Lily Anna

Proof that I have been sewing...

I joined the By Hand Anna bandwagon. I made this dress in November actually, it's fabric I've had in the stash for about two years. I bought it from the Fabric Warehouse (I think) not long after we arrived here in NZ. It's a really fine, soft cotton lawn. Beautifully soft and floaty, but thin. It needed a lining.

I was determined to make an Anna, but which one? Quickly decided on the maxi dress with thigh split and the V-neck. Problem, how am I going to line the skirt section? I managed to find a plain black cotton lawn to line it with and decided to do a half skirt length lining.

I made up a muslin of the bodice. I was quite pleased with the fit of that, except the darts needed shifting over, they didn't sit quite right. I also lengthened the bodice by about half/three quarters of an inch. Not a great deal, but it certainly makes it sit better. I didn't try the zip in the muslin - which may have been my downfall later with the real version.

I had nearly 4m of the main shell fabric and making the maxi dress I've used most of it, mainly making sure I had all pieces the right way up, but also those skirt pieces are quite wide time you get to the bottom of the full length pieces.

For the neck, to give more stability, I cut the facing pieces too. So the neck has facing as well as the lining.

I've seen lots of comments about the gape on the back of the neck, how to check this problem. My muslin fitted well, but this bodice fitted completely differently - a lesson in making the muslin from similar fabric. The front was perfect, the new dart position works a treat, the length of the bodice is so much better too. The back however was enormous. Quite strange for me, I'm aware I have rounded shoulders and am very fond of slouching, so a back bodice with LOADS of ease was odd to say the least. I got Mr N to help and just pin the back pieces together. There was about an inch plus seam allowance! Help! Were the side seams still OK? Mm, yes, very odd, must have been decidedly lackadaisical over the cutting.

Anyways, I pinned the zip in with an inch most of the way, but I think it's an inch and a quarter at the top of the zip, ha ha, got rid of some of the gape :-) I also reduced the seam once I got to the skirt, so I didn't lose any of the back on the skirt. Yep, I've fiddled it again, story of my life methinks, cheating with my fixes :-)

So started to sew in an invisible zip, in this beautiful fabric and ARGH!! It just didn't like it. I was nearly in tears. I remember messaging my WSBN friends in a panic, what to do, I'd broken two needles (I'm not made of 70/10 needles). It was also chewing up my beautiful dress. Wah!

The answer came with a resounding, handpick it. Help! I have never handpicked a zip in my life, what do I do, how do I do it? Thank you my trusty blogging friends around the world. I mainly used Tasia's tutorial, but checked out some other sites too. It worked a treat and I was surprised how quickly and easily it went in. Check this out - my first handpicked zip...

The waist is not perfect, but I'm really pleased how it's turned out. The lining is attached to the shell fabric down the split and is machine hemmed. I think the lining comes to just above the knee. The main dress is hemmed by hand. The seams I've pinked. I decided that since the dress is lined, I could get away with pinking and not using French seams.

Anyhoo, I think that's all the construction type stuff.

Mm, methinks I need to get a bit of tan on that there thigh...

The details...

Fabric:  Black cotton lawn for both the shell and lining, I'm pretty certain both came from Fabric Warehouse.

 Notions:   Thread and an invisible zip.

Pattern:  By Hand of London Anna dress, variations 1 and 2
First worn:  To the WSBN Christmas picnic at the Botanic Gardens in Wellington
Worn with (in this pic):  Jandal type slingbacks and if you can spot it, some jewellery which has lilies on it :-)
Changes made:  Lengthened the bodice by 3/4 inch and shifted the darts more to the centre.
Another one?  I've a feeling another one of these will happen sooner rather than later, I'm already scheming which fabric from my stash may work and make Variation 3.
 

Thanks to the lovely Kat for wielding my big nerdy camera. And the outtake...

Hey, you, bombing my photos? (The Girl from the Naki and Off-grid Chic)

I got the teal first, oh no you didn't...

I can't believe I last wrote on 19th August! Help! I'm still here. I've actually made three things up since I last wrote, but taking photos has been nigh on impossible. We have now moved into New Zealand Summer Time and it's light until about 7.30 in the evenings - hurrah! I might get some photos taken!

This gem of an idea was first mooted around last February. I can't even remember who saw the fabric first, it's that long ago. We had this thought amongst the WSBN to use the same fabric do a mass combined photo. On the day the mass amounted to six of us, life conspired against us and other members of our group had family priorities. Note to self: remind others to do another mass photo later in the year!

The fabric in question (if you've not seen it on other blogs) is a teal green silk/cotton with a kind of stripe through it and cost the princely sum of $10 in Global Fabrics (sorry, Fabric Warehouse).

 

I ummed and ahhed for ages over how much I might need and what I might make. In the end, I went for a Sewaholic Pendrell. This is my first Pendrell and I'm pretty pleased with the make.

The pattern went together really quickly. I cut it out on the Wednesday evening after work, started sewing Thursday evening, did nothing Friday and finished it Saturday morning. No bad, I reckon (I'm not a quick sewer.)

