2016: The Hits And The Misses

2016 has been a good dressmaking year for me. I haven't been as prolific as in previous years, but that's because I've been a bit more considered in what I choose to sew. I've concentrated more on fit and fabric choice and this has definitely resulted in fewer failures and unworn garments! 

So without further ado, let's look at my favourite makes and a couple that didn't quite work...

THE HITS 

New Look 6217

The pattern that has without doubt, been the biggest hit of my sewing year has been New Look 6217. It may be a plain, unprepossessing little pattern, but it always seems to magically come up with the goods for me. The top and skirt both fit me straight from the envelope and are very easy to sew. My favourite of the five tops I've sewn is still the first one, made with black satin-backed crepe. It goes with everything and always looks classy. There's a round-up of all my other versions on my OWOP post here.

My NL6217 polka dot denim skirt should also get a mention as it was such a wardrobe staple over the summer. The fabric has a great stretch to it, so it's both comfortable to wear and a flattering fit.

Big Vintage Sewalong Dress

This Vogue reproduction pattern (V8875) has only been worn once as it's very dressy, but I still want to include it as I received so many compliments when I wore it! It's made from a gorgeous luxury crepe, so it hangs beautifully and has a very polished look. I also worked really hard to perfect the fit and feel really fabulous in it!

Vintage Shoulder Tie Top

Made using a Woman's Own vintage pattern, this has been a surprise hit as it's more of a boxier fit than I'm used to. The cute shoulder ties are a lovely vintage touch and I found myself reaching for it again and again over the summer. The lush Liberty fabric doesn't hurt either!

Ginghamalong Top

This was made to replace a much loved, very similar top and is a big improvement on the original. It's made using the Sewaholic Granville pattern, which is a great fit on me, and the 100% cotton gingham is a lovely quality. In fact I'm wearing it as I type this (underneath a jumper)! 

THE MISSES

There are only two, neither of which has been an outright disaster. 

Karen Drape Dress

Despite me falling for the draped style of this Maria Denmark pattern, it's still a bit too grown up and slinky for me, hence it's only been worn once. I do really like the side pleat detail though, so may well just shorten it into a top. Teamed with a plain skirt or jeans, I'm sure it would get worn a lot more frequently. This can be a nice easy job for the New Year!

Clara Bow Blouse

I've worn this pattern a couple of times but the fit has never been quite right. It's a nice pattern (original pattern review is here) but needs a bit of tweaking to get it to fit me properly: I'd need to do an FBA (Full Bust Adjustment) and lengthen it considerably. 

Only two minor fails then, which I consider pretty good going for a whole year of sewing!

What have been your biggest hits (and misses) of 2016? And which patterns have turned out to be unexpected gems?!

In other news, I'm working away on my red coat and may get it finished before Christmas. If I don't, it will make a good project to welcome in the New Year! Happy Monday! x

Karen Drape Dress

Let me introduce you to the Karen dress by Maria Denmark. The pattern is quite a grown up, slinky design and despite having very few opportunities to wear grown up, slinky designs, I felt a burning need to buy it as soon as it was released! There's a lovely pleat detail on one side that drapes artfully across the stomach - for me, this transforms a simple jersey T-shirt dress into something far more elegant.  

The pattern is sized from XS to 2XL and for reference, I cut a size M. The advice is to choose your size based on your high bust measurement. Maria shares her own measurements and size on the website and very fortuitously they happened to be the same as mine, so that bit was easy! The sleeves can either be short or ¾ length, but I chose to lengthen them to full length to keep out the cold. I also shortened the front and back pieces by about 7cms. 

Maria claims that the pattern is almost as fast to sew as a T shirt and she's not wrong. The only thing you need to spend a bit of time on is pinning the pleats correctly. The pattern includes a brilliant tip to help with this - simply mark each pair of pleats with different coloured pins - such a simple idea yet so helpful when it came to folding the pleats in place. There's a video here to show you how it's done. Once the pleats are basted into position, the rest of the dress is as quick to sew up as the pattern claims. I sewed most of it on my overlocker, apart from the neckline and hems, which are simply turned under and top stitched with a double needle. 

The pattern recommends using clear elastic to stabilise the neckline, but to be honest I've never had much luck with it and when I've used it my necklines have always ended up baggy. Because my fabric contained 10% spandex, I thought I'd try something that looked a bit sturdier to stabilise the neckline. I used Vilene Fusible Bias Tape and was delighted with the results. The tape is bias cut, so easily fits around curved necklines, but it also includes a line of chain stitching which I think gives it stability. After top stitching and a good press, that neckline was as flat as a pancake - so satisfying!

