Hello there!  Here I am again.  Churning out those blog posts while I have the opportunity and the inclination!  This time I bring you Lekala 4412, subtitled “tunic from knit fabric”.

I am calling this one a success. It fits just as I think that it should. Hooray for the protruding belly adjustment! The fabric is a double layered, textured knit that was in my stash. It was very soft and has worked nicely in this style.

Construction was all on the overlocker, so it was very fast. It’s also a straightforward design. I think that it would lend itself very well to colour blocking. Choice of fabric is important. You want something soft, but not thin.

The only thing that I’m not too keen on is the high roll neckline. It’s not too tight – and in fact it’s pretty much like the fashion illustration on the Lekala website – but I really don’t like high necks. Which is a bit weird because I am more than happy to wear scarves around my neck and do so on a regular basis. I wonder what is going on deep in my psyche there?

This is one of the Lekala patterns that I ordered with a narrow shoulder adjustment. It really doesn’t make much difference in this style, but after having used a few patterns with that adjustment now I am quite sure that I can skip that adjustment completely.

This is a snug dress and would be even better for winter with the sleeves lengthened. As it is I can easily layer a thin long sleeved top underneath. I am calling this dress a win.  And thanks for the brooch Mum – I love it!

Another Lekala project for you.  This one was started back in 2014.  Yikes!  It languished for some time waiting for a zipper.  For a long time.  For months, in fact.  But eventually I rummaged through my zipper stash and found something that would do.  It took me about 20 minutes to sew in the zip and finish a project that had been a UFO for a long, long time.  I bet that I am not the only person who does that!  So, on to Lekala 5749.  This is described as a “raincoat with stand up collar”.  I was drawn to the interesting exposed seemliness and darts.  The whole thing is sewn “inside out”.

Okay, first thing. This clearly hasn’t been sewn in raincoat fabric. I used wool from Super Cheap Fabrics. It is a beautiful fabric, tightly woven, and an amazing colour. And yes, all the seam allowances and dart are on the outside. I finished the edges with pinking shears. Still not certain that it was the best idea.

It’s an unlined coat, but it’s very warm due to the fabric composition and weave. All construction was on the sewing machine.

There are elements of this that I like, and elements that didn’t work as successfully. I like the raw pinked edges along the front edges and cuffs, but not along the slashed and opened darts. And the collar collapses a bit in this type of fabric, whereas I think that if I’d used the recommended “whipcord” it would have had more structure. Either way, it’s a warm winter coat, and I do wear it. Although I think that it is soon to fall victim to my next wardrobe purge as it is likely to be replaced by some of my upcoming Sewjourn plans.

Once again I am incredibly behind with blogging.  I blame Instagram.  It’s easy to find an excuse isn’t it – but if I didn’t blog I wouldn’t be able to search information about prior projects – and I wouldn’t be able to contribute to the sewing blogging conversation!  So I figure better late than never.

Thankfully photos are date-stamped.  I made Lekala 5957 on April 18th.  The pattern is described as “Classical Dress”.  The fashion illustration shows a fitted princess seamed dress, above the knee, with three quarter sleeves.

Interestingly, this is how it looked on me.

Not above the knee, not three quarter sleeves, not fitted. I have no idea what happened. Lekala are drafted to measure. There could have been a printing problem – I have to admit that I hardly ever measure the box to check that things are printing out to the correct size, although I do take special care to ensure that I tick all the printing boxes to print at 100% – but this dress turned out WAY larger than expected.

The photos give it a bit of a retro shift appearance, but it really did feel like a too big sheath dress. So I took it in. I took it in around the armscye and the side seams. And took it up. And shortened the sleeves. I didn’t adjust the princess seams, but it would have been a good idea if I had. I really should have just unpicked the whole thing and recut it smaller. Anyway, this is what I ended up with – much more like the fashion illustration.

The fit is much better overall.

The fabric is a stretch cotton sateen from deep, deep stash. I think that once upon a time it came from Spotlight.

There is a lapped centre back zip, and the neckline is finished with bias binding used as a facing. Construction was very straightforward, and much of it on the overlocker. There is a centre back vent, and overall it is, as Lekala say, a classical dress. And that may be it’s problem, as far as I am concerned. I wore it once, to a work committee meeting, and by the end of the day the sateen was extremely creased and crumpled. I suppose that is to be expected in an unlined dress, but I really wasn’t happy with the creases. And despite it being a lovely fabric, and looking okay in the photos, it’s really not my style. It went out in the wardrobe purge. Bye bye dress – but I’m glad that I gave you a try.