My Sewing Space

I do love a nice collared shirt, so the shirtdress seems like a natural extension of that. There are so many good shirtdress patterns available right now, it was a little difficult to choose. The one I used here is Simplicity 8014 , View D. I really liked the denim version on the envelope, but I wanted the option of wearing this to work, so no denim for me. I had considered trying this in silk, but shortly before I went fabric shopping I messed up this silk top with some sort of oil stain. My attempts at treating it only seemed to make it worse. Only low-maintenance laundry items for me, I guess. This fabric is polyester. I wouldn't say it was a joy to work with, but it wasn't bad. After making a muslin, I was pretty pleased with the fit. I removed 1.5" in width from the back - only the dress piece, not the yoke. I also added 2" in length to the skirt. The pattern has gathers at CB, but I changed that to a pleat. I also omitted the pockets. In the final ...

A week or so before I made my dress, I worked on these two pieces for my younger daughter. My older daughter had an idea of what she'd like for new Christmas clothes and I found something similar enough on sale, so we nabbed that. If she had needed me to make hers as well, I'm pretty sure mine would not have happened. Both the vest and the dress are based on Ottobre patterns, but they're so significantly modified and mashed up that I'm not even going to name the specific patterns. The vest was very easy to construct, but the fake fur fabric was quite a nuisance. I'm pretty sure I spent more time cleaning up the fur fuzz than I did actually making the vest. It's fully lined and only has one hook and eye closure at the base of the collar. The dress is also quite simple. The main fabric is a semi-sheer polyester woven with sheer polka dots. It isn't as sheer as chiffon, but sheer enough to require a lining. I handled the dress and lining as one piece...

My older daughter is 10 years old now. That puts her in the "tween" age category. When trying to come up with sewing plans for her, I felt a bit stumped. This is new territory. Combining her preferences, my "guidelines" (leggings are not pants!), and this new age category in a successful way is a challenge. We talked through some options together and looked at fabrics together and we have a bit of a plan. This dress was the first part of the plan. We had an idea of what the dress should look like and then combined a couple different Ottobre patterns to get what we wanted. There was a fair bit of basting and fitting as we went and in the end, we both think it was successful. She picked out the fabric - a purple pique knit. It's pretty stretchy with very good recovery, so it wasn't too difficult to handle. The black trim is a cotton/lycra jersey. I added the keyhole at the front neckline for interest. The binding was done on my sewing machine with a ...

This dress was a very quick project, made shortly after my new sewing room was unpacked. I had this project in my mind for awhile, but the need for kids' clothes and then the moving project meant that it got pushed to the bottom of the list. This was a wardrobe-driven project, meaning neither the fabric nor the pattern are new or compelling, but I knew I would appreciate having it in my closet. This is the third time I've used this pattern, Simplicity 2406 (first here , second here ). For this version, I used a drapey knit. I modified the sleeves to be longer and have slightly more of a slit sleeve than a cut out shape. The pattern instructions would have you line the sleeves, which makes for a very nice finish, but I wanted to maintain the drape of the fabric and not add bulk, so I just hemmed the edges of the slit and finished the neckline edge of the sleeve piece with bias tape. I included lingerie guards as described here . Such helpful little things those are. ...

For my younger daughter's Easter dress this year, I used the new Oliver + S Garden Party Dress pattern. I'm always tempted to buy the new Oliver + S patterns when they come out, but usually resist unless I have a real "need" for one. An Easter dress seemed justifiable. I found the bodice shirring very appealing and a bit different than many of the girls' dress patterns out there. I used an embroidered chambray fabric that I had in my stash. It is soft and lightweight and very easy to work with. The combination of an "easy" fabric and an excellent pattern made this dress a pure pleasure to sew. The dress looks more complicated to make than it actually is. The instructions are excellent and the methods used make it easy to get a good looking product. Rag curls! Boing, boing! I slightly altered the pattern pieces to make it work with the border print - mostly just straightening out the side seams. I expected that the dress would hav...

