23 -25 March 2011: Sewing Sneaks into MMM

I know I'm getting slacker about uploading me made March photos to Flickr and about posting with details... the thing is, I just don't have much spare time, and I'm slow at reviewing photos (which are mostly dreadful and need firm cropping). On the days when I'm uploading/blogging I don't seem to get any sewing done!

I have a backlog - today and the previous two days - but that means I've also achieved some sewing :-).

I made a "draft" version of the skirt from V8718 last week, and this week made some pleasing progress on the matching V8718 jacket.

The fabric is a DKNY stretch linen (linen with lycra I believe) that I stumbled on and couldn't resist at The Fabric Store.

V8718 doesn't have you line the skirt but as the matching jacket is fully lined I think the skirt needs it - the photo on the left shows the skirt pre-lining, pre-taking it in a bit, pre-hand sewing etc. Different fabric stores gave me different advice on lining a stretch woven skirt... one said make the lining bigger than the skirt, another said d NOT make the lining bigger or it will make the skirt bumpy. I will try it out with a slightly too big lining and see how it looks...




And here's a jacket progress shot:

I guess you can't tell yet... I've also made the peplum but not yet attached it to the top part. I think the next steps are to make the lining version, make the collar, sew outer and lining together, and make the gathers in the sleeves.

So far I love the jacket - lots of cutting out (not fun) but the sewing part has been easy.  I haven't made any size adjustments (just a straight 14) so it may not fit perfectly, but I think it looks OK on my dressmaker's dummy.

And here are my MMM outfits:

Today, going to a childcare appointment and working from home: the yellow Burda skirt (issue 7/2009, pattern 111), again worn backwards, worn with a top from Trenery, and orange flatties (not shown):




This skirt is now officially in my wardrobe - a useful skirt.
















Yesterday, a regular work day: a top from Vogue 2859 top (a 1935 pattern reissue) with a RTW skirt, the usual black flatties:

Not in.

This top slithered around on me all day, threatening to undo itself despite a knot. It only managed to do it once, luckily while I was still at home. I think I would be more confident wearing this over a dress though.









The day before yesterday, another regular work day: Vogue 1086 dress with slip that I wouldn't normally wear to work. Worn with turquoise frilly cardigan from Veronika Maine and camper shoes from a great sale a few years ago:




I love these shoes so much, and I think the cardigan improves on the dress, but the dress remains the sort of thing to wear when everything else is dirty (or when it's me made March).

Last Year's Vogue 1086 Dress

I don't know the rules of blogging or if there are any rules.  Usually I think I shouldn't post about pre-blog garments - but I saw kbenco's post on her Vogue 1086 dress the other day, and her dress looks so different than mine that I thought a look at my version might be useful for those thinking of this pattern who are (a) small-shouldered and pear-shaped (like me) or (b) tempted to use an unorthodox fabric (like me).     


In April *last year* my mother-in-law invited us to come see her choir singing at The Priory in Hunter's Hill.   Concert day was a hot day for April, but after the performance we went for a lovely walk in the adjoining grounds, stopping in the shade of a grand old tree.

A small bike is a useful accessory, n'est-ce pas?

I wore my Vogue 1086 Tracy Reese dress... which wasn't too flattering due to fabric choice and dress shape vs my shape. The fabric I used was from one of the ex-Cue rolls Tessuti get in without any fabric details - so it was only about $5 a metre.  It's a non-natural blend of some kind with a hard feel and a crinkly post-wash texture, and the pattern on it reminded me of the pattern on a blouse I'd seen the Selfish Seamstress make with success.  I made the slip out of a cream coloured cotton voile, and it's been very useful and lovely but I'm not going to show you how it looks by itself because it's a bit see-through.

Vogue 1086 was pretty straightforward...

... but I didn't think carefully enough before selecting fabric, cutting and sewing, and didn't make a muslin.  It turned out that the neckline was too low-cut for me, but this ended up being alright because I had made the accompanying slip higher cut.  My fabric crinkled and warped and unravelled in unexpected ways, despite french seams in all directions.  Inserting the side zipper in this sort of fabric was really difficult - the seam kept curving out and growing, and I got so annoyed that after a few goes finally I cut it out and sewed front and back together a bit tighter than desired.  This only really affected the tightness of the waistband as the bodice is a bit puffy and the skirt has gathers. And the only reason I was able to get away with no zipper is that I have very narrow shoulders; unfortunately this also means the dress tends to fall off my shoulders.

The slip shows above the v-neck, fabric is loose on bust, dress is sliding off shoulders, etc

I think with more attention to details and a more suitable fabric this dress would be nice on - if I remade it I'd replace the gathers on the bust with some nice stuctured folds, and for my small shoulders maybe I should have used a fabric with more body.  Any other top tips or pointers to more successful incarnations of this dress would be welcome!