I cut a size 14 view A straight with no adjustments (which is possibly too big), this size related to my measurements. I even found time to cogitate over which way up to place the sleeves! The fabric was great, it behaved. The princess seams are finished off with zig-zag stitch (I have no overlocker), but I actually made the effort to finish the side seams with French seams.

Photo courtesy of the lovely Sarah Wheaton

It was a windy day, my hair went everywhere and the sleeve kept blowing up!

(Photo courtesy of Sarah)

It's perhaps not that obvious in these photos, but I personally feel the blouse is too big and roomy. It's designed to be worn this way, since it's made without fastenings and can just be pulled over the head, but personally for me, I like something a bit more fitted. I do love the shape though, the princess seams and a great shape and the fit elsewhere is great. I'm tempted to make it again, but cut a size smaller inserting a zip in the side seam.

So the details...

Fabric:  Silk/cotton mix in teal green from The Fabric Store, $10/metre (bargain)
Notions:   Thread - this blouse has no interfacing, etc.
Pattern:  Sewaholic Pendrel
First worn:  For the WSBN what's the deal with teal (erm... fight!) about two weeks ago.
Worn with:  An RTW denim skirt from Wallis in the UK, Overland boots and teal green tights from M&S (UK)
Changes made:  None!
Another one?  Very tempted. I love the shape and even if this is a wee bit big, I actually really like it. I've worn it twice already. It'll be great if we get a really hot day, as it's cool and the colour makes me feel refreshed.

As for the day, well I got a bit annoyed with the fact that others had used the same fabric as me (how dare they?) I'm sure I got the teal first and made it up first... Call me your friend?

 (Photo courtesy of Sarah)

(Photo courtesy of Sarah)

(Photo courtesy of Sarah)

Then we let bygones be bygones and decided to be friends...

(Photo courtesy of Sarah)

(Photo courtesy of Sarah)

The Crazy Gypsy, me, Polycraftual, The Takahe Bites, A Charm of Magpies, Making it well

And what are a bunch of girls supposed to do when there's a children's playground with a crow's nest? Go up it of course and pretend to be in the film Titanic :-)

(Photo courtesy of Sarah)

Mama Gypsy also came along in a fab vintage dress she'd made in a different teal fabric.

Oh and did I mention the weather? The day did not dawn great, the day before had been awful, but this is how it turned out when we took our photos down at Island Bay here in Wellington. I even got the chance to skim stones in the waves! Oh I do love to be beside the seaside...

Sewing social - well more like eating!

OK, so I admit, little sewing has taken place, but it hasn't stopped me being social with the Wellington Sewing Bloggers (WSBN) and chatting about things sewing/fabric, enabling (fabric purchases and otherwise) and... erm eating! We certainly know how to party!

We've had mid-winter Christmas, spending the afternoon at a Charm of Magpies, knitting or doing cross-stitch, followed by handmade Christmas ornament swapping and a lovely roast dinner...

My Christmas ornament - a purple elephant, made by the Adventures of the Girl from the Naki

Flossie FT with her kiwi I made

Look at the great selection of handmade Christmas decorations

The savoury food...

...and the sweet, with the most amazing pavlova made by MrsC

We also trekked up to Palmerston North to spend the day on the Crazy Gypsy's patch. The plan was to go to Levana in Levin, but they were closed, so we op-shopped locally, then had posh tea and cakes in Palmy and a little bit of spending in the Arthur Toye sale...

Kapiti Island at dawn on our way up

Making it Well deciding where to start

Quick Mama Gypsy (aka the Forgotten Fashionista), it'll be gone!

Taking over Arthur Toye

The Curious Kiwi eyes up some fur...

Than last week we celebrated Cake patterns by wearing a Cake pattern and eating lots of cake - you see I told you we know how to eat :-)

Lots of Cake (Group photo courtesy of Flossie FT) including three new members of our fab group

The group of Tiramisus (Tiramisi?) Anyone know the plural of Tiramisu? (Courtesy of FlossieFT)

The Curious Kiwi, Me, Picolo Presents, Making it Well

Lots of edible cake

Tiramisu and me :-)

As for my Tiramisu dress, I shall leave that for another day...

Self-drafted pencil skirt

This has been a LONG time in the making.

I bought this fabric the first time I went to Goldhawk Road, London, when I was still in the UK. Erm, that was about September 2011. It's wool with a silver thread running through it. I think the lining was actually bought in John Lewis, not on Goldhawk Road. At the time, I remember thinking ooh, that's expensive, but when I consider now, I think the fabric was about GBP15 a metre. Being wool, it was 60 inches wide, so I had a metre. Bargain! (Sorry, I'm using both imperial and metric at the same time. A bad habit of mine which I need to curtail!)

The pattern started as my first ever self-drafted skirt. In October 2011, Sew Country Chick ran a pencil skirt draft-a-long, which I decided to join in with. I got so far. I drafted the pattern in October and even managed to stitch up a muslin. Yes, you did read that right, I sewed a muslin! I even got the fabric and lining cut and managed to sew the darts in the shell. Then life changed, we finally sold up and moved to New Zealand!

I didn't get to finish the skirt last winter, so I was determined to finish it for this. I managed to get some sewing done while I had my ankle in plaster, but it was slow going...

