Kwik Sew K3489 - Stuart Hillard Jersey

I loves a wrap dress.

I'm not sure why?

Actually I am. I like skirts and tops and dresses that wrap because you can loosen them off if they get too tight. i.e If you've eaten an entire pizza. 

In fact I went to a wedding yesterday and in a tactical move I wore a wrap circle skirt, which I loosened after the trio of desserts came out!!!! 

This pattern is Kwik Sew k3489 and I got it during the big pattern swap. At the time I thought it was a woven dress pattern but lo and behold it arrived and it was a jersey pattern!

Although I did shorten the sleeves to 3/4 quarter length because I prefer them to full length wrap sleeves on a dress. 

Luckily for me the Craft Cotton Company had sent me some samples of Stuart Hillards "kimono" jersey collection.

I love this print its my favourite in the collection and I know have three items made out of it! This wrap dress, a cardigan and a tshirt dress.

The fabric sewed up beautifully I used my over locker for most of the construction and just used my regular machine for the hems and for putting a button hole in the side to thread the ties through. 

I used white thread and I really like the way it stands out against the navy blue.

Fit wise its jersey so I didn't make any changes I just sort of winged it. I might shorten the skirt by a few inches next time I make it though. 

I ignored the facings that came with the pattern and just hemmed all the edges instead. I hate facings on jersey makes because I just find they flap around and they never sit flat which I find super irritating. 

I also just knotted the end of the ties instead of hemming them properly. T o be honest I wasn't sure I was going to even like the dress when I was halfway through sewing it. So I did sort of rush through some of the finishing. 

As it goes I LOVE the dress. Its a nice level of smart looking without being too much. The length is suitable for most situations and I just find wrap dresses really flattering. Plus as I mentioned before you can always loosen them off if they start to get uncomfortable. Ideally I'd like the make another one but I need to find another jersey that I love.

In other news!!!! 

As I said we had a wedding yesterday! I wore a me made skirt and top and lil man wore a waistcoat I made. 

The wedding was really really lovely and I had a great night dancing with my friends.

I've been making more sewing plans and I can't wait to get cracking. Its just a matter of finding the time! 

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Korbond Scissor Review

As you guys know I love a good pair of scissors! So when Korbond asked me if I'd like to try one of their pairs I jumped at the chance. 

Right so. They cut good.

I've tried them on thick fabrics and thin one and they slice through them every time. I've been using them solidly since February and they still seem as sharp as ever. Which I think is something to do with the serrated blades????

The blades are stainless steel so they are nice and sturdy and they don't seem to be getting loose? 

Does that make sense? You know how sometimes scissors get loose at the screw and them when you pick them up they just sort of flop open? Well it happens to me ALL THE DAMMED TIME with scissors. Probably because I over use them!!!! 

But so far these ones aren't flopping open at all.

 The other thing I really like is that the handles are lined with rubber. 

I find sometimes that if I'm doing a lot of cutting I can get a sore bit around my thumb. Like a blister, but so far these haven't given me blisters and I have been furiously cutting out pieces for baby quilts! Especially seen as pretty much everyone I know is pregnant at the minute!!!! 

Their 9inches long so their not exactly tailors shears but they are long enough for any dressmaking I do and I like that they don't feel too big and clunky in my hand.

So all in all I'd say these are a pretty banging pair of scissors and even better you can get them really easily its a simple as popping to your local Tesco [or you can find them by clicking on the link if you like a little sofa shopping]!!!! Which is very handy for when your partner/parents/child uses them for cutting paper and ruins them and you have to dash out for a new pair!!!  

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Disclaimer - Whilst Korbond gave me these scissors to review for free all thoughts and opinions are my own.  

Jessica Dress by Mimi G

 Lets start off by saying IT HAS POCKETS FOLKS!!!! 

Big pockets. I mean BIG pockets! Big enough for your keys and your phone and all the other excess baggage we carry around day in day out!

Pockets are are big enough to smuggle kittens [no kittens were harmed in the making of this blog post!]

Next lets say this pattern was FREEEEEEE!!! Yes free as in no money left my hands in order to get this pattern.

The dress is by Mimi G style and she offered it as a free download on her website. I however missed the boat and didn't even realise she'd released it until I saw all of the beautiful versions popping up on my Instagram feed. 

Anyway I thought it would be the perfect summer dress for me [and I've worn it loads in winter too] so I sent her a message saying how gutted I was to miss the free download and she only went and emailed me a copy didn't she. Mimi G is a legend and a lovely lady!

Okay so the pattern, The bodice is princess seamed with a gathered skirt and wide straps. You can make the straps skinnier but I personally like a wide strap because its more likely to hid my bra. But the two real statements are the button front and the large pockets. 

Adjustments wise I didn't make many, just thickening the straps and taking about 6 inches off the length. 

I trusted the measurements because Mimi G is the master of ease and fit. However it does use a 3/8 seam allowance which I didn't realise until I'd sewn the bodice and the lining at the standard seam allowance so guess who had a lot of unpicking to do!!!! 

I'm pretty sure the pattern calls for a facing but I chose to line both my bodice and the pockets in a slightly paler coloured cotton.

The main body of the dress is made from linen which i got from abakhans fabric fill a bag sale. I was a bit unsure about the colour as Its what I called battle ship blue/grey. But I actually really love it on this dress. 

The buttons are from my stash. I have an inkling that I took them off an old item of clothing but I'm not sure what?

