Day: 12 January 2013

adult's clothing, sewing

a skirt for Terri

Some time ago my friend Terri’s partner asked me if I could make her a dress.  I don’t usually sew to order, but Terri is a pretty special woman, so I said that I would if he could let me know what style and fabric she’d prefer.  A little while passed, and during that time he saw the perfect dress in a shop and bought it for her.  So instead of a dress, we decided that I would make her a skirt.

A-line skirt for Terri

I absolutely LOVE the way that Terri’s skirt has turned out! She bought a special printed tea-towel on her last trip to New Zealand (she’s from NZ) and asked if I could incorporate it. Of course I could!

A-line skirt for Terri - panel detail

The bird is a tui, native to New Zealand.  I used almost all of the tea-towel to make an overlay panel on black denim for the skirt.  I wish I could remember where I’d bought this denim – it’s a beautiful weight, and I could do with more of it.  I even remembered to change thread colours when I machine hemmed the skirt, so that there wasn’t black stitching going over the panel.

A-line skirt for Terri - facing

I found some black/grey/white printed fabric in stash to use for a contrast yoke lining. I rather like having a hidden bit of contrast there! If I’d had enough I would have also used it for a hem facing, but sadly I didn’t. So the hem is just turned and stitched. The centre back closes with an invisible zip – and once again, I’m very pleased with how nicely the zip has gone in.  The skirt actually looks better than in these photos – the camera flash has caught the fabric in weird ways.

A-line skirt for Terri - back invisible zip

The skirt pattern is Nicole Mallalieu’s A-line Skirt. It really is a wonderful pattern, and is pretty much my go-to pattern for skirts for most figure types. I get a terrific result every time.  Nicole has incorporated the shaping into the yoke seam beautifully, and the yoke fits around the waist and tummy in a very flattering way.

A-line skirt for Terri - yoke detail

I’m looking forward to seeing this on Terri! A highly satisfying make.

by thornberry
children's clothing, sewing

seashore sundress

I did manage to finish sewing Clare a dress for her birthday!

Oliver + s Seashore Sundress, size 8

It’s the Oliver + s Seashore Sundress, in size 8. This is another delightful pattern from Oliver + s. The instructions were the usual excellent standard that I have come to expect from them. The construction was straight forward. I think that I spent more time in cutting out the dress, since I chose a directional fabric. There was a hell of a lot of stripe matching to do!

Oliver + s Seashore Sundress, size 8

There are princess seams down the front and the back, and the gathered skirt goes around the back but only to the princess seams at the side front. So I matched up the pattern as best I could aligning the stripes across the vertical seams while still managing to keep the repeat constant horizontally. Starting with the centre front piece and then working around the rest of the dress from there was the trick to the cutting layout! Much of it was single layer.

Oliver + s Seashore Sundress, size 8

There are little pockets tucked into each side of the skirt. So sweet! This dress lends itself very well to piping around the pocket and along the princess seams, but I didn’t include that detail.

Oliver + s Seashore Sundress, size 8

Such a terrific style for the hot days that we are now having in Melbourne. It is easy to sew, and I think it was assembled in around two hours (after cutting time). The fabric came from Spotlight some years ago. It’s such a fun design! I’ve used the alternate colourway before here and here and here.

Oliver + s Seashore Sundress, size 8

Clare had a lovely tenth birthday, and is spending as much time as possible glued to her new iPod touch. They have been the tenth birthday present of choice amongst her friends.  We’ve held off on hand-held electronic toys or games consoles until now, as the kids watch enough television and play enough computer games on my desktop computer (and my android phone) as it is. But now that we have succumbed, we’re amazed at how much they can do. She’s particularly enjoying Facetime with her grandmothers. Of course, now we are hearing the refrain of “can I have an iPod” from Stella.  My reply of “when you turn ten” is a difficult one for her to process at only five years old!

by thornberry