Petite Stitchery Elliot romper review

 I have been on a mission to find the just right romper/pull on onesie/almost but not quite overalls.  A key feature I wanted is super low cut armhole areas - I wanted to need a top below it.  I hate the tie on the burnside bibs and a lot of other overall type patterns use that concept with straps that adjust into a tie, so all those were out.  I also know I don't wear tucked in things ever, so the beautiful Ronja dungarees didn't go with my vision.  There are a few still floating around in my head, but then I saw this romper and thought maybe in a knit fabric it would be so cool.  I wanted a heavy-ish black knit but I didn't have one and I did have this other fabric, so despite thinking it might be a bit light to be flattering, I went forth and created.  

My measurements fit an S exactly.  I was not sure if I should make some pattern adjustments like shortening the waist, but because of the pockets it's a multi-piece endeavor and I kind of just decided this was a rough and ready muslin.  It was hot summer, which is REALLY hot in Gisborne and I really just wanted this thing to wear.   That attitude means it's not really beautiful up close - my hems for instance are just horrible. I'm not sure if I cut slightly off grain but they would not fold up straight and I gave up.

The fabric is a very spongey viscose knit from The Fabric Box in Auckland. I got it in person, because this is the kind of fabric that you buy online for the colour and you buy in person because it feels so amazing you can't let go.  I thought I would be making tops out of it and had kind of been saving it (which is also why I had an unusually large piece of yardage) but I wanted this romper and it's a bland enough colour to match lots of things.  For sure, this romper needs a top of some kind under it.  I also thought the epic drape would be an ok match for this pattern, though I did worry it is still relatively light weight and would cling in the wrong places etc.  I think in the end it would be better to use a heavier weight fabric as I'd first envisioned, giving up drape for better glide over the body.

 

The instructions are annoying photo ones, but they are sufficient and the pocket area came together ok.  It's a spot where topstitching would lead to less peeking out of the pocket, but I opted against the topstitching. 

The weight of the fabric and the length of the bodice do make the pockets hang low. My major modification is that I added swimsuit elastic - quite burly stuff - into the tops of the straps.  When this is sitting around it kind of gathers up because of that and looks bad, but it adds a lot of heft and support so the straps don't stretch out and it looks ok when worn.  Overall this is not my neatest effort.  I counteracted that with lots of labels...It has been worn quite a lot though, it's very handy around the house and can be worn with not much underneath but still covers you up.  I do a lot of pole dancing and it saves me from prancing around the house in what looks like shiny underwear when random people show up.  (Did this happen?  You will never know.)  

If I find a nice scuba type fabric I suppose I might someday be inspired to make this again in a dark colour.  I don't think it's very flattering but I rather like it anyway...primarily as at-home loungewear.  It would be nice to raise the pockets, they are distinctly low.  The rise in the front is almost a bit short - I look down and I see my belly and it's almost pulling at the crotch, but the rise in the back is long and droopy. This all makes me feel like I would actually have to redraft the entire shape of the crotch curve to fit.  I have now made three patterns by Petite Stitchery - the Finn top, the Drew pants, and this romper, and they are consistent - quite simple, no genius to the drafting, not necessarily things that give you a good finish, but forgiving knit patterns that produce things that you wear despite the finish and that are relatively easy to put together. 

Ethel dress by PM patterns, a review

So, this dress is like a recipe!  So many options and very nice, tempting photography.  I bought it right away.  Don't be like me!  There are so many other designers creating similar designs, and I would not recommend this one. 

The pattern has no A0 option, instead it's a nonstandard size.  My print shop prints these weird shaped things sideways on A0 paper, which uses a lot of paper.  Then, the layout of this nonstandard size requires you to tape pieces together, and literally I mean tape a 2cm scrap from the bottom of one page to the top of the skirt piece!  It's really bad planning on the part of the designer.  The front and back skirt are the same, except that you tape a different scrap on for the front and back, oh but HOLD YOUR HORSES if you are using the empire waist you have to beware of all these scraps as you need a different set yet again. 

I'm not sure whether this tetris is hilarious and clever or just a pain. You be the judge. 

I cut size 38 instead of 36, erring on the side of just bigger rather than just smaller than my measurements.  And then for my first version I did the following recipe: 

-waist length

-crossover front, which I cut four of to self line

-short skirt

-with ruffle 

 

 

Fabric is Rag and Bone white windowpane cotton which I ice dyed!  Isn't it so pretty?

