Hello chums! It's getting cold in London, and my part of the building is heating-less for the next three weeks, boo! What better warming activity could there be than sewing, and standing next to a hot iron!
So here is another attempt at copying my old jersey dress. My first go has been a useful item and has already had quite a bit of wear, but there were some corrections I wanted to make.
My pattern turned out a little looser in the bodice than the original dress, so I took in the front and back sides by about 5/8". It fits better now, but resulted in a much baggier neckline... I wonder if the neckline was baggy before, but this didn't show as the whole feel was looser? So this time once I'd sewn the bodice, I took about 1.5" out of the shoulders - it was a bit of a bodge fit, but hopefully I can apply that to the paper pattern and get a better fit next time. I also narrowed the skirt so it's less A line this time round, which I think suits it better.
Uh oh, that back hem looks a bit uneven now I'm seeing the pic... It's hard to see from these photos, but I also made the sleeve heads wider and used Tilly's tutorial for making a pleated sleeve cap, which looks sweet and has the added bonus of letting me avoid dreaded gathering - a job that's in an ongoing contest with hemming as my most dreaded step!
The fabric was a bit thin for this dress I think, it's a weird slightly denim-looking jersey from A-One Fabrics on Goldhawk Road. The buttons are nice fabric covered ones, a pressie from a friend. I have some leopard print buttons I'd been thinking of for this, but combined with the cheap fabric, the overall effect was naff, and not in the good-naff, Married to the Mob way I was after.
I'm almost really happy with this dress! It's a better fit and a worse fit than last time - the neckline still bags a bit, and the thinness of the fabric makes it feel less resilient than I'd like... Let's hope for THIRD TIME LUCKY on this guy.
Next up is another A-Frame skirt from Blueprints for Sewing. I made this version up in a really pretty cotton from The Cloth House - but, another lesson, I think this fabric is too thin for a slightly fitted skirt... It just feels fragile as a garment - and thinking about it as I type, perhaps the answer would've been to line it - especially as it grabs onto my tights wherever it can!
I like this pattern, but I rushed this project and didn't make good choices. I should've used a contrast fabric to show off the excellent pocket lines... the result is that I feel pretty indifferent towards this skirt. Poor old skirt!
My second lapped zipper, a decent effort I think! And a pop button at the top.
The reason for the rush was that this was the first project I could get under the needles of my new SERGER - and I was keen to get cracking! I bought a Juki MO-645DE at the Knitting and Stitching Show, and I LOVE it - even managed to thread it myself and kept relatively calm during... I feel like it's already made a difference to the level of finish of the things I can make... O bring me some more edges to serge!
