My PDF Shame

This week was the week I checked my long neglected PDF pattern folder. Stay with me please, it's not quite that boring! Now I'll almost always opt for a printed pattern over a PDF version (unless there's no choice of course), so I wasn't expecting to find much. Imagine my surprise when I discovered 25 patterns in there, 25! But the worst thing was that around half of them were completely unused - just purchased in a frenzy and forgotten about forever. I felt especially bad as there are some absolute gems amongst them:

Summer Blouse - Maison Fleur

Anderson Blouse - Sew Over It

Edith Blouse and Dress - Maria Denmark

Maritime Shorts - Grainline

I could go on….

With a paper pattern you have a physical reminder of your purchase, but this doesn't happen with PDFs. And because of the additional time needed to print out and tape them together, it's easy to sweep PDFs aside in favour of a quicker fix. Maybe I need to start printing out the instructions and putting them in envelopes so they're more visible? 

This then got me thinking about what other patterns might be lurking in the shadows in different forms. One area I tend to totally overlook is sewing books. Again, it's a mental block with me - if they're not in a pattern envelope I'm blind to them. This is mad because I've had some real successes with sewing book patterns (see below), and really should make an effort to use them more frequently. 

Anita Tie Top from Sew Over It Vintage

Lace Pencil Skirt from Fashion with Fabric

Whilst we're on the subject, I also have an entire cupboard of sewing magazines with free patterns, maybe I should start perusing those too?! 

Does anybody else completely forget about the PDF patterns they own? Or is it just me?! Perhaps it's time for some kind of pattern inventory to keep them front of mind? If there's a particular reference system that's worked for you, I'd love to know. Thank you! 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.

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

More shirt dress inspiration

I appear to be more than a little bit obsessed with shirt dresses of late. No really, way too much of my spare time is spent browsing Pinterest and Etsy for shirt dress inspiration. There's just something about the simplicity of the design that is so satisfying - a shirt and a dress in one easy package - huzzah! Even the multitude of buttons and buttonholes doesn't put me off - in fact it fuels my enthusiasm and gives me an excuse to go button hunting.  I had a lot of fun trawling through (mostly vintage) shirt dress patterns last year. This year I've been bewitched by even more patterns, all modern ones, which is quite interesting. I seem to discover a new one every day, each one more wonderful than the last. 

A denim shirt dress is quite near the top of my autumn/winter sewing list. I've got all kinds of pictures in my head of a denim shirt dress, coloured tights and knee boots. So in an effort to try and make up my mind, as well as an excuse to sigh over them all again, I thought I'd do a round up for you:

The full skirted Hawthorn shirt dress is the latest release from Colette Patterns and there have been some gorgeous versions doing the rounds. My favourites being Marie's Neolithic version 

and The Amazing Taracat's Lady Swimmers version. 

Just look at those lady swimmers creating a chevron effect!

The only question mark hanging over this pattern for me is the collar, which is why I haven't bought the pattern yet. It just seems so small and mean and a bit lost. If I made it. I'd be very tempted to increase the collar size and allow it to shine a bit more.

Next up is the Sally Dress by Serendipity Studio - this is a pattern I own but haven't yet made. 

The dress is given shaping by a series of pleats around the waist area which you can see in more detail in the left hand picture above. I actually have a shop bought shirt dress with this feature and it's surprisingly flattering. My RTW dress is made from a stretch cotton and I think this would be a good choice for this pattern. Hmm, maybe stretch denim? 

Another new pattern that caught my eye was the Edith pattern by Maria Denmark. 

I first saw the shirt version on Dotty Doodle's blog and was immediately taken by the kimono sleeves. After investigating further, I discovered the pattern was also for a shirt dress. Sold. I might just copy Maria Denmark's example and make a denim version with red buttons. Yes! 

I've also got the Deer and Doe Bleuet pattern which I won in a giveaway on Paunnet's blog. I naively thought my O Level French would see me through the instructions, which on my copy are only in French, but sadly this wasn't the case. An English language version is now available but I can't justify buying another copy. Maybe I just need to sit down with a stiff drink and Google Translate at the ready and plough through the instructions? 

Paunnet has made a beautiful version of the dress, but she does point out that it was time consuming to make as it's an advanced level pattern, so maybe I need to think about it. I do love all the details though, especially the darling little bow on the back!

Finally, my absolute favourite shirt dress of recent times and probably my favourite dress of the summer has to be this one made by Clare from Sew Dixie Lou. 

The pattern is McCalls 6696 and it can be made up in all kinds of different combinations.  She made the sleeveless version with a pleated skirt and I have to say, when I saw the photos on her blog I nearly passed out! Absolutely GORGEOUS! AND she gets to be in a pic with the king. Not fair! 

