The Painterly Dress

Skipping past a couple of unblogged 2014 makes for now, here's my first dress of 2015:

the painterly dress! 

Front view, painterly dress

Isn't this fabric pretty? I think it looks so painterly, if that's the correct word - it reminds me of flowers and reflections in puddles, and impressionism! 

Polyester twill from The Fabric Store

The fabric is a medium weight twill from The Fabric Store in Sydney, and I suspect probably made from 100% polyester - whatever it is, it was tricky to sew! My serger adored the fabric, but I had a lot of trouble getting the tension right with the fabric in my sewing machine, which is why the princess seams are rippling. I'd sorted out the tension by the time I sewed the skirt, so the skirt side seams are fine. The bodice also looks like it's pulling so I guess for a fabric with zero give I should have allowed myself more room. I do realise I could have unpicked and resewn the bodice with a little more room and with the improved tension settings, but when I unpicked a small area to try to do just that I discovered the old needle holes remained very visible on the fabric, and I only had miniscule scraps of fabric left over, so I decided to chill and put up with a bit of rippling and pulling.

And the dress pattern? Well it isn't really one thing or another, it's the Libby A-line skirt from Tessuti patterns, which I've been meaning to try for ages, combined with princess seamed bodice from an old favourite of mine, DKNY pattern V1193.

I've made V1193 a couple of times now with sleeves (here in a red ponte, and here for my "Out of Darkness" dress), and used the bodice without sleeves at least once more (here for example in Pink Panther fabric for the Sew Dolly Clackett challenge), so I pretty much know by heart how to make it fit me properly. On this occasion I used the same minor adjustments as usual (essentially I use several sizes - size 10 for the shoulders, size 12 at the bust, size 14 at the waist).  I initially added length to the whole bodice but then ended up removing a wedge of fabric at the back for what is apparently not so much a sway back as a short back (thank you Lara for reminding me about Beth's post on that adjustment!). In the photo below it looks like the back is still a bit long, but I had my shoulders back for these photos, and usually when my posture is not so good I need that little extra back length.

Shortened back bodice

There are lots of pure Libby skirts on the internet (see Jillian, Rachel, and Elizabeth, for example) and if you want to see this fabric sewn up differently, check out Emma's Simplicity pencil skirt.

I cut this Libby skirt in a size 14, and then found I could trim about an inch from the sides when I attached the skirt front and back to the bodice front and back - the skirt was a lot wider than the bodice - so I guess I had mismeasured myself. Anyway, it was super easy to attach the Libby skirt to the Vogue bodice, and I only wish I'd got the skirt size right in the first place because I suspect if I had, the skirt darts might have lined up with the princess seams! Anyway, the darts are completely lost in the print, so that's just something I'll bear in mind for any future Libby + Vogue makes.

I would have liked a deep hem on this dress but the skirt was shorter than I anticipated, so I finished the hem with some coordinating satin bias binding, machine stitched in place.  It would've looked better with a hand stitched hem, but the bodice is all sorts of imperfect anyway, so it didn't seem worthwhile!

Hem finish - satin bias binding

The bodice is fully lined in a nice satin that I picked up second hand ages ago.  I sewed the lining with a bit of extra width, but it's proved unnecessary given how little the outer fabric moves. The lining is understitched around the neckline, and handstitched in place down the zipper tape and around the waist.

A bit of hand stitching

What else? Well there's an invisible zip in the size seam, and although I've got more of that annoying rippling happening in the seams, at least it's consistent front and back - my seams aligned nicely at the waist and the zip is nearly invisible!

Side view with invisible zip in the side seam

Close up of the invisible zipper in the skirt section

Over on the other side of the world I know plenty of sewists are looking forward to Spring, but with this dress I feel like I'm only just kicking into Summer gear - Summer, you've GOT to stay a bit longer! 

See you soon

- Gabrielle x

Broderie Anglaise V-Neck

You'd be excused for assuming I don't learn from my mistakes...

