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!

Favourite online fabric shops

I only ever seem to shop for fabric online, all the fabric shops near me are full of outdated and cheap fabric. In fact I don't tend to do much shopping in person, most of it is done online, mainly due to the ease but also you get double the thrill, once when you've ordered and again when it arrives!
Some of my absolute favourite shops are based online and I thought I'd share them with you:

eBay - best for sewing notions like embroidery hoops or quilting safety pins (two things I bought recently) because their prices beat any shop around and usually have free postage. Most of the fabric I've bought from eBay has been of rubbish quality so I wouldn't recommend it unless they were branded.

Merchant & Mills - best for linens and gorgeous dressmaking fabric (best have the budget to suit though, most fabric is £15+ pm)

The Village Haberdashery - great for dressmaking patterns and modern fabric

The Homemakery - best for Tilda/quilting cotton/fast delivery

Dragonfly fabrics - best for good quality stretch jersey

Minerva Crafts - best for really inexpensive fabric, I bought some gorgeous seersucker plaid for £4.99 a metre here!

M is for Make - I love browsing this website but as yet have not ordered anything.

Cabbages and Roses - I love their clothes but they also do absolutely gorgeous fabric

Peony and Sage - beautiful fabrics for the home

I hope you've enjoyed some of my recommendations - none of these are sponsored they're all places I visit frequently to window shop - where do you buy fabric from?

Amy

Sunday afternoon

I've spent the last two Sunday afternoons sewing my Lilou dress.

I found the instructions quite confusing, especially considering the book is aimed at absolute beginners and I would not class myself as a beginner, more advanced beginner I think.

I had to ask for some help on IG from another lady who found them also equally confusing, she helped me out and I managed to construct the bodice in that magically lined way which if you've never tried it, is amazing. It's really hard to explain but this blog does an excellent job (better than Tilly's book - sorry!) of showing you how it works. Except that I then sewed the rest of the dress as if there was no lining at all?! All that time spent sewing the lining for the inside to be a mess - at least it looks better than facing though. I'm not going to subject you to a picture of the inside, trust me it's a mess. Also buying cheap cotton lawn from eBay is not a good idea, when lining garments don't choose a really flimsy see-through fabric like me, choose something pretty so it looks awesome inside.

I look at the last few dresses I've made (especially the ones that are only faced) and think I can do so much better. I used to read sewing blogs and think why?! All that time, energy spent making the inside look pretty and for what? And then I realised. We're not sewing fast fashion, we're spending time, effort and a lot of money making beautiful garments and it really pays off to be 100% happy with the way it looks (not that I'd know about that, I sort of imagine it's really nice to be 100% happy with something you've made).

I wore my Tessuti Lily dress to work and got ALL the compliments. I was really blushing by the end of the day. Then I wore my Merchant and Mills Dress Shirt and felt like a rock star. I'm really addicted to sewing my own clothes. It's such a satisfying feeling!

Up next is a plaid Emery dress with a white collar and a chambray Clemence skirt and then maybe even a white linen dress shirt. Although I do need to get started on my Cambie dress for the December wedding. Oh! So little time, what are you sewing up?