Emergency holiday sewing

Well what's a sewist/dressmaking/sewer (*delete as applicable) supposed to do when they book a holiday except sew some new clothes!?

I originally had a list of 4 or 5 things to make but when I found out we were expecting I was put off by the idea of making something I wouldn't fit into very soon.

Plus with exam marking and sewing a baby dress for a present I didn't have much free time.

Two days before we went away I was frantically cutting and sewing and managed to make the True Bias Southport dress and the Merchant and Mills saltmarsh skirt from their new workbook.

I've been wanting to sew the Southport dress since it was released but the first version got canned after buying rayon fabric and not stabilising it when cutting which led to some very wonky cutting. A shame because the fabric was gorgeous! 

The second version was made from this rayon from eBay. I didn't have any trouble sewing it up, I anticipated the bias binding armholes to be a pain but with a bit of pressing they went in fine. I omitted the button band and cut a size 4 grading to a 6 to accommodate bump, I think the bodice is a little big though and could've stayed at my usual 2. 

One problem I did have was trying to match the bodice and the skirt together and ended up with an 8 inch gap between the waistband casing and the skirt! I had to try and gather the spare fabric in the skirt so that I could sew the two together but I have no idea where I went wrong. I used ribbon from my stash as the waistband drawstring.

Next up was the Saltmarsh skirt from the new Merchant and Mills workbook, the fabric is from John Lewis bought when we went away to Edinburgh in Easter.

I originally tried to make the skirt with no pattern, just a straight dirndl with an elastic casing waistband but it looked so homemade I knew I wouldn't wear it. It was the first thing I'd tried to sew since being pregnant and the first trimester tiredness is no joke.. I couldn't visualise how to sew the bloody thing together! Following someone else's instructions and a pattern turned out to be much better.

All in all the the skirt was very easy to sew, I used the ribbon M&M had tied some fabric together for me from a delivery as the drawstring and used my over locker for the sides. I loved how the waistband came together.

We went to Kos, in Greece, and had a fantastic time! I thoroughly needed a rest, we've had a stressful few weeks and a break was sorely needed. A bonus was just how beautiful it is over there as you can see in some of these pictures.

Maternity Moneta

I've never needed to Moneta until I saw Rachel's in stripey jersey, I'm a total sucker for stripes and knew I needed to shamelessly copy hers!

I probably wouldn't have ended up making one had I had not found the softest squishiest jersey in Simply Solids. I might go buy the rest because it's the perfect stripe fabric.

Anyway all was going swimmingly sewing the Moneta, I sewed the whole thing on my overlocker, pockets and all, and twin needled all the hems. I was starting to think it was the most professional dress I'd ever made. 

Then came the skirt. Now if you've never made a Moneta before you gather the skirt using elastic by cutting the elastic to the length of the bodice and stretching it. In THEORY this is supposed to gather the skirt nice and evenly. It doesn't. There was bad swearing. There was ripping out. There were tantrums. 

I sewed the effing thing twice and I still couldn't get it to gather evenly. Eventually I gathered the bodice using the embroidery thread method and then overlocked the elastic and the bodice and skirt at the same time. My sewing machine hated sewing the elastic but my overlocker didn't even notice it was there.

There was some searching of the Internet during this skirt fiasco, and it seems most people don't sew the skirt the way that Colette suggest. Now this really pissed me off, this is supposed to be a beginner pattern. Now had I picked this up and sewed it as my first jersey dress pattern I would've possibly given sewing jersey up forever which is a shame because I looooove jersey, especially dem stripes. Anyway, I digress, the point is, there are easier ways to do what Colette suggest without having to 

lose your sanity along the way. Theres too many factors that can go wrong using the elastic to gather the skirt; the machine, the tension, type of elastic etc. I may being a little dramatic but it's put me off Colette a little. I sewed the Marianne dress which is also jersey and a beginner pattern with elastic in the shoulders with no problems!

Anyway, rant over, I love my dress. I sized up to accommodate my (newly) massive bust and expanding waistline but it still came out bigger than I was expecting, the fabric is quite heavy which pulls the bodice down. Don't worry if you think you won't fit into your usual size, there's a bit of negative ease here. I love the oversized look so this will be perfect after my pregnancy.

In order to make it maternity friendly, I shortened the bodice by 3 stripes (technical term) and lengthened the front of the skirt by about a a few stripes and graded the sides up to match the back. Unfortunately the fabric isn't on grain and therefore the stripes aren't parallel to the selvedge which means the stripe at the bodice seam is wonky. I can really notice it but it doesn't look too bad in the pictures. I can always resew the bodice slightly to match it if it really bothers me. Once my pregnancy is over I just need to shorten the front skirt as its a little too long at the moment. 

