I’ve been rather poor updating this blog this year. The good news is I had a bit more to post about as a result. I ended up making an extra unexpected project (Newlook 6548) as the dress I was making for myself (see further down this post) ended up having a lot of extra fabric leftover. This was because Burda uses 1.4 meter fabric on the envelope and I bought 1.5 meter wide fabric. Which resulted in a much more efficient pattern layout and 80cm left of fabric.
Not a huge amount to say for this dress. It’s cute, and I liked the neckline. Due to fabric constrictions I cut the skirt piece on the fold instead of using the two pattern pieces. Slightly less full but it still works. This is age 5.
Next, is “Margo” from sew la di da. I picked up the pattern at the knitting and stitching show in London. They design patterns for taller women than the standard pattern companies. I had to take several inches off the trousers as a result. I dropped a dress size for my bottom half after reading reviews it was roomy. The legs are, but I had hardly enough room for my waist! I had to let out the side seams a fair bit. I also had to redraw the crotch curve to accommodate a more rounded tummy and derriere.
The cotton fabric was a bargain at about £4 a meter. This project gobbles up the yards. To save on fabric I cut the bottom half on the cross grain. As the legs are so wide you really can’t tell the difference.
Next, a mandarin style dress pattern. Burda 6830. I had hoped this would be a working toile for the beautiful silk I bought in China. I don’t think I trust it enough to cut into the good stuff. This fabric stretch cotton jacquard. £5 a meter, so not too heart breaking.
Modifications so far, added 4cm to skirt length. Removed 2cm from waist as it was too long. Took the waist in by about a cm or 2 on each side. Added an extra dart at the back. Reduced the width of the main dart at the bottom point. The reason for this is that pattern is not drafted for those who have a 10 inch waist to hip difference. I need a sewing friend to help me sort out the fit further as I am not entirely happy with it.
I bought this stretch terry cotton a while back to make some projects for a friend. It has finally been transformed into Burda 9381 (a child’s bathrobe) and some free patterns from swain designs for the top and fleece fun the leggings. Thankfully these were simple enough projects as the fabric shed little bits of green over everything (I am still finding them over a month later). I had to top stitch each seam to keep things tidy, but the finished items look pretty good.
So, given that the mandarin dress is on pause, it was time to look at the next project. Vogue 8723 has been in my pattern box for sometime, and now the weather is sunnier I thought it was time to dig it out. I found a lovely designer linen and have carefully pattern matched cutting out the pieces to ensure the matched. You can see the front and back below. I’ve lengthened the skirt by 3 cm. Oddly the under arms were much too tight compared to my Vogue sloper, so I have cut out a size 16 here instead of my normal size 12.
I’ve bought thread, zip and lining today so can get started on sewing tomorrow. Hopefully I will have some more photos to share soon.
sewwherenext 