Another day, another StyleARC pattern.  That’s what it is like here at the moment!  I’m enjoying trying out these patterns.  I first pulled out the Nina Cardigan pattern when I realised that I might need an extra layer to wear to SewcieTea.

This rendition is made in a loose weave knit from – yes, you guessed it, the Darn Cheap Fabrics $2 per metre table. It’s a fairly open weave, so is extremely drapey and quite sheer. Because it was assembled on the overlocker, the fabric didn’t really present any problems until I needed to hem it. A bit more difficult.

I went with the instruction suggestion and finished off the edges with the rolled hem stitch on my overlocker. It worked rather well, other than at the beginning and end of each seam, where the overlocker pulled the edges in all sorts of directions. I need to practice more on some scraps before doing this again. But otherwise, the resulting lettuce edge is rather nice, and it was the perfect easy extra layer that I was looking for. Although I need to shorten the sleeves before I wear it next – which will give me another opportunity to improve my rolled hem skills.

I made this in size 12, and it looks a little large to me. There is nice shaping in the jacket seams, so it’s not a sack, but in the loose knit it could have been a size smaller. It fits much more nicely in this bright green ponte (also from Darn Cheap Fabrics, but not the $2 per metre table).

Wow, you can tell that these photos were taken quickly at the end of the working day, with the dazed and confused expression on my face and hair damp from the rain. Anyway, the seaming is more evident in these photos. Lovely shaping, and easy assembly.

Although it’s a bit crumpled after twelve hours wear, you can get a much better idea of the fit this time. Not sure about those armhole wrinkles though – I’ll think about how to eliminate them next time I make this. Although as you can tell, each version turns out a little differently to the previous one depending on the fabric used. Once again, I finished the edges with the rolled hem stitch on the overlocker, but remembered to practice a little more and play with the differential feed settings first. The stability of this fabric also helped with a smooth edge. Sleeve hems were turned and top-stitched with the twin needle.

This is a cardigan that can be made in about two hours, including cutting out time. No darts, no gathers, no pleats. All the pieces fit together perfectly, and when constructed on the overlocker it is very fast. I’m going to make it again in some grey viscose jersey that I have in stash. It will be interesting to see how it works out and fits in a fabric that is between the weight of these two!

You would not believe how many StyleARC garments I have cut out at the moment.  All in stretch fabric (either knits or stretch wovens).  I have come to the conclusion that although I love to sew wovens, I love to wear stretch.  During the week I managed to squeeze in enough dribs and drabs of sewing time to construct Rowe’s Tunic.

I’d seen a few tops on Pinterest lately with lace fronts, and wanted to give it a try. This piece of stretch lace was originally from someone else’s stash, and the blue is a Spotlight cotton/lycra picked up on sale last year. I am pleased with the combination.

I just overlaid the stretch lace on the cotton/lycra, and cut out the front and the back insert as one. I stabilised the back piece by sewing the lace to the cotton/lycra with a simple straight stitch inside the seam line, and did the same around the front neckline. Otherwise I just treated the lace as one piece with its backing and followed the instructions.

Most of the construction was on the overlocker, but I basted the neck bands on with the machine before overlocking them in place. All the pieces went together very nicely – perfect drafting. I made this in StyleARC size 12.  The hem is secured in place with fusible tape, then stitched with the twin needle.

I’d quite like to make this with a slim long sleeve for winter. As it is, the weather in Melbourne has turned quite cold very rapidly, and I wore this tunic dress with leggings, a long cardi, boots and a scarf. I did receive a number of compliments on it, hooray! I was very much wearing me-made that day.

And have you been watching The Great British Sewing Bee? Oh, it is wonderful! We have been watching it on our TV via Youtube – one of the great things about a “smart” TV – and I have to say that Ann Rowley is my hero. Such exquisite stitching – and the scarf that she was wearing in episode 3 is divine! Not only can she sew and tailor beautifully, but she crochets! The scarf/wrap is called Bohemian Rhapsody – it’s had a huge number of hits on Ravelry since that episode aired on Tuesday night. Wonderful!  I want to be just like Ann when I grow up…

When I arrived at The Gables, I was struck by the number of beautifully dressed women that were arriving.  They stood out, because they weren’t in the usual Melbourne black.  They were in dresses!  Wonderful dresses!  In colour!  Pattern!  Lace!  Detailing!  High SewcieTea!

Photo courtesy of Rachel.

There are a few blog posts about the event now, many with wonderful photos and more detail of their garments – and the general consensus was that we had a superb time.  It is so much fun to talk fabric, patterns, alterations, and generally ooh and ah over one another’s clothes.  And there is always the challenge of playing “pick the pattern” – a fair few of us demonstrated considerable skill in identifying the pattern company, name and/or number of many of the garments worn!  And the crinolines – oh girls, it was wonderful to see so many crinolines in action!  And the food, yum, champagne, another yum – the afternoon flew by.