And I added the Bardon pockets which I have already made clear are the best pocket shape known to man.

AND it is huge.  I gave it to a friend who's breastfeeding because this dress with the crossover front is breastfeeding friendly.  That's how much access you have!  

Clearly I should have made the 36.  I was going to leave it at that but honestly I've gotten this far so I wanted to make a long diaphanous silk version.  Yes, cue the future high blood pressure from sewing diaphanous silk.  I know.  But then I realised this silk I have is still available in the shop (I'll need like 6 m to double the bodice and the skirt piece so it's not see thru)...and figured I should do it.  But after this?  Never again. 

I managed to cut the same pieces down to 36

This recipe:

-empire waist

-v neck

doubled front again, same story

long sleeves

long skirt

with ruffle 

Narrow silk chiffon

Gelatin

Blood pressure cuff for data collection purposes

Actually it wasn't that bad but I was kind of over it after all the excitement of planning.  Also it was apparent early on that the empire waist is A Mistake.  It ends at nipple level, creating a kind of french dressing gown look.  It was bad.  It was slightly better after I washed out the gelatin.  This crinkle chiffon actually behaves ok once it's had gelatin applied, it has some texture but irons flat.  I think only a few pieces cut off grain (as you can kind of tell since the stripes aren't uniformly horizontal in the bottom tier.)

Ah well, live and learn.  I sent this on to a friend and hoped she is less picky than I am. This was among the final cluster of stress projects before moving so I count it as a total success, because I finished it.  My interest would not have survived a move. Unfortunately I miscalculated something and ended up with still 2m of the fabric left over (which is how much I started with before buying more for this dress) so I suppose I'll still make the simple flowy top I was gonna make in the beginning...

A multitude of tops: LB top, Hemlock, Glacial

This was prompted by a need to make a top for a friend, first of all.  But also, I had had a Vision, as you do and needed to follow it through. 

First off: the LB top by Paper Theory. As I have done before, this is without the funnel neck and without sleeves and without any other modifications. It creates a simple little shift top.  In this lovely flannel like fabric from Lamazi fabrics it's so cozy and drapey - I bought the wrong colour (it's hideous!  Haha the combination of dark green and gold really isn't my thing) and will suit my olive skinned friend Regina to perfection.  I use a small piece of bias binding for the neck, just folded over the sleeves on a double fold, and same to hem the bottom.  

 

Grainline Hemlock with minor modification of the sleeve 

This is a one-size pattern. 

This was my vision.  I have worked this pattern to death and my pattern pieces are a mess because of that, many pieces of badly labelled and taped together tracing paper.  Am I the only one who only accepts wrapping of my shopping if it will be wrapped in white tracing paper that I can reuse for sewing?

This version has just a bit of the sleeve added onto the shoulder compared to the original (which is a FREE PATTERN) - really just enough to create a seam allowance.  I have long since cropped it from the original which is a long shapeless top.  I then did a cuff of the same size as that sleeve bit - think maybe I should have tapered it a little. The cuff is folded double.  This fabric is by Mind the Maker.  It is their oeko-tex 100% cotton "organic slub jacquard".  It is quite heavy, almost sweaterlike, with only mechanical stretch and texture woven in.  Therefore a bit tricky as you need to think carefully what pattern it will suit.

 When I made this top I was really disgruntled the entire time because it looked so big and so...meh.  But the pictures show me that despite various neck band issues (I think I was planning to do it as a facing style band but that stretched out like crazy so then I did a tshirt type band instead), it matches my vision exactly.  I wanted a cropped but oversized pale top to wear all summer.  I need to get on with that next step - "wear all summer" cause the hot days are here. 

Pattern Fantastique Glacial skivvy, S 

This is the third of the tshirt bundle from Pattern Fantastique.  The price for the bundle was good.  I suddenly wanted a nice baselayer top (which I won't wear for months, honestly) and I thought this would be a great choice.  I didn't size down as the fabric I am using is a medium weight and not super stretchy, and the pattern is specifically drafted for merino blends.  This is another one of the Oeko-tex fabrics I got from my european shopping binge, this particular one from Ansje Handmade.  It is Mind the Maker organic woolen ottoman, 85% cotton, 15% wool.  It has a kind of horizontal rib look on one side and a smooth other side, and has a bit of a sticky feel ie none of the drapey dampness of rayon or viscose.  I went with the short waist length and to my surprise for a baselayer I could even have gone longer.  The long sleeves are just as the pattern says they will be - they go perfectly to my knuckles.  Near the end of winter and in early spring I was wishing for a top like this so I assume once the weather cools again I will wear it a lot.   

