Day: 22 January 2016

planned projects

Winter Work Wardrobe Planning Progress Post #2

A couple of days ago I had a bit of a rummage through the stash and pulled out a few pieces of fabric to consider for the winter work wardrobe.

Winter work wardrobe planning progress

The olive and brown stretch bengaline solids are for Barb pants.  I’m hoping there is enough of the navy ponte to eke out a Taylor knit skirt, but haven’t checked yet.  The other knits are candidates for tops.  The stripe and the floral on the right are remnants from other projects, so I’ll need to check quantity.  My thoughts on those so far are the Phillipa Peplum top for the floral in the lower right corner, the Kit top for the viscose/lycra print in the bottom left corner, the Maddison top for the stripe, Kylie top for the print in the top left corner, and I’m not sure yet for the other three.  We’ll see what actually happens!  Planning is an evolutionary process – things change.

I’ve also realised that I need to sew a new pair of black work pants – I’ll do another pair of Barb in bengaline – and a chocolate brown long sleeved top for layering.  I have a pair of white Misty jeans planned for my casual wardrobe too, and will probably make some of the patterns already listed above in more casual knits. I’m keeping an eye out for nice ponte and good quality stripes, both of which can be difficult to find, especially in the colours I’m after.  Surprisingly my stash doesn’t help me much in that regard!

Lekala, sewing, tween

What Clare wore to the wedding – Lekala 4416

By now you probably figured that I sewed a new dress for Clare to wear to the wedding as well.  She is just tall enough now to fit into Lekala women’s sizing – so we gave a Lekala women’s pattern a whirl!  Clare chose Lekala 4416, described by Lekala as “dress with Asymmetrical front”.

First Lekala for Clare

I forgot to order the pattern with seam allowances included, so had to remember to add them when I cut out the pattern.  There was one interesting quirk to the pattern pieces that were provided – the back facing piece was completely twisted!

First Lekala for Clare

Lekala patterns are custom drafted depending on the measurements that you enter, and I figure that it plots out key points according to the measurements then joins them up. The back facing piece certainly didn’t join the appropriate key points! It wasn’t hard to fix though – a little cutting and drawing and soon I had this instead.

First Lekala for Clare

I think it’s always good to remember that sometimes there ARE errors in pattern pieces (and instructions) that are provided to you, no matter what company they are from! It’s worth trusting your gut instinct in these cases, and either fixing it yourself or contacting the relevant company. Most are very happy to help you solve your issues – after all, this is their business! Anyway, on to the finished dress.

Lekala 4416 in quilting cottons

The fabric is quilting cotton, I think from a Joel Dewberry range. The front flounce and the sleeves are lined in a coordinating fabric from the same range. I am trying desperately to remember if I fully lined the bodice or just used the facing – I have a feeling that I fully lined it with the coordinating quilting cotton (I’m not at home writing this so don’t have access to the dress to check).

Lekala 4416 in quilting cottons

The back closes with an invisible zip. I’m extremely happy with the fit of the back.

Lekala 4416 in quilting cottons

The front neckline is gapey, which is my only disappointment with this dress. Although we were able to customise the pattern with Clare’s waist and chest measurements, I suspect that their drafting software for Women’s patterns still assumes broader shoulders and upper chest than Clare’s, in addition to a longer chest to neck measurement. When I check the pattern illustration the neckline is fairly wide at the front, so I suspect that it is meant to sit a little further out across the shoulders, and actually it did sit flat if I moved the shoulders and sleeves out a little bit.  Clare didn’t find it problematic at all though, so we decided not to worry about it.  I will wait until Clare’s shape has changed more before I delve back into Lekala’s women’s patterns for her, despite her being tall enough.

Lekala 4416 in quilting cottons

And yes, the skirt was twirly!

Lekala 4416 in quilting cottons

Clare enjoyed accessorising as well. Pearly nails, matching pearl earrings and necklace, and a brooch that belonged to my grandmother Ada (yes, the one my dress form is named after) holding the front overlay in place.

Lekala 4416 in quilting cottons

She was very happy with her dress. The colours are lovely, and Lekala provided a pretty good fit. I think that she felt appropriately tween rather than little girl! And to finish, a few more photos from the wedding.

