The Magnificent Thread: May 2015

Seventies sun dress

So this one is my last sew before packing up my machine for a little while to move house, and I'm absolutely itching to wear it in all it's 1970's sun dress glory! But it's being saved for my holiday next week.

I bought the lovely vintage fabric from a fab little vintage shop called Copper & Corduroy when I was in Bristol recently. I keep spotting pictures of dressmakers being wonderfully creative with vintage table clothes and curtains, and I LOVE retro prints, but I've always struggled to drop on a fabric that's the right weight for sewing with. (No one want's a beautifully patterned, but starched to hell dress...) But this was just right - a soft brushed cotton, and it looked like it was in decent condition too. The pattern and colours are just dreamy, my phone pictures could never do them justice!

Just one thing I've found about sewing with vintage fabric... be ready for some hole dodging.

Like I said, I checked it and it looked in decent condition. It really was, but when I pressed it, I found a few little holes dotted around that look stress and damage from where the fabric had been folded. Luckily, some clever pattern piece placement meant that I could dodge the majority of them!

But as luck would have it, I went and pinned my CF pattern piece bang on a whole. So I had a bit of patching to do. I applied a bit of iron on interfacing on the reverse and then picked a matching thread to stitch over the hole and enclose the raw edges. I'm pretty pleased with it, but the print is so loud that it detracts from the patch job anyway, which is a good thing as I had a fair few more to do on the skirt. I positioned my pattern piece so the holes were clustered around the bottom of the back skirt pieces, where it would be harder to spot my patching.

The dress is made from a self-drafted pattern I've been working from and adapting for a while. You can see previous incarnations here (the Liberty one), here (the earliest one), and here (the party dress one). For the latest version, I adapted the neckline so it was round. The skirt is based on the Emery dress, with a decent amount added to the length - it's not quite as long as I've made it in the past though.

The petal sleeves, as always, remain the same, but I absolutely love them, they're definitely my favourite part of the pattern. They're so interesting to sew and really comfortable to wear - no pulling or tightness at all.

And here is the finished garment! Hoping it will be warm enough in Barcelona so it gets a Me Made May wear. Now to pack for hols and house move... see you on the other side!

Friday, May 22, 2015
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Me Made May 2015: what I wore week 2

dressmaking

My hems seem to have raised quite a lot this week! It's not that I'm feeling particularly risqué... it's just a lot of my older makes had shorter skirts. It's only recently that I've started making garments that are longer in length, so I guess Me Made May's got me mixing in my some of my older makes that have been languishing in the back of the wardrobe for a while. Here's week 2 in pictures:

Day 8

A couple of makes here that I haven't worn together before: a plain (and unblogged) Simple Sew Lottie blouse and my tartan pencil skirt made from the second Great British Sewing Bee book.

Day 9

This is my absolute favourite dress! Not entirely me-made, but I think I've done enough modifications for it to count. I bought the original from eBay, where it was advertised as a vintage garment, originally belonging the seller's Grandma. I shortened it from ankle length, and altered the long sleeves to shorter sleeves, gathered into a cuff. I think I'd like to do more alterations like this, but it really relies on plumping on a decent original!

Day 10

I definitely didn't look like this on Day 10, due to having a bit too much fun on the eve of Day 9... So my Liberty self-drafted dress got another wear as it was an easy one to grab and throw on.

Day 11

I don't often wear my red Lilou dress, but I've taken it in a little at the waist since making it, and I think it fits a bit better. It's probably a bit too short for my liking, but I did enjoy how much the skirt swished when I walked around the office at work.

Day 12

Here's a picture of me in Urban Outfitters changing rooms, where I'd been trying on clothes to work out how I could make my own versions! I'm wearing my Dear and Doe Chardon skirt with a vintage blouse.

Day 13

Today I wore my spotty Megan dress (with self drafted pointy collar). My dress got a few compliments at work which was nice - must be another one that I don't wear too often!

Day 14

And to round up week 2, I wore this (unblogged) check skirt, with a roll neck jumper from Boden and hand-knitted heart brooch. I made the skirt from the Simplicity 2154 pattern (the accompanying blouse is much more exciting - you can see my version here). The fabric is from John Lewis, and I used the rest of it for the trims on my Mary Quant dress.

Thursday, May 14, 2015
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Me Made May 2015: what I wore Week 1

dressmaking

Like so many others taking part, I've made it through the first week of Me Made May (I say that as if it was a real challenge, but it hasn't been at all). I'm really enjoying mixing my me-made garments with shop bought clothes. And I'm loving seeing what everyone else is wearing on social media using #mmmay15. Here's my first week in pictures:

Day 1

I started the month with my newest dress - a self drafted bodice with a Lilou skirt. The weather wasn't quite as summery as my dress, so I layered it over a 3/4 sleeved top.

Day 2

I went to an all day city music Festival on the 2nd and wore my Liberty print self drafted dress with a jacket from Marks and Spencers.

Day 3

Sorry for the terrible grainy picture! You can see this Megan dress with self drafted collar in full colour/quality here! I wore it with a dark green wool cardigan from Uniqlo.

Day 4

My Simple Sew Lottie blouse came out for day 4, worn with my favourite skirt (unfortunately not made by me) from &otherstories - in my opinion, the BEST high street store.

Day 5

I dug out one of my earlier makes - the full skirted dress from the second GBSB book for day 5. It's been stuck in the back of my wardrobe for an age because I was convinced the fit was off, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought! I quite enjoyed wearing this one again.

Day 6