It's been awhile since I've used an Oliver + S pattern . I bought this Seashore Sundress pattern quite awhile ago and am happy that I finally made use of it. It was as enjoyable to sew as every other Oliver + S pattern I've used . This sundress is for my older daughter. The fabric is a lightweight twill that I picked up on clearance around the same time as I bought the pattern. As it turns out, it is a Lisette fabric, created by the same designer as the patterns. I thought the stripes might not be ideal for this pattern since I didn't have enough fabric to do much matching, but I'm pretty happy with it after all. I finished the facings with bias binding and added a tag for fun. The instructions are both good and thorough, but the techniques used are not advanced, so this would be a good beginner pattern. My daughter likes the small pockets in the skirt, but they are not very noticeable. I had absolutely no length to spare, so I used bias tape as a ...

The fabric for my older daughter’s dress was the inspiration for this coordination effort. I picked it up for a great price at the end of the summer last year. I had the fabrics for my son’s clothes already in my stash. I knew that I wanted to use some sort of bold stripe for my younger daughter’s dress (initially inspired by this one ) but it took me awhile to decide on exactly how to make it work. After some more searching and perusing, I came across this dress and thought it was perfect. Of course, I didn’t have a pattern exactly like that and looked for one that would get me close. Last year I was so happy with New Look 6089 so I decided to work with that one again. The biggest change to the pattern was the cut-away shoulders and it wasn’t as hard to do as I thought it would be. If I were to do it again, I would cut them away a little further - more like the inspiration photo. The stripes are made by sewing navy bands on top of the white skirt. I made pres...

Oh, this poor old neglected blog...so sad. Sometimes I think I should close it down rather than letting it sadly limp along like a wounded animal. I get close to pulling the trigger and then make something and find myself wanting to tell the blog about it. There is hope. The lack of posts are not for lack of sewing. There has been sewing. Much sewing. The lack of posts are more a reflection of a lack of quiet time and free energy. I do find I really appreciate having a record of my makes and perhaps some negotiating of the priorities could free up some blogging energy. For now, limp along with me, will you? I made clothes for each of my three kids for the Easter holiday last week. Time was tight, so I cut some time by using patterns that I had used before. In some cases, it helped to know the construction method. In others, it was very helpful to know that the fit was already tweaked. The three kids were coordinated in navy blue and white, but they each used different fabrics. We...

The majority of the clothes I make for my kids are for my older daughter. My son gets hand-me-downs from some other families and my younger daughter gets hand-me-downs from my older daughter. So, my older daughter usually has the greatest amount of need for clothes. The other two do notice this pattern, so they get extra excited when I do work on something for them. My daughter was pretty excited about the idea of a new dress when I started this one, and she was really excited when it won first prize in our local fair* but now she won't wear it. I love the fabric - the trees, the squirrels, the dark red background, the fact that it's corduroy. She doesn't like the fabric - "it's not girlish" is what she says. Bleh. If the squirrels were pink and sparkly (ick), she'd like it. I'm not sure if I should be frustrated with her narrow views or commend her for having a firm grasp on her own sense of style. I also really like the pattern - Burda 9564...

Strange to be posting a sundress now, I know. I made this in July, but haven't gotten around the taking pictures or writing about it until now. I admire those who can blog in real time. Mine gets pushed to the bottom of the list most of the time. This is Simplicity 4721 , a pattern that I don't remember buying at all. My copy has a bright orange "SALE $0.99" sticker slapped on the front, but that isn't even triggering any memories. Anyway, it seemed like a good choice when I was perusing the pattern stash for a summer dress for my daughter. I wanted something other than the full, gathered skirt I often gravitate toward. I started with a size 4 and added gobs of length - some to the bodice and more distributed through the skirt. It looks like the narrow straps on the envelope models' dresses are falling off their shoulders. That could probably be fixed by moving them toward the center front more, but I also wanted a little more coverage. So, I changed...