Photo courtesy of Leith.  That’s her on the right, next to Rachel, then Anna, then me!

So, to my dress!  I ended up making and wearing Vogue 1027 (as did Kat, who is 8 months pregnant!  It looked wonderful on her, but I’m still hoping that I didn’t look 8 months pregnant in mine).

So, what is there to say about this dress? It was a Pattern Review “Best Pattern of 2008”. Yes, I am behind the times, but I can see why it has retained its popularity. It seems to flatter everyone! I know that is a much overused saying, but I haven’t seen anyone yet that doesn’t look good in this dress. Some might look better than others, but they all look good! The fabric is a lovely quality jersey from Darn Cheap Fabrics – probably polyester, but with a beautiful handle and drape. And those colours! Divine!

I had been lucky enough to have tried this pattern on before in a size 8, so knew that I’d be better off in size 10. This pattern really does run large – I measure somewhere between a 14 and 16 for this pattern according to Vogue. The 10 fits absolutely fine! There are no alterations other than folding the tie in half and seaming the edges together rather than leaving the tie edges flat showing the wrong side. Hmm, did that make sense?

Frustratingly, I’m all out of Vliesofix tape. It’s so hard to source! Instead I used Heat’n’Bond Lite in the neckline, and I’m not at all happy with it. Normally I would just iron the tape to the wrong side of the neckline, peel off the paper, fold it to the inside, iron it in place, then twin needle stitch it all from the right side. Well, I still did that, but the Heat’n’Bond is just too thick. It has really stiffened the fabric and even makes it a little wavy. If (when) I make this dress again I’ll be certain to have Vliesofix at the ready or otherwise cut a strip of fabric to face the neckline. Lesson learned. Use the good product. Keep the Heat’n’Bond Lite for wovens or for much heavier weight, stable knits.

The skirt was cut to the pattern length, and it’s beautifully swishy and sway-ey (another technical sewing term) since it’s basically a half circle skirt. So nice to wear. I used Lite Steam a Seam in the hem, which gave a much better result than the Heat’n’Bond I’d used in the neckline. An acceptable substitute for Vliesofix tape. The sleeves are faced, then sewn with my friend the twin needle. I was very pleased with my dress!  And it was comfortable, so that I could fit in all the food.

Another photo stolen from Leith.

Thanks again to Melanie for organising such a pleasant afternoon – and it looks as though we will be having Frocktails later in the year!  Hooray!  Maybe I’ll get the chance to chat to everyone next time – because there were 26 of us this time and although I can talk quite quickly, there were a few gorgeous women that I didn’t get the opportunity to meet and actually say “wow, your frock is fantastic”!  Do pop around to all the links and check them all out.

So, here it is, one of the two dresses that I ended up making for SewcieTea!

This is Vogue 1103, and it isn’t the dress that I wore in the end. I’ve had this pattern in deep stash for a long time. The fabric has been in stash for a little while too – especially the black that I used for the bottom contrast band.  No idea at all what it is.  The splodgy print is a polyester satin, with a little stretch in it, from the Darn Cheap Fabrics $2 per metre table. It was surprisingly easy to sew with.

There are surprisingly few reviews of this pattern around on the interwebs. Some of those who have made it had trouble with the sizing. I cut it out as a straight size 12 after measuring myself and checking the finished measurements that were printed on the pattern. I wanted a couple of inches ease around the bust, but not much more. I think that it has ended up very much like the fit on the pattern envelope.

If you look carefully at the picture on the cover, the front empire seam isn’t fitted closely to the body, and isn’t below the bust. It is actually just below the curve of the bust, not fitted to the chest wall. And that is where it fits on me too. I did shorten this pattern at the two marked “shorten/lengthen here” lines so that it would better fit my short-waisted figure, and that has worked out quite well. The overall finished length is now above the knee, pretty much the same as on the model.  I left out the side seam pockets, as I often do.

The centre front and back panels are lined, and I used the fashion fabric for the lining. The sleeves are also lined, with a sleeve stay that is cut shorter than the outer sleeve, and has elastic inserted in a casing at the bottom. Once again, I used the fashion fabric for the lining here. I rather like the bubble hem effect, and the double layer of satin at the sleeve cap has encouraged quite “boofy” gathers (technical sewing term there).

Other than the length, I think that the silhouette is very reminiscent of Jane Austen films. I rather like it – and I reckon that the heroines of Jane Austen’s books would have had a moon tan to rival mine, if they were allowed to show a little leg.