Silk dress with tuck details

Hello! It's time for another Minerva Crafts Blogger Network project! This has been one of the projects which has been a thousand different designs in my mind, but I'm pretty happy with the design I finally settled on. I was pretty much directly inspired by the dress that Tea made here. 

The fabric is a delicious silk with a subtle sheen to it. I hand washed it in the sink and then hung it out to dry, instead of chucking it in the washing machine. It was pretty slippery and kept falling off the ironing board, but it ironed beautifully using the silk setting on the iron. The skirt drapes well with or without a petticoat. (The photo above is without petticoat and below is with petticoat).

For the bodice tucks I decided that the easiest way to do things was to cut out a rectangle a couple of inches wider and longer than my bodice block. I did 3 tucks across the rectangle, then I placed my front bodice pattern onto the fabric, making sure that the tucks were where I wanted them, then pinning and cutting out. This saved me slicing open my bodice block and working out the maths.

The skirt is 2 gathered rectangles the width of the fabric. I measured 16 inches down from the top of the rectangle and marked it with a notch. Then I put 8 more notches a 1/2 inch apart below the first one. 3 notches for each tuck. I was worried that the tucks would get lost in the print, but they are fairly noticeable. They would have a greater impact on a plain fabric.

I was originally going to have the invisible zip in the side seam, but I wanted a french seam there. Because the side seams are shorter than center back seams as they start under the arm, the zip wouldn't be long enough for my back bodice block as it was. So, I decided a V neck was in order. I love how elegant it looks! I wanted to respect the silk and make the insides as clean as possible. I was planning on french seaming everything but then I realised gathering and french seams would be a nightmare combination. So I hand flat-felled the waistline seams and french seamed the side seams.

 The centre back seam was pressed open, the raw edges pressed under and slip-stitched. The neckline and armholes are bias bound from the leftover scraps of the silk. The hem was turned under twice and slip-stitched. Doing a lot of hand stitching adds a lot of time to a project, but it gives me a higher sense of satisfaction because it's not equal to RTW, it's better than RTW. I haven't yet decided whether I want to save it for special occasions or wear it everyday. I guess it's like using the best china everyday.

Thanks to Minerva Crafts for providing the materials and to Edward for letting me drag him out of the house to take pictures somewhere other than the back garden!
Lauren xx

Button up jersey top

The night before my jaw operation I realised that a button up pajama top would be a lot easier to get on and off than the tees I normally use as pajama tops. Luckily I had some of the super soft floral jersey left over in my stash which was perfect for this top.

The top is self drafted, but it's pretty much a rectangle.  As a pajama top it didn't need to be fitted. I was a bit worried about doing buttonholes in the lightweight jersey, so the plan was to stabilize the buttonbands with interfacing. When I looked for interfacing in my stash it was no where to be found so I used calico selvedges instead, which worked fine. The buttonholes actually turned out surprisingly well!

I chose binding for the neckline and turned the hem over twice. The armholes are raw. I sewed the whole thing on my sewing machine because the overlocker was acting up. It's okay, but the finish is so much more professional with an overlocker.

I ended up wearing hospital gowns when in hospital, but this top came in handy when I got home. It was easy to get in and out of without interfering with my jaw. In fact, making it was a good distraction from thinking about my impending op.

Thanks for reading and to Ed for taking pictures!

Lauren xx

Autumn/ Winter capsule wardrobe planning 2015

In the last few weeks I've had to decide which clothes I want to take to uni and I thought making an Autumn/Winter capsule wardrobe would be a good idea. I decided on a red, green, purple, navy and black for a colour scheme. Below you can see quick sketches of what I've decided to take. The highlighted items are yet to be made. The list has changed pretty dramatically with items being added and taken away. Since I took this photo 2 items have been crossed off. At the moment the capsule consists of 29 pieces, but that could be subject to change. 

Instead of showing you all of the items of clothing I already own, I thought I'd focus on things on the list that are yet to be made. All of the fabric was acquired at a fabulous Goldhawk Road shopping trip with Claire. All of the modeled photos used are pinned on my wardrobe architect pinterest board.  Apologies for my rough sketches. I clearly need to invest in a Fashionary.

 First up, are some dotty Ginger jeans. I've not been so happy with my flares, as the denim I used for those is pretty stiff and cardboard like with little stretch. This dotty denim is stretchier so all should be good. I'd like to make the high-waisted skinny jean version this time around.

 I wear my 2 pairs of Turia dungarees all the time, and I think some burgundy corduroy dungarees are going to be so cosy!

I'd like to use the Zeena dress pattern as a base for a pleated skirt, with some horizontal pin tucks near the hem for some interest.

I've had this grey wool in the stash for years and I haven't known what to make from 1 metre of it. It's been simmering in my brain and I think it would make a great pair of winter shorts to wear over thick black tights.

Lastly, an Anderson blouse in some green polycrepe. I'm really intrigued to see how this one turns out.

Hopefully I'll have some spare time at uni to make these a reality!

Thanks for reading,

Lauren xx

Sashiko Francoise

Hello! Earlier this summer I went on my first solo trip to Grandpas, somehow successfully navigating the London tube system and getting to the right place at the right time. I needed a project to do without a machine and so asked Twitter what my options were. Susan of Measure Twice Cut Once suggested that I try my hand at Sashiko embroidery which was perfect.