I really wouldn't describe my style as trendy. It takes some time for my eyes to get used to something new and different. If it sticks around for awhile, then I might adopt it. Case in point: the maxi dress. I really didn't like them at first ("first" being what - three or four years ago?) and I still don't like many of them that I see. But, there have been some that I admire - enough to make me consider trying it out. I actually chose to make a maxi dress because of the fabric I was interested in moving from the fabric closet to my clothes closet. I really wanted a dress out of this breton stripe knit that I purchased last year on a trip to New York. Initially, I was planning to make something similar to this or this but then I found a dress so much like what I was planning to make on a clearance rack at Old Navy for less than $3.00. Hard to beat that! So, then I needed to find a different idea for this fabric. Then I started seeing several sewing blogge...

I'm not sure if I should say this dress was a long time coming, or a really quick sew. I cut it out and just started the sewing at the end of last summer. I didn't complete it before the weather became too cold to wear it, so I bagged it up, set it aside and moved on. When I recently pulled it out, it didn't take me long to finish it up. The pattern is Simplicity 2584 and I really like it. I combined various parts of the views to get what I wanted - drawstring dress style like View A, sleeveless with the scalloped slit facing like View D. The neckline edges are even at the top. The dress is just not on the dressform straight here. You know that I love piping, so I couldn't resist this opportunity to use it here. For a few years I really didn't wear much navy blue, but now I'm really liking it a lot again. Here I like the classic red, white and blue combination. The scalloped neckline piece is sewn on top of the dress and then a facing is applied ...

When I started thinking about spring dresses for my girls, I wanted to buy new fabric. I had seen some inspiring pictures online and in catalogs and I wanted to copy some of those ideas. But, I'm trying to sew from stash as much as possible and truthfully, sometimes limiting the choices makes the process more creative and satisfying. So, for my firstborn, here's what I came up with: Maybe you recognize the stripes from the T-shirt photo ? This used up the last of it (and I'm glad to see it gone!). The red twill was given to me by someone else who was destashing. Same with the navy used for the piping and the red (metal!) invisible zipper. Very economical! I did purchase the pattern - New Look 6018 . The measurements given on the pattern envelope and tissue are dependable, but I'm not as pleased with the fit/shape as I was with my other daughter's dress . Of course, it's a very different style, so comparing them maybe isn't so fair. Have I ever menti...

It's somewhat rare, but once in awhile I produce something that I'm all around thrilled with. I don't feel the need to nit-pick imperfections or let myself get annoyed with what I wouldacouldashoulda done differently and I just really enjoy the finished product. That's how I feel about this dress and jacket: I used New Look 6089 to make these for my younger daughter. This is a great pattern. It isn't anything dramatic or unique, but the measurements and drafting are trustworthy and produce a flattering dress for a young girl. I purchased this fabric a few months ago with my older daughter and a certain jumper pattern in mind, but it didn't work out with the double border print. To make it work here, I straightened the side seams of the skirt and just made each of the pleats deeper. The bodice is lined with the same fabric and it turned out to be just the right amount of yardage. I love that. No waste or pondering what to do with those scraps. The ja...

Item No. 2 in the Coordinated Christmas Clothing series is a dress for my younger daughter. I liked this dress in the most recent issue of Ottobre when I saw it and thought it could work for combining the glen plaid and dark red fabric. I'm quite happy with how it looks now, but when I first tried it on my daughter I was not hopeful about it. My first thought was, "I didn't know a three-year-old could look frumpy!" But, cutting off some length helped as did the addition of sleeves. This dress looks better on a body in motion than it does in photographs. Here the back looks a bit big, but it's just a very basic A-line shape. The plaids match nicely at center back, but maybe you notice that the sleeves are cut with the plaid going the opposite way. I was seriously in danger of not having enough fabric and played pattern tetris for awhile to get everything I needed squeaked out. Switching the direction of the sleeves was the only way. I think the sleeves mak...