Its pretty much my ideal summer dress. And winter dress to be honest. I wore it a lot when it was cold with tshirts underneath, thick black tights and boots. So its a pretty versatile. 

I did make a version in Christmas fabric from the craft cotton company. However I didn't get chance to wear it at Christmas as I'd lost too much weight and it was hanging off me, so I've popped it in the wardrobe ready for next Christmas. 

I'm planning a few more versions of this dress. Mainly because its so easy to wear and because I do love a dress with pockets. Although I am wondering if I should make the next version a bit shorter? But I do like the length because its easy to wear without tights and there is no fear of flashing my pants.  

So all in all I LOVE this dress. 

In other news!!! 

I made a pair of pjs and a skirt in some awesome marvel fabric [the skirt is currently on my instagram]

And Lil Man has CHICKEN POX! Yeah I took him for his bath on Wednesday and well SPOTS everywhere!!!!! Luckily hes taking it really well, hes chirpy enough just a bit tired and he knows not to scratch his spots! 

And I have new tyres for my car!!! Which was a complete pain in the ass!!!! The garages facebook page took me 30 minutes away and I couldn't find it so I rang them and lo and behold the garage is about 3 minutes from my house. But anyway I managed it and I got their in the end! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxxx

Basic White Shirt - Prima Pattern

I love sewing shirts!!!!!! I dunno what it is but I love it! All the top stitching , making a collar its one of my favourite things to make. Although I was struggling to find the perfect pattern until now!!! 

This pattern is from Prima Magazine of all places. I know its not a go to pattern place for most people but in my experience the patterns are always well drafted with clear instructions. Yeah you have to trace them but lets face it, you have to do some sort of tracing on most patterns now days!

The fabric is from the abakhans fill a bag sale. Its a beautiful white cotton with an embroidered pattern. I dread to think how much it would have cost off the roll or as a remnant but I got it in a bag with other fabrics for £10 so it was a bargain!

The instructions were simple to follow but I changed the sleeve plackets because I wasn't happy with how they turned out. They don't look brilliant but I mainly wear it with the sleeves rolled up so its not a huge issue. 

The buttons down the front are from my mums old white trouser suit and make me smile every time I see them. They are little hexagons with a mother of pearl type look. 

I used the button gauge my mum and dad got me for my birthday and I would highly recommend getting one if you ever do button holes. It makes getting them evenly spaced much easier.

The shirt went together really easily even the collar and collar stand. Even the buttons holes went in first time! 

The yoke is lined so you have to use the burrito method to turn it through. Which did make me scratch my head for a second but I got there in the end. 

I missed off the collar buttonhole and the top button hole because I never do them up anyway so whats the point? Plus I didn't have enough buttons....

Next time I make it I might lengthen the pattern a bit. Its not awful now I just think I'd feel better with a few more inches of length.

The only other thing I can say is I didn't have any white interfacing so I used some white cotton instead and its holding up well.

All in all I really love this shirt and I'm chuffed with how it turned out. 

In fact this shirt had its first outing a few months ago when I went bowling with my mates and the Ultra violet light made the stitching on it show up and look really cool. 

oooh I nearly forgot to say the breast pockets are actually pretty useful! The fabric is quite sheer so the breast pockets [which are lined] mean I can wear it with just a bra rather than a bra and a vest top! WINNER! 

As it goes I actually used this pattern to make another version of this shirt almost straight after and I love that one too! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Vogue 8974 in Blue Brocade

 Right let me start of by saying that the bodice on this dress doesn't look brilliant because I forgot to take a bra to my mums so had to sort of go without.......

I've also lost a bit of weight since I made it so it doesn't fit quite as nicely as when I first made it.

Here's me wearing it when I first made it but you can't see much because I have a jacket on. I did think you might appreciate my concentration face though........ It took me ages to get that plate spinning though. 

I made this ages ago for a christening. In reality I have about forty million dresses that would have done but I wanted something new and I had the time and the fabric so........

I have made this dress previously in a red waffle fabric and I love it!

The blue brocade fabric is from the abakhans fill a bag sale. I'm not 100% if its from the first one I went to or the second one?????? I could look at my youtube haul video but what can I say I'm lazy!!!!

Fit wise I had to make a few alterations! This pattern is a bit of a brute as far as fitting goes. Mainly because of the bodice darts and the cross over straps. Plus the fact that you have to be wearing the PERFECT bra to make it look nice. 

Changes wise:

 I had to shorten the straps by about 3 inches.

I swapped out the side zip for a back zip because I hate side zips! 

I cut a size 12 but had to take the side seams in by about 2cm on each side.

And I added a circle skirt because I prefer the look of a full circle skirt compared to a half circle skirt. 

I also added pockets because well POCKETS!!! Got to have somewhere to keep the essentials! 

The neckline is faced but I think next time I'd be tempted to put in a lining instead. I did encase the waist seam in bias binding just to make it tidier and give it a bit of stability. However, because I wore the dress belted I found that the area around the zip started rubbing my skin after a while.

The only issue with this dress is you can't finish it right away. I had to leave the skirt to hang for 2 days before I could hem the dammed thing and even after that hemming a circle skirt is no joke. It just goes on and on and on and on. 

But all in all I really love the dress and I can't wait until it fits properly again!

In other news!!!! 

I've been busy at work and spending time with lil man.

I sewn up a baby quilt top!

I've sewn myself a new skirt!

I've cut out another baby quilt and started knitting some booties! 

I feel like I'm really getting into the swing of things recently and I've got a lot of exciting things coming up!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx