Dungaree Dress - Free Pattern

It's no secret that dungaree dresses are super popular now in both the sewing world and the fashion world. 

I personally am on the fence about the whole dungarees thing, on the one hand its easy to throw on and wear but on the other hand it kind of makes me feel like an over grown child, plus peeing in trouser dungarees is not the one! But I still wanted to make myself some.

Now as you know I'm a bit of a spendthrift when it comes to sewing! I blame it on being on a pretty tight budget for two years whilst we payed for our wedding. Plus I always think I'd rather spend my money on fabric! 

So whilst there is a very popular dungaree dress pattern out there [Which I've heard very good things about BTW] I didn't want to spend my pennies on it. Especially seen as dungarees are such a simple silhouette that I could probably draft one myself. 

As it goes I didn't have too! Whilst perusing Pinterest I found a link to Pootle and Makes blog and saw she'd made some dungarees from a free pattern by Sew Now Mag! [the templates are available here]  

Naturally as soon as I wanted to print the dammed pattern my printer decided to throw a hissy fit and generally faff around. That thing hates me, yesterday it printed something two hours after I wanted it too......I was sat alone watching American crime story so I think you can imagine how much I jumped when the printer started up!

Because I only printed the templates and didn't have a copy of the magazine, that meant I didn't have the instructions. Which isn't a huge deal because its fairly simple construction wise but it did mean I have to message pootle and make to get her views on how the sizing is. In the end I went for a size 12. The fit is okay but I think I would like a bit more ease in the hip area.

The pattern originally had patch pockets to put on the front of your hips but I didn't like those so I went traditional and drafted this front patch pocket. I also added in a centre and back seam because I wanted the traditional look. Thinking about it I didn't add in any seam allowance for these so that might be why I need more ease in the hips!

I was going to do flat felled seams but I couldn't work out how to do it and get it central and I knew if the seam was off centre it would give me some serious twitchy eye. so In the end I sewed the seam normally and then stitched up either side of the seam line. I'm not sure what this technique is called but I want to say "french stitching"? although I could be wrong. As a bonus this way also secures the seam allowances down.  

I didn't have any dungaree clips so I just used buttons from my stash! [The buttons were also recycled from an old coat]

There is a deep front and back facing that lines the top portion of the dress and leaves a really clean finish. For the facing I use a cotton that I got from a carboot. Its not a print I love so its nice to use it up on a facing.

I did a lot of white top stitching on this to bring out the white flecks in the fabric. Speaking of the fabric I have zero idea what it is, I brought it at a car boot on a whim [I think there is like 3m of it and I paid 50p?] Anyway I though it was a cotton but its a bit harder? Which makes me think its upholstery fabric? The other thing that makes me think its upholstery fabric is that you can't set fire to it, so I think its one of those fire resistant ones.

But I think it looks a bit like denim and as a bonus if i do end up on fire it'll go out very quickly. Every cloud eh?

All in all I do like it and I think its a great pattern especially seen as its free!!!! 

And I'm hoping that it will transition from winter to summer just by changing what top I wear under it. 

Speaking of summer I CANNOT wait to wear all of my summer dresses again!! I'm buzzing! Although it does make me wonder if I should start packing up half of my wardrobe and changing it over? 

Does anyone else change over their wardrobe? How do you like it and where do you store the out of season clothes?

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx 

Denim Shift Dress - butterick 3596

If I had to describe this make in one word it would be "Utilitarian". Which typically isn't my style, in fact at this moment in time I'm not 100% what my style is? I tend to change every day? Sometimes its punk, sometimes goth sometimes 1950's housewife. But apparently when I made this I was feeling utilitarian.