Overall I love my new dress despite the difficulty I had, it's like wearing secret pyjamas! Which is never a bad thing. I can see me living in this dress for quite some time. Oh and in case you're wondering we went to Bolton abbey in North Yorkshire for a walk and a picnic, I do love our little adventures!

Emery dress x Merchant and Mills

I've had the Emery dress pattern for a while and had planned to make a plaid version inspired by the TV show Outlander which is set in 1700s Scotland, however once I received this Merchant & Mills "Jones town" linen I knew this was the right fabric. I am completely obsessed with both the TV show and the book and I am currently making a cowl also inspired by the show.
Most of the time I buy fabric and patterns together, for what I imagine in my head, but my heart skipped a beat and I had to have this fabric! It's a gorgeous soft blue linen that holds a crease so beautifully but does not seem to crease much on it's own.

The dress jumped to the front of my sewing queue, but I just could not decide on sleeves/no-sleeves. I cut the long sleeves out and then left them to one side to debate.
Halfway through sewing the lining I realised the way I was sewing it would leave the armholes raw instead of enclosed and so I had to include the sleeves too.

I had a little trouble sewing the lining, I'm not very good at envisaging things inside out/right sides together and so was sewing blind at points, not quite realising how it was going to fit together. I had a quick google and found Christine Haynes sew-a-long which made it a lot easier to understand! I lined my Lilou dress but as that one is sleeveless the method is slightly different and instead of pulling through a shoulder you just pull through the bottom of the lining. It makes for a beautiful finish around the zip as well.

 Does anyone else find setting sleeves in a bit like doing liquid eyeliner? It either goes right first attempt or you're arsing around for ages trying to get it right. A bit like zips that way. One sleeve went in and I missed the outside of the dress so the lining and the sleeve had been sewn but not the dress itself! Then I kept catching bits of the sleeve that weren't supposed to be sewn. All in all I must've sewn it 4 times... the right sleeve went in with absolutely no bother!

I sewed a straight size 4, grading to a 6 for the skirt (I wanted a fuller skirt) and left off the waist darts as I wanted it to be a looser fit. I definitely achieved that but not as much as I would've liked. I love really exaggerated silhouettes like Cabbages and Roses do.

I tend to sew in a couple of hour chunks but I felt like I was sewing this dress for an eternity! It took me a week to finish and that was whilst being off work. By the time I was sewing the sleeves I hated this dress. Having said that, after wearing it all day I am starting to like it more.

Having said that, this is the best dress I've ever made in terms of construction, all the seams are zig-zagged (hot damn I need an overlocker) and the insides are just a beautiful on the outside. The only flaw is the fact that I lined the top of the zipper tape instead of the top of the zipper tab and therefore there's a slight gap at the top of the dress. I'm going to hand sew a hook and eye to fix it. Check out that not quite invisible zip! I first tried to sew in a zip after having a drink...that ended with a wonky zip and a broken needle. Don't drink and sew people!

I have to say this is definitely not going to be my last Emery dress!

Aaaaand one more awkward photo for good luck! Me and Gary headed out for a walk, I was bribed by having some semi decent photos taken for my blog, but I kept cracking up laughing at how ridiculous I must look. I have to say they are an improvement on the rubbish photos done in our house!

2.0.1.4

Well, I know I'm a bit (!) late in posting the 2014 review but I had such a busy Christmas!
My family came over from Canada and I don't think I had a minute to myself. It was wonderful to be surrounded by my family though, I do miss them lots.

I didn't make as much as I would've liked over the year but I really got into dressmaking.
I made a total of 10 dresses:

From left to right, a wool Lilou, blackwatch Eva dress, Merchant and Mills dress shirt, Stylish Dress book E, two basic dress from the Sewing Bee book, another M&M dress shirt, a Betty dress with a long skirt and the Cath Kidston basic dress from the GBSB.

I also made a Cambie dress from Cabbages and Roses fabric for my sister-in-law's wedding.

Out of all the dresses I made the Lilou and the blue dress shirt get the most wear. The sewing fails have to be the CK birds dress due to the terrible fit (the fabric bunches at the back) and the Betty dress as I dislike how the skirt hangs.

I also made an English paper piecing blanket from Tilda fabric for my gran.

