Day: 27 January 2016

children's clothing, kids clothing, Lekala, sewing, tween

Lekala 7080

This one was an impulse sew.  After the success of the Lekala dress, I had another trawl through the Lekala website and happened upon a pattern for a skort, Lekala 7080.

Lekala 7080 skort in pinwale corduroy from stash

I figured that it wouldn’t take long to tape together such a simple pattern, and it didn’t.  The pattern appeared in my email in-box within minutes or ordering.  Because it’s a girls’ pattern I only needed to enter height, waist and hip measurements.

Lekala 7080 skort in pinwale corduroy from stash

You all know what a skort is, don’t you?  Wordpress obviously doesn’t, because it keeps on trying to autocorrect the word to skirt.  It is a pair of shorts that has an overlay on the front so that from the back you see shorts, but from the front you see a short skirt.  Therefore, skort.

Lekala 7080 skort in pinwale corduroy from stash

The fabric is a printed pinwale corduroy from stash.  I have a feeling that it was given to me by someone having a clean out of an older friend or relative’s cupboards.  I love the muted sage greens and greys on black, but Clare hasn’t found it terribly easy to coordinate with her tops.  Oh well, I’ll just have to sew some more!

Lekala 7080 skort in pinwale corduroy from stash

Construction wise things were fairly straightforward.  I actually followed the instructions, which were quite logical and assisted in a highly satisfactory finished garment.  There are four pattern pieces.  Shorts front and back, front overlay, and waistband.  The waistband is interfaced and has elastic in the back only.  The line drawing suggests that there are darts in the back of the shorts, but there were no sign of these in the pattern thatI received for Clare’s measurements.

Lekala 7080 skort in pinwale corduroy from stash

The front overlay is supposed to be secured with a square of velcro, but I didn’t see the point and just stitched it down to the waistband.  All the stretch for getting the skort on and off is in the back waistband, not the front.  Overall this was quite a satisfying garment to sew, and it has turned out to be a highly wearable muslin.  Clare intends to choose another fabric from my stash for a second pair.

Lekala 7080 skort in pinwale corduroy from stash

adult's clothing, sewing

Simplicity 1733 #2 – the maxi version

Shortly after sewing my first Simplicity 1733 I decided that I “needed” another.  But this time, I needed a maxi!

Simplicity 1733 maxi in poly lycra from Darn Cheap Fabrics

I really wanted a striped fabric for this one, because I knew that the stripes would do interesting things across the twisty front. I found this poly/spandex knit at Darn Cheap Fabrics.

Simplicity 1733 maxi in poly lycra from Darn Cheap Fabrics

Construction was pretty much the same as last time, except that I chose to have short sleeves as per the pattern instead of leaving the dress sleeveless. Once again I used a zig-zag stitch on all hems after they had been secured with vliesofix tape.

Simplicity 1733 maxi in poly lycra from Darn Cheap Fabrics

I did endeavour to match or at least balance the stripes throughout. They match along the side seams and sleeve seams, but are out along the armhole and bodice. Bummer. Looking at this photo I need to do a few more hand stitches to secure the centre front gathers higher behind the twisty knot – it looks to be drooping a little.

Simplicity 1733 maxi in poly lycra from Darn Cheap Fabrics

Once again the back is nicely supported by the elastic through the seam allowances were the back bodice and back skirt join. This allows it to then nicely flow over back rolls. This fabric worked extremely well with this pattern. I wore this dress to my husband’s family Christmas/Thanksgiving celebration on a hot day in early December. It was ideal!

Simplicity 1733 maxi in poly lycra from Darn Cheap Fabrics

children's clothing, kids clothing, sewing, tween

McCalls 7079

Another addition to Clare’s summer wardrobe – McCalls 7079.

McCalls 7079 in printed ponte from Spotlight

McCalls describe this as follows: GIRLS’/GIRLS’ PLUS DRESSES: Pullover dresses have back bodice and skirt variations and raised waist. B and D: back bands. A, B and E: narrow hem. C, D and F: gathered skirt and stitched hems.
Designed for medium-weight moderate stretch knits.
FABRICS: Cotton Knits, Interlock, Jerseys, Novelty Knits.

m7079

We chose to sew view E, with the flared skirt, short sleeves and back cutout.  The fabric is a beautiful soft printed ponte that we chanced upon at Spotlight one day.  Just perfect for this dress!

McCalls 7079 in printed ponte from Spotlight

Once again we sewed size 10 for Clare. The bodice looked quite loose at first after the skirt was attached and the weight stretched it out a bit. Some elastic threaded through a casing between the bodice and the skirt fixed that. We had a few goes to get the length of the elastic just right – it needed to be enough to support the dress and draw the bodice in a bit without actually gathering it.

McCalls 7079 in printed ponte from Spotlight

The skirt was shortened a couple of inches after trying the finished dress on, which improved proportion and appealed more to Clare’s sense of style. Because I was working with a ponte I decided to twin needle the hems and neckline rather than the zig-zag I’d been using a lot on knits. Ponte is that bit more stable and tends to sit flatter anyway, and the twin needle gave a more “ready to wear” appearance.

McCalls 7079 in printed ponte from Spotlight

The back cutout is faced, and topstitched down. I made sure to start at the bottom of the cutout with the twin needle in order to more easily get around the curves and have the stitching line up neatly. This cutout allows for a crop top underneath without straps showing, which is my preference. Dress construction was primarily on the overlocker.

McCalls 7079 in printed ponte from Spotlight

It’s always good to have a skirt that twirls!

adult's clothing, Cashmerette, sewing

Appleton the second

This will mostly be a photo post, because all of the details about this pattern are just a few blog posts back.  It’s my second Cashmerette Appleton dress, made only a few weeks after the first.

Cashmerette Appleton dress in viscose/lycra from The Cloth Shop

Now to me this is an interesting study in how fabric choice affects fit and appearance. This fabric is a wonderful viscose/lycra knit from The Cloth Shop – extremely similar in weight and drape to the fabric I used for my first dress. I adore the print. The colours are very me, and I think that it has a hint of crocodile. Does that make it a candidate for Jungle January since I am blogging it now, even though it was sewn in November?

Cashmerette Appleton dress in viscose/lycra from The Cloth Shop

I did pay attention to pattern placement once I laid the fabric out and realised that it was sort of directional. This was the best I could come up with, and the pieces are definitely symmetrical and balanced. It does however highlight both boobs and stomach.

Cashmerette Appleton dress in viscose/lycra from The Cloth Shop

In these photos I have wrapped the tie right around the front – bad move. I should have done the same as last time and only had it around the back. I feel that my stomach is definitely emphasised in this version of the dress with the tie crossing just above it.  (As an aside, it would be a good pattern for the first few months of pregnancy, if you are looking for one).  That said, I do remember feeling and looking extremely bloated the day these photos were taken. I wonder if it will be the same next time I wear it? It may have been better with the bluer parts of the print down the centre instead of the green. Will never know.

Cashmerette Appleton dress in viscose/lycra from The Cloth Shop

This is a lovely fabric to wear. Because I’d already made the dress once before, this one was even faster to assemble. I topstitched with a zig-zag stitch, the same as last time, but the stitching pretty much disappears into the print.

Cashmerette Appleton dress in viscose/lycra from The Cloth Shop

So overall, despite loving the fabric and the style, I don’t love the way that this version of the dress looks on me as much as the first one. I just feel much more self-conscious of my back and waist rolls and stomach in this one, which is interesting. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like it or won’t wear it – because I do like it and it will definitely be worn quite a bit – but I might make sure that in future I have a camisole or slip underneath to smooth things out a little. I am what I am in regards to my body shape and weight, and don’t like shape wear at all.  On the rare occasions when I buy any I always buy at least two sizes bigger than my usual dress size – no point squishing fat in one place only to have it escape out in another or have elastic digging in or rolling on movement, I just want a smoother line.  But like most people want to feel good in what I am wearing.

Cashmerette Appleton dress in viscose/lycra from The Cloth Shop