patterns

Denim Hollyburn Skirt


on

It seems like the rest of the blog world is finally discovering the awesomeness of the Sewaholic Hollyburn skirt.  I made this one up at the end of last summer and this skirt immediately became a wardrobe staple for me. It’s the View B length.

hollyyburndenim-1

 

SIZING

Hollyburn is a Sewaholic Pattern which means it’s designed for pear shapes..which I definitely am not! However it was very easy to tweak the pattern to accommodate my lack of a waist.  When sewing pants or skirts Sewaholic patterns you definitely want to pick a size that fits your hips and then adjust the waist. Waist adjustments are generally the easiest.  In my case my hips fit a 16 but my waist was bigger.

ADJUSTMENTS

I figured out the difference and used the slash and spread technique to make the waist larger.  In order to calculate this you need to take the difference, let’s say 2″, and divide that by 4 to get 1/2″. This is how much will need to be added to the front and back skirt pieces to get a total of 4″.  This does slightly distort the half circle shape but with such a small adjustment it’s not noticeable.   You’ll also need to add to the waistband. This is cut on the fold so just add half of your waist difference (2″/2 = 1″) to the end of the waistband piece.  If anyone is interested in seeing how this was done, leave a comment and I will do a post with some photos.

hollyyburndenim-2

I’ll let you in on a secret. I was lazy when I made my adjustments and only added to the front pieces. See how my side seams and pockets are too far back? Oops. Don’t worry – I fixed this on my next version 🙂

FABRIC & FINISHES

The fabric for this skirt is a lightweight denim I picked up at Joann.  To keep with the denim look I used a jeans zipper on the back. I like seeing the slightly exposed brass zipper.  I finished all of the seams with self-made bias strips and a Hong Kong seam finishes.

hongkong

 

STYLING

This a style that requires tucked in or cropped shirts. I’ve found that leaving something untucked just looks frumpy as it squashes down all the fullness around your middle.  I’ve been thinking I need to make some Closet Case Files Nettie bodysuits to wear with this skirt! In the meantime I wear it with my silk Tucker blouses for work and with slim fitting JCrew t-shirts or tank tops for more casual settings.

I think this skirts has a slightly 70’s vibe that works great with chunky platforms or sandals.  View C is a shorter flirty version that would be very contemporary and festivalwear-like in a girly floral print.

Reasons I love this skirt:

  • Fit n Flare style makes me look like I have a waist
  • Great pockets
  • Dressed up denim works with everything from fancy silk blouse (in my photos) to a basic tee or tank
  • Easy to follow pattern

Reasons to not love this skirt:

  • Waistband can be a little constricting. I think I wear too many knits these days and expect everything to be stretchy and comfortable
  • Adjustments needed to make waist fit. (This is expected with a Sewaholic Pattern).

Save some $$$

One last note on this pattern.  It’s based on the lovely Sewaholic Lonsdale dress.  I own both patterns so I compared the skirt pieces and they are totally identical! So if you like the Lonsdale too, just buy that pattern and you can make both! All you’ll need to do is make your own rectangular waistband pattern piece, which you can base off of the one on the Lonsdale.

 

Butterick Summer 2015 Retro Pattern Recap


on

Butterick has just published their new patterns for Summer 2015. It includes two Retro Butterick dresses and one vintage inspired Patterns by Gertie top. Let’s take a look.

Butterick 6211

The illustration for this dress makes it look pretty cool and I appreciate them trying to recreate the same look for the sample garment.

B6211-il

But this dress just looks sloppy.  Maybe it was poor fabric choice and the lack of a crinoline, but I find it very disappointing. The free edges of the overdress are bumpy when they should be crisp. Very meh.

B6211My thought about the lack of a crinoline is that they are trying to make the dress look like the technical drawings.  But maybe they should just include a crinoline pattern.

B6211

 

Butterick 6212

I don’t understand why pattern companies keep reproducing vintage apron dress patterns. I’m just not a fan. I actually love the front of this dress – the sweetheart neckline and the skirt yoke are totally cute.  But the back is just unnecessary to me.  Check out how adorable this illustration is!