And a homespun blanket for my mum and dad which was very well received. Sorry for the mid-make photograph, both blankets got finished very late and I did not get chance to take any proper pictures.

I also made my mum a Maggie Rabbit for her birthday (shown here with no nose or any clothes on!).

A baby blanket for my friend's baby

Above, I learned to knit!! But haven't actually made any thing yet...
And below, a glasses case for my gran's birthday:

Above a tea cosy for a friend's birthday and below a kindle case for my Gt Auntie's birthday

I haven't been as busy as I thought last year but I certainly made more than I remembered!

After trying my hand at sewing, crochet and knitting, sewing is definitely more my bag.
I absolutely love dressmaking and have many ideas for future makes floating around.
I'm desperate to get hold of one of those fashion books that you can draw the dresses onto the models so my ideas look a little neater.

I'm currently in the middle of making a Marianne dress and next up is a Staple dress for a class I'm teaching in February! Exciting stuff.

I hope you all had a happy new year

Amy

Sewing projects I'd love to tackle

I've been sewing clothes for 7 months now and although my skills have improved somewhat there are still some projects that I would like to make but I feel are way above my skill level. Although I'm saving them for another day.

Hacking jacket

I'm on the lookout for the perfect tweed jacket and this pattern would be perfect.
Maybe in something like this Harris tweed.

One of my planned autumn projects (that is if I'm not too exhausted from teaching) is a pair of trousers.

I'm thinking a nice slim fit made out of a soft grey fabric like this one from Merchant & Mills


To add to my work wardrobe I'd love to make a pussybow blouse from Colette, perhaps in a nice cotton lawn like this.

Way above my skill level, and something I can only dream one day of making (perhaps with a more advanced sewing machine) is a pair of jeans. I find getting jeans to fit notoriously difficult and we seamstresses know what it means when you buy something that doesn't fit/isn't exactly what you want.

Perhaps these simple jeans from Dragonfly fabrics would be perfect

Last but not least is this circle dress from Cabbages and Roses

I'd like to make something similar to this dress but I don't like to make exact copies, to make this it would need a franken-pattern of Tessuti's Lily linen dress and Sewoverit's Betty dress circle skirt. This is a fabric muncher so something relatively cheap would have to do. Perhaps a nice soft grey gingham.

I recently hit 2000 page views according to Blogger, and I can't say how much it means to me that people actually read my blog! Please note the name change to whatamymade.blogspot.com.

What do you want to make?
Amy x

5 things you should do when sewing...

...that I don't do

1. Wash fabric before use

When I washed my Dress Shirt there was some serious breath holding and crossing fingers in the hope it hadn't shrunk (it hasn't!) which made me realise I need to start washing fabric before use (but I probably won't)

2. Make a toile/muslin

I know, I know, I'm a bad seamstress. I'm just too impatient! I don't have much time to spend sewing and to take the time to make two dresses would defeat the object. Fortunately I haven't had too many problems with fit....yet..

3. Back stitching

Ooh this is naughty one - for some reason I always forget to secure my sewing by reversing my sewing machine before starting a stitch and before finishing. This led to part of my dress shirt arm coming undone...oops. I might've learned my lesson with that one.

4. Neaten inside seams

I don't see the point of this one, I know it looks more professional but it takes up so much time and you don't even see it!

5. Change the pattern

Other than shortening or lengthening the length I find changing how the pattern fits really difficult, I wish someone would write an intermediate book for dressmaking, there are tonnes of fab beginners books out there but none that explain how to fit clothes properly and thus I'm swimming in a sea of CB, warp, weft etc without really knowing what it all means. Although I never expected to become an expert in a few months! Hopefully this blog will document more tips as I learn them to help others out.

What other naughty habits have you picked up whilst sewing?

More tips for dressmaking

Image from Pinterest

Well I've been making clothes for 6 months now and have learned a few things, here are my tips for starting dressmaking;

1. Start small. I started out very ambitious with my Cath Kidston Birds dress which led to it not fitting properly at the back and thus I never wear it.
Start out making cushions and bunting, something small that lets you understand how your sewing machine works and whether you have the patience for something bigger.

2. Get a sewing machine - don't get one of those cute colourful dinky ones, mine was £80 from Tesco, it's really basic and doesn't have a zip foot (which I would recommend - I avoid zips for this reason). One day I will upgrade, but if you can afford I'd recommend one about £150 with some snazzy extras like embroidery stitches and a zip foot and walking foot if you fancy making quilts.

