By Hand London Kim dress

I suffered with the BHL Elisalex due to fit problems and honestly, the Kim pattern isn't that much different.  Initially I only noticed the purple version with the tulip skirt and so it didn't go on my radar at all.  But I started to see a number of versions this year that had me fixated on it.  Plus I really wanted to do a Kim-Zeena frankendress.  So I started with a Kim.  It was a Kim marathon actually - my last day in Seattle and I spent the evening trying in vain to sew the entire dress.  It was near midnight when I had to stop prior to zipper insertion. 

Putting in zips late at night and tired is never a good idea.  Also I could finally see the dress coming together, and to my total shock, it seemed to fit like magic.  No WAY!! 

The details:
Fabric is from Tessuti in Melbourne. And I have had it for awhile.
Lining is lime green bemberg.  The skirt is not lined.
Size is 6/10 with no changes. Oh yeah except one.  I prepared the pdf pattern in Ukraine, and I think that I cut some length off the skirt prophylactically, since BHL patterns are for very tall ladies.  I think I cut off like 6" or 10 cm.  And then...when I cut out the dress, I forgot I'd done that and again removed about 5"!!  I held it up to myself and neglected to take the little pintucks into consideration.  So I was looking at the need for a hem facing. 

So I moved, and I couldn't bring incomplete Kim with me due to the usual luggage mess, and it was so tantalising because it looked like it might be my dream dress in terms of the fit.  So I concocted another Kim in my head while I waited for my mum to send me my boxes of sewing supplies/unfinished projects.  (Which naturally arrived before I got around to the second Kim, oh well.) I got a grosgrain ribbon in Munich to use as a hem facing and finally got moving on the last, hm, hour of labor on this beautiful dress. 

No problems with the finish, and I think I might continue to use ribbons as hem bindings - I read that it will stick to tights less!  And it means my hem is even!  Hurrah!  However, when I got to pinning the lining down, I realized I would have to sew it by hand or it would make the dress bunch out funny.  Also, although it almost fit perfectly, the straps were too long.  Like, really too long.  So I realized after alllll this work, I was going to have to open the shoulder seam and cut it and then blind stitch it back together.  Blah.  This dress has been lying on my couch for SO long. 

I took a few vacations to gird myself. 
Finally I think I was tired of seeing it sitting there and so I finished it - I hand sewed the lining to the bodice.  To make the shoulder strap shorter I opened the seam...and just overlapped and sewed them down.  Design feature!  Yeah...it's not perfect but at this point enough is enough, right? 

Sorry my photos are blurry, I have discovered that with my remote I can do an endless series of pictures but I haven't gotten the focus to work yet.  This does mean you'll have to bear with endless ridiculous poses but it was so much more fun than the usual photo shoot.


I have already cut the second one out so in order to get around these fit problems, I decided to just cut the straps (about 3 cm), and to cut a sliver off both the front and back bodice piece, tapering down to nothing below the bust.  This would bring the straps closer together and shrink the bust a tiny bit.  We shall see...hopefully it won't take quite as long as the first one.

Deer and Doe Bruyere top

This top really only appealed to me when I started to see sleeveless versions of it up and about- specifically this one.  I am looking for pretty things to use some of my stockpiled Liberty fabrics, but I did this as a muslin version.  The fabric is white cotton that I dyed using Shibori techniques, about two years ago.

Usually I have made size 38 on Deer and Doe but I've noted on many patterns that there is too much room in the bust, so on this one I bit the bullet and cut a straight size 36, while preserving the pattern pieces for the 38 in case I just couldn't squeeze into that waist size.  (I'm 33.5-27-37).  Since discovering that rolls of architecture tracing paper are cheap and easily acquired, I've become less stingy with tracing patterns.  Or...maybe since I became addicted to the cheap fix of PDF patterns?

This went together like a dream, for the most part.  Everything matched as it should, and I french seamed the waist and sides as the pattern recommends for a clean finish.  I tried it on to see if the waist would fit and it seemed like it would!  That was, of course, before I realized that the placket doesn't add any fabric.  My only hitches were due to my sewing machine, which I continue to hate with a passion.  Well, can't complain tooooo much about borrowed things, but if you want recommendations for buying Singer sewing machines, don't come to me.

The one thing that was less than perfect was actually the back yoke facing.  Maybe because I couldn't successfully iron all the neck curves, I had a really hard time figuring out how it should lie.  The pattern tells you to stitch that down before you do all the rest of the topstitching - placket, sleeves and neckline, but my yoke is a tiny bit puffy so I think it would have been better to do as my instincts said - stitch everything else first and then the yoke lining last.

French seams!

One other comment - the instructions tell you to lay the collar right side to the right side of the top when you sew the neck.  However, that's wrong - the side of the collar which will be seen by the world is the one facing up.  This was important because my wonky topstitching was hidden on one side and really obvious on the other, and guess which collar piece is up!!

Also the sewing machine led me astray a few times while topstitching - the needle is about 0.5mm off from center and it's finally started driving me crazy.  Nothing like navy topstitching on white.

So, did my little gamble with size 36 work out?  I sewed the buttons on at work and waited all the way until I got home to find out and then I was too tired.  But the final answer is yes, somehow it fits perfectly.  That doesn't mean it's my perfect style - I'm not totally sure I like the collar and all the buttons.  These things aren't what I usually wear.  But I think it's a cool pattern and one I might turn to again when inspired by a fabric.  I can't imagine making it with sleeves though. 

It was nice to spend time on a project without getting stressed.  That's my new thing.  Cutting out 6 projects and then trying to do them all at once...hasn't worked out.  So now I'm sewing up all those cut projects and working one at a time.  It's nice to feel like I care about what I'm sewing!  Should be obvious, right?  I feel like I'm being sucked back into fast fashion sometimes - if not buying it, then making it.

Verb for keeping warm Endless Summer tunic

I discovered this pattern - and this pattern company - while looking for a US source of Merchant & Mills patterns.  This is the place I found.  The pattern seemed really cute on everyone who has made it and I'm looking for nice top patterns to use some of my Liberty fabrics and to layer with leggings.

The smallest size is 37, so that's what I cut.  I used a leftover piece of Liberty from a project which is cut but not sewn...

I found the instructions to be lacking in many spots and to be weirdly worded.  I had to follow the instructions because I just didn't know what it was doing things in the order indicated, and the construction feels fiddly and backward. Near the start as I french seamed the fronts and backs together...I couldn't find the v-neck because I had sewn it shut!  I did not do French seams on the sides because I didn't feel like managing that with pockets...I thought Carolyn had made a nice tutorial but anyway there is one here, somehow it's like French seams when attaching the sleeve to the body of a top - just feels like I'm not ready. 

Another little irritation: the pattern doesn't tell you to leave all the seam allowances open on the yoke, so when you are inserting the body into the yoke, I had to cut those back open.

The fronts and backs have to be cut as two pieces because there's some shaping in that seam - a way to avoid darts, along with the gathers at the shoulder.

oops!  Butt wrinkle...there were no other good back pictures

But my verdict after the growing pains: I like it!  Definitely more of a dress than a tunic on me.  I would make prettier gathers next time, and use something a bit drapier.  Initially I didn't like the pockets but they are kind of handy (haha).  It's not form fitting but I really like the shape, and by the end I did appreciate how the instructions came together.  It's hard to appreciate the lightweight cotton lawn in the middle of winter (I was freezing) but I think this material is a good match for the pattern if you plan to make a lightweight tunic/summer dress or coverup.  However in a heavy, drapier fabric I could see this being a great year-round dress.    