Let's talk about the fabric - it's called Tropical Silhouettes, a cotton French Terry knit from Girl Charlee. For ages I presumed French Terry was from the same gene pool as terry towelling, but this is nothing like it. It's a smooth jersey on the top side with a sort of tightly looped pile on the reverse. It's not too heavy and feels really cosy, and because it has a high spandex content (10%) it has a marvellous drape.

The fabric recommendation is for something drapey with at least 5 to 10% spandex and this does a great job. If anything, the fabric is almost too springy - when you hold the dress from the  neck and let it hang, it bounces almost to the floor and back again! The pleats probably drape a bit lower than they're supposed to because of this, but you don't really notice it because the fabric design is so busy. 

This is definitely a pattern I'll return to, probably in a solid colour next time to showcase the pleat details a bit more. In the meantime, I'm now the proud owner of a grown up, slinky dress! x

Fabric was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.

A cable knit Mabel

Plans for jumper making had to be swiftly re-jigged this week on discovering that I only had a metre of Aran-style sweater knit to play with. What possessed me to only buy one measly metre?! It's nigh on impossible to cut out a jumper from one metre - those pesky long sleeved pattern pieces take up a lot of space. The thick, cabled fabric would have looked daft made into a short sleeved version, so there was only one thing for it….make a skirt instead. 

I used the Mabel pattern from Colette which I've used twice before (here and here), both times using a double knit. Although my fabric is chunky and cable-y, it's not actually as stable as a double knit, so the finished skirt is a bit roomier than my other versions. This is no bad thing though, given my current post-Christmas shape! I used scraps left over from my gingham Agnes dress for the waistband lining and they blended in perfectly. 

I sewed the whole skirt on my overlocker and it was on track to become the fastest item of clothing I'd ever sewn - until I got to the hem. I'm not sure if it was the cabling that my machine didn't like, but try as I might, I just couldn't get it to sew straight stitches on this fabric without looping. I tried every type of needle (stretch, jersey, ballpoint and double) and every combination of tension and stitch type but it wasn't having any of it. In the end I had to hand sew the hem. No great tragedy, but a bit tiresome given that it could have been hemmed in about 20 seconds with a double needle.

All's well that ends well though - my finished Mabel is all set to be a skirt version of a pair of PJ bottoms. It's so cosy and comfortable and perfect for days like yesterday when it was miserable outside and all I wanted to do was lounge on the sofa and watch TV. Happily, it's also presentable enough to wear outside the house and is a bit more interesting to look at than my previous Mabel skirts. It's not exactly what I had in mind for this fabric but it'll do fine. 

In other cold weather sewing news, my Karen dress is almost finished (now that really is a super fast sew!) and the fabrics for my White Russian sweatshirt are currently waiting to be cut out. I'll keep you updated! x

Cold weather sewing

The word on the street (as Huggy Bear would say) is that the UK weather is due to turn distinctly inclement. Phrases such as 'Arctic blast' are being bandied about by BBC weather people, which has forced me to bring a couple of knit garments straight to the top of my sewing queue. 

As easy as they are to sew, I do find sewing with knits a bit boring, which is why I've decided to liven things up a bit by trying out a new pattern. It's the Maria Denmark Karen drape dress - as chic and classy as my sewing pal of the same name.

I like the fact that the dress can perform equally well as a casual dress (with boots and a cardi) or tarted up a bit with heels for the evening. The detail that reeled me in was the draped section that artfully skims over the stomach - yes! The fabric recommendation is for a knit with 5 -10% spandex so I've chosen this lovely tropical French Terry knit from Girl Charlee UK - it's soft and drapey so should work well. 

Second on my cold weather sewing list isn't quite so exciting - it's a sweatshirt. Come back, come back, it's not that boring I swear! I was originally going to use this lovely Aran sweater knit fabric from Miss Matatabi  (the fabric has since sold out unfortunately).

My plan was to make this into a fab snuggly jumper for the cold weather. But then Annie from the Village Haberdashery sent me samples of the Alison Glass Andover Jersey knits and I was torn - so many lovely colours to tempt me! The pattern I'm thinking of is the Capital Chic White Russian sweatshirt which I've made once before here. I fiddled about with that version and amended the pattern so it should be a quick, easy sew. I do think that two different colours (one for the body, one for the sleeves) works really well on this pattern, so that could be the way to go instead of the cable knit. What do you think? Cable knit effect or baseball style? Or one of each?!

I already have a wardrobe full of handmade knits, so this little batch should be enough to see me through the forthcoming Arctic blast!  Have a good week. x