Day: 1 August 2015

adult's clothing, sewing

Sutton and Wendy

Another non-seasonal garment; another True Bias Sutton blouse!  This is my third go at this pattern.  The first was for my Mum, and the second was intended as a wearable muslin for me.  I only wore it once then passed it on to a relative as I found that the fabric I’d made it from stuck to me too much.  This time I sewed it in a reptilian-like print from Tessuti.  It’s a silk remnant, and feels lovely against my skin.

True Bias Sutton blouse in silk remnant from Tessuti with Style Arc Wendy pants in Style Arc bengaline

Once again I sewed size 6, and I’m happy with the fit. I took my time in construction, following every step of the instructions instead of my usual “glance then toss them aside” approach. It was rather enjoyable to basically let someone else tell me what to do. I sewed it exactly as I’d been told, french seams and all. The only slight deviation was to stabilise the neckline with fusible tape rather than with stay stitching.

True Bias Sutton blouse in silk remnant from Tessuti with Style Arc Wendy pants in Style Arc bengaline

I had pre-washed the silk in the machine, figuring that I should start as I intended to continue, and found it surprisingly easy to sew. The fabric has a slightly textured feel to it, rather than being slippery, and although it is light and luscious against the skin it pinned easily and was straightforward to cut out and to stitch.

True Bias Sutton blouse in silk remnant from Tessuti with Style Arc Wendy pants in Style Arc bengaline

The pants are the Style Arc Wendy pant, sewn in stretch bengaline also from Style Arc. I bought the pants and pattern together in a kit; they run special offers like that from time to time. I sewed size 10, making my usual length alterations.

True Bias Sutton blouse in silk remnant from Tessuti with Style Arc Wendy pants in Style Arc bengaline

You really can’t tell much about how pants fit when they are sewn in black, can you! Here is the pattern drawing and description from Style Arc’s website.

A great pull-on pant featuring a wide waist band with false opening, these full length pants are a must have wardrobe staple piece

These are a nice option if you want to avoid an elasticised waist.  I’m not sure that they would be easy to get on and off if you have a large waist/hip measurement discrepancy.  My hip and waist measurements are pretty close to one another, and I still had to do a little wriggling in and out.  There is no fly; rather the wide waistband undoes and does up with velcro.  I’ll probably stick with my usual Linda or Barb pants for work, but these would be a great alternative for lots of people.

True Bias Sutton blouse in silk remnant from Tessuti with Style Arc Wendy pants in Style Arc bengaline

Unfortunately my photographer didn’t spot that the hem of one leg was caught up on my shoe – and neither did I! I suspect that this isn’t the last time I’ll use the Sutton blouse pattern – although I do have the very similar Hot Patterns Trilogy pattern waiting to be sewn dress length for Bali first.

children's clothing, kids clothing, sewing

Winter Playhouse Dress

The first things that I sewed when I was at Sewjourn way back in May were for my daughters.  This dress was intended to be Stella’s birthday dress.

Playhouse dress in stretch velour from Darn Cheap Fabrics

As is often the case, she decided to wear a different dress on her actual birthday. Oh well. That’s how it goes! Fortunately, since then she has decided to wear this one as well – and still refers to it as her birthday dress.

Playhouse dress in stretch velour from Darn Cheap Fabrics

The pattern is the Playhouse Dress by Fishsticks. I’ve sewn it before, in a short sleeved summer version. Stella loves the twirly-ness of the skirt. I love the ease of construction.

Playhouse dress in stretch velour from Darn Cheap Fabrics

This is pretty much all sewn on the overlocker. I did use the machine to baste the purple stretch elastic used as piping to the front and back bodice seams and zig-zag it in place to secure it, and I zig-zagged around the neckband to secure it too, but that was about it. The cuffs are stretched to fit, and provide a nice belled shape to the sleeve.

Playhouse dress in stretch velour from Darn Cheap Fabrics

The fabric is stretch velour from Darn Cheap Fabrics. I was pretty sure that Stella would love the variety of colour. And she does!  It is also highly stroke-able, which suits my tactile girl right down to the ground.

adult's clothing, sewing, tessuti patterns

Alice in linen

Some completely non-seasonal sewing this time – a Tessuti Alice dress in linen.

Tessuti Alice dress - printed linen from Darn Cheap FabricsThe yoke and sleeve bands were cut from a tiny piece of remnant linen from Darn Cheap Fabrics. I had barely enough, since the yoke is completely self lined, as are the sleeve bands, but I made it work with some cross-grain cutting for some pieces and seemingly random cutting for others. All the visible pieces were cut correctly! I really wanted to get the pattern centred, and succeeded.

Tessuti Alice dress - printed linen from Darn Cheap Fabrics

The skirt was cut from linen that was a gift from Anna. Once again I had to make things work by piecing the skirt. If I had been paying attention I would have pieced the back skirt, but as it was I pieced the front. That centre front seam is now a “design feature”.

Tessuti Alice dress - printed linen from Darn Cheap Fabrics

Once again I sewed the size XS, despite usually being a Medium in Tessuti patterns. You can read about my previous Alice dresses and the sizing issues here and here.

Tessuti Alice dress - printed linen from Darn Cheap Fabrics

It was SO cold wearing this outside for photos – but I am quite sure that this dress will be just the ticket when I visit Bali in October for Retreat|Recreate.