Anyway, the skirt is finally finished.

I found a bias binding which managed the lining to use for the seams. All seams for the main skirt are bound using this bias binding. It's the first time I've used Hong Kong seams, but believe you me, this fabric frays like anything! All seams on the lining fabric are French seams.

 

The zip is just a centred zip in the back of the skirt. For the waistband, I stitched the lining to the skirt, then attached curved Petersham to the top. The lining doesn't have darts in it, I ended up changing allegiance and following Sunni's pencil skirt sewalong who suggested that the lining should just have pleats in it.

 

The back of the skirt has a back vent. I think a back vent looks so much better, plus it's stronger for fabric which is as loosely woven as this. I got a bit confused with the lining for the vent and ended up fudging it, but this can't be seen on the outside and it now looks like it's just a seam that's meant to be there! [I cut back both sides of the lining by the vent and had to stitch one cut part back on again - oops!]

The inside of the vent and the hem are all finished with the bias binding too. The wool fabric was really bulky and just wouldn't have worked hemming up without the binding.

So the finished article...

I really pleased with myself how this skirt has turned out. The only problem with it, is that it's now too big around the waist. I think perhaps my drafting wasn't great, but it was a first. I get loads of compliments when I wear it. The colours are great for cheering me up on a grotty day. Plus the skirt is warm and is great for wearing on a windy day in Wellington!

The details
Fabric:  Teal green and black wool with a silver thread running through, purchased on Goldhawk Road, October 2011
Notions and lining:   Green lining fabric from John Lewis, also purchased October 2011, black zipper, green bias binding
Pattern:  Self-drafted pencil skirt, based on sewalongs from Sew Country Chick and a Fashionable Stitch
First worn:  Ages ago at a Wellington Sewing Bloggers meet on 19th May, it's just taken me a long time to get the photos done...
Worn with:  In these photos, a white T-shirt and dark green cardigan from Glassons (the former is losing it's shape...), black tights (most likely from Marks and Spencer in the UK!) and black pumps bought cheaply recently as a stop gap.

Burda 7767 - Pirates ahoy!

Finally I can post about this shirt.

This is my February contribution to the Stashbusting Sewalong, the creation of the lovely Cindy and Emily. February's challenge was aptly named the "Love challenge" and so I decided to make a shirt for Mr N. Which he challenged me to make last year some time.

Encouraged by the two rogues galleries from the amazing Carolyn, I used Burda 7767

In my stash, I had some dark grey cotton with a thin white stripe. The fabric has a slight stretch, which I hoped might help with the fit. I also love to sew these fabrics.

Having taken Mr N's particular measurments, checked those against the pattern as well as against a favourite RTW shirt in the wardrobe, I finally decided which size to make. I definitely measured twice, if not three or four times before cutting.

This shirt was definitely a labour of love. One of my own aims for the year was to produce clothing which was more wearable and with a better quality of finish. Consequently I decided to make this with lapped seams. No pinking or French seams, let's make it like any other men's shirt and finish it with lapped seams. I've never used these before, so it was quite a learning experience, particularly when there's a curve in the seam.

This is the underarm seam, check out those lapped seams all joining together.

I also followed MrsC's instructions and made sure the pocket lined up exactly.

 

I wish I'd used slightly stiffer interfacing. I had a lot of interfacing in my stash, but some of it was so old and after a panic email to local friends, I decided to cut my losses and chuck out the old stuff that wasn't sticking. This delayed the construction somewhat, as some of the main pattern pieces needed recutting.

Mr N knew I was making the shirt (it's not easy making things without him finding out!) and so we went button shopping together. As you can see we chose some plain white buttons for the front. These were going to be used for the cuffs... Until Mr N saw these...

Yep, some jolly roger pirate flags! :-) I guess I could have tried to make these with a double cuff so he could wear cufflinks, but these buttons negate the need. Aren't they fun? You like? Well even if you don't, we do and more importantly Mr N does, so...

The shirt was a double love challenge in one way, since the end of February was Mr N's birthday and I made the shirt so he could take it with us for his birthday long weekend in Queenstown. This was why the picture in the last post showed the shirt on a hanger. So for your delight and delectation, here is the man himself modelling the shirt I made...

 

Like me, Mr N is not of the modelling persuasion and we took these the evening he wore it for the first time, but he's happy with the shirt.

The only problem are the sleeves... They are too long. If I make the sure again I will probably shorten them, but I think what I could do for now is to move the pirate buttons across to ensure the cuffs do up more tightly. This will at least keep the sleeves off his hands. I'm not touching the buttonholes, trying to make buttonholes sized to fit those flags was not easy!

The nitty-gritty
Fabric: Grey cotton with a slight stretch, bought from Global Fabrics last November/December time (not sure if this counts as stash or not, but it certainly went in the stash pile before I considered cutting it...)
Trims: White buttons for the front and jolly roger flag buttons for the cuffs, all from Spotlight.
Pattern: Burda 7767
First worn: An evening out in Queenstown, South Island for Mr N's birthday
Worn with: Black trousers from Rodd and Gunn, Wellington.