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children's clothing, kids clothing, sewing, tween

Figgy’s Stellar Tunic

Back to a November Sewjourn project!  I’d had this one cut out for a little while.  It’s the Figgy’s Stellar tunic.  The pattern description is as follows: Creating this adorable dress allows the sewist to make it their own by choosing their favorite fabrics to create the patchwork sleeve! Simply shorten the dress to make an adorable tunic to pair with the Sunki Leggins (as shown in purple).  Instructions on how to use knit fabric with woven takes you to the next level in sewing that you’ve been waiting for. Pattern Size Range: 18mo -8/9yr

Figgys Stella tunic with knit body and pieced woven sleeves
The big drawcard for this pattern is of course the pieced sleeves. I’d seen some stunning examples of this tunic, particularly this one in Liberty. I was able to combine a variety of printed scraps from my stash to piece the sleeves together.
Figgys Stella tunic with knit body and pieced woven sleeves

The red printed lawn is Liberty, but the others are soft buttery voiles from quilting ranges that I’ve had in stash for a while. The top one I think is a Kaffe Fassett print, and the bottom two are Anna Maria Horner. (Sometimes it fascinates me that the recesses of my memory hold on to details like this, yet cannot remember the names of people that I worked with a month or two ago….)

Figgys Stella tunic with knit body and pieced woven sleeves

I sewed size 8/9, which is the largest size available. It’s definitely only tunic length on Clare, who is taller than the size 8/9, although the width is certainly adequate for her. The solid is a cotton knit from stash. Construction was all on the overlocker, with hems topstitched on the machine.

Figgys Stella tunic with knit body and pieced woven sleeves

Clare hasn’t actually worn this – I don’t think that it fits well enough with personal style. Hopefully Stella will be keener!

adult's clothing, Lekala, sewing

What I wore to the wedding – Lekala 4141

Last year (it always sounds like a long time ago when I write that, even though it was only a matter of weeks) we went to my nephew’s wedding in Kingscliff.  The dress code was “formal”, so I decided that it was a perfect opportunity to make something for myself that was a little out of the ordinary.  Lekala 4141 presented itself to me as a worthy candidate.

Lekala 4141 This dress appeared to be fairly simple. There was a limited number of pattern pieces – only five, I think – and it was to be sewn in a knit. But of course it was Lekala, so the instructions did take patience. I was using a large scale printed poly slinky knit from the Darn Cheap Fabrics $2 table, and spent a quite a bit of time figuring out where best to place the pattern pieces on the fabric for the most aesthetically pleasing look.

Lekala 4141

The skirt was easy enough to construct, as it was just a tube. Similarly, the bodice front and back were easy to construct – a strapless top with elastic through the top of the bodice. But the overlay took much more time to figure out. The construction is rather ingenious!  It is self-lined and required quite a bit of pinning, marking, seaming, unpicking, rechecking, pinning again, seaming, unpicking again, re-reading of the instructions, draping on Ada, etc etc etc. Eventually though I worked it all out!

Lekala 4141 in knit from Darn Cheap Fabrics

This was a surprisingly comfortable dress to wear. Other than it needing a strapless bra, there were no closures, it was held up by elastic and the overlay, and the slightly dropped waist was defined with an elastic casing as well.

Lekala 4141 in knit from Darn Cheap Fabrics

The next photo shows you the construction details a little more. It’s really a strapless dress with an attached self-lined overlay. The armhole drape is very low – right down to the waistline – and the shoulder drape is much shorter.

Lekala 4141 in knit from Darn Cheap Fabrics

I don’t have anything else like this in my wardrobe! I accessorised with flat sandals, as the actual ceremony was beach side and I had injured my ankle not long before and didn’t want to risk hurting it again. I had crystal earrings and matching pendant that had been gifts from my husband for our 15th wedding anniversary, and had zebra-printed pearlised nail wraps on my toe and finger nails for a little bit more fun. I suspect that I have become the crazy middle-aged aunt who wears slightly outrageous things…

Lekala 4141 in knit from Darn Cheap Fabrics

I think that Lekala is a brilliant source of patterns for special occasion wear. This was customised to my measurements, and the lengths and widths were all perfect.

Lekala 4141 in knit from Darn Cheap Fabrics

I have no idea when I will wear this dress again, but considering that it only cost me around $10 to make (not including my time of course!) that doesn’t particularly bother me. I’m looking forward to making more formal dresses as the girls get older – I think that Lekala will definitely come into its own then.

Lekala 4141 in knit from Darn Cheap Fabrics