GBSB Drapey Dress

So much hesitation, so much ruminating and voilà, I have a new - for me - very unusual dress. I do not remember where I saw this pattern for the first time, but it was interesting, free and completely out of my comfort zone.

I was rather worried for different reasons:
- the dress is supposed to be made from jersey, a fabric I never work with
- the dress is drapey, meaning a lot of biais lines, meaning a lot of stretch potential, meaning worries about deformation
- the dress has two big pockets in the biais lines - in a drapey fabric, it means a clear route to disaster  for me

So I went with a compromise and used black wool crepe which seemed to be rather transparent. To maintain it and decrease the see-through effect, I underlined it with a black cotton-silk - this fabric is just magic, it works in double layer for summer tops, as well as a simple layer underlining. It is quite stable and extremely soft against your skin and does not add any bulk. I had bought it in different colours, but it is the black one I used the most.

Fortunately I did sew a muslin, since I had to take in at least 5cm on each side, as well as 10cm on the dress length. I am currently using old sheets for my muslin (found a huge bag during our recent moving which will last for some time) and my muslin looked more like a hospital robe than as my wished drapey dress.

I had made a huge mistake of not marking the right and left sides properly, so I ended up with the sides inverted compared to the center piece. But I realized it quite soon in the process and was still able to correct it.
I lot of sewists complained about the scarce instructions. That was definitely not my problem, I am used to Burda in 4 different languages, so instructions with pictures always work the best. Also, the pattern is not overly complicated, when compared to my usual dresses.

What to say about the result: it is neat inside, quite drapey but still stable. It looks better with a blazer than completely "naked" as on these pictures. The pockets are big, even too big, I ended up closing them little bit.

I a still quite sceptical on this type of dress for me. I know that it will get worn, as it is very comfortable ;o), but the silhouette is very special, I feel like being pregnant and trying to cover it, which is not the case.

The Quickest Make... EVER

I still cannot believe it, I did sew a top in about 2 hours, cutting included. It was Friday evening, staying home, I just fished a small piece of black silk from my stash (of which I have a certain amount, because you know, I wear a lot of black and you never have enough black tops), cut out this extremely simple Burda 125-08/2016 bow top and got it ready before I went to bed.

I admit I tend to sew rather complicated pieces, I focus on lined dresses a lot, and tend to neglect separates. So anytime I sew one, it is a surprise for me that a sewing project can be easily finished within a week-end.

Also, I made things simple here: there are like 4 seams on this top, all of them frenched, and a lot of borders which I baby-hemmed. No closing, yeah! Easy peasy, all done on a machine, not a single handstitch. As for the fitting, I just compared the pattern quickly against another already sewn top and that was it. The pattern should be sewn from jersey, whereas I used a simple non-stretchy woven, so I also omitted the bottom hem as I did not see any utility for it.

The best thing is that I really like the result: yes, it is a large top, yes, I do not have to overfit everything and yes, it might move over to one shoulder some time, but that is perfectly fine. I have another black top for next summer.

Inspiration: August Burda

Pattern: Burda 128-08/2016

Pattern changes: omitted bottom hem

Technique: baby hem

Fabric: black silk

Time to Complete: 2 hours

Total Cost: 6 EUR

Khaki Linen Dress and a Little Revival :o)

Before I knew it, we are at the end of September and I have not blogged for almost 2 months. Between 3 weeks of vacation, the come back to work and a busy life, I almost forgot that I did sew a summer dress just before the vacation and never blogged it, so here it is.

This time I vowed to avoid any mast minute sewing and managed to stick to that, the dress got finished easily one week before our departure. Unfortunately, it did not get a lot of wear as I spent my vacation in the nature where t-shirt and shorts were the only appropriate clothes.

Anyway, I am quite happy I finally got to sew something from this dark green/khaki linen mix. It has an amazing colour but is quite sheer, see-through and wrinkles as hell. So a lot of hesitation on what to make from it. In the end, I decided to underline it with a fine silk-cotton blend which I bought in many colours already and it serves as great stabilizer for some sheer fabrics.

Of course, it does not solve everything but at least the wrinkle factor is better.

I went with Simplicity 3833, a retro reproduction which I have already sewn here, this time without the sleeves. I knew the fit was just perfect, I only enlarged the armscyes and that was it.
No lining and I am quite surprised how the linen finally sticks to the dress form.

The dress was really a no-brainer, just a perfect summer project, ready in a few days and extremely comfortable in the hot summer weather.

The real-life pictures were only taken in September, but never mind, we are still enjoying some nice weather here.

True And Tested

Both, fabric and the pattern. Actually, there is nothing new sewing-wise on this top, but the combination just works perfectly.

The fabric is a rest of eyelet cotton I used for this dress, underlined with lightweight silk. The pattern is Simplicity 6808, again already used here and here.

I was planning to sew a top from this eyelet for a long time, I just needed some underlining, as I did not have much left from the original dress (and anyhow, the dress underlining was ecru, not perfectly white).

Again I used my special underlining method (at least I have not heard about it elsewhere) where I sew the fabric and underlining together on all seams with the tiny seam allowance put inside. I do this on all direct seams, of course, the armscyes or hems are left apart or simply sewn together. Here is an example of a prepared piece before construction.

Of course, this technique requires a tested pattern and no fitting issues as there simply is no possibility for that. Once your pattern pieces are ready, you sew them up and do not ask many questions anymore. I think it gives nicer finish and less bulk on the seams than hongkong finish or any other seam binding.
I could use a decorative zip on the side and did bias binding on all hems.

