Sew Liberated Hinterland dress, toile

 The flexibility of this dress grew on me slowly. I tend to be wary of things that have sleeves and are made of wovens.  I made the size 2 after a thorough internet search. I saw that the ease was going to be enough...probably. But maybe not.  However my size 4 metamorphic really is big, and that also pushed me to size down.

I didn't have much enthusiasm as I made this, it seemed quite blah and I also assumed it was going to not fit well, or not fit AT ALL. I totally expected my first attempt to be a bad muslin. The fabric is nice - it's a double gauze that I think I got from Miss Matabi on her etsy store.

I didn't do a button placket, but I added about 2 cm to the centre front to make up for it.

Lo and behold, this dress fits me perfectly. The issues others had with shoulders seem to create a perfectly fitting sleeve for me.  Adding about 2 cm was a good amount, I can get it over my head and the front isn't tight.

 

Now that I've made this and confirmed the fit I can also confirm that without the front placket it's pretty boring.  I have plans for summer and am just waiting on having a space to sew again! 

Papercut patterns Kobe top in linen

I bought this pattern when the Sakura collection came out. I bought it because I was buying something else, and because I was so curious to see exactly what was happening. The model photos are some of the worst I've seen for actually showing you what's going on with those pleats.

(The answer: a bound keyhole with the pleats meeting over top where they button together.)

For some reason my curiosity rose again and I suddenly had to make this top.
I used a piece of linen blend that I got from Miss Matabi and have been holding onto.  This was a bad fabric choice - it's so pretty!  But this top (and presumably also the dress) need fabric with NO body and ALL the drape.  Learn from my mistakes!

I made a size XS and I shortened the pattern quite a bit.  I shortened the front one inch, just folding away at the SA marking on the hem.  For the back I went crazy and I think I did a decent job...I could shorten the back even more!  I started a curve at the final side seam marking, and tried to make it the same as the curve already there. At the centre back, I had removed 3.5 inches or so. 

It was actually a really fun and satisfying make.  You do some binding first, and then the pleats, and then you are basically done with the whole thing.  I put it on and discovered how linen was a bad idea.  The pleats in the back create a huge amount of potential space, and this all lurks in the armpit area.  It would likely be fine in a really drapy fabric, but I don't like the way it sits in the linen.  It might also be a lot better in the dress, because that excess fabric would be useful over the hips.

The front is also really short compared to the back.
I was a bit disappointed after making this but now I'm kind of getting inspired to make one in some drapey silk.  Also, it goes really nicely with these red shorts!

Verb for Keeping Warm Endless Summer tunic, round 2

When I got this textured dobby cotton fabric from Miss Matabi I knew I wanted to make this Verb tunic.  I thought the heavier weight of the fabric would make it into a dress or a great layering top.  I cut it out and then away it went into the black hole of travel!  I actually thought about it quite a bit in the intervening time and I was sad a few times not to have it.  So I expected it to be really amazing.

I made the smallest size.

This is pretty easy to put together and I used the overlocker a lot to get a nice finish.  The corners of the back yoke can be tricky to get lined up just right, but in general I think it's not something you see from very far away.

My previous version, here, was in cotton lawn and it was beautiful but so lightweight I just wasn't sure what to do with it.  I gave it to my cousin.

The pockets are a bit low for me, but the fit on this is otherwise good. I obviously didn't remember the bit about the pockets so as to fix it this time around. I think this is a nice way of using a pretty piece of cotton lawn for a summer top, but overall I'm not that convinced by it.  I passed it on to my sewing friend Tessa who is wider in the hips.  It looks great on her - might be better suited to people who are more full figured.

Elbe Textiles Botany dress & more tops

After making two Botany tops I finally went for a fabric I've been very excited about and cut out the dress. I thought my chances of success were high - the top fits great.  And I was really curious how the dress would fit considering the amount of ease.

I barely eked this out of my fabric and used some scraps of black silk noil for the bias taping. Because it didn't quite match the colour, I ended up flipping it to the inside, instead of keeping it on the outside.

The skirt was really easy to make, not adding much time to construction at all.

But in the end, this was a total sack - exactly because the same amount of ease is present in the dress as is in the top.  To make it fit, I'd have to remove 2 vertical inches from front and back of all pieces, and maybe add a zip.  Indeed, maybe I'll do that one day, because it's still very cute.

I debated removing fabric from the back, or removing the skirt and having another top.  But in the end I decided to send it to my sewing partner Tessa in New Zealand.  It's summer there!  And she loves it and looks great in it!

As I perused my photos, I thought possibly adding the ruffle would improve the dress even without changing the size.  Another option would be using a very fine drapy fabric that might appear shapeless but would shift with a breeze...I still haven't given up on this idea.

The top is an upcycled linen dress from goodwill.  When I saw the ankle length dress I thought I could make anything out of it!  But in fact with side slits I lost a lot of potential yardage so I just went for a botany top with some fancy pockets. I wore it quite a bit and then donated it to my cousin with the excuse that it's summer in the northern hemisphere (now I can make myself another one with a ruffle...)

The final top is made from a fantastic scrap of Marimekko fabric I got on etsy. Every now and then I have warm memory pangs from my time living in Finland, and I buy some Marimekko fabric or Moomin mugs...The pattern is too huge to make a little bag, and I love it too much, so I managed to fit it onto the front of a Botany top. The back is some stretch silk-cotton mystery blend from the sale bin at The Fabric Store in Auckland.

I didn't quite get these done before I left Arizona, hence the delays and the change in scenery!  The mushroom top is really fabulous, because the stretchy back gives it more movement. I did a micro hem by overlocking the hem and folding it over 3/8" because I wanted to save as much of the woodpecker as possible. I'm really happy with how this came out, I put quite a bit of effort into saving all the best graphics on the fabric scrap - a tiny bit more woodpecker would be nice but as it is I think it's a good balance with a touch of red on each side.


There's still one more Botany that I cut out in the States and haven't sewn yet, but I think you get the idea...