3. Buy cheap fabric to start with, that way you won't get frustrated when you inevitably make mistakes.

4. Make things you like, model dresses/tops you like and recreate them. This seems like a no brainer but if you know your style you're more likely to wear what you've made.

5. Enjoy it! Dressmaking can be really tough but it's so rewarding, especially when people say oh I love what you're wearing, such satisfaction.

Have you got any tips for dressmaking?

Amy

Merchant & Mills The Dress Shirt Review

Merchant & Mills are my favourite online shop, I spend hours browsing their fabric and products dreaming of combinations of patterns and fabrics. The first pattern I decided to try was the Dress Shirt, I was a bit nervous about this pattern because it's the first "proper" pattern I've used, the others have been from the sewing bee book. I also decided with this pattern I would invest in good quality fabric. Which made this project very scary for me!

The fabric I chose was Doll's Deckchair Linen also from M&M, it's a gorgeous baby blue stripe that feels lovely and soft. For the Dress Shirt I needed a metre and a half, but ordered two.

I had some trouble with the dress shirt's instructions, they come on one piece of thick paper and the illustrations are quite small. The bib took some brain power to figure out how to attach, I thought the sleeves were going to be really tough to fit but actually found them really easy to sew in.
I absolutely love this dress but I wouldn't recommend it unless you've made at least one item of clothing before. Whilst I wouldn't say it's complicated, I would say it requires some skill.
Now to dream of other fabric combinations to make... I think a gorgeous soft white linen could be the next project.

                  

I'm not sure if it was the time taken to make this dress - I made it over 4 days instead of rushing to finish in one day - or the expense of the fabric but I've worn this dress more than anything else I've made and even braved putting it in the washing machine!

I'm subscribing to the idea of slow fashion - making gorgeous items of clothing that I love instead of picking up poor quality clothes in Primark for that quick fix.

I'm already dreaming of my next project - a long summery faded floral dress.

In other news, I'm marking for the exam board and currently in the middle of marking 432 exam papers - nightmare! Come follow me on Twitter or Instagram for more up to date updates

Amy

Content

Life is looking up, the last few years have had their ups and downs (mostly downs but some ups including learning new skills and getting into dressmaking).
I was feeling very content this morning and realised that you do not need pots of money to enjoy life.

I was reading a cognitive behavioural handout at work and it listed some of the common faulty thinking processes which include: if I feel it, means its true, if someone says something negative it's true but if it's positive it's false and everyone is looking at me, they can tell I'm nervous.
Sometimes it's hard to spot these faulty thoughts but they heavily pervade into your everyday life.
It's very important to look on the bright side and not focus on the negatives. I decided there and then I would stop worrying because it had no purpose except to add to my stress levels. Whether I was worrying about it or not, it would happen anyway.

All you need is love and health and le meilleu est encore a venir (the best is yet to come).
Sometimes all it takes is a beautiful bunch of roses to remind you the world is beautiful.
How do you stay positive?

Dressmaking wishlist

My head is full of ideas I'm just a little short on time!

Here's my wishlist of things I really really want to make:

This gorgeous blue gingham dress is beautiful, but I'm not entirely sure it's me and will probably stay as inspiration for a shorter dress (I really dislike midi lengths on me despite having long legs, it just doesn't look right).

This is a Cabbages and Roses skirt I saw on eBay but didn't buy, I dislike the C&R over the top silhouette and so will recreate this skirt to be a little more wearable day-to-day. I'm still looking for wool felt that comes in metres.

This is a basic circle skirt, I tend to wear dresses more because matching an outfit is very simple, but I would like more variety in my wardrobe and a basic skirt (with a bow, obviously) will be perfect.

This is Tilly and the Button Coco top which can be modified to make a dress, after a quick scout on eBay for striped jersey I've decided it needs to be added to my handmade wardrobe. Also I am OBSESSED with stripes which makes this a total no-brainer for me! It would work really nicely with the skirt above as a basic but fabulous outfit.

This is Tessuti's Eva linen dress which is doing the rounds on instagram, a beautifully flowing dress which will be perfect in white linen (£3 pm on eBay!)

Every time I see my first handmade dress it makes me smile, it's not perfect by any means but it was made by me and that sense of pride is worth more than any dress you can buy.

I've decided to write a blog post every weekend (work makes me exhausted and brain dead which is not the ideal mind frame to be writing with!) so please follow me on Bloglovin or Instagram to see what I'm up to during the week.

Have you got the dressmaking bug?

Amy