sewing – Page 5 – THORNBERRY

adult's clothing, sewing, Stokx Patterns

Stokx Square Pants

You’ve all heard me rabbit on ad nauseum about how I love an elastic waist. And I do. But when the Stokx Square Pants began to pop up on blogs and instagram I was continually drawn to their great shape and details – and I figured that the back waist adjustability would make them fit comfortably. So I gave them a go!

I sewed these in July when I was away with many other sewers on the celebratory weekend I mentioned in an earlier post. And when I finished them, LOTS of us tried them on. It was fascinating how well they worked on so many different shapes and sizes! Sure, others would need to size down or up, or make a few tweaks, but overall everyone who tried them on could see the potential of how they would work for them. That’s pretty impressive!

So, I’d better fill you in on some details. This is the first pattern that I’ve sewn from Stokx Patterns. I’ve copied information about Lindy, the designer, from the ‘About’ page to share with you. I love to make patterns! I have worked in the rag trade for 30+ years. This has taken me from bridal to work wear, from fast fashion to made-to-measure, from factories in Bangladesh to salons in Paris. Slavery in the rag trade has never sat well with me. The exploitative nature of the clothing industry is a dirty secret that fast fashion addicts try to ignore. How can me maximize choice and avoid exploitation? As a designer and artist, I want to shake up the system. Since 2006, I have had the Stokx Shop in Berlin. Over the years, thousands of people of all shapes and sizes have walked through my door. I have tried to have something that fits everyone and have strived to make styles that can easily be adapted to fit the person and the lifestyle of my customers.

It turns out that Lindy is actually Australian! When had a few online chats after I tagged her when sharing photos of my Square Pants in my Instagram stories, and coincidentally we were both in Brisbane at the same time in August! So we caught up for drinks, dinner and lots of sewing chat. It was delightful!

Once again I am reminded of the huge world of connection that sewing in combination with the internet has brought to my life. I have many friends who I met via my blog then Instagram, and I value all of them greatly. It’s probably why I don’t panic about my kids having friends they’ve made online (sensible precautions in place, of course). It’s great to be able to connect via shared interests.

Back to the Square Pants! And be warned, this will be a photo heavy post. At first, I had my usual dilemma about what size to sew. I reached out to Ronda, who has sewn many Stokx Patterns (and is a phenomenally creative quilter) for advice on sizing as we have similar shapes (thanks Ronda!). I eventually decided that I’d try size 3, which sat inbetween my waist measurement and hip measurement. I figured that the back adjustment detail would take care of the waist fitting, and didn’t want the pants to be too large through the hips and legs. I’m pleased with my size choice. I removed length from the legs, but still needed to remove more once the pants were finished. As it is I can cuff the pants depending on what shoes I am wearing with them.

This is an involved sew, but I have to say that the instructions and diagrams made it all quite straightforward. There are plenty of pattern pieces, and plenty of steps. If memory serves me correctly these took an entire day to construct (they were cut out before I arrived at the sewing weekend). From the pattern page: The Square pants are semi-fitted, gender neutral and inclusive. They have a mid century worker trouser character with generous pockets and they feature a classic back adjustment detail. The wearer can decide if they want to wear the trousers high at the natural waist or loose around the hips. When choosing a size pear shapes should orient themselves with the hip measurement, where as apples might look at the waist measurement. There is a handy blog post about common alterations for these pants.

There are plenty of pockets in these pants! The front ones are super deep and incorporate a front stay.

There’s also a mobile phone sized pocket inside one of the front pockets.

I really like the way that the waistband was finished – a regular looking waistband at the front and a facing at the back. I used quilting cotton for the pocket bags and waist facing, and to finish the edge of the fly shield. The front zipper is inserted very early in construction. The instructions resulted in a very pleasing finish.

The back pockets are a nice shape – I wish I had remembered to insert a fun label when I was attaching them! There are some Instagram posts on how to further stabilise or alter the back waist adjustment detail that some of you might be interested in too. Lindy is always ready to take on ideas and inspiration about how to make her patterns more adaptable as well as come up with potential design solutions to fitting problems.

