Bronte Top

Long ago (about 15 years), I found my perfect plain white T-shirt in the bargain bin of a posh London shop. It was, without doubt, my favourite and most flattering white T shirt ever. It was made from a pretty thin jersey though, so barely lasted more than two summers. The thing that made it different to other T-shirts was its neckline. It had an overlapping section on either side of the neck, that joined to the shoulder seams. I've since discovered that this shrug style detail is seen a lot in 1940's fashions. And babies vests of course!

Imagine my delight when Jennifer Lauren released her second pattern - the Bronte Top - featuring this very shoulder detail. Jen kindly sent me the PDF pattern to try, and my first thought was to recreate my favourite T shirt. Once I'd cut it out, it only took a couple of hours of very leisurely sewing to complete. I followed the instruction diagrams exactly and the shoulder details slotted into place first time, it really was easy to sew. I sewed about 90% of it on my overlocker and finished all the bound edges and hems with a double needle. The pattern is multi-sized from 6 to 20 - I cut a size 12 at the bust, grading to a size 10 at the waist and hips. Looking at these photos I could probably have done with a bit more room across the bust, but it doesn't bother me. I personally like my T shirts to be quite tight fitting, so I'll be wearing the hell out of it.

For fabric, I used a white jersey knit from UK Fabrics Online, which is described as heavyweight, but is actually quite a light weight for a summer T-shirt. At £3.99 a metre, the quality is quite basic, so my plan was to use it for a test garment to check the fit. Once I'd finished the top and tried it on however it looked fab, a tiny bit transparent maybe, but nothing a good T-shirt bra can't handle! For a more robust jersey, take a look at the Interlock knits from The Village Haberdashery. They're reasonably thick, so probably not high summer weight, but ideal for any other time of year.

Admittedly I've made the plainest possible version of this pattern (sorry about that!) but it would also look lovely in a bright solid or patterned knit.  You can add interest by using a contrast binding (see Zoe's gorgeous version here) or sew buttons on the shoulders. And there's a long sleeved option - yippee! I can really see this pattern becoming a wardrobe basic - I need a plain cream one … and a navy one …and maybe another white one…In short I love this top, it's easy to sew and looks ace - I plan to make hundreds of them. That's all! If you like the look of it too, the pattern is available to buy here.

Have a good day! x

The Bronte pattern was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.

Little (almost) black party dress

It's party time!! Which is all the excuse I need to make a new dress. This year, I wanted to make my own version of a little black dress (or in my case, a little navy dress as black doesn't really suit me). Something classic and elegant, with sleeves and a bow on the front. I've been swooning over these two dresses on Pinterest for weeks, so I decided to see if I could combine the two similar styles into one dress.

Fitted navy party dress

Red party dress with bow

For fabric, I chose a beautiful stretch cotton sateen, which was kindly gifted to me by The Fabric Godmother. The slight stretch makes it super flattering (important if you plan to stuff your face with pies as I do this Christmas) and it has that subtle touch of shininess essential for party wear.

As I only had a week or so to make the dress, I thought it safer to go with a pattern that already fitted me well - the Colette Patterns Peony. When I initially made this dress here, I made a lot of changes to the back bodice, getting the fit pretty much spot on on my second version. My measurements are still the same, so I thought it would be a simple case of sewing the amended pattern up for a perfect fit. Wrong! What I failed to take into account was the stretchiness of the fabric. It actually has a lot more stretch than I realised, and when I sewed the dress up it was just way too big. I had to take the bodice side seams in by an inch each side, which sorted out the front, but still left the back flapping about. In a bit of an unorthodox move, I joined the back neck darts and the back waist darts together to make two giant darts/tucks down each side of the bodice.

Neck darts and waist darts joined together 

It sounds horrific but as you can see from the photo above, it looks absolutely fine - they actually look like princess seams and help give the back bodice a nice fitted look.

