34-27-38 and I went by the final bust measure and cut a size 8.  I could have sized up one.  I sewed the side seams with a 1/4" hem instead of 5/8" and that made it fit.  Other than that, the shoulders are tight but since the sleeves are short I can still move around ok.

This dress is actually pretty great to wear all winter since I layer under and over it.  Probably it won't withstand the test of time in my wardrobe but my enthusiasm at making something I can actually wear is enough to tide me over for the time being.