Navy and white polka dot shirtdress.

I really wanted to make a shirt dress to wear from summer in to autumn. I used a cheap cotton with polka dots in navy and white that I got from a fabric market. The idea behind this was that it would be a wearable muslin. I never made a shirtdress or shirt before so I knew it could go wrong.

The pattern is from knipmode magazine in march 2007, yes we keep sewing magazines that long. The smallest size available was a size 38 which is slightly to large according to my measurements. And the pattern is a straight dress and I wanted an A-line dress. I should have bought a different pattern in my size, but at the time I thought it would be fine. I was wrong!

 I had to take in the sides with 2cm. than it was still way to big around the waist so I hollowed out the back gradually up to 3cm at the waist. And I pleated the front where the loops of the belt are. The loops of the belt where way to small so had to make new ones that were longer. There was no way you would be able to make a buttonhole and fit a belt trough the ones from the pattern.

According to the instructions you need to finish the sleeves and roll them up. My fabric is not pretty on the inside so I wasn’t able to do that. I folded the unfinished sleeves inside and stitched them in place that way if I would fold the sleeves out you would see the nice side of the fabric.

The button bands could be neater but for a first attempt they are okay. The standing collar was a nightmare I tried 5 times to attach it and it’s still not right.  I finished the inside by hand because it just would not work.

The reason that the pattern started at size 38 is because it is available in different lengths (1,60m, 1.72m and 1.80m). I made length 1.72m because I’m 1.70m tall. You would expect the dress to fit just above the knee like it does on the model since there are different lengths available. But no I cut of 15 cm of the seam and finished it with an invisible stitch.

And the best part of the dress… I finished the buttonholes and buttons with red threat. After this ramble about everything that went wrong you would expect that hate the dress and I have never worn it. But no august and september both had bad weather and I wore the dress a lot. It might not be finished perfectly but I like the fit after all the alterations I have made. But I’m never ever going to make anything that doesn’t have a pattern in my size! 

Transparent dark blue knipmode dress

First of all the fabric, it is awesome! It’s a gorgeous dark blue cotton that has a pattern with opaque and sheer parts. The fabric is from a local outlet fabric shop and I love it. I love it that much that I’m keeping the leftover scraps in case I can use them for another project.  

The pattern is from knipmode magazine in april 2013. Is number 21, a short sleeved A-line dress with 3 horizontal strips in the waist and a wide neckline. The strips don't match up, oeps. I like the pattern but  I don’t love it in combination with the fabric. I’m thinking the fabric would look better in a dress without the 3 horizontal stripes in the waist. The fit of the dress could be better a specially around the sleeves. But I can’t figure out what is exactly wrong with it. I assume that’s what you get if you don’t make a muslin. :) 

Bright pink Summer concert tee

too sunny to take photos?

A very long time ago I bought the perfect pattern parcel 1 and I have finally used one of the patterns. I made the Summer concert tee by dixy DIY. It’s the first ‘indie pattern’ that I have used. Normally I use the sewing magazines like knipmode, burda,… They are convenient because I can buy them in all the local bookshops. My mum also buys a lot of them and they get used by my mum, grandmother and me. But the instructions are not always clear and without asking my grandmother I often would not be able to understand it all. I was a bit hesitant to buy patterns in English because than my grandmother would not be able to explain the instructions to me. (I don’t know why because I read a ton of sewing blogs in English and I understand all of that.)

But the instructions from the concert tee where clear and I loved the drawings with every step. The loose fit and the high low hem are really nice for summer and I love that its different from a standard T-shirt. I used a pink jersey fabric that I had in my stash. I didn’t realise that it is the exact same colour than my last project but I promise not all of my clothes are pink :) .  

Bright pink Summer dress

This must be my favourite summer dress from this summer. The pattern is from knipmode in April 2013 I think, (Knipmode is a Dutch sewing magazine). I made a size 36 without any alterations and it fits like a glove! Well I did change one thing according to the instructions the lining of the dress is the exact same as the outside. But to save some fabric I didn’t make a pleated skirt but a A-line one for the lining. The fabric is  a lovely pink tufted cotton voile that I bought in a local fabric store. The lining is a sheer cream cotton. I didn’t line it with pink because I wanted to make sure that the little dots on the fabric really stood out. 

If I’m going to make this dress again the only thing I would change is the length of the zipper. I used a 22cm long one and it is difficult to get it on and off. Part of the problem with that is probably that I made the dress that tight fitting.