I sewed my pants in dark indigo non-stretch, mid-weight denim from Super Cheap Fabrics. Although I had pre-washed it, my hands were quite blue by the time I finished sewing them! They’re still leaching dye; I have to remember to wash them alone, or at least only with dark colours! Fortunately all that white topstiching is in polyester thread, so it has stayed white throughout.

These pants have gone into high wardrobe rotation, and I’m planning on taking them on our December/January trip to the USA. There’s enough room to layer thermals underneath, while the waist adjustability keeps them comfortable. Although I tucked my top in for these photos to show you the waist detailing I generally leave my tops out. This is how I wore them to meet up with Lindy in Brisbane! The top is an Aeolian tee, and I’ve got a Simone cardigan over my shoulders.

These pants were the first garment I sewed from Stokx Patterns, and they definitely won’t be the last! I have the Stokx Rock ready to cut out, and have been eyeing off the jacket version of the Coco Top, and have added the Gossamer dress to my mental to-sew list. As is always the case for me, there are SO many patterns that I’d love to try but just not enough days in the year to sew or even wear them all! And I’ll finish this epic blog post with another photo of the back of the pants – because I’ve been told that yes, my bum does look good in this!

Tuesday, 27 September, 2022Sunday, 25 September, 2022 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing

Style Arc Emerson dress

I do like dresses. In summer they are my garment of choice. In winter I tend to gravitate to pants because they are warmer on my legs than wearing tights, but there are still a few winter dresses in my wardrobe. I hope that this one, the Style Arc Emerson dress, will be worn in spring and autumn as well as during winter.

I wore this to a lovely friend’s 50th birthday sewing weekend in Warburton. It coordinated beautifully with the parrots that flocked to the deck! It’s sewn in red pinwale corduroy from Super Cheap Fabrics. I had this cut out for ages before getting around to sewing it up – then of course I wondered why it had taken me so long!

Style Arc describe the pattern as follows:
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Mandarin collar
Low waist
Button through
2 sleeve length options, 3/4 & full length
Elastic sleeve openings
Bust dart from armhole
2 skirt options, midi length skirt & a 2-tiered shorter length skirt.
In seam pockets.
7cm / 2 1/2″ bust ease.
FABRIC SUGGESTION
Rayon, crepe, silk.

I sewed size 12, and should have paid more attention to the bust ease. I should have done a 14 through the body; it’s a bit snug across the boobs and the belly. The straight bodice accommodates my lack of waist, and the skirt attaches at a slightly lowered waistline. It’s not low enough to scream late 80s and early 90s, but low enough for pleasing proportions. The skirt tiers are just the right length.

Red is almost as hard to photograph as black! Note that corduroy is NOT a suggested fabric for this dress. I figured that the pinwale corduroy would be light enough to be successful, and it is, but a size larger might have been better. And of course the corduroy sticks to my tights and rides up a bit, as you can see in the above photo. Maybe a slip would have been a good idea.

The buttons were an op shop find – I have quite a collection in my stash. I really didn’t know what buttons to use, and didn’t want to go out to buy any. I figured that it would work to go with a contrast.

I did include the side seam pockets. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with in-seam pockets in dresses. Putting things in them – generally a mobile phone – can really weight things down and make the dress hang strangely. But they’re so handy! I am currently sewing a formal dress to wear to a wedding, and after some consideration decided that I’d leave out the pockets. Let’s hope that I don’t regret it! I will use some leftover fabric to make a matching clutch with wrist strap, so hopefully that will solve the ‘where do I put my phone’ problem!

I will give this pattern another go at some stage in a lighter weight fabric as recommended, possibly with the shorter sleeve option. The neckline and collar are rather lovely. I note that Style Arc have been adding to their tutorials page lately with photo tutorials for tricky bits in some patterns, and there are some videos on their YouTube channel. These might help some of you who have difficulty with some of Style Arc’s instructions. I personally don’t tend to have any problems with them – I’ve been sewing for a long time, understand order of construction, and learn well from written instructions and diagrams. It’s the drafting – and Style Arc have excellent drafting – that I worry about! But I know that some people find photos or videos more helpful. Thank goodness that we have such easy access to information on sewing techniques via the internet – there’s usually a handy Threads article or a YouTube video for almost everything!

