Dress From Another Dress

Things that have made me cry so far today :

An advert for a donkey charity and the donkey couldn't carry any more bricks and collapsed. [also he had sore feet]

Rikki showed me a picture of a puppy [it was very fluffy]

I banged my head on the wall for the second time.

Oh yeah the pms train has fully pulled into the station [ Part of me's wondering if this is TMI but the other half of me doesn't care and just wants to know if there's any chocolate in the house.]

Anyways I made this a couple of weeks ago when the weather was stupidly hot and I still had the ability to do things without crying/murdering people. 

The original summer dress was given to me by Rikki's Nan and I LOVED it! Which is surprising because 1. It's not got a gathered skirt and 2. Its a pale yellow, and I don't typically wear pale colours or yellow! Anyway it was one of those things I tried on and Rikki was like "that looks really nice." And so every summer I wore it to death! It was the perfect mixture of comfy and smart looking at the same time and then it started to give up the ghost. First the hem went, so I cut it off and re hemmed it and then it started to get lots of lil holes in it, the way only really loved items of clothing do.  

Naturally I wasn't about to give up my favourite summer dress so I decided to make a pattern from it. [I haven't taken step by step photos because there are already millions of tutorials on how to make patterns from old clothes on the internet already!] 

First I cut up all the seams, I didn't bother unpicking because I knew I needed to add my own seam allowances anyway.

I made sure to mark key features like the bias bound neckline and arm holes and the ties as well as which was the fabric grain was going.

Next I put my pattern pieces onto a flat piece of paper and drew around them [I folded the front section in half and chose just one of the back and side panels to trace round so everything wold make up. I made sure to add markings for grain line, cutting on the fold, positioning the ties etc. Then I added a 1.5cm seam allowance [I have a sewing gauge that makes this so quick!] and a 6cm hem [I opted for quite a deep hem because I knew I had already removed length the first time I repaired the dress.]

Then I cut those pieces out and pulled this piece of fabric out of my stash so I could make a wearable toile. 

I think it turned out pretty good. The material is some sort of cotton viscose and was given to me by the lady at the car boot. I'm not 100% sold on the print but it makes an okay wearable toile.

The dress is made up of the front panel, 2x side panels and 2x back panels, with waist ties to give it shape. I think the lines of the dress are really flattering but next time I need to make sure I make my ties skinnier and a bit longer as I'd like to be able to wrap then around the front first and then tie them at the back.

The other problem is I stupidly decided not to cut my straps and neck binding on the bias. This means they sit away from the body a bit. It's not a huge issue for this dress but for it to be perfect I need to make sure I cut them out properly next time. I should have done it this time but I thought there was enough give in the fabric to adapt the the curves. I'm also wondering if the binding should be a bit skinnier.

Length wise its right on the the edge of being acceptable so I think I may also add a bit to the length! maybe like 2inches or so? What do you think? I don't want a strong gust of wind showing people the good china now do I?

Here you can see the ties at the back. They just bring it in a bit so you look like you have a waist but by some form of witchcraft they also leave room for burgers and cake and stuff.

As you can see without the ties its a bit sack like! Maybe I should make a version with no ties and then I can just straight up belt it? Eurgh but then I'd have to find a belt in the morning when I get dressed?

All in all I think its a great first effort and I already have some fabric in mind for a second version! I just need to remember to cut the straps on the bias and lengthen the hem and ties!

In other news! 

Its nearly half term YAY! I'm really looking forward to lil man having some time off'! Especially all on the lie ins we are going to be able to have! 

I'm going to the golf driving range later , well at least I think I will. Part of me is like ooh belly cramps stay home and watch Buffy the vampire slayer and the other half of me thinks it will be good for releasing some anger so I don't kill Rikki for sneezing later. Also if I do go I might be able to con Rikki into getting me a mcflurry on the way home, and a mcmuffin......Maybe a Mcbrownie?

Much Love

Frankie 

xxxx

Making a Pattern From Old Wrecked Clothing

This is a brief "how to" on making patterns from your old much loved clothing! NOTE: As this method requires cutting up then its not suitable for clothes you want to continue wearing. [as if it wasn't obvious when the instruction reads , cut it up!]

The top I decided to use was this one I was given by Rikki's Aunty, I loved the top but after a few wears lil man slammed into me as I was pouring blackcurrant double strength high juice and the stains just wouldn't go. I tried anything! But I loved the top as its the perfect length at the back to wear with leggings and jeggings. 

First of all try on your item, make notes about how the hems are finished and about the construction. Does it have darts? Are their gathers? Whats the closure like? [ It might even be worth taking a picture in it for future reference] Luckily for me this top doesn't have anything complicated so I could crack on. 

Cut into pieces, This top was over-locked so I just cut all the over-locked seams away and was left with four pieces. You can unpick if you want but I find it easier to just trim the seams off as I add my own seam allowances later.

Find the centre of the top by folding it, this way you can cut all your pieces on the fold. I like to pin the two sides together so they don't shift around. Folding your front and back pieces in half means both sides of your top with be symmetrical.