 

These patterns don't have any instructions, which is why they are cheap for the 3 patterns - but there are some instructions online if you need them (I think the Aeolian has more detailed instructions somewhere online too.)  I'm really enjoying this tee bundle!  The Equinox was lovely, though now that I've worn mine I will stick with the smaller size I made - and I'm sure once I get the itch to make the Aeolian I'll go crazy and make 3.

Vanessa Pouzet La Boheme skirt review

I saw this and I was so sucked in!  I have needed ("needed") skirts lately after many years not wearing skirts, and trying to figure out what I want in a skirt has been a challenge.  Well, this was it.  I read all the blog posts.  The two in English insisted that it's easy and also one of them said she has written English instructions and sent them to Vanessa - but my email asking about these never got a reply. Like everyone who speaks a few romance languages I can piece together some French, but it doesn't make the sewing process easier.

Overall I would say the instructions made sense to me, but I glossed over them, and my errors and dramas are more likely due to me than to the instructions failing.  

I cut size 38 from a lightweight cotton I had been saving for a Wilder Gown (the ONLY FABRIC in my stash that I had in 3m).  I cut 3" off the bottom.  My notes suggested I would want to take off anything from 3" to 15 cm and I went with the minimum.

The almost mistake I made is that you cut two identical side pieces AND 2 snail pieces - I initially thought just one, but I did have enough fabric for the second.  PLUS two full width waist pieces, but the truth is the length of those doesn't matter as much. The shape of all these pieces is what eats up fabric, and that's a harbinger of the sewing experience.  

I found the sewing to be exhausting.  However, I was having an exhausting week, and this skirt which really is about a 3hr effort took me a week and was FULL of drama.  I planned to french seam the whole thing.  No prob, seamed the back, applied the waistband just to avoid stay stitching - ALREADY I was setting myself up to fail.

The hem of the ruffle - either don't hem this, or use a skinny rolled hem foot.  I don't have that foot for my Pfaff.  I am going to fix this.  So I did a manual skinny rolled hem.  It sucked. It doesn't look that great.  It took forever because it's many meters of sewing and on a constant curve.  This skirt is all about sustained sewing.  You only actually go to the sewing machine something like 5 times, but each time you are sewing many meters long and it's funny how tiring that is.  So then I french seamed the ruffle (it's not actually a ruffle, it just behaves that way due to the grain it's cut on, so clever!) to the skirt, this was a BAD CHOICE.  I realised after all that, that I didn't have a way to finish the upper side of the skirt.  In fact I was upset because I thought the ruffle should go all the way to the waist.  I think the instructions do specifically instruct you to do the following: 

-(don't sew on the waistband first)

-sew the ruffle to the skirt 

-overlock or finish that seam all the way from waist to waist 

-iron it upwards towards the skirt

-topstitch

Then you can apply the waistband.  

If that's not what the instructions say, they should.  

I kept trying this skirt on and being grumpy and realising it looked really good despite all this drama.  And that was when I faced a trying fact of life and sewing: sometimes you just need to do a muslin.  This was my muslin.  Thank god for my friend who I send clothes to....no muslin ever goes to waste.  So before I finished the skirt I was piecing together the next one in my mind.  Other key feature: linen so I don't have to finish the hem.  And I will shorten it another 3". 

 

The rest of the skirt was simple, you have been instructed to fold the SA up already on the waistband and you just topstitch it all together, then make a buttonhole wherever you want so that one waistband goes through the other.  I did put some interfacing on my buttonhole area before I shut the waistband.  And yes, I love the finished skirt, at least the idea of it.  In fact I don't think the ruffle should go all the way to the waist, it would add some annoying flopping around near the top, whereas the way it's drafted the front lies flat.  On mine I will add Pomona pockets.  I have even managed to go to The Fabric Store in person (!!) and swanned around through all the linen until I settled on a dark fir green, so that will happen soon.  I'm happy with the size, there is a great amount of overlap, and the ruffle on the underlayer sort of holds the top layer in place so they are less likely to split open - even when they do I think you can't see much higher than my knees.