Blue Floral Dress

 

This dress is made from a lovely viscose (rayon) fabric in a rich blue which I bought in a charity shop 2 years ago.

The community chorus I sing with have a summer engagement and asked us to wear blue for it. So that prompted me to get the fabric out and work with it. The large scale print seemed best spread out over a dress.

The main dress is from a Prima magazine April 1998, with sleeves from a different dress in the May 2010 magazine, and front ties I drafted myself.

NOTE: Prima is a UK monthly magazine. For subscribers it includes a free sewing pattern. If bought in the newsagent then there is info on how to get the pattern. I have been a subscriber for many years.

It works quite well under the jacket.

Blue Suit

 

I used some heavy rayon mix twill from deep stash to make a simple little suit..

The jacket is New Look 6481 with the hem levelled out and patch pockets added.

The trousers are New Look 6438 with an elasticated waist and front slash pockets added.

Floral Challis Blouse

 

I used Simplicity 9200 with a few tweaks.

I lengthened the sleeves, added a bound slit and buttoned cuffs. I also put the buttonholes slightly closer together and used more buttons.

The pattern does not have you interface the front band, but I did as the fabric is so lightweight.

The fabric was quite tricky to handle. I pressed the fabric, then laid it out on a table with a lot of weights, carefully cutting the larger pieces with very sharp shears. For the smaller pieces I cut them out of interfacing first, then fused the interfacing onto the back of the fabric pieces once I'd made them as straight as I could. I then cut round the interfacing.

For an accurate collar I traced the stitching lines onto tissue which I placed on top of the piece when sewing.

Gifts and Purchases

I recently had the chance to spend some time with a sewing buddy and picked up some goodies for the sewing room.

As always when visiting a sewing friend, we went into her sewing room and she shared with me some things she wouldn't be using.

Large bag of fabric

Interfacing (4 types)

Gold overlocker thread

The next day we went to The Malvern Quilt show where I was fairly restrained, but did buy a few things.

2 metres of stretch denim from Roy's Material World

Some clips from the Quilted Bear

A bag of leather scraps from Remade Worcester

Also (not pictured) some thread and some water soluble interfacing for embroidery.

The next day we visited the local Medieval Fair where I bought some vintage 36" wide cotton fabric from Bernie the Bolt

I got 4 metres, but since it is so narrow it'll be interesting to see what I can do with it.

White turtleneck top

 White turtleneck top

This is the polo neck/turtleneck from New Look 6008 (long out of print) with a high round back alteration.

It'll be ready for later in the year when the weather cools down.

White Core Tee

This is a Closet Core Tee in plain white.

I did the longer length with a sleeve length between the two views. I added the pocket as it looks nice.

I did 1" hems on the coverhem machine.

Should be a good summer basic.

Free T-Shirt Pattern: Meet the Core T-Shirt, our First Free Garment Pattern! | Closet Core Patterns

White Vera Top (modified)

 This is a modified Vera Knit Top with a solid body and sleeves with holes!

I changed the V neck to a scoop, did a high round back alteration and added longer cuffs than the pattern (I find theirs a bit tight)

Vera - Knit top (Free PDF pattern) - Forget-me-not Patterns

Scoop neck knit top

 

This is a very simple scooped neck tee in white made from a pattern I traced from a RTW top.

I find it useful to have a few plain basic pieces to wear with the fun prints and my white tops don't tend to last long....

Zipped Pouch

This was my first experiment making something with fusible fleece inside it. 

I'd already fused the fleece to the whole outer fabric before I went hunting for a tutorial and my dimensions are slightly different, but I broadly followed this YouTube video.

Next time I will cut the fusible fleece a little smaller so it is NOT in the seam allowances, but the finished pouch is definitely usable as it is.

The fabric originally came from a sample book. Auntie A made it into a small cushion and gave it me as a gift. I later reused the fabric as a pair of pictures when I redid the kitchen in my previous home.

For this project, I removed the fabric from the frames and used the pieces to make the pouch.

The lining was a remnant from Auntie J's stash. (Auntie J and Auntie A are my mum's 2 older sisters)

Fleece alteration

I had this navy and white RTW fleece turtleneck top which I wore occasionally when it was very cold.

I thought it would get more wear with a zip front. So I unpicked the collar, ironed a strip of interfacing down the inside of the front, cut down the centre front and cut a new shaped collar out of the spare fabric.

Then sewed the collar together and added a rescued zip down the front.

It is quite a slim fit and would only work over a thin tee, so I may add side panels and pockets in plain navy blue fleece in future.

Blue and white striped top

 

A long sleeved stripe tee made from a remnant my mum passed to me (she's more a knitter these days).

This is the polo neck/turtleneck from New Look 6008 (long our of print) with the neck band cut out the same length but only 2" tall. I did a 1" hem on the coverhem machine.

Floral blouse

I had a remnant of this fabric left from making something for Auntie J and there was just enough to cut out my favourite shirt pattern with long sleeves, cuffs, buttoned pockets and etc.

I wasn't able to even attempt pattern matching, but did try to have pleasant looking sections for the collar ends and pockets.

I made it just slightly oversized as its a viscose with a slight crinkle texture which I think would shrink up slightly after washing, and maybe not always need ironing. I did have to iron it to cut out, so we'll see how this one works out!

Pattern Information.

This is my current favourite shirt pattern. It is adapted from a shirtdress pattern which was in the March 2020 Prima magazine (UK women's magazine).

I have shortened the length to a shirt length with curved hem. I have added patch pockets from another Prima pattern, and pocket flaps from a big 5 pattern. I also make the cuffs deeper and have a continuous lapped placket instead of just a gap in the side seam.