Cali Faye Rumi top

I was strangely drawn to shapeless knit tops recently, and the Hemlock didn't exhaust my attraction.  Well, this usually wouldn't either but Andreia wrote so convincingly that I went ahead and gave it a try.  I used a piece of organic hemp knit from Siebenblau. (Have I mentioned how sad it makes me that they don't ship outside the EU?)  I knew it was a little lightweight for the pattern but I couldn't resist using it, and I did NOT narrow the pattern even though it looked suspiciously wide.  I cut the XXS which absolutely didn't match my measurements.  (33-27-37)

My one change from the pattern was the neck - I cut a single strip and sewed it onto the outside, then folded it in as though it were a facing, without too much tension, and sewed it down.  That gives a clean finish, additional support, and works well on the hemp which is not super stretchy.

Verdict is mixed.  I think if I were making this in the right season, I'd wear it.  I really like how the little sleeves give it shape.  But I think I'd cut about 2 inches out of both the front and back on a future version...

I was pretty excited that the remote for my old Pentax works on my new Pentax, but it works by infrared which means it has to have "visual" contact with the camera haha, made for some funny poses. 

So I decided to make that second version late at night after some wine, and forgot that taking 2" out on the fold meant I was removing 4".  This fabric is quite heavy, and it was really a muslin - I didn't have enough fabric scrap for the full length, but I much prefer the width of this version.  This is one I'll revisit with some sweater knits, which I think will be a better match for the pattern.

Overall I don't really understand how other people look so good in this top but I'll put it down to others using relatively lightweight, sweatery, drapey fabrics, which I didn't use at all.  I still like the sleeves, which for a very simple pattern give it one nice elegant touch.

Orageuse Lisboa

I'm trying really hard, really hard! to stop finding new patterns/pattern companies and jumping on a new project and wanting to make it now now now...

Orageuse has a beautiful style and I loved this immediately.  The pattern is available in English as well as in French.  There are not many blogs showing it though...I suspect lately that blogs are slowly not the thing anymore.  I notice fewer new blogs and I'm kind of sad because I'm pretty sure I learnt to sew basically from sewing blogs.

Anyway, so this here was a self-control fail.  I saw it, wanted it, bought it and made it (yay pdf patterns?)  In this beautiful piece of silk - I think it's a twill - lightweight, non-transparent, with a tiny bit of texture.  It's not slippery and it's very easy to work with.  I bought it in Frankfurt before I moved to Switzerland and have been hoarding it, except for a  small piece which I used in my Colette Chantilly bodice.  Now it's stashbusting time!

I cut a size 38, after some reflection.  I wanted to make sure it skimmed over my body and I have had some really bad experiences with cap sleeves (Georgina!) so sizing up was the best option.  I have realized that my hips seem to be somewhere different than most patterns anticipate and I think that's a big part of why my Inari was such a fail - there was bagginess where I didn't need it, but not enough room where I did...

Got some water stains on the bathroom floor, oops

Sewing was very straightforward, although I snipped a lot into the seam allowance before understitching the neck and I think that's why the front of the infernal facing wanted to pull outwards...so I subdued the beast with some fusible web.  I also tried to zig-zag the edge of the facing, but as I have mentioned the sewing machine won't sew flat zig-zags in silk and it bunched up.  I will try to pink it when I get access to pinking shears.

The method of using bias tape under the cap sleeves is the same on the Georgina...is this a French thing? 

I wanted to French seam the sides, but how to make it work with a side slit and hem?  I spent a day thinking about this and finally realized I had no idea, so I just sewed up the French seams to try and see.  I made the little slits like on the Inari - by sewing up the sides of the hem with right sides together, and then flipping it to the inside.  And yes, there is an intersection of the French seam with the hem bit which is messy, but I added a little bar tack and left it, I think it's stable enough not to matter.

Like everything, this would be perfect if it had no facings.  I'm thinking about that...
I put it on right away and thought it's just too tight on my hips!  And because of there being extra hip fabric right below my waist, there's quite a bit of swayback action.

But then I went to my friend M's shop and had a look in the full-wall mirror and realized it's actually amazing despite these things, maybe because of how the silk shifts with movement.  I'm going to keep working on this pattern - I'm super happy with it now, but I want to make a t-shirt version, I want to line it, I want to fix the hip height...