Other changes I made were to completely re-draft the neckline to become a round neck as the original bateau neckline was just too uncomfortable for me. I used the neckline from the Sewaholic Alma pattern as a guideline and then drew new facings to match the revised shape.  I also chopped six inches off the long sleeves and made them tighter as they looked far too baggy and shapeless for such a fitted bodice.  So quite a few last minute changes, but worth it in the end as I love the fit now.

To incorporate the bow detail, I decided to make a removable Tilly-style bow belt rather than just add one to the front. Tilly's tutorial is simple to follow and I'm really pleased with the resulting belt. It does involve the sewing on of two sets of hooks and eyes though, and you all know how I feel about those little buggers. My solution? I simply sewed on a set of bra fastenings, so much less fiddly and as they already come with different size options, you can still adjust to fit!

That's it for now, I'm all set to party. So if you'll excuse me, I have a date with an ambassador and a towering pyramid of chocolates…! x

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

Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby....

When Eliza M contacted me recently asking if I wanted to try out one of her vintage inspired patterns, I was intrigued.  As the name suggests, the patterns all take their influences from vintage designs and, like vintage patterns, you choose them according to your size rather than having one multi-sized pattern. Ooh, yes please! There were a lot of gorgeous patterns to choose from, but I was looking for something a little bit different (for me) that was also dressy. 

The Ruby wiggle dress seemed to fit the bill on both counts. For fabric, I used a navy polka dot stretch cotton from The Fabric Godmother. A fabric with a bit of stretch is recommended for the Ruby dress, so this was perfect. It also comes in black and, wait for it, red, hmmm.  Yet again, the quality of the fabric was excellent and it behaved itself perfectly during the whole process.

To give an indication of size, I went with a size 12 and the fit was fine, no adjustments needed, apart from the length - the Ruby dress is below the knee which is authentically fifties but too long for me. The design of the dress is very clever. To give shape, it has quite large contour darts at the front and back and a waist dart. 

Waist dart, coming in from the left

The waist dart looks just like a bust dart but it's at waist level. It nips you in, and the top of the contour dart gives some shape to the bust. I've never seen this kind of dart before and I must admit, I quite like it. 

Because the stretch cotton tends to cling and I was in no mood for facings, I decided to add a full lining.  Adding a lining gives a much neater finish and you get an extra slinky layer. There are no instructions for adding a lining in the Ruby pattern, so I used the instructions for lining the Truffle dress in the Colette Sewing Handbook instead. 

Talking of pattern instructions, they were a bit sketchy for my liking. But that's probably because I've come to rely on the comprehensive instructions that a lot of pattern companies tend to supply these days. The pattern is classed as suitable for a beginner, but I think if you've had very little sewing experience then some of the instructions may be a bit brief. The cut and sizing were spot on though and it came together very quickly.

So, what did I think of the Ruby dress once it was sewn? Well, first of all, I need to reveal a shocking confession. Remember my wiggle shirt dress that I made for the Mad Men Challenge back in March? I'm afraid it's never been worn. I know, what a waste! I loved making it too, but it was just too tight and clingy for everyday life and too officey for wearing in the evening. As that's the only other wiggle dress I've made, my practical experience of wearing them is zero. Let me tell you, the Ruby dress is a proper wiggle dress, it's so tight, you can't help but feel like Jessica Rabbit in it (this is where the stretch fabric really comes into its own) and you really can't walk in the normal fashion, you have to wiggle!!

Trying to wiggle....

...and from the back....

It's a classic, simple design, so I think it will stand a better chance of being worn than my poor old Mad Men dress. Plus, the fabric is lovely, the lining makes it easy to wear AND it's got polka dots. It looks great with a tiny little cardigan...

... and I've even taken the precaution of testing it with my favourite red wedges to see if it's suitable for summer wear. It passed the test, but couldn't be modelled for you today as I wanted to spare you the sight of my English winter-blue legs.  Thank you Eliza M, I think we've got a winner here!

Right, that's it for now. I'm almost erupting with excitement at the thought of the Strictly Come Dancing semi final tonight!! Anybody else watching it? Go Louis and Flavia!! x

The Ruby pattern was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.