Sunday, 25 September, 2022Wednesday, 21 September, 2022 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing

Style Arc Blakley stretch jeans in bengaline

Here’s a Style Arc pattern that I’ve only sewn once before! They’re the Blakley stretch jeans.

Yes, these are the pants that I’m wearing in yesterday’s blog post. This pair were sewn in stretch bengaline from Super Cheap Fabrics. Bengaline has plenty of stretch, that runs along the length of the fabric parallel with the selvedges rather than across the grain where you’d normally expect stretch to be. They’re woven fabrics, with the stretch provided by spandex. Fibre composition can vary, with polyester, cotton, rayon and nylon sometimes in the mix with the spandex. Super Cheap Fabrics has bengaline in both plains and prints. I like plenty of stretch in my pull-on jeans, as it definitely acts as a fitting aid for my shape. The narrow straight leg on the Blakley works nicely for me. Although I always wear my jeans with my tops over them, I’ve taken some tucked in photos for you to see the fit and the details that are generallly hidden! I don’t bother including the front fake pockets, but I have included the front fake fly – not sure why!

The wide waistband, with elastic encased inside, makes these especially comfortable on my body. And the back yoke gives some shaping, while the pockets add detail. There’s a fair bit of stretch in this particular bengaline. I notice in these photos that I need that stretch for my surprisingly muscular calves! All that walking must do something. These are probably size 12 although could be a 10; my waist and belly are about size 18 but the stretch percentage and the ability to cut the inside elastic to my preferred length seems to take care of that. Remember that the waist is never seen; this size is comfortable and still gives me that close fit through the bum and the thighs.

From the Style Arc website: This slim leg easy fit pull-on jean features a wide waistband with inserted elastic for extra comfort. The faux pockets feature a horizontal design line which is top-stitched with a twin needle stitch. The faux fly also has a twin needle top stitch. FABRIC SUGGESTION: Stretch denim or any stretch woven with approx. 3% lycra.

My favourite Style Arc jeans pattern for my body is still the Misty, although I don’t sew that pattern quite as designed either; I use a separate waistband with elastic enclosed inside, and eliminate any detailing on the front of the jeans. However the Blakley is pretty good for me as well when I’m after a slim fitting jean.

Saturday, 24 September, 2022Wednesday, 21 September, 2022 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing

Style Arc Simone knit cardigan

Oh, I do like the Style Arc Simone knit cardigan. This is the sixth time that I’ve sewn it (and there is actually now a seventh). It was first sewn in 2014, then again a couple of months later. I returned to the pattern twice in 2016, then again in 2019. I have often used ponte, but always think most fondly of the first one that I sewed in a light weight wool knit and wore until it completely gave up the ghost. That’s the fabric type that I’ve returned to this time.

Ugh, black is so hard to photograph when you want to see garment details! This is actually fabric that was bought from the Darn Cheap Fabrics $2 per metre table back in 2014 when I bought the yellow fabric that I sewed my first Simone in. It’s the same crushed wool blend jersey, just a different colourway. Some fabrics marinate in my stash for a long time.

The wrinkles inherent in the fabric make it an excellent layer to shove into my laptop bag when I’m travelling! I’ve actually worn this frequently since finishing it back in July. I sewed size 12, no alterations.

From the pattern website: This clever cardigan pattern has been designed so as the drape creates the pocket. An easy every day must have cardi. Make it with or without buttons. FABRIC SUGGESTION & DESCRIPTION: Knit jersey, Slinky or any drapey knit. 15% to 20% stretch. It is open at the front so it just needs the stretch for the sleeves.

The inbuilt drapey pockets really are the highlight of this jacket, and they are surprisingly easy to sew. I have a strong feeling that this pattern is likely to be pulled out every couple of years for as long as I keep sewing!

Friday, 23 September, 2022Wednesday, 21 September, 2022 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing

Style Arc Harper jacket

It’s another repeat pattern! I first sewed the Style Arc Harper jacket in July 2014. I sewed it again in September 2014. The pattern has laid dormant since then, until I decided that I needed a simple knit cardigan that would travel well and fit into my work wardrobe.

