Here's one I made earlier...

Quite literally, this is a dress I made on a day's annual leave from work.  Although I didn't quite manage to finish it in one day, I have finally got round to completing it (it was beginning to gather dust)!

It is the same dress as English Rose from May 2012, that is McCall's M6027, except this is view D.

So having made it before I didn't find it too challenging, although the cap sleeves were a little tricky to get right.  I think it will make a nice addition to the work wardrobe for winter as it is made from a navy lightweight wool.

Jumpsuit - Part 1

Back at the end of 2012 I tried on this jumpsuit in Ted Baker:

Being 5'' 2', and Ted Baker thinking women are all 6'', it drowned me.  So I got out my pen and tape measure and drew a little sketch before handing back the garment with its £120 price tag. 

At the start of this year I began to contemplate how I could make a similar outfit myself.  Unfortunately, the jumpsuit patterns I could find by the leading manufacturers did not match the look I was after.  Most of them had a low elasticated waist rather than the high fitted waist I wanted to create.

So I went about it by taking a wide leg trouser pattern and a pencil skirt pattern from April 2012 Burda.  I placed the skirt pattern underneath the trouser one and heightened the waist on the trousers.  

I then used the pattern to make up a trial pair of pants.  Alterations were made which I marked with a running stitch.  I then unpicked the pants and transferred the running stitch markers onto my paper pattern. 

125 Trousers

118 Skirt

The pattern paper I am using is by Burda.  As you will see below, it is not very resilient to pins or needles; in fact it rips very easily.  Also pencil marks do not show up well.  I have recently ordered some Swedish Tissue Paper, since seeing it used on The Great British Sewing Bee, from Gloriarty at www.gloriarty.co.uk. When it arrives I think I will transfer my patten onto it so that it can be used again. 

Front with marked alterations

Back with marked alterations

Back patten piece

Front pattern piece

I then used the altered pattern to make the pants using a navy lightweight fabric.  I opted to add a lining which ends at the knee.  

I am giving the jumpsuit a smart casual feel by using an emerald satin on the top half.  When I made my Duchess dress in June 2012 (McCall's M6508) I cut the bodice on folded fabric so that I had 2 of each piece which were mirror images of each other.  I used one set to make the Duchess dress and made the other bodice up at a later date.  I am using the spare bodice as the top half of this jumpsuit.  It is the same as the image below, except that it does not have the ruffle:

I am up to the stage where I attach top and bottom halves.  Maybe time to get sewing again...

Liberty print jacket - part 5

A good iron and steam later, here is the finished piece!

Liberty print jacket - Part 4

Well I've been a little quite on the blog so far this year, the reason being that my Liberty print jacket has been taking up most of my time.  If you have read my previous posts about this item, you will know that I have been adapting New Look pattern 6013 (view A), to make a lined casual jacket.  

Yesterday I finally finished the jacket, which has taken over 3 months to complete.  Before its grand unveiling, I thought I would share the new techniques I have learnt.  Most recently in my post 'Liberty print jacket - Part 3', I shared my attempts at making shoulder pads.  I then moved on to follow the pattern instructions for inserting the sleeves into the jacket, which brought me round to attaching the shoulder pads to the sleeve seam.  I did this using a small running stitch just inside the seam.  I worked the stitches from the sleeve side (i.e. the shoulder pad can't really be seen), so as to make sure I remained inside the seam allowance. 

I then used a swing tack to secure the curve of the neck edge of the shoulder pad to the shoulder seam.  If you haven't heard of a swing tack before, you will recognise it from some of your own clothes, here is an example:

This is a long swing tack on one of my dresses - it is securing the lining to the dress near the hem

Here is how to create the swing tack:

• Use double double thread (take a very long thread and thread the loop through the eye and fold in half);
• Secure the thread with 3 horizontal stitches on the shoulder pad, approximately 2cm from the centre of the curve of the neck edge;
• On the 3rd stitch, catch the loop and place your thumb and index finger of your left in the loop;
• Holding the needle with your right hand, use your left hand to go through the loop and pull the thread through the loop;
• Now pull the thread and it will form a small chain stitch;
• Continue until the swing tack is approximately 2cm long;
• Secure by putting the needle and thread through the loop in your left hand;
• Then stitch the tack to the jacket underneath the original securing stitches. 

Now onto the other techniques which have brought this jacket together...

After I inserted the shoulder pads I made rolls to insert into the top of the sleeves.  I used a lightweight piece of wadding, approximately 30cm long.  I folded it in half, and using the fold as a straight line, I drew a curve shape extending 6cm at its peak.  I cut along the curve and then along the fold, so that I had two identical pieces.  

I attached the roll to the sleeve of the jacket, so that a sandwich is created with shoulder pad on top, the seam allowance (where the jacket and sleeve are attached) in the middle, and then the roll on the underside of the sleeve.  I pinned the roll into the sleeve with the straight length of wadding to the sleeve seam, so that the curved edge goes into the sleeve itself and then I secured with a running stitch.

Next I used a herringbone stitch to secure the hem of the sleeves and the jacket.  I swing tacked the lining to the jacket at the side seams and shoulder seams before securing the lining at the hem of the sleeves and jacket by using a curtain hem.  To achieve a curtain hem, firstly trim the raw edges of the lining fabric, so that they are 1.5cm longer than the hem of the jacket and the hem of the sleeves.  The next step is to fold the lining under by 1.5cm and slip stitching the folded edge into place, 1.5cm from the raw edge of the fashion fabric.

