So, this is the dress that I did wear to the dinner!  The Victory Patterns Satsuki dress.

Yes, it’s a sack – but a very bright, comfortable, satiny, slippery sack, with fluttery sleeves and a front flounce. And had I mentioned colourful?

I’ve just noticed that in the photo of the back the facing has flipped up – which is definitely not how I wore it! I threw this dress back on to get photos taken in a hurry the other day, and obviously didn’t pay a great deal of attention to the details. Anyway, back to the dress. It’s very simple to make, even in the slippery satiny fabric (from the Darn Cheap Fabrics $2 per metre table a little while ago). The v-neckline is a nice depth, not too low, but still low enough to give some proportion. I sewed it in size 10, and shortened it a couple of inches to allow for my lack of height. It is much shorter on the models in the pattern photos than it is on me, and I am still tossing up whether I should take it up another inch or two. It’s right on the knee at the moment.

I’d rather like to give the other version of the dress a try too. It has circular cut-outs at the shoulder, and a tie belt threaded through buttonholes at the sides. It still has the v-neck, but no centre front flounce. There are some more satiny slippery fabrics in my stash that could be fun in this pattern. Recommended! And it allows you to eat a huge dinner at a professional association function without any discomfort. Win!

Also known as the dress I was going to wear to the dinner.  I attended a professional association dinner on Friday night, and early last week I made this dress to wear to it.

Then I read the weather forecast – and took a good hard look at the back of the dress on me and the need to wear “suck it all in” underwear with it – and made an alternative dress.  I did a whole lot of swapping from one dress to the other and back again when I was getting ready for the dinner, and in the end I went with the alternative dress.  Here’s a photo of the back of the Marita, in the interests of full sewing and fitting disclosure.

But despite all of that, and the fact that I didn’t wear this dress to the dinner after all, it was lots of fun to sew! The pattern is the StyleARC Marita dress. I made size 12, which is my usual StyleARC size, but this is pretty tight. It’ still comfortable, because it’s a knit, but I need to stand up very straight with my tummy pulled in when wearing this – preferably with smoothing underwear as well.

See that groovy cowl neckline and wrap type of effect in the front? SO easy. This is a simple dress to sew – actually, they claim that you can sew it in under an hour, and I think they are right. It was mainly constructed on the overlocker, with the machine used for just a few seams and the twin needled hems. The fabric came from Darn Cheap Fabrics. How incredibly green is that green!

I suppose now that I’ll need to take some photos of the dress that I DID wear to the dinner!  And Sewjourning friends that wear a size 12 or thereabouts – I think that you should try this dress on – I reckon that this style would look GREAT on a couple of you!

All of a sudden it felt like winter in Melbourne.  After weeks of baking, the pendulum swung completely the other way!  So I made a long sleeved top.

This is Vogue 8815 again, in view C. Long sleeves, high-low (or “mullet” hemline), shaped raised front seam, and peplum. Completely different to what I usually wear.

This time I sewed size 12 through the body, but size 10 through the shoulders and upper chest. I also shortened the bodice and back pieces around 3/4 of an inch at the marked “shorten/lengthen” lines. I think it’s a much better fit than my previous make of 8815 – it’s essentially a size smaller. I also shaved about a quarter of an inch from the sleeve cap. This pattern is designed for wovens, and since I was using a stretch it really didn’t need as much ease.

The fabric is a light weight ponte from Darn Cheap Fabrics (and I must have liked it a lot because it wasn’t on the $2 per metre table and I paid full price). It was incredibly easy to sew with. I eliminated the centre back neck opening, deepened the neckline about an inch at the centre front, and bound the neck with self-fabric. All the hems are top stitched with the twin needle.

So there you go – a warm winter top that is rather fun and currently quite fashionable. Maybe not my best ever look, but one that I am going to wear. I paired it with StyleARC Elle pants, but think that it would also work well with some StyleARC Linda pants that I haven’t made yet. And as it so happens, I’ve already cut out one more winter 8815. Maybe that will get made tomorrow!  And yes, I got a haircut and colour.  Shorter than I’d anticipated!

I needed some work pants.  You know, the sort that are simple, with a fairly straight leg, but are in a stretch fabric so that they are comfortable when sitting at a desk all day.  After my success with their other pant patterns, it was pretty obvious that I should give StyleARC a try.  Enter the Linda stretch pant.