Eight years later this is still a style that works for me. It’s an added bonus that it’s extremely straightforward to sew. As per the pattern website: This wonderful jacket is a must for all occasions. Easy to wear and easy to make, making it a perfect weekend project. FABRIC SUGGESTION Ponte, or any stable knit or woven fabric with some weight and drape.

This fabric is a wool blend that was a gift – I’m so glad that it’s finally become a garment! I made sure to sew the centre back collar seam in a way that fully enclosed any raw edges, as both sides of the seam can be visible in wear. The pattern suggests leaving raw edges – instead I added another couple of centimetres to those edges when I cut it out so that I could do a double folded hem.

The centre back seam adds some structure to what is essentially a very soft and unstructured garment. I sewed size 12, without alteration.

I still need to do a bit of work wardrobe styling with this jacket. The colour is quite unusual; it’s actually a maroon type of colour but reads a bit brown, especially with the marle type of effect that’s woven into it. I need to try on a few outfits and see in which ways it best fits in to my wardrobe.

Thursday, 22 September, 2022Wednesday, 21 September, 2022 by thornberry

adult's clothing, de Linum, sewing

Blanca Flight Suit in De Linum linen

Hello there, I’m back! Work has been so busy lately, with lots of travel. There hasn’t been a great deal of time for sewing and even less time for blogging – something had to give! I’ve now got a couple of weeks break, so am hoping to get my blog back up to date.

This Blanca Flight Suit was sewn in conjunction with De Linum linen, who provided the fabric and pattern. Jumpsuits, overalls and coveralls have been big in the sewing community for a couple of years now, but I’ve always been slightly hesitant. Other than the obvious ‘will I have to take the whole thing off to go to the loo – and the answer is of course, yes’ aspect, I always worry that I will feel definite dad-in-his-coveralls vibes, since dad often did wear coveralls in his workshop, he was around my height, and I look a lot like him. I wasn’t sure if that was the vibe I was going for.

Well yeah, it does have rather definite dad-in-his-coveralls vibes to me – and I have embraced that! It’s actually a rather nice feeling to have that connection. Mind you, his coveralls were never in linen and were never this clean!

This is an involved sew. It’s not hard, but there are lots of pieces and many steps in assembling it. I found the instructions to be very clear, and just took my time over a number of days, fitting it in around other commitments.

The linen was superb to work with. Before sewing the Flight Suit I sewed a dress for Clare in polyester satin (still to be blogged) – so sewing with linen was especially pleasureable! It is 250GSM French flax linen in the colour Spiced Clay and was the perfect weight for this type of garment. I wore it yesterday, which was early spring with a top of 19 degrees – and I was comfortable throughout the entire day and evening. De Linum suggest that fabric of this weight is suitable for tops, skirts, dresses, shirts, loose jackets and pants – very versatile.

You really do need the long zip for this garment – don’t be tempted to try a shorter one. Otherwise it will be just too hard to wriggle in and out of! I would have preferred something heavier weight, possibly with metal teeth, but couldn’t find a colour match. The buckle came from Jimmy Buttons. This pattern has a few different options for pockets, sleeve and pant length, and belt.

I had just enough fabric for the long sleeved, long legged version. Luckily for me I’d been able to try on a friend’s version of this pattern, and although she is a much smaller size than me, it helped me to get an idea of how the Blanca might fit and what changes I would need to make. In the end I didn’t really make many changes. I chose to sew size 16 from the 0-20 range, but cut the armholes and shoulders and collar as size 14. I removed one inch from the bodice depth – I am quite short-waisted – and removed three inches from the longer leg length. The pattern has shorten/lengthen lines which makes it pretty easy to do. For reference, I am 158cm tall.

I used printed cotton voile to line the pockets. They’re never seen, but they are very smooth to slip your hands inside and the voile reduced any bulk.

The topstitched pleat that runs down the back is a nice touch. Actually, this pattern is full of nice touches. Closet Core Patterns describe it as follows: The Blanca Flight Suit is a semi-fitted, highly customizable boiler suit pattern inspired by vintage workwear. With multiple sleeve and leg options, it can be made in a variety of fabrics and can easily be styled up or down. Blanca features a center front zipper, patch pockets that double as belt loops, an optional tie belt or buckled belt, a traditional shirt collar and a unique pleated back design. Customize your flight suit by adding a long sleeve, tapered sleeve with a snap button, or short sleeve. The leg is cut straight, with the option to crop it or taper at the hem with a leg tab. In addition, choose between a classic breast patch pocket or zippered pocket for added detail.