So that's my list. They're all contenders, any favourites amongst them? Or other shirt dress patterns I need to know about?  Happy Thursday. x

Raglan Sleeved Knit Dress

Top of my sewing plans for 2013 was to sew more knit dresses to wear during the colder months here in the UK. The reason was partly to keep my Peony-esque dress company and partly to prevent it from falling apart from overuse. I have two Maria Denmark knit dress patterns that were perfect candidates, and as I'd never used her patterns before, I went with the more simple of the two - the 2007 Kjole raglan sleeved dress.  

Onion is the name of the company but I'm not sure what a Snitmonster is, any ideas? 

I made the basic, long-armed version, without the bias panel at the bottom and it was pretty simple to put together: front piece, back piece, sleeves, neck binding. It was my first time sewing raglan sleeves but they were easy once I'd figured out how they fitted to the front and back pieces.The actual dress could hardly have taken more than half an hour to sew up. Add another half hour for adding the neckline binding and hemming and you have a dress in an hour. Hoorah, exactly what I was after.

You can see the raglan sleeves and bust darts in this photo

I used a £3.50 a metre turquoise sweater knit fabric from the Goldhawk Road that actually looks like it's knitted. I got carried away and bought 3m but barely used half of it to make this dress. I'm quite tempted to make a knit top with the rest and pretend I knitted it… The fabric is almost certainly a polyester blend (I've heard some suspicious crackling going on) so I'm not expecting it to keep its shape and look good for years, but if it lasts this year I'll be happy as I intend to get some serious wear out of it.   

I made a size 40, which is a size larger than I'd choose in a woven fabric, but I was worried about unsightly bulges showing through as the dress is a straight up and down style. It was a bit too big though, and not very flattering. After mulling the problem over for a whole minute, I simply sliced off about 1cm from each side and arm seam. The difference was dramatic, the dress was now fitted and about a trillion times more flattering. The moral of the story: sew the size that corresponds with your measurements instead of trying to be clever.

If you're looking for a simple pattern that's specifically drafted for knit fabrics, then this may well be it. The pattern that arrived in the post is in Danish, but an English translation of the instructions was emailed to me as soon as I'd purchased the pattern.  And the finished dress is SSSOOO cosy, it makes me want to make a cushion nest on the sofa and eat crumpets. Which is exactly what I'm going to do. Happy Wednesday everybody. x

Knit dress plans

Yesterday saw the last of my xmas craft fairs. Despite the torrential rain and gale force winds affecting the UK at the moment, lots of people made the effort to attend and I sold TONS. Well, not quite, but I did make a sizeable dent in my tooth fairy cushion mountain and more than enough to alleviate the guilt of buying this Kate Spade bag….

I know it's hideously expensive but I don't buy clothes anymore, and this bag couldn't be more perfectly me if it had JANE scrawled across it. Anyway, mad bag purchases aside, the pressure is definitely off and I'm looking forward to getting back to dressmaking.

Having worn my Peonyesque knit dress an embarrassing number of times, I really have to make something similar. I received some great suggestions after asking for advice on knit patterns, but it was reader midsummermellie who directed me to Maria Denmark's fab range, thanks Mellie! They were exactly what I was after and I ordered two patterns straight away. I've heard good things about Maria Denmark patterns from Sew Busy Lizzy who has an interview with the designer here, and from the queen of knits herself, Scruffy Badger, so I'm optimistic to say the least! The patterns arrived this week and I'm pretty excited to start work on them.  

First up is a raglan sleeved dress which I'll be making without the flare at the hem (it's not quite me is it?) I'd like to make this in a patterned knit fabric as it's so simple. What pattern to choose though…stripes? polka dots? florals? animals?!! It's quite a plain shift style so my fabric will have to be reasonably thick to ensure every lump and bump isn't displayed. Oh I can't decide, I can feel another trip to the Goldhawk Road coming on...

The second pattern can also be made as a tunic top and has a few more interesting details than the first, which makes me think a solid colour would be a better choice.  I really like the gathered shoulders and the cuffs, which are crying out to be made in a contrast fabric. I think I'll make this one in a double knit as it's so cosy. Again, I'm procrastinating over colour. My immediate instinct is to make a navy dress with cream cuffs. But I see that Calico Laine now stocks Royal Blue in their double knit section. Hhmm. What do you think? Do I go for a burst of colour for once, or play safe with the classics?  Any suggestions/opinions re colours, prints or knit fabric featuring animals will be gratefully received. Keep warm and dry. x