This shows the lining slip stitched into place, as per the above diagram

And perhaps the simplest finishing touch was to secure the button using a complementary metallic thread.

And to keep a grip on costs, here is the breakdown:

Liberty Fabric	2.75m at £5 per metre	£13.75
Lining Fabric	1.25m at £2.55 per metre	£2.81
Lightweight fusible interfacing	0.75m at £7.78 per metre	£5.83
Medium weight fusible interfacing	1.25m at £6.46 per metre	£8.07
Medium weight sew-in interfacing	0.25m at £3.43 per metre	£0.86
Button	£0.90 per button	£0.90
TOTAL		£32.22

Not too costly I would say! 

Christmas Crackers!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

I thought I would share a few pictures of my most recent acquisitions, which are the sewing related presents I received for Christmas.

There's the tailors dummy to begin with.  Although I haven't had much time to use it as of yet, I have adjusted it to my size and I have got the hem marker all loaded with chalk.  I'm impressed by how sturdy it is, and I already know how much I'm going to love using this to help me with my dressmaking.

I spotted these 10 inch sidebent scissors from Merchant and Mills at the Knitting and Stitching show, Harrogate, back in November 2012.  My thoughtful mum committed the brand to memory and did a sneaky bit of internet shopping after we returned!  At the show I had been a little disappointed that they didn't have a pair out on display to have a feel and look at.  However, now that I am the proud owner of a pair, I am far from disappointed.  The weight of the metal is very impressive and makes cutting fabric a joy.  I am yet to cut pattern pieces out with them, so I cannot comment on the benefits of the sidebent handle at the moment.  

Liberty print jacket - Part 3

I've been busy again, this time altering my jacket.  It needed a few centimetres taking off each of the back seams to allow for my narrow back.  I won't post the photos of this as it was quite simple to do.

When I tried the jacket on, my dress making teacher suggested that it could do with some shoulder pads.    Now I thought, why not embrace the 1980s in a SUBTLE way!  

So, on I went to make them!

Here's my little guide to refresh my own memory:

• Pin piece 1 (front) and 3 (back) together at shoulder seam, overlapping them by 3cm.
• Trace the outline of the pattern pieces at the shoulder point and the neck point.  Mark 1.5cm into the 3cm overlap at both the shoulder point and neck point.  
• Join 1.5cm marks with a broken line, put balance marks at the 1.5cm marks.
• Draw the shoulder pad shape.  You want a curve on the front piece and a point on the back piece and for this pattern, it should be approximately 10cm down into the front and a little longer into the back. You want the peak of the curve to be at least 2cm from the front of the jacket (this is after the front seam has been taken into account).  

• Once you have drawn the shape, cut it out and then cut 2 of the shape out of sew-in interfacing (remembering the balance marks at the 1.5cm points on both sides).  These are the top pair of shoulder pads.
• You will also need an under pair of shoulder pads.  To make these, draw the shape again on your pattern piece, this time 6mm under the shape and parallel to the first shape.  Then place the pattern piece underneath some tissue paper and trace the smaller shape off the pattern.  Cut the smaller pattern out of the tissue paper.  Use this pattern to cut 2 of the shape out of sew-in interfacing (remembering the balance marks at the 1.5cm points on both sides).

• You will also need some wadding to fill the shoulder pads with.  I already had my wadding and therefore can't remember the exact weight of it.  It is quite a thin one which I think is a safer option because you can always layer more pieces of wadding if you want more volume.  To cut the wadding, you need to follow the same step in number 6 i.e. the wadding has to be 6mm smaller along the curve than the under pair of shoulder pads.  If decided that 1 layer of wadding was enough for me, but if you did layer the wadding, you would have to cut the next layer 6mm smaller on the curve than the first layer of wadding.  
• Lay the layers out - top pair on the bottom, then wadding, then under pair on top.  Pin. 

• Turn the whole stack of layers over so that you are working with the top pair of shoulder pads facing you.  Turn the pins around so that they are on the top pair of shoulder pads.
• You want to stitch the layers together by starting with a column of stitches approx 2cm in from the shoulder point edge (the first 1.5cm from this edge is the seam allowance so you do not want to stitch in this area).  The stitches need to be a small from the left to the right and the spacing needs to be long and diagonal.  As you stitch, you want to curve the layers with your index finger and the two fingers next to it placed vertically underneath the layers.  The needle should enter the layers where your index finger is.  This method of stitching will help the shoulder pads to maintain a curve.
• Stitch a second row approximately 2cm from the first row.  
• Stitch a third row by following the curve of the neck edge, making sure you catch all of the layers.  

Done!!

And from the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate this weekend, I bought two buttons which I think will match the jacket.  I'll see which one looks better when it's time to attach the button.  

So now, it's onto the sleeves and then bringing it all together!  Nearly there...

Liberty print jacket - Part 2

Well, I've been on a roll this weekend!

Firstly, I've sewn the front and side front together and then added the welts.  This is my fist encounter with fake pockets and I think they look quite good!

From this...

To this...

Next it was onto the back pieces...

And then joining the front to the back...

I even made a start on the lining!

This is the front facing joined to the side lining

Back lining

And then I decided that it was time to come out of hibernation and put the sewing down for a bit!  There isn't much more I can do before having the jacket fitted.  I need to try it on and make any alterations before inserting the sleeves and completing the lining.  Then it will be a case of joining it all together and adding the collar.  

I still need to find a nice button, which is proving difficult.  I might wait until the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate in a few weeks to find the perfect one.  

But I'm excited with my progress as I want to get on with making a dress for Christmas!