The only thing I wasn’t happy with was the lack of finish along one side of the zip. The zipper tape is completely exposed on the left side. The right side has a long fly piece underneath to protect the body from zipper teeth, which also has the effect of creating a more finished effect. If I sewed this again I would use some sort of binding to finish the inside of the left zip that would cover the zipper tape. It would be relatively straightforward to do this and catch it in the topstitching before adding the collar – but I don’t fancy trying to do it as a retrofit.

One tip with this garment is not to over-fit. It’s all in one and you need enough room for movement and for sitting! Fortunately for me I got the body length just right.

I’m even going to share a side-on photo (my least favourite angle) to show you how the Flight Suit works on my shape. It’s pretty comfortable! In this photo you can also see that the sleeve is sewn in two pieces; the sleeve seam lines up with the shoulder seam and is another opportunity for top-stitching.

There is plenty of top-stitching in this garment, so if that is something that you enjoy doing it’s an excellent choice! This time I chose to topstitch in a matching coloured thread, but if I sewed it again I’d be confident in using something contrasting for additional detail. I’d also consider trying the adjustable tabs and buttons that would make the legs and sleeves narrower. But maybe I’ll try a short-sleeved version with cropped legs.

There is a detailed sewalong for the Blanca Flight Suit, and I suspect that there are many reviews around. I even found a live stream on YouTube for sewing this pattern.

You may have noticed that I tucked a couple of Kylie and the Machine labels into this project – the one on the back pocket says ‘you can’t buy this’ and the one on the front pocket says ‘bespoke’. They make me smile.

I really do love sewing with and wearing linen!

Wednesday, 21 September, 2022 by thornberry

refashioning, sewing, teen

jeans to skirt

Stella recently asked for a denim skirt, jeans style but with a pleated skirt. Some of her requests don’tprogress past the request stage, but this one became reality!

This is her inspiration photo, from her Pinterest ‘outfits I like’ board (which is very useful for me when attempting to sew or buy clothes for her).

Once I looked at the photo I figured that I could make her a skirt from a pair of jeans! As it happened, I had a couple of small pairs of op-shopped jeans in my stash. They were originally planned for an upcycle into bags, but I wondered if one of them would work for Stella’s skirt. She tried on both pairs, claimed one pair to be worn as regular jeans (did you know that low waisted jeans were a thing again?) and said that I could transform the other.

I started off by just chopping the legs off the jeans through the crotch, just below the back pockets. This then entailed some unpicking and resewing of the bottom couple of inches of centre front and back yoke seams to straighten them out a bit. After Stella tried on the jeans yoke, she asked that it be shortened even further – rendering my unpicking and resewing redundant! I opened up each of the legs into flat fabric and cut out a length of fabric on the grainline of each one. Then I sewed the two lengths into a loop, and started on sewing maths. I subtracted the circumference of the yoke from the circumference of the skirt strip, worked out how many pleats I wanted, and then divided the difference between the two circumferences by the number of pleats to work out how deep each pleat needed to be.

Had I already mentioned low waisted jeans? As it turned out, when Stella tried on the skirt it didn’t fit according to her vision. The proportions weren’t right to wear it on her hips, but that was where it needed to go to fit properly. She yanked it up to sit at her waist, and it looked way better, other than the waist being way too large.

At first we thought that she could just wear it with a belt, but then I took a better look inside the waistband and realised that it had buttons inside it – and adjustable waist elastic! These jeans were a children’s brand! I fished around and found the elastic, and simply tightened it up until it was the right measurement for Stella. And now it’s part of her wardrobe!

Stella is an avid gamer – Minecraft, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Sims, other things I can’t remember the name of – and enjoys dressing her Sim in outfits that she’d like. I think we’ve done pretty well matching the vibe of this one!

Thursday, 28 July, 2022 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing, tessuti patterns

Tessuti Verona Jacket

Tessuti have a number of patterns specifically designed to be used with boiled wool. They utilise overlapped seams and leave edges raw. This makes them quite quick to sew, but the construction technique takes a little bit of getting used to. Once you’re in the groove they’re actually quite straightforward.

This time around I sewed the Verona jacket. Tessuti describe it as follows: The cropped & boxy Verona Jacket features extended shoulders, peaked hemline at front, collar, front shoulder darts and two-piece bracelet length sleeve. This jacket can be worn open or secured at the neck with a decorative pin. A quick and easy sew and perfect layering piece for the autumn/winter months. As seams are overlapped, and edges and hems are left raw, the Verona Jacket is best made up in boiled felted wools or wool/blends.

I chose to sew size Medium, which is one size smaller than the Large that my measurements suggest.

More time is spent at the table pinning the pieces together than at the machine doing the sewing. It helps to have a large flat surface at the right height for you to lay things out. There’s no overlocker needed to make this jacket; all construction is with a straight stitch on the sewing machine.

The boiled wool came from Super Cheap Fabrics. Dusty pink has really been appealing to me lately! They don’t seem to have this colour in stock at the moment, but I have also seen gorgeous boiled wools at The Cloth Shop and Darn Cheap Fabrics. Note that boiled wool comes in a variety of fibre blends – some are 100% wool, others have polyester or viscose mixed in.

In these photos I am wearing my Verona jacket over an Aldi merino long-sleeved tee (no, I don’t sew everything that I wear) and a newly made pair of Style Arc Misty jeans. This really is my go-to pull-on jeans style pattern. I simplify it nowadays by eliminating the front ‘pockets’ completely, and I add a wide waistband with elastic enclosed inside it rather than the exposed elastic waistband treatment in the pattern. This pair is sewn in textured charcoal coloured bengaline from Super Cheap Fabrics.

Writing this blog post is making me want to sew another raw edge wool garment! My Sydney jacket is still going strong, but my Berlin jacket is now in a friend’s wardrobe, purely because the colour was too intense for me. I have some wool/cashmere earmarked for the Tessuti Oslo coat at the moment, but it’s a traditional lined coat. Before I get back to jackets and coats I have some outstanding projects to finish – and I’m heading off to a sewing retreat this weekend, so let’s see what gets made!

Friday, 15 July, 2022 by thornberry

adult's clothing, de Linum, sewing

Style Arc Anais dress in De Linum linen

You might remember the first garment I sewed as part of my partnership with de Linum linen, where they supply the fabric and pattern of my choice in exchange for a blog and instagram post. Here’s my June project, finally blogged one week into July! Whoops.

This is the Style Arc Anais woven dress. It is described as follows:
Long line shirt dress featuring long sleeves, shirt tails, collar and pockets.

Product Description
Shirt style long line dress
Shirt tail hemline.
Easy fit.
Raglan sleeves with fold back cuff.
Inseam pockets.
Left breast pocket.
One piece collar.
Buttoned front.
Slight hi-low hem line

Fabric Suggestion
Washed linen, rayon, crepe, silk.

I chose to sew my dress in De Linum‘s Khaki Green self-check linen. It’s a french flax linen, 143 GSM, and has a beautiful pattern of squares woven into it. Just lovely.

I sewed size 12, but folded 2 inches out of the body length at the shorten/lengthen line. I also did a forward shoulder alteration – very simple in a two-piece raglan sleeve like this. It was pretty much the alteration described here. After wearing this and having seen these photos, I am going to alter the over shoulder seamline to flatten it out a bit. My shoulders are much more sloping than squared, and at the moment there is too much curve along the top of my shoulder. They would accommodate raglan shoulder pads nicely, if that’s your style. Fortunately for me, removing some of the curve at the top of the arm will be an easy fix.

The pattern page has this dress styled as an outer layer, so I gave that a go and popped it on over a knit jumper, pants and boots, and wore it out for lunch with friends. I really like the look, but linen really isn’t warm enough as an outer layer for Melbourne winter! That said, it opened my eyes a bit to the versatility of a button front, collared dress. Generally I wear my clothes ‘as is’. I don’t really play around with them all that much, and tend to just wear them in the most obvious traditional ways. Maybe I can change that up a bit! There’s plenty of volume as you get closer to the hem, which was nicely highlighted by the wind.