This pattern is designed for stretch wovens, such as bengaline. I used a stretch woven with plenty of stretch from the Darn Cheap $2 per metre table, not a bengaline, but something with loads of give and recovery. Plenty of stretch is important for this pattern because the pants pull on, with an elasticised waistband.

I feel that I must be a “serious” sewing blogger now if I am prepared to exhibit my midriff on the internet.

StyleARC patterns are single sized. I usually just order them in what I would buy ready to wear (in Australian sizing). So a size 10 for pants and 12 for tops and dresses. Size 10 for pants is always knowing that I need to let them out at the waist, or else make sure that they are a stretch fabric. A size 10 waist doesn’t even remotely go around my middle, but I usually need the 10 for hips and legs.

These photos are all taken at the end of a day of work, so after twelve hours of wear. The fabric has definitely relaxed a bit, especially at the back thigh. They look a little like they are disappearing up my, ahem, bum a little in these photos, but they didn’t feel that way in wearing. I wasn’t having to hoick them out all the time.

These were intended as a muslin, or trial pair. But I think they’re quite wearable as they are. I’d welcome suggestions about adjustments that you think would improve the fit further. They have those back of the thigh folds and wrinkles that most ready to wear pants have on me, and although the waist is comfortable, I could still let it out a bit. I cut the elastic to the same measurement as the waistband that encases it, so it is a little stretched on my body, as my waist measures larger. Thank goodness for stretch wovens!

They are blind hemmed by machine – Clare did a great job of pinning the hem to the right length for me.  Super easy to construct too. It’s all about the drafting, and tweaking it to fit your own shape. I’m pretty happy with this muslin. I actually wore it with a long vest over the top – hides the back leg wrinkles and bottom creep!

Looking at these photos, I reckon I could have made a size 12.  But I’m implementing plans to lose the weight I put on over the last year, and that will affect the fit too. When I lose weight lots of it goes from my bottom and legs.  I wish it would go more from my waist and stomach!  I don’t think that there is really such a thing as “perfect” fit, especially in pants. What is “perfect”? Who says? But there is certainly better fit, and more flattering fit, and their inverse.  And yes, I know that black t-shirt doesn’t fit well at all around my middle – the main reason for the vest over the top!  But fit suggestions and alterations for these pants are welcomed and encouraged.

This one is an oldie but a goodie.

I first made this dress from an orange/brown floral printed polyester crepe back in around 1994 or 95.  I really liked it at the time, and since I still have pretty much all the patterns I’ve sewn in my adulthood, I was able to locate the pattern to make it again.  Almost 20 years later.

It still had the folds where I had shortened the torso length. I made size 12, the same as last time (it was a single sized pattern). Looking at these photos, it could have done with a small FBA. It’s not actually as noticeable in real life that there are some drag lines at the side of the bust. These photos were taken in very bright light and every tiny fold, wrinkle or pucker has been highlighted!

The fabric is the same high quality navy woven from Darn Cheap that I recently used to make some loose pants. I paired it with some beaded trim near the hemline (also from Darn Cheap).  The hem has been secured with a machine blind hem, that also looks much more obvious in this photo than it does in real life.

There were a couple of slight modifications to the assembly. I used an invisible zip in the centre back, rather than centring a regular one, so was then also able to use Nikki‘s method of attaching a facing to an invisible zip to neatly finish the inside back neckline. She details this in her A-line skirt pattern – I refer to it all the time!

The wide stitched pleats actually give princess line shaping to the front. They release just below the bust, which is something that I always like in a dress. After I attached the sleeves I realised that there was way too much ease. They needed shoulder pads to sit properly – and I wasn’t interested in adding them. So I unpicked most of the sleeve armscye, re-sewed the shoulder seam to angle it down about another quarter of an inch at the armhole, then set the sleeves back in again with a small inverted pleat at the shoulder seam. I’m pretty happy with this solution. It means that there is still plenty of room in the sleeves for my “muscular” biceps and triceps.

It was interesting to make the same pattern again so many years later. I almost feel as though I’m in my early twenties again when I put it on. Is that a good thing? I’m not convinced. Older does mean wiser for me! I don’t refer to the instructions as much when I’m sewing something as I did back then, and happily did things like the sleeves, shoulder seams and the neck facing “my way”. I think I’m a little more confident, and aware that just because the instructions say to do things one way, it doesn’t mean that I have to.

Maybe it’s time to pull out the old Knitwit patterns from the early 1990s and see if they can be revived as well!