In late November I blogged a boxy cropped hibiscus print top, and I think most of you agreed with me that it was a bit of a dog. The fabric itself was fine, the shape of the top was interesting, but the combination of fabric and shape wasn't that great, and it just looked "off" on me. Bearing all that in mind, yes, I've made another of those boxy tops!

The thing is, I made this top around the same time as the first, and the hibiscus print top was only ever intended as a muslin for this one, the one that had drawn itself into my brain as a "must sew". By the time I'd photographed and judged the hibiscus version, number two was nearly done - I loved the look of these quieter fabrics together, so I just finished it up and here it is!

Interestingly, this one seems to look a LOT better on. Or is that just my imagination? Is it just that I much, much prefer these fabrics? The shape is exactly the same - the only change I made to the shape was to lengthen it a couple of centimetres through the body.

I'll let you compare the two versions for yourself - same shoes, different skirt, and nearly the same camera angle...

Hmm. It's not just my imagination.  Those couple of centimetres did wonders for my waist! 

OK, a couple more of these dodgy photos from the back - sorry, but I find photographing white clothes quite a challenge - and then I'll tell you about the fabric and show you some close ups of the top laid flat:

Fabric
The broderie anglaise that's the main fabric for this top is a large leftover from a designer remnant that I originally used in the bodice of this dress (oh, I loved that dress!). The fabric came from The Fabric Store here in Sydney a couple of years back, but I think I've seen something similar there - albeit with a larger pattern - in the last few months.

Broderie anglaise having all those little holes in it, I thought I'd best underline the front bodice. For the underlining I used some cream coloured linen left over from this top (hmm, I didn't love this when I made it), and that linen is also used in the sleeve cuffs and in the neckline band. Leftover fabric scraps feel like they're free, don't they - the fabric costs have already been attributed to the projects that came before! - so I'm calling this 100% free fabric.

Here's a close up of the inside bodice, at a side seam so you can see the difference a layer of linen makes to the broderie anglaise. The extra layer of course makes the fabric more opaque, and a layer of linen is more pleasant than lining fabric when you're dealing with hot, sweaty summers....

Pattern

As you may recall, the pattern is the one pictured below, a classic 80s shape if ever I saw one (trust me, I've seen quite a few up close).  It's supposed to be loose fitting, and waist length - check, check! You don't have to make it in a white fabric unless you want the look of that pattern envelope girl, though to really get the look you also need to invest in large plastic accessories.... Maybe next time?

And this cheap pattern is of course another sunk cost. Making it a free top, right?

Simplicity 6742, a classic 1980s outfit pattern

I said it last time, but I really like the way this V-neck is constructed! I know my close-ups in the hibiscus print were headache inducing, but I think the way it's been put together will be easier to see in this fabric.

The first of these next two views shows you the v-neck from the outside of the top (ie fabric right side), and the second view shows you the v-neck finish on the inside:

V-neck from the outside

V-neck construction, on the inside

Fitting and Pattern Adjustments

No fitting required with these loose, that-looks-too-big style of patterns :).

As I mentioned above, there was one change I made to this pattern that made a noticeable difference - I just lengthened it a few centimetres to around hip length. The other less striking change I made was to cut the v-neck pieces on the grain rather than on the bias, and this vastly improves on the original; version two of this top sits nicely on my shoulders :). So I did learn from the hibiscuses! 

Likes / Dislikes
As before, I really like this V-neck :). I love the shape of the top, and I think I'll be wearing it with this knee length skirt as well as with the slightly longer pink skirt blogged here. I suspect what makes it work so much better is that this top covers my waist - when a top cuts off at your waist, I guess that's where people's eyes are drawn!

There's still one annoying flaw with this top: those linen sleeve bands are creasing up like crazy! I did consider interfacing them as I was sewing this top up, and decided that interfacing would have made them too heavy. That may have been the wrong call :0.

Don't worry, it doesn't have to be perfect! 

OK, I think that's enough rambling about this one - there's one more 2014 top I want to blog soon, and after that we can talk about colourful 2015 dresses!



See you soon

- Gabrielle xx