So this is the final result, clearly, a white top was missing in my wardrobe and I like this one a lot.

When Things Just Get Together Perfectly

I own a summer RTW dress which I consider quite cute and extremely comfortable, but anytime I wear it, I realize how stupid the dress is. It is a dress supposed to be worn in hot summer, but is made from polyester-viscose blend (I cut off the etiquette, but from the feeling of the fabric I am just guessing). It does not wrinkle, but I am always too hot in it and have the feeling of not being able to breathe.

Fortunately, I can copy it and throw it away when I get completely fed up with it. And fortunately again, last year July Burda featured exactly the same dress.
The Burda one has pockets, large skirt and fabric waistband, but that's it. They somehow recommend cotton satin which I am afraid would not be as flowy as the dress in the magazine, but who am I to follow everything Burda says?

I also had a meter of this cute silk crepe I used in winter for this top. Quick decisions tend to work quite well for me at the moment. And Euro 2016 gave me a lot of sewing time :o) I cut this dress on Sunday evening during the finals and finished it on Thursday during the 14th July defilés.

In the busy fabric it is difficult to tell the difference between the front and the back.

My skirt is probably something between the RTW and the Burda version - remember, I was working with limited amount of fabric. I did not do the pockets, as it does not work well in the flowy fabrics and used biais binding instead of facings.

I used French seams everywhere and biais binding on the armscyes. The sleeves are cut in double, so all seams are covered with them. I still cannot believe how easily this came out together, because it is Thursday evening and I already took pictures of the dress and posted on the blog :o)

The dress will be just perfect for hot days at work (if we have a chance to have any this year), so I am just sooo tempted to make another one!

Back to the Basics

Even though I love sewing colored and fun dresses, I have to admit that I tend to wear a lot of basics. And when talking basics I always think of a black cotton shift dress with 3/4 sleeves I bought maybe 3 years ago which I can wear all year round: with a few jewels in summer, with colored sweaters in winter. The fit of this dress is not perfect, but quite OK for an RTW dress. The only think which really bothers me, are the sleeves which get often stuck under other sleeves (be it a jacket or a cardigan).

So, on a coup de tête, when I was looking for my next cool summer dress, I found a piece of simple black cotton in my stash and decided to sew a simple shift dress.

I used NewLook 6145 which I had already sewn before, but I made some  modifications to adjust the shoulder area. Obviously, I have very narrow shoulders. I paid special attention to stabilizing all curved seams (thank you blog-reading, for teaching me valuable lessons).

This dress is also a proof that you can make mistakes on very simple patterns.

I have totally no idea why, but I cut the back in 2 pieces so as to put in the invisible zip. Only afterwards, I realized that it will be large enough to pull it over, too late for re-cutting the back as a one piece. So the back will have to stay like this.

I hesitated for a long time whether to make pockets. As a note, my RTW dress has them and it is a nice idea. The point is that I have fallen out of love with the fabric during sewing, as I had thought it to be more luxurious. Yes, this is what happens when you spend your time sewing silks and wool!

Anyhow, I decided to just push through, omit the pockets and finish the f...ing dress. I used bias binding to finish the curved seams made from small scraps of a very fine silk, so that it does not add too much bulk. This gives the dress a little detail only I will know about, but it helps me feel special about this make.

Of course, in the end, I regret not having pockets, as it would have been quite practical. But I will just live with it like that. The dress is cute enough, versatile and goes with everything. I am sure it will get a lot of wear.
Not talking about the costs, a mere 10 eur

Flowery Dress

I must say I am being quite proud of myself and my stash-busting efforts. Since May 2015 I oblige myself to keep track of all ins and outs of my stash and even though since this date I am still in the red numbers (more bought than sewn), I believe it helps me to buy less and look for fabric in my stash.

Yes, there are still big purchases at the beginning of the tracking and then, during my Asian vacation. But since, I have remain on track. Also, half of my purchases in April 2016 were linings which enable me to sew more from my stash.
The positive news is that I also used some fabrics which I thought a complete misses when bought and finally, I really love the garments:
Example in case: this mid-season dress which got a lot wear since it has been sewn.

I also realized that I am more motivated to sew when I slide and buy too much fabric in order to at least minimize the final impact.

All this does not mean that I will stop buy fabric completely, but I like seeing that I am making some progress. And I still have a secret dream of reducing my stash by one third (I currently have 3 containers, and would like to only have two).

As for the sewing, I can see I am currently in my busiest period - kicked off by Me-Made-May, I must admit that sewing summer dresses is the most fun for me, so I usually sew the most between May and July. August is vacation and September too crazy work-wise.

So this brings me to my newest dress. The pattern is a combination of Anna By Hand London top and Kay Unger skirt as sewn here (could have been ANY pencil skirt, though).

I guess it looks better in real life than on the dummy :

The fabric is a silk-cotton of fabulous touch bought last year in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am not 100% sure about the pink and orange on myself, I was afraid it was too busy, but kind of like it on the final dress.

The dress is fully lined with black silk (see, I needed to do some purchases in April), invisible zip is a must :o)

There is only a small hic on the front fit of the skirt, but honestly, with the busy and quite fine fabric, I might be the only person to see that.

Time to Complete: not remember, probably a week

Total Cost: 32 EUR