So I started with this butterick 3596 pattern that I got from a vintage far I went to with my mum and dad. My mum brought it for me for the princely sum of 50p. its a bust size 36inch which is my bust size! [Just realised that putting my bust measurement on the Internet might not be the smartest thing I've ever done as it may attract some weirdos to my blog..... Hey guys we talk about sewing here, your going to be disappointed] 

I like the pattern and I love the ladies on the front they just seem to ooze class! The pieces were already cut out [this is typical of vintage patterns as they only came in one size.] So one day when Rikki was suffering from a nasty migraine and Lil man was quite happily playing I decided to quickly cut it out ready to sew in the evening.  

I cut it out of some denim I had left over from making this skirt, its from the craft cotton company and is by far one of the best denims I have ever worked with. It washes beautifully and the colour doesn't run at all! 

I went for both the collar and sleeve version! How awesome is that collar? and how bloody twee! In fact the sheer tweeness of the collar is the reason I left the hem and sleeves un-hemmed, hopefully the raw edges will take one of the tweeness away and give it a more cool vibe? Lucky the denim doesn't fray much especially seen as I added a line of stitching around the hems so it couldn't fray past that part. 

The main dress is just two pattern pieces a front and a back. The front has bust darts and both the front and the back have 'french?' darts? basically they are really long darts that go from under bust to hip.

The collar is made up of two pieces the front and the back and sets in really well, the raw edges are all hidden away by a neck facing. 

I added back pockets to make it a bit more interesting [sorry you can;t really see them on this picture but feel free to zoom in on my bum]. 

And I used a big chunky metal zip to finish it off. I LOVE using metal zips they are by far the most reliable! Plus ya know shiny and stuff! 

Fit wise I feel like the whole dress is a bit off? I like the fit on the bust but I think the side seams may need to be taken in around the waist a bit? [thoughts please?] And I kind of the think the proportion of the sleeve is a bit off? I'm wondering if a inch or two off the sleeve might look a bit nicer and younger? 

I might try those alterations and see how it looks? I'm also toying with the idea of taking off the collar? Some people can really put off the peter pan collar look but I think being a bit more busty it just looks a bit silly? and maybe I might like the dress better without it? 

All in all I think this pattern has potential? I have some drapey viscose so I might make a collarless version and try it belted? I can't belt this version because the denim is too stiff. 

I did really enjoy working with a vintage pattern though!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Denim Prima Wrap Skirt

Hey guys! I'm gonna start by saying I put makeup on just so I could take these pictures........ Thats how dedicated I am. 

Anyhoos this is one of my make nine projects for this year! I was sent this prima pattern by my lovely pen friend Jeanette [you can find her on instagram as pin_n_tonic but be warned she binds a lot of the inside seams of her clothes and it will make you feel like an underachiever!] 

Anyway nobody really blogs about Prima patterns which I thinks a huge shame, yes they build loads of ease in and sometimes you have to trace the patterns off but they have some really great simple styles like this awesome wrap skirt. [Plus chances are your Nan/Mum's got a subscription anyway so you can just snaffle the patterns from her!] 

Right so naturally being me I went completely off piste and threw the instructions out the window! For starters I added 4 inches to the shortest skirt length, BUT because I decided I wanted to use the raw hem this ended up being far to long and I think I hacked at least three inches off so that was pretty pointless!

Next I omitted the back zip purely so I could just have a button front. Now I finished my button holes by hand which is a new thing I'm loving because it gives a really awesome finish! but because of spacing there are also two press studs holding the under skirt in place.

The buttons are recycled from an old coat I had before I had Lil man! Funnily enough as soon as I was pregnant with him a lady a hospital told me what a lovely MATERNITY coat it was and I never wore it again because I was convinced it was the coat making me look pregnant and not you know the baby I was growing! Hormones eh? 

I also top stitched all of my seam allowances down to give it a flat felled sort of feel. I was going to do flat felled seams but I had to do some major taking in on the side seams and back seam so this way seemed easier.

I also skipped the facings and just used bias binding to finish it. I think I;d rather have a bias bond finish than a facing because there's less flapping around. And its already hard enough to keep the under and over skirt at the front from getting rucked up on each other. 