Do the same with the back lay them down on a big sheet of paper and draw around them. I don't tend to buy pattern paper instead I used newspaper, wrapping paper, left over wallpaper or greaseproof paper! Remember to add your pattern markings for grain line and cutting on the fold etc.

Next discard one of the sleeves as you'll only need one to make a pattern from [top tip: make a note of which side is the back of the sleeve for when you come to draw it.] You don't need to fold your sleeve over because very often the front and back of sleeves are slightly different due to ease. Next add a seam allowance to all of your pieces [its your choice here so use whatever seam allowance you  comfortable with]

 I have a seam allowance tool that I was given but you can just measure all the way around with a tape measure and join up the dots. Remember you wont need to add seam allowances to your fold line, just to the areas that will be stitched.

Next I cut out the pattern and sewed up a muslin.

At one point I thought it might be wearable so I added a lil pocket. Now you have made your own pattern you can make whatever tweaks you like with regards to length and fit. For example I'm going to lower the neckline and give myself a lil bit more room in the body so its more blousey.

I completely jacked up the bias bound neckline by pulling it too tight, In fact I may draft a facing for a cleaner finish.

But all in all I'm pretty pleased!

Do you have any tips for making patterns from old clothes?

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Exploring Pattern Drafting Part 2

I've been continuing my research into pattern drafting, and boy does it employ a lot of maths! i mean sweet baby Jesus!

But i think I'm getting somewhere, I've ordered a set of french curves from amazon using my birthday money and I'm sincerely hoping they are the right type. Although i don't know if there is a wrong type to be honest. Although if you want to have a go at pattern making but don't fancy buying the equipment, or your a poor student, or your a poor teacher who's sick of having their classroom equipment stolen then i found this link for a printable french curve. which i think was created by thesewingnotebook.blogspot.com

Next i started googling, i found a wealth of fitting knowledge on the little Tailoresses blog and will definitely be using that for when i have a basic block.

Next i ended up on another website that hinted at some sort of wonderful spreadsheet on the burda website, where you just input your measurements and then it spews out your pattern measurements and you just transfer them onto a grid.

At which point i got very excited! I mean how much easier could it be! However, luckily the link was broken and I'm not sure if the spreadsheet exists anymore. which means i cant cheat and have to learn this properly. Which was my original intention before i saw how much maths was involved! Basically I'm now thinking of it as using a cake mix from a box, yes you've made a cake, but have you actually make a cake?

So i carried on searching, and found this list of 7 beginner tips for flat pattern making from a lovely blog called sky turtle [which is possibly the best blog name ever]

Now a while ago she ran a series of lessons on how the draft flat patterns including the clearest picture of what measurements ill have to take and how to draft a front bodice! 

and theres another set of instructions for creating a back bodice! 

Ive also been recommended some books on pattern drafting so I'm going to pop those on my Christmas list.

This one was recommended by zoe from http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.co.uk

I know a pattern from this was used on the great British sewing bee last year.

I think these are written in Japanese although Ive heard their are a lot of pictures to explain the processes.

Looking on amazon they are all pretty pricey (i tend to buy books from Charity shops so anything over £3 is pricey to me!) Plus a lot of the amazon reviews say that they were brought as textbooks for uni courses which does tend to bump up the price of books. so my plan is to put them on mr knitwits ebay watch list in the hopes he can find them cheaper. I know a lot of students sell their books on afterwards so i might strike lucky. Other than that I'll just have to keep perusing the local charity shops [Ive already checked our local library] and hope for the best!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Exploring making patterns

I've been fascinated for a little while now, with the idea of making my own patterns. Just for myself, but I have to admit most of my knowledge of patterns is of them coming in shiny envelopes and cutting them out.

I remember a friends mum talking about making a "sloper" of her own measurements, and I think my dad might have mentioned my grandma using her own measurements to create clothes [in fact I recently found a whole list of about twenty five measurements in an old pattern of hers so I assume she had a fairly good grasp of fitting]

So I want to make a bodice and skirt block of my measurements. And then according to my 1940's needlework book ill be able to copy all of the latest fashions in the comfort of my own home, it also had something amusing written underneath about only sewing when the house is clean}

But that was all it really said! So Ive been starting to do some research and Ive decided to give it ago! so I'm going to take accurate measurements and make a skirt, bodice and trouser block and then apparently ill be able to create anything. In theory at least.

Ive been pinning away and I'm going to start looking through my sewing books in more detail. And Ive ordered myself a set of french curves which I think are pattern drafting tools, or at least I hope they are.

The reasons I want to learn are pretty silly really
1. I want to wear well fitting clothes
2. I think its going to be one of those skills that dies out, and if a zombie Apocalypse does come I'd like to be able to contribute something to rebuilding society.
3. My sewing budget is pretty limited so I'd much rather spend £9.00 on fabric rather than £9.00 on a pattern.

But if anyone could point me in the right direction that would be wonderful!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx