A Very Lippy Tshirt - New Look K6217

I do have a bit of a reputation in my family as being very loud!!! 

What can I say I grew up in a very very LOUD family!!!!! 

In fact we had a family day this weekend and I had forgotten how much noise we can all make when we are all together!!! That said it was lovely seeing everyone and having a good old catchup!

So onto my make! This has actually been made for months! I've got quite the collection of makes still waiting to be blogged about and an even bigger pile of ones that need to be photographed!!! 

So I got this fabric at the Abakhans fill a bag sale [The first one I went to] and I mainly picked it up because of the print of lips. 

I was hoping there might be enough for a dress but their wasn't so I've had to settle for a top.

This New look K6217 top pattern has become quite a firm favourite with me for smaller pieces of fabric. I don't actually wear them very often but its nice to have a few me made tshirts on hand to pair with skirts and trousers. In fact I'm wearing a spotty one right now with a me made pencil skirt. [Fun fact: I should have added a back vent to the pencil skirt because I'm really struggling to walk anywhere quickly in it! In fact the steps to school were a bit difficult today!!!]

Theres not really a lot I can say about fit because its meant to be quite loose and baggy but I do find it looks better tucked in. The only alteration I might make to the pattern is to lengthen it slightly so its easier to tuck in. 

Construction wise I sewed the side seams and shoulder seams on my over locker and did the back seam and hems on my regular machine so the opening at the back would sit nicely. 

For the hems I went round the edges with my over locker and then folded them over twice. This is a technique I use for all of my hems on floaty fabrics because the overlocked edge give you something stable to turn over and keeps your hem a uniform width.  

In other news!!!! 

I've finally joined the rest of the crowd and watched the crown, which I really enjoyed and now I'm dreaming of tweeds and cardigans for the winter months. 

I've done no more knitting on my miette cardigan and in fact I'm quite tempted to rip the whole thing back and use the wool on something else as I'm not quite loving how its turning out. 

I've done no more on my crochet blanket or my hexy blanket either!!! 

What I have been doing its lots of sewing projects that take time and attention and I'm really enjoying my new bout of slow sewing! Although at the rate I'm going blogging and photographing projects you probably won't see them for another six months!!!! 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

The Origami Dress - New Look K8144 - In linen

I made this ages ago. and by ages I mean I took these pictures on my old camera before my hair was pink. 

so yeah they are old. 

The pattern is K8144 by new look. Its one of those patterns where the cover art is just baffling. 

I dunno maybe its just me but I think the dress is really really bright! 

It originally came free with a copy of sew magazine but I got my copy from my mums friend sue. 

After looking at the pattern drawings I realised that I really like the front pleated section and thought it might be nice to make it up in some of this blue linen I had lying around. 

As it goes I didn't have quite enough of the blue linen so I had to use some left of black for the belt, shoulder sections and the facings. 

I didn't like the belt that came with the pattern so I add some waist ties into the side seams. I made them quite long to create a sort of obi effect. I think it worked really nicely and I much prefer my belt to the one on the pattern.

Fit wise the top half okay but it is a bit tight on the hips. Annoyingly is not so tight that I'll rip open the side seams for more wiggle room. Instead its just tight enough that if I cut out the donuts then it will probably fit better..... I don't want to cut out the donuts though so *shrugs* . [actually thinking about it I made this dress before we even had Polly so at least four months ago and I have been going on a walk twice a day since getting her so I may have slimmed my hips down a bit! I'll have to try it one.] 

The origami bit at the front is created by cutting and folding the fabric. Which took me quite a while to get my head around and made me a bit tense. Well its not very often you cut directly into the front of your dress is it.

Because of the folded detail the entire front is cut flat instead of on the fold. This did mean I had to do a bit of pattern jigsawing to get everything to fit.  

Note to self - linen likes to wrinkle. Which I did know but sweet Jesus it really does like to wrinkle up doesn't it! I have a black dress in linen that I absolutely love but if I'm going somewhere in the car I have to hitch my skirts right up to keep them as flat as possible so I don't look messy when I get to where ever I'm going. [she says like she goes anywhere more interesting than mcdonalds and Lil mans school]

On this picture you can see how tight it is across the hips. I'm hoping this was just because I was full of Easter chocolate. I really really don't want to have to unpick the side seams.  

I like the fact that I can tie it at the front and the back but I think I prefer it with the ties at the front because they shield any muffin top issues I may be having. 

To add them in I just cut four long rectangles, sewed them into tube and then inserted them into the side seams.

I actually don't hate this picture of my bum to be honest. 

So I guess I'm off to try this on to see if I need to let out the side seams and amend my pattern pieces or if I just need to get some spanx! 

Much Love Frankie 

x

NewLook 6390 - simplicity summer challenge

This year is Simplicity's 90th anniversary! Can you imagine 90 years of producing patterns for people to sew?! And to celebrate they are hosting the simplicity turns 90 summer sewing challenge! 

Basically you had a choice of 5 categories each with its own pattern and simplicity sent it to you for free! I opted for the dressmaker category and the pattern was Newlook 6390.  Its a fairy simple princess seamed dress with a half circle skirt. 

Now the rules say you can do a certain level of 'sprucing' to your pattern! I decided to add a full front button placket so it wold close with buttons rather than a zip at the back. The process was pretty simple , instead of cutting the front bodice, waistband and the skirt on the fold I cut them out in two pieces and then I made and interfaced a button placket. 

And jobs a good'n! I didn't do any complicated maths to figure out seam allowances etc, Instead I just left my back seam open and fitted the dress after the button placket was all made up. [with buttons and button holes!]

 The fit it I took 2inches out of the back centre seam and I'd say the fit is pretty spot on. I also took an inch off the straps because I tend to find that all straps are a bit long on me, I must have small shoulders or something. 

Size wise I measured as a 14 but cut out a 12 because that's typically the size I cut out in simplicity patterns. My measurements are 36, 27, 38 which gives an idea of the sizing. 

The pattern calls for you to use bias binding to finish the neckline and armholes but I wanted a cleaner finish so I lined it from the waistband up. The bottom of the waistband is slip stitched in place.

For the fabric I used a irregular polka dot. The polka dots are white and don't really show up on these pictures. Typically I don't wear dresses this pale but I thought with the buttons at the front it was a nice throwback to Laura Ashley in the 90's. I kind of look like a primary school teacher! Its a very fine cotton lawn that I was given by a lady at the carboot, and it wrinkles like a mother!

The button placket also gives 'ahem' easy access. Which could make it a good hack for breast feeding Mums!

The buttons were recycled from two old vest tops I had. They are quite small and metal which makes them VERY fiddly to do up! I was limited on how many buttons I had so I had to add a few press studs on the inside of the bodice to make sure it doesn't gape. 

The skirt isn't lined so I pinked all of the seams on the inside to give a nice finish!

All in all I think its a pretty cute dress, Its just a shame that I've not had much chance to wear it before winter started setting back in and I;m not sure this is the type of dress I can use in my winter wardrobe.

Much Love

Frankie

x