B6212-il

Then look at the sample dress. The best I can say is that at least this one doesn’t look sloppy!

Here’s the technical drawings for 6212.

B6212
Butterick 6217

This pattern is for a vintage inspired top in Patterns by Gertie line.  I might actually buy this one but I don’t quite understand the boob-dana tie On my adult sized chest this would look ridiculous. I like view B though! View A is actually cute minus the tie.

B6217B6217

 

Double Vision: Southport & Adelaide


on

The latest issue of Seamwork Mag from Colette came out yesterday and I immediately went to check out the patterns. In this issue you get a dress pattern and an odd cropped top/jacket. The Adelaide dress is pretty cute and I was about to buy it when I realized how much it looks like the True Bias Southport dress I bought recently.

Seamwork AdelaideTrue Bias Southport
Seamwork Adelaide (left) & True Bias Southport (right)

 

I realize they are not exactly the same, but when you look at the technical drawings you can see the the bodices are nearly identical. They differ on the skirts and how the waist is pulled in. On Adelaide it’s a combination of back darts and a tie belt. Southport uses a drawstring.  Lastly, the snaps on Adelaide run the whole front,  while Southport just has buttons on the bodice. But it would be easy enough to hack one into the other!

Since I already bought Southport, I’m going to make that up. I have the perfect fabric to make the maxi version! However my next one might be an Adelaide hack since I already bought the snaps!

A Un-Done Dahlia


on

I don’t often post about unfinished garments but I don’t think this one will ever be finished. I ordered Colette Patterns new dress Dahlia during the prelaunch sale, because I loved the plaid version. But I wasn’t quite sure it would look that good on me.

dahlia-1

I normally do an FBA on everything, but looking at the sizing and the gathers in the bodice I decided to cut a straight size and see how it went. I had 3 yards of a poly suiting in my stash and I picked up the zipper and bias tape at Joann. I also got some piping because I thought it might look cool in the raglan seams.

My hope here was to make a wearable muslin that was more wearable than muslin. That’t didn’t happen, mainly because that fabric frays like crazy! In the end I didn’t feel it was worth redoing seams that will probably just unravel again. I do think the style actually looks pretty good so it wasn’t a wasted effort.

dahlia-3

Here’s what I learned for when I make a real version.

  • Shorten the waistband by 1/2
  • Hand stitch the waistband lining
  • Lengthen the skirt by about 2″
  • Convert back skirt gathers to darts
  •  Check the back bodice length. (It looks wonky in the photos but I may not have had the front pulled down enough)

dahlia-2

I don’t really love the piping in the raglan seams, but I did learn something from that too. Next time I’ll use wash away Wonder Tape. The first seam I pinned and it came out wonky and then I had the brilliant idea to use Wonder Tape! So the second (and third and fourth) piped seams came out great.

So now I am on the hunt to find a nice weight wool plaid. I think a red/black buffalo check would be perfect. If anyone spots that in Portland – let me know!

 

Cat Lady Sewing Challenge – Katmono!


on

Miss Crayola Creepy is hosting the Cat Lady Sewing Challenge for the month of October.  Yay..I get to embrace my catladyness!

Recently one of my good friends celebrated her 30th birthday and I thought she needed to up her loungewear game. So when I came across all these tutorials for kimono jackets, I knew it was perfect!  She is also a cat lover so I wanted some kitty fabric. I was thinking more cute kitty fabric but this is the best I could do on short notice.

Forgive the terrible photos as I only finished sewing 30 minutes before I had to leave for the party!  It looks rather Rrrrawrrrr! with the slip Bertha wears, right? It’s a Kat-mono…haha!

catmono-1

I based my pattern on the tutorial by Elle Apparel, but I constructed it differently as I wanted some nicer finishes on the inside of the garment. I plan to make one for myself too, and for that one I plan to draft facings as well.

catmono-2I purchased 1.5 yards of fabric and I could possibly have done with a little less, but I wanted to make sure the sleeve print went the right way.