That said I do love the wrap front, and I love it in this denim because it has such a contemporary feel to it. Rikki even said this make is "quite nice" which is high praise indeed! The skirt is pretty simple and only has three pattern pieces [Realistically you could create something similar using a standard skirt pattern] this has 3 pattern pieces the back [which you cut two of] the under front [which you cut on the fold] and the overlap which you cut in a single layer. The overlap is also shaped so that it hangs slightly lower and is angled.

The denim was sent to me for free by the craft cotton company to have a play around with.  and its a really nice sort of lighter weight denim. And the best part is it washed so much better than the last lot of denim I had! 

I have been distressing it slightly though using a cheese grater and by leaving all of the edges raw. I just like the grungy feel it gives. Although I am now picturing a nice version in a classy fabric for going out and stuff [ I say and stuff because I genuinely can't remember the last time I went anyway classier than a wacky warehouse or a McDonalds to eat] 

All in all I LOVE it , even if I do keep finding stray denim threads hanging off things! And its really nice to make separates that will go with everything in my wardrobe!

In other news I feel like I should kind of address how my blog has changed over the years. Basically when I started blogging it was because I was a lonely stay at home mum who felt like she'd lost her entire identity because a baby had popped out. That was roughly four years ago and now I'm a stay at home mum/blogger who loves writing about sewing and spending time with her kid which leads me to my next point. You may have noticed I've been doing a lot more reviews and basically getting free stuff than I did in the beginning. 

I just wanted to be straight with you and say yes I do get gifted items and yes sometimes they do ask me to post about them and add links to their sites. But I am always honest because I respect you guys far to much to lie just so I can have something. I also always disclose where things have come from.

I do it because 1. Momma didn't raise no fool and 2. because If I wasn't gifted things I wouldn't be able to review some of the great things that are in the sewing world. Realistically we are a young family and my sewing budget is basically whatever money I might get given for Christmas and birthdays! So I wouldn't be able to afford them.

But please rest assured that it will always be me blogging here and you will always get to here about sewing, general mumming, knitting and whatever other random stories!

I hope that's okay!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Disclaimer - this fabric was a gift from the craft cotton company but all denim wrap skirt love is my own! 

    

1950's style Cotton and Chalk Denim Trousers/Dungaree Mashup

That's quite the beast of a title isn't it? But it does exactly what it says on the tin! 

So in a nutshell! [a rather large nutshell] This is my interpretation of the Sunday set dungaree trousers, by cotton and chalk. Now I've already made the dress from this [you can see it here] But after I really wanted to give the trouser option ago! 

So the pattern, I did make a few changes, for starters the pattern calls for gathers at the front and back but I just couldn't get on board with that because they might make my hips look poofy. And I am not about poofy hips. So I changed the gathers to a simple pleat on either side which I think is a lot more flattering and less bulky. 

Secondly the pattern calls for a centre back zip and whilst I'm not opposed to a centre back zip in trousers It felt kind of wrong to do it in a pair of denim dungarees so I did a complete hack! Basically I decided instead of trying to do a fly front because OMG I am not ready for that level of stress again.[And would it look weird with the bib?]  I went for two side tab closures, with buttons and button holes I thought they might give a nice vintage sort of feel which is what I was going for.

anyway here's a brief [and pretty terrible description of how I calculated the front and back waistband. 

- Measure Waist

-Mine was 28inches, so divide that by 2

28 ÷ 2 =14

- add seam allowance and ease [roughly 1.5inch]

 14+1.5=15.5 

-15.5 inches = front waistband

-back waistband 

-half of waist measurement [14] + seam allowance and ease [1.5] + 4inch for overlap

14+1.5+4=19.5inches=back waistband

I also added a small zip [recycled from 2x old pairs of jeans into the side seams of the trousers, this has two uses, 1. it looks bad-ass and 2. it means you can get in and out of them with having a split in the side seam and potentially showing your pants! Or some squishy fleshy bits. 

