Vikisews Leora dress - my first vikisews encounter

I have actually moved on to making things that are more winter-appropriate.  But I bought two vikisews patterns and I wanted to at least sew one of them this year.  The Oona was planned, but I didn't have enough fabric.  So I moved on to sew the Leora.  

I would never have looked twice at this from the model photos.  It was an instagram picture from @maisewdelic that got me - cropping the dress, the sleeves, and putting the tie only through the channels rather than up and around your neck.  NOW I was sold.  

I dove into the weird world of Vikisews fit.  I got the size 36, height 162-165 cm. Because of that I made no additional pattern modifications, assuming that the petite fit would be allocated just as I need (hmmmm).  Cropped the sleeves randomly halfway down.  Removed 45 cm of the skirt. And cut the tie half as long as required.  

The instructions were really cool once I got over the question of what knit bias tape is.  I used strips of an old tshirt because it seemed more stable than the rayon of my main fabric and I had it handy.  I love the finish that provides, actually.  Creating the channel was very cool.  Overall this was a super fun one day project.  

Finally get to try it on. Hm, interesting. 

Now, this fabric is from Tessuti, it's another stash special fabric, and yet again there's me splashing out on an untried pattern.  The fit of this is good (does anyone like looking down at your own belly?  But I think it's not really something another person can see) except oddly the right shoulder. The left is a little bit better for some reason.  The right seems like the sleeve was put in wrong, though it wasn't.  I need to try to just overlock off the top curve of the shoulder - actually this is where a sloping shoulder adjustment would have saved me, enough that I might consider just doing it on everything in future. There's a huge amount, maybe 1" of dead space at the top of that shoulder, and this is quite a wide chested cut, so that's important to keep the top from falling off. I would have done it right away but I changed my overlocker thread and my overlocker is broken so changing thread is currently a bit dramatic.  Alternately, that fit is due to me also being short across the upper chest.  I've never shortened a pattern at that level, but the straps on tank tops are often too long, and I've often noticed taking a wedge out from the front horizontally above the bust would have helped things fit better - unfortunately this isn't a fix you can do once you have sewn a garment together, so I rarely consider it. 

Sorry about the particularly bad photos.  My usual outdoor location was blocked by a car and I got really frustrated with my camera's autofocus. 

Aside from the right shoulder, the fit is great.  It looks nothing like on the model.  Because I'm so short waisted (I presume that's why), the skirt comes up past my belly button and the ruching lies over it - no hole!  Very demure. I had the exact same fit on the Papercut Axis dress.  Possibly if I did do the tie over my head I could change where the ruching lay but I will never do that because I think it is hideous.  I'm fascinated by how consistent this is - I have a couple more front-hole dresses to try next year and I wonder if I will continue to find that they sit very differently on me due to my short waistedness (or some other reason?) 

This counts as a win. It's cute and wearable and actually very flattering.  (I got around to fixing that shoulder as planned, and it's better.)  I would love some Fasanella style analysis on why my fit is so different from the expected fit though! 

Named Minttu swing top & some stars

Initially, and for quite awhile, I've been really excited about this pattern- the facings and the shape made it seem like a substantial, interesting tank top that could be done in a variety of fabrics.  There are not very many review out there but the few I found (here and here) were inspiring.  

Fabric: Spotlight.  Exciting sparkly stuff again, because my brain suddenly wants shiny.  It is a rayon jersey with a nice drape.

I cut this out in a size 36,  (I am 33-27-37) and being all smart I removed 3 inches from the length.  I did so in the middle and I believe there were no shorten lines, I just picked a spot and made sure to keep things horizontal.  By doing this instead of shortening at the bottom, I could keep the same amount of swing in the top.

I do vary in Named pattern sizing and have cut everything from 34-38 in Named patterns, but in 36 this top was too small.  The fact of having interfaced facings means the top part of it is not very stretchy. The neck hole is tiny - uncomfortably so.

The facings I hate hate hate hate.  They pull every which way.  I have to admit once the top is on, it's not visible. But I already dislike facings and ones that refuse to sit flat just don't make me happy.

And of course I shortened it too much!  I could have kept all of those three inches.  By shortening in the middle instead of the bottom I overdid the 'swing' effect, in my opinion.

As it is, it's like a top for a 12-year old.
The shape, however, I like.
What I plan to do is make this as a super simple, single layer, no binding tank top (once I have figured out how to lengthen it without printing the pattern again, hisss.)  Then I think you get the benefit of the cool shape without all the mess of those bindings and I will be able to adjust the size of the neck hole too! 

Megan Nielsen minimalist aboriginal Karri

So this is basically as minimalist as a dress can get but despite that it was a huge struggle to get it even close to done while moving.  It's really hard to focus on sewing when life is crazy.  Not to mention packing.  I'm so over packing. 

This Karri is again an XS and again has stretchy side panels. This time I went to the Goodwill on a hunt for three big tshirts in mostly the same colour family. I really wanted marled seafoam green but I couldn't match the color very well (can't imagine why not), so blue it is.

This Karri, being minimalist has:
-no sleeves
-no lining
-no back zip
-no pockets

In order to bind the neckline, I french seamed the bodice front and back and then bound the neckline with bias tape.  Because of that I did not cut the back bodice on the fold.  I did first consolidate the front pieces so I could cut the front on the fold though.  Any seams with all wovens were done with french seams and anything else was zigzagged to finish.

Not adding the zip was a tactical decision, based on the presumed stretchiness of tshirts when there are no sleeves.

I really was going to add the pockets but they added some additional stress because I need to actually follow instructions to get pockets on, so at the last minute I prioritised actually getting the entire dress put together, and skipped them.

The final order - which has something to do with the direction of max stretch - is to sew the front bodice and the front skirt together, ditto back bodice and back skirt, making the final seam be the vertical seam down the sides.  I think if the waist seam is the final seam, it is tight (when you are using a sewing machine), and so this method leaves the waistband stretchier.

I finished it (mostly) a few hours before leaving for the airport.  My luggage is a catastrophe and I unpacked in New Zealand to discover I have no pants but some luggage is being shipped so I guess I'll survive for now.  It means this dress didn't come with me, but I grabbed a few snaps before packing it away.  The sleeveholes are not bound and it's not hemmed.  I think I'll hem it quite a bit shorter - maybe 10 cm.  I'm planning to use some strips of tshirts to bind the sleeveholes, either leaving it as a binding or folding it inside.

Update: used bias tape on sleeves and hemmed the bottom:

Overall I am actually surprised because I thought I would love this version absolutely the most of anything ever.  I like it and I can get into it easily without the zip, but I miss the lining.  Without a lining it clings a bit too much and I think it's less flattering.  A part of this is that the tshirts are pretty thin and so they don't have much body and they show details - a thicker stretchy fabric would definitely be more flattering.  However, I wear sleeveless dresses a lot because I like to layer, so once I'm reunited with it and finish up those details I won't hesitate to wear it lots.

I am Cupidon rayon top

Browsing Anna ka Bazaar I discovered a new pattern company and immediately snapped up a few patterns.  I decided to sew up this Cupidon nice and quick in some rayon jersey.

It became quickly apparent that the pattern is better suited to heavier knits.  This is a super fast sew, and reminds me of the Coppelia top by Papercut patterns, although it overlaps rather than having a tie.

I made a size 38 and I wouldn't necessarily go down, but in this loose rayon it really is big, and I could take some fabric off the sides and underarms.  I think this size works out in a bulkier fabric.  The bindings are very small and I had trouble getting them to lay flat - they are supposed to be a bit tight, but not really tight, as you don't want the bottom to pull inward, and so I had to press quite a bit for them to look as desired.  This is another issue that would be better in a more stable fabric.

This was a nice muslin attempt and I liked the instructions, which are cute and efficient.  They are available in English, which is a definite plus, and the seam allowances are included, although a bit funny: it says if you are using a serger, the allowances are added, and if you aren't using a serger, to add some specified amount and then use 3/8" SA.  But I think it said to add 1/2" and that the final SA is 3/8" so obviously confusing.

To get around all this I ignored it and just used a 2/8" SA on my sewing machine.

I don't adore the fit of this but my friend Dana, who's a totally different size and shape to me, ends up loving it.  I can see coming back to it with a heftier fabric though, and the other reviews are by people who did just that.  

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...

Deer and Doe Plantain dress

I promise this is my last Plantain to show you!
I have all this cotton stretch fabric from the 1euro/kg bin in Milano.  I am sure it's mostly cotton and have no idea what else, maybe some creepy polyester and a decent amount of stretch.  It has decent recovery and is the same on both sides.  I thought a cozy Plantain dress would be just the thing.  I drew the curved line out for about 20 cm to lengthen the shirt into a dress, and didn't make any other pattern alterations.  It's a size 38, as before.

There's not a lot to say about such a simple modification.  It took about 2 hours to sew, if not less.  It's a bit more shapeless than I expected, but a good lounge dress, which was the main goal.  I still have a lot of dresses to sew from my New Zealand (!) backlog, and it's demoralising to sew things I can't wear.  I'm struggling with that lately, since I have a work uniform now, and a 1 minute commute to work.  The only time I need clothing is for lounging, or doing sports.  My tendency to make lists of sewing projects and have all the fabric ready ahead of time is a liability right now, as I feel obligated to complete the list even when the projects are kind of obsolete ideas.

How to keep sewing totally fresh and present?  How to avoid being overwhelmed by AMAZING new patterns and fabrics the minute I discover them?  I am still constantly tempted by new dresses.