Tweaked top

This top started out as a gathered skirt many years ago. At some point after that I recut it into a woven tee shirt and left the bits in a bag. Later I found the bits and sewed it up into a very lightweight summer top. Unfortunately the pattern I used wasn't with it, so I can't easily replicate what I did.

Last week the weather was hot for the first time this year, so I pulled out my hot weather clothes and wore the top. It was OK, but the body was a bit long and the sleeves a bit shorter than I like.

Lightbulb moment - I cut 2 1/2" off the hem, did a lot of unpicking and resewing to have a shorter body and a ruffle on the sleeves.

It'll get worn out of the house now, rather than just at home.

Ballad Blouse

 This is my first try with the Love Notions Ballad Blouse

I made the size XL with Bishop sleeves.

Next time I would alter the yoke to better suit my high round back better but this version is definitely wearable.

The fabric is a polycotton and so the gathering at the shoulder does not drape quite as nicely as it would in a lawn or viscose.

Shopping not sewing

Here are some recent fabric purchases

From Boyes in Whitby

Left - navy cotton with a Kingfisher and weeping willow. I loved this so much I went back and bought a second length - I have 2 x 3 metres, but its only narrow.

Centre - silver grey stretch velvet to make a shrug for a friend - 1m but quite wide

Right - navy cotton with red and white anchors. Only 1m and narrow, home dec.

Also a set of bag feet as I want to play a bit with bag making.

A couple of weeks earlier I'd ordered some 2m and 4 m bundles from T9 fabrics

I had better get sewing!

Brocade Waistcoat

 

This is a blue and gold waistcoat made for a friend 'A', husband to the lady with the frilled white shirts (S) and father of 'C'. It's for C's steampunk themed wedding.

'A' had been to a very traditional menswear shop and bought dark trousers, a white winged collar shirt and dark jacket with blue checks. He'd also got a wonderful steampunk hat and goggles.

He wanted a waistcoat to finish off the look, dressy enough for father of the bride, steampunky enough for the theme but also in keeping with his own style.

Fitting

I found a simple waistcoat pattern in my stash and made a fitting toile with contrast stitching marking the seams and centre front. 'A' tried this on and it did not meet at centre front. So we measured the distance between the centre front markings at several points and I wrote them down. He also asked for it to be slightly longer.

Fabric

Originally 'A's elderly mother was to make the waistcoat, however she is too ill to do so. However she still wanted to be involved and had provided some fabrics from her stash which were not suitable and a pattern in too small a size. 'S' had tried to source some fabric from local shops but had no luck. So we headed out to my fabric resources (plastic tubs in the garage) to see what I might have. In the end the only fabric deemed suitable was a piece of blue and gold brocade, with a label in Thai script, striped ends and fringe. (Anyone know what this is - I'm guessing a 1980s tourist keepsake of some sort - shawl/table runner?)

I thought it'd be fine for two waistcoat fronts (more on that later). We agreed to use some gold satin from 'A's mum's stash for the lining and back, and the blue side of the brocade.

Additions

A asked for pockets for his pocket watch (which we decided to use from his mum's pattern) and chose some buttons from my drawer. He also wanted a matching bowtie.

Alterations

After he had gone I altered the pattern. I added 1 inch length to the front and back at the lengthen and shorten line. I then attempted a 'portly gentleman' alteration by adding extra to the front at the sides so the centre front would remain on grain and button up properly. 

Layout

I then tried to layout the waistcoat fronts on the fabric. However it was only 18 inches (46cm wide) and less than 2 yards (175cm) long, with a border along one long edge and striped sections each end. I couldn't make it fit! 

Next I decided to split the fronts into 2 pieces, through the pocket area, to see if I could get the smaller pieces out of the fabric. For this I created mirror image pieces so I could layout all 4 pieces at once. They did not fit.

I then decided to use the striped section at each end for the side panels and cut the fronts from the centre section. I was able to make this fit, plus cut out the pocket welts and the pieces for the bowtie.

Fronts

I auditioned the striped sections - yellow and blue side up (I felt the yellow was a little gaudy) or gold side up (which I preferred).

Pockets

I did a lot of careful measuring and marking, more measuring, checking and some unpicking. I took it very slowly and kept checking because I had no more fabric, it's for someone else, and for a wedding. I definitely felt the pressure to do it right. Although I've done welt pockets before they were of the type where the welt is inside the slot. These ones had an external flap with shaped ends and a shaped pocket.

I made a few mistakes and kept the seam ripper handy. I left the pockets overnight before I cut the holes through the fronts. Eventually I had finished the pockets.

Other Construction

I had a rest after the pockets were done and came back to it the next day. Then I made up the back with back belt and the lining, sewed together leaving the side seams open, trimmed, snipped curves, turned through and pressed. I sewed up the side seams as far as I was able and finished the small gap in the lining with hand stitching. 

Buttonholes

I did a couple of tests, then marked and made buttonholes, carefully fray checking before cutting open. I sewed the buttons on by hand.

Bowtie

 

I made an elasticated bowtie from the gold side of the fabric using a pattern and instructions I found free online.

Final Outcome

I don't have a photo of A in his waistcoat but he was delighted with it and dressed up for us in the entire outfit

This has been an exhausting project for me and I have not sewn anything since I finished it

- the fabrics were difficult to work with, slippery and prone to fraying.

- I'm not very experienced with menswear

- I've never done this sort of welt pocket before

- It needed to be right as I couldn't get more fabric