 Sashiko embroidery is not something I've done before, but it went pretty smoothly with some internet research and a bit of improvisation. For those unfamiliar with the term, Sashiko stitching was originally a type of reinforment embroidery over worn and patched areas originating from Japan. However, now it can be used decoratively. It consists of a simple running stitch typically using white thread on an indigo background for a high contrast.

 I used the Tilly and the Buttons Francoise shift dress pattern, which I've made several times before. This time I blended the separate shoulder pieces back onto the main dress pieces for a dress with only 2 pattern pieces instead of 4. I wanted a simple background for my embroidery. Originally I found a design I liked and traced it with chalk on tracing paper, then attempting to transfer the chalk onto the fabric. This attempt was unsuccessful. Instead I decided to go with simple stripes that could be easily chalked onto the fabric with a ruler. The fabric was an old white cotton tablecloth with a fairly loose weave so the larger needle could easily pierce through the fabric. I then dyed it using a navy dye in the sink. It turned out a bit patchier than I would have liked so I probably should have stirred it more.

The tips that I picked up from various bits of internet research were to pick up several stitches on your needle at a time, as it will help keep the stitches straight. At the end of the row, leave some excess thread so it doesn't pull tight and pucker. Because the hand sewing I was doing was fairly simple it only took 2-3 days to finish. The lack of laptop did mean that I had a fair amount of otherwise usually occupied time.

So, as soon as I got home I stitched the dress together, tried it on and sighed. It just wasn't right, and had a number of issues that needed fixing. It went into The Pile for a couple of weeks and I picked it up again after my operation. I took a fair bit of excess out of the center back seam to make it slightly more fitted. The shoulder seams were taken in to make the neckline less gapey. Next time I'll take out some width at the centre front because the neckline does still gape a bit I also raised the darts so they actually hit my bust. In hindsight, the diagonal dart wasn't a great idea because it messed up my stripes.  A bust dart would have been a better idea. The hem was too dramatically A line for my liking as the fabric is so stiff, so I taped that in by 2 inches on either side. 

Despite not being able to stripe match the side seams, I did manage the center back seam pretty well! In regards to the insides, raw edges are all overlocked. Neckline and armholes are bias bound as per usual. The hem is turned up 1 inch and slipstitched into place. 

After all of the fitting changes I'm so happy with how the dress fits now! I think you get double the satisfaction when you turn a project from a wadder into something you love. It will be great in winter for layering under with shirts. It was fairly chilly today so I layered my white archer under it, which kept me warm. It's great to be able to transform a tablecloth into something so different and unique.

 Thanks for reading and to Ed for snapping these on the way home from visiting friends and to my parents for waiting patiently in the car while we shot these.
Lauren xx

Paisley Zeena Dress

Hi everyone! Today I have to show you my first post-op make. For those of you who don't know, I had my upper and lower jaw broken in surgery 2 and a half weeks ago to correct my overbite. The swelling has gone down a fair bit, but there is still a way to go. It's weird to look at these pictures, because I haven't quite come to terms with my new face and smile yet but I have to remind myself that it's not about my face, it's about the dress!

So, this is my version of By Hand London's latest pattern; the Zeena dress. I thought the pattern would be great with several of the fabrics in my stash but it turned out that I didn't have enough of any of the fabrics to make the dress. The only thing to do was to buy some new fabric! I was looking for viscose for the drapyness and found this paisley beauty on ebay. 2m of it promptly ended up in my basket.

My overlocker had decided to give up on keeping the thread in any fabric it stitched through so it was out of action. That meant that I had to find other ways of finishing the seams. I was originally going to do french seams for everything, but after french seaming the bodice to the skirt the pleats were all out of sync which just wouldn't do. Instead I sewed the seam right sides together as normal, lining up the pleats properly that time. Then I trimmed the seam allowance of the skirt piece, folding the bodice seam allowance on top over it and slipstitching. I think the weight of the zip is dragging the waistline down in the center so maybe next time I should add a waist stay?

After playing around with finding enough fabric for the pocket pieces, I got carried away with french seaming the side seam, completely forgetting about the pockets existence. I'd already unpicked one french seam, and I decided to sacrifice the pockets rather than unpicking another. 

 The center back seam allowances were pressed open, the raw edges tucked under and slipstitched for a clean finish. For the hem I tried something new. I machined a line of stitching 1cm from the edge and ironed it so the line was visible from the wrong side of the dress. That made it super easy to turn the raw edge under and slipstitch. There was a lot of slipstitching in this project.

The neckline was far too low for me so I remedied that by cutting quite a wide bias strip from the scraps to make a neckband, which was sewn right sides together. I folded the raw edge under about 0.5cm and ironed. That edge was then slipstitched to the wrong side of the dress to create a neckband. Ideally I should have inserted the zip before the neckband for a cleaner finish but I was in a hurry to see whether it would work or not!

After sewing the invisible zip in as I usually do I was disappointed with how visible it was. So, I thought I'd try sewing it again, trying to get closer to the teeth. Having 2 lines of stitching made all the difference. I've lost a bit of weight from having a liquid diet (4 weeks to go!) so I made a tie belt to cinch it in a bit.

I cut the skirt to the longest length, but removed 2 inches which ended up being used for the tie belt. I love the pleats, and I think it would be interesting to make the dress in a slightly heavier fabric and see how it sits.

That's all for now! Thanks very much for reading and to Dad for taking photos!

Lauren xx