There are side seam pockets. I like the way that Style Arc had me construct the pockets, with one pocket bag sewn to the front of the dress, then the other pocket bag sewn to the first. This is in contrast to the common method of sewing one pocket bag to the front and the other to the back then matching them up when the side seams are sewn. I just think that they sit more nicely done the way that Style Arc suggested, although you do have to be extra careful when sewing the side seams that the pocket opening isn’t inadventently stitched closed.

That long seamline along the shoulder and outer arm allows for better fitting (as I’ve already mentioned, something that I need to go back and do). The cuff can be worn straight, pushed up, or folded back. I interfaced the cuff and one layer of the collar, but the amount of interfacing that you need really depends on the weight of your fabric and the look that you are going for. The metal buttons were from a local op shop – I was very pleased to find them in my stash! Buttons with two holes can be easily sewn on by machine, which was appreciated considering there were 8 of them. My machine has a manual four step buttonhole, so I have to pay attention when stitching. I reckon that I got them pretty even.

This dress is likely to get quite a lot of wear. The colour goes well with my extensive shoe, scarf and necklace collection, and the temperature is appropriate for long sleeved linen for at least half of the year. It’s hard to go wrong with linen.

I have my third de Linum project picked out – can you guess what it is going to be?

Thursday, 7 July, 2022Friday, 8 July, 2022 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing

Vogue 1777

Vogue 1777 is a Rachel Comey pattern. After a bit of googling I discovered that this design is from the Fall 2019 collection. It is called the Tempo dress.

Apparently Vogue’s designer patterns are direct copies of the designer’s actual dress – they are given the dress, then Vogue drafts it up, grades it to their size chart, and writes the instructions.

I chose to sew it in linen from The Cloth Shop.

I have to say that the linen was absolutely divine, both to sew and to wear. The colourway looks a bit like denim or chambray, but it’s a substantial yet soft denim with some texture and slight colour variegation. I bought it in person, so am not sure of which linen it was, but feel that it could be this one.

This garment was not quick to sew. The bodice is lined; I used some coordinating Liberty printed lawn left of from a shirt that I sewed for Dan some years ago. It’s so smooth and soft against the skin.

I also used the Liberty print for one half of the pocket bags. Those welt pockets – they took ages to sew! You need to be really precise. Unfortunatly the instructions were a bit lacking in this area, and I ended up with one pocket bag done perfectly but the other one off-set and needing to be trimmed to fit. This isn’t an issue at all from the outside, and isn’t a problem in wear, but clearer instructions would have prevented it from happening at all. I spent quite a bit of time poring over those illustrations and instructions! More markings wouldn’t have gone astray.

The front bodice is bias cut, with cut-on facings and darts for added shaping, with the front lining on the straight of grain, whereas the back bodice fashion fabric and lining are both cut on the straight grain.

The sleeves are a little deceiving, and Vogue’s line drawing is not actually correct. They are not a set in sleeve, and there is no sleeve seam in the back; it’s an extended sleeve. The front sleeve does have a seam with an additional sleeve piece, and I think that it’s utilising the grain to improve fit. The cuffs are cut separately, attached to the sleeve, then are folded in half back to the sleeve seam.

Size wise, I sewed the Medium, despite Vogue suggesting that my measurements put me in a size or two larger. I always look at the finished garment measurements when selecting a size, in addition to the overall style. And have you been wondering about that surplice neckline? You wondered correctly – it’s fine when just standing, but once you start moving around it gapes open (maybe it wouldn’t on smaller boobs or if made with more ease). I ended up using some safety pins to secure it.

The collar sits beautifully around the neck, especially in this scrumptious linen. I didn’t make any alterations to the pattern other than shortening the skirt length quite a bit – maybe around seven inches? That still left plenty of fabric for a nice deep hem in a length that works with my 158cm height.

There is some topstitching around the collar, and I machine stitched the hem, but other than that there is no stitching visible. I used my sewing machine for the majority of construction with the overlocker used to finish seam allowances. I am very happy with how this dress turned out, and enjoyed the ‘slow sew’. I am sure that it will get plenty of wear once the seasons change. These photos were taken a month or so ago in Brisbane – thanks Anna for your photography skills!

Thursday, 30 June, 2022 by thornberry