Welcome the Gabrianna!

Oh yes, week three of TMS Indie Patten month and I've mashed up patterns from two of my fave indie companies; By Hand London Anna and Sewaholic's Gabriola. And so, I present to you Gabrianna!

My thinking behind the match... The Anna bodice I've made twice before and it's a lovely simple, easy to sew bodice, I also think it needs an elegant skirt. The Gabriola is new to my collection, and the elegant smooth lines of this skirt are a match made in heaven with this bodice in my opinion. I also love the fit of other Sewaholic patterns I've made up.

I actually cut the bodice and made that first before cutting out the skirt. Having not made the skirt before I didn't know how it would fit around my waist/hips, but thought I could play around with it to fit. So I measured the waist of the bodice, and cut the skirt to match that size. I still interfaced the waistband to keep it stable and give some definition.

This skirt is actually quite an easy pattern to make up. Yes, there are a lot of pieces, but it's quite a simple pattern to make up. Although I was in such a rush, that I actually stitched the side skirt panels the wrong way round, My skirt was very odd until I realised what I'd done! I wondered why I had enormous triangular hips sticking out! There was a lot of unpicking taking place!

I even put a pocket in the side seam. The in seam pocket pattern piece actually came from my Pauline Alice Cami pattern, so in theory, I've used three patterns in this dress. Perhaps it should be called the Gabricamianna? No, OK, we'll stick to Gabrianna ;-)

The zip is a navy blue dress zip which I had in my stash. So I was happy, I'm still not good at putting in invisible zips. Give me a centred zip and I'm happy!

I did find time to let this drop overnight. The fabric is quite stable and so I took a chance. I finished it by hand as usual.

I did not go mad to match the pattern, I think my poor brain has had enough pattern matching for now after my plaid cami! However, I did make the effort to try to line up the pattern. I would have been too obvious otherwise. So at least the colours line up on the skirt and bodice, etc.

It was pretty windy along the waterfront!

The fabric is a cotton which I got from Fabric-a-Brac in April. It's actually from one of my fellow WSBN ladies and when she saw this I think she was definitely happy to see how it had been made up. It cost me probably less than $5 and there's still about a metre plus left! As for choosing it for this dress, I wanted something which would show the lines for the Gabriola skirt. The best bit about this skirt is where the grainline is around the yoke and this fabric is perfect. It's not an obvious stripe, but I think the pink pattern lines show the yoke brilliantly.

The details

Fabric:  Blue, pink, green patterned cotton from Fabric-a-Brac, April 2014. I got just over 4m for less than NZ $5, that's about GBP 2.50 for UK folks and about US $4.30. Bargain or what?

Notions:   Thread (both white and blue from stash), interfacing for the neck facing and waistband, and a navy dress zip from stash. Lots from stash!

Pattern:  The Gabrianna = Bodice from By Hand London Anna dress + Gabriola skirt from Sewaholic. Oh, plus a pocket from Pauline Alice Cami dress! I think this definitely satisfies the criteria for TMS Franken-Indie.

First worn:  Photos, followed by WSBN dinner last Saturday. The photos were taken down on the waterfront here in Wellington with Zara, Laura, Kat and, later on, Sandra. As you can see there's always a bit of fighting to be had on who gets the best photographer :-)

OK, Kat and I are friends really...

Changes made:  I shifted the darts slightly with the bodice, but the rest is as drafted. I think I cut between a 16/18 front bodice, 14/16 back bodice. The skirt I cut a 12, but the waist I ended up taking in more at the back. I always think I've got a broad back, but perhaps not! Oh and I definitely cut quite a bit of length off the skirt, since this is a maxi skirt pattern.
Recommend?  As a franken-indie mash-up, this worked like a dream. I think the skirt lines suit this bodice perfectly. I love the way the skirt still skims my hips producing clear lines. I feel like the cat that's got the cream in this creation and would definitely recommend you try it. 

I call it a success. In two weeks, I've made two happy dresses - yay! I think I can get away with this on some of our warmer winter days. Purple boots and purple cardi? Yep, I think so!

Thanks to Zara and Laura who wielded my big girls' camera. Oh and the outtakes, cos I know how much you love them :-)

 Don't ask...

There's a naked man about to dive in the harbour here in Wellington, 'nuff said!

Anna Mk II - Daisy Anna

I knew I'd have to make another Anna dress soon. And I didn't wait long to do so.

Meet "Daisy Anna"

This was real stash-busting, the fabric I bought over a year ago and it's been waiting for the perfect pattern. I reckon it's found it!

This is the slash neck mid length version of By Hand London Anna dress - if you hadn't already guessed :-) I was so excited cutting this out and trying so hard to fit all the pieces that I forgot to lengthen the bodice. It's a wee bit short in the waist, but I can certainly live with it!

Some of the skirt pieces are upside down, I can't tell, so neither can you, and if you can, shut up, cos I don't care!! :-) I so wanted to keep the gored skirt which is on the pattern. I just think it's perfect for it and didn't want to add a gathered or pleated skirt. I did have to remove some of the width from the skirt pieces too.

Skirt pattern placement

You wanna see how much was left at the end?

Yep, that's creative cutting :-)

And there was little fabric left for a hem, so this is what the hem looks like on the inside...

You like?

There's not really much else to say. This pattern is just a joy to sew, it goes together really easily and is quick to make. OK, possibly a wardrobe full of Anna dresses may get a bit too much, but only a bit you understand!

And so the details...

Fabric:  (Possibly vintage) cotton from Unearthed (a vintage shop on Cuba St, Wellington), bought on my first WSBN meet, November 2012, I think it was $25.

Notions:  Thread, a standard dress zip,interfacing and ribbon for the hem

Pattern:  By Hand London Anna
First worn:  I think for work a couple of weeks ago, worn here at Staglands with the WSBN.

Changes:  Shifted the bodice pleats to the centre slightly and sewed them about an inch shorter. Oh, and my new fave, it has a handpicked zip instead of an invisible zip. Just check this out...

I love hand sewing! Particularly when I get a result like this!

Although I first wore this to work, I didn't get photos until we went to Staglands, so here's a cutesy pic for you or two...

Now I'm not the best with any animal, but this little bunny let me hold him for ages. He was so soft and warm.

Oh and as an aside, it looks like I'll be making the GatherKits Mortmain in March. You have bossed and 44% of you voted for the Mortmain, the Vogue and Elisalex getting 27% of votes each.

Now all I need to do is to find an exposed zip which I like!

Frocktober time!

Yay! I've actually managed to make something for The Monthly Stitch. Three of my lovely WSBN friends are behind the Monthly Stitch and ever since it started I've been attempting to get my sewing to match in. [As you've probably realised, I'm not the best at keeping up with joint projects, or group sewing.]

This is the fourth in a line of Sewaholic patterns I've made this year and this time I've joined the Cambie bandwagon. [One is yet to be photographed and blogged about.] They are such a great fit for me and go together so quickly too. I have some more of Tasia's patterns stashed away, so I reckon another will happen before long!

This fabric has also been tucked away for about a year (which I think officially means it's from the stash!) I bought it specifically for a Cambie. It's a stretch cotton sateen and perhaps is a bit stiff for the full-skirted Cambie, but hey, it's worked out OK, don't ya think?

The background on the fabric is a very pale cream colour, not white, which I actually prefer. The pattern is in navy blue. So you can guess I chose a fine navy cotton lawn for the lining. The zip is also navy. I've even done things like using a navy bobbin thread and cream top thread so the stitching all matches with the fabric. It's a bit of a faff changing the thread and bobbin a lot, but it's satisfying when done.

I ended up making this for a conference dinner I was going to. It was the impetus I needed to make it up. The dinner theme was a sea theme. OK, it's not very sea like, but teamed with a cropped navy jacket, I reckon it looked kind of sea like in the end. :-) The plan was also to add a lace edge to the lining which showed below the skirt, but have you have tried to buy navy lace? I couldn't find any for love nor money!

I did make a muslin of the bodice. Mainly to check the length and dart placement. [No you're not going to see any photos of the muslin.] But suffice it to say, it was too short as usual! The darts also finished too high and too far to the side, so I had to alter those.

I took care over the pattern placement for the bodice and the belt/waistband piece.

The bodice front is centred exactly. I spent ages cogitating and ruminating over how I would cut the waistband piece with two different pieces centred. I'm glad I chose the one I did for the outside, the inside piece is not the best piece of sewing I've ever done.

The back is also cut to look as if the zip is not really there. I'm not completely pleased with how the waistband has lined up at the back for the zip. I put this zip in three times and this is the best version. Perhaps I should have done an invisible zip after all? [This is just a centred zip, as I couldn't get hold of a navy invisible zip when I went looking.] And of course this dress has pockets :-)

All the seams are pinked, I decided that since the dress is fully lined, I could get away with pinking rather than French seams, which I might have used on the lining at least.

The details...

Fabric:  Cream cotton sateen with a navy pattern from Global Fabrics (that was) in September 2012. I can't remember the price, but it was not in the sale (and not particularly cheap!) The lining came from the Fabric Warehouse.

 Notions:   Thread and a standard dress zip, oh and I also stitched cotton tape to the neckline to help it keep shape and not gape.

Pattern:  Sewaholic Cambie view B
First worn:  To the LIANZA conference dinner in Hamilton, where I got lots of compliments and did you really make that comments :-) PS Librarians really do know how to party...
Worn with (in this pic):  Cream sling back wedges I bought in Nordstrom, Chicago about 7 years ago!
Changes made:  Lengthened the bodice by 3/4 inch and shifted the darts more to the centre.
Another one?  Oh yes, I think I will eventually, once I've made everything else on my wish list!

No apologies for this one, but what's a girl to do when wearing a full skirted frock in Frocktober?