And as you may have gathered from the picture above I made another pretty big change! I made the bib detachable again. Just because it gives the item a lot more styling freedom! I did it the same way as I did my delphine mashup.  

All the buttons are from my stash but the ones on the side tabs and the ones on the bib don't match. I don't think its a huge issue though?

I also did all my top stitching in a golden coloured thread which means they look a bit like ready to wear! I was going to do flat felled seams down the sides but I couldn't work out how to do them and incorporate the zips so I just top stitched up the edge of each seam. 

I love the mock jeans feel that these have and the slightly 50's vibe, definitely feel like I should be digging for victory and stuff! I even like the turn ups at the bottom! Wanna know a secret these are not even hemmed, not even stitched I literally just folded them over! How lazy am I! [giggles]

Here's what they look like without the bib, Its a shame you can;t see more of the detail but this denim was such a monkey to photograph! 

The fabric incidentally was a wedding gift from my mum and dad! And I have a sneaking suspicion it came from abakhans! 

This is me doing my best Rosie the riveter impression....... Anyway I adore this make, I don't think I'd make it again but if I did I think I would make a few more improvements:

1. place button holes further on the ends of tabs [they flap around a bit, I'm wondering if a press stud at the end may help?]

2. Use thicker interfacing!

3. I really wanted the add side seam pockets and I miss that they are not their, but I just don't think I could work it out! That said I think some bum pockets would work really nicely!

But even in spite of it flaws I still love it! And its quite might to have a pair of denim trousers with a slightly different shape!

Much Love

Frankie!

xxx

Fully Recycled Maxi Dress.

I'll start off by saying this dress is completely recycled. The denim for the bustier came from a pair of Rikkis old jeans, the main skirt material came from an old maxi dress, the d rings came from an old handbag and the rest of the skirt panels are from various tops that I don't wear any more.  

I split the main maxi dress material into four and added godets made from the tops, this means the skirt is really swishy! I also added a solid band to the bottom of the skirt (off cut from another dress) to tie the whole skirt together.

Pattern wise, i used the corset top pattern from the gbsb book fashion with fabric, however this time it came out really big on me so I might have to retrace a smaller size in the pattern. really I should have completely taken it in but I couldn't be bothered so I just added a halter neck via some d rings. At least this way i have growing room should I choose to grow. 

There's no pictures of the back sorry, I forgot to change into a strapless bra and all you can see from the back is my bright pink bra straps. Not attractive!. 

The skirts semi sheer and I've not lined it, so I'm just wearing it with one of my many slips! {honestly slips are the most useful thing ever! I've got a white skirt one a black skirt one, a purple long skirt one {used here} and a black full slip, next on my wish list is a nude one!}

Can you tell I love the skirt? All in all I'm feeling pretty meh about it as a whole but I do love the swishy skirt, even if you can't really see it on the pictures.

I didn't really bother hemming the skirt, I just used the overcast foot and a overcast stitch. I was going to do a small hem but it drags on the floor [as all maxi dresses should] and I hated the idea of a hem I worked hard on getting all frayed and stuff!

I got photo bombed as I took these! Apparently it was his turn!

He even started turning like I do!

So all in all I'm not calling it a success because I don't LOVE it . And I'm reaching the point where I want to LOVE everything in my wardrobe. That said I can see me wearing it n the summer and if I go on holiday, on the beach sans slip {but with bikini bottoms obvs!}

And just for kicks here's a throwback of me wearing the original dress to an 18th birthday party many moons ago.

Look how short my hair was!

Look how socially awkward I look, trying to join in whilst simultaneously wanting to go home and have a brew.

There's not really much I can say other than that! I had a terrible time, I didn't know anyone and the only reason I stayed is because my mother said she wouldn't pick me up and I didn't want to ruin my new heels. 

 Yeah I don't do well in social situations!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx