Thank you everyone for your lovely birthday wishes – I was chuffed to bits to receive them, & for so many of you to enter my birthday giveaway.   Thank you , thank you & thank you.   I’d love for you all to have something, but my hands are tied & I don’t think my bank balance would appreciate the mass postage.

So, in a very manual low tech hat-job draw, here are the winners ….

For lot 1, the ric rac to promote world zigzagination …

The winner is Shivani, who blogs at Pins and Needles & has made me rethink casual shirts with her Wiksten Tova shirt in fabric dotted with elephants no less (I LOVE elephants too!).    I can’t wait to see what you do with the ric rac Shivani …..you will inspire me I’m sure!

Next up, New Look 6000.

Lene is the winner of the infamous New Look 6000, saying,

“If you are willing to mail all the way to Australia, I would love the New Look 6000 pattern. I have been admiring your beautiful creation along with all the others in your round-up.”

Sure am Lene!  I will be popping this in the post this week to you.  Once you’ve made it, feel free to send me some pics & I can add to the gallery…

And last but not least, for the jewellery book,

the winner is none other than Dibs (who blogs at Miss Dibs)  Maybe you’ll find some little projects that you can fit in every now & then, or make some soft fabric jewellery that you can wear around the little one ?? I must say I smiled when I drew your name out of the hat as I get the impression from your blog that you are not just a sewing fan, but am nuts for all sorts of crafts- so I hope you find something that takes your fancy in this book.  It was always that flower necklace that drew me… & the crocheted cherries!

Thanks again everyone.  I’ve emailed the winners, but should the emails go astray please get in touch.

As an update on my sewing ….After that crazy mad 6 weeks at work I lapsed into crazy mad sewing as soon I was able & I think I have made 4 things in the last fortnight with a fifth in suspension awaiting some decisions.  More of a slow burner that one.   But I spent all afternoon & some of the evening making a Lisette Portfolio tunic …& am wearing it now! (No photos as yet)

And the knitting?  Wisdom has a completed back & half a left front with a lime green pocket lining.  Woo hoo!  Onto it now in front of the TV.  [Breathes out & searches for the remote]

This is the inside of my Pinstripe Meringue.  (And don’t forget my giveaway has one more day to run if you haven’t entered)

I’m finding it very hard to contemplate making a skirt without lining it, especially something that will be winter weight & very much dry clean only.  I’ve lined a few skirts so far, & through wear & sometimes even in tear I have learnt along the way.  Undoubtedly it is recommended to use a shiny slippery lining fabric for any skirts that you will be wearing with tights.  My cherry red Beignet (wool)  is made with a cotton lining & it drags on tights – & on long walks into town actually ends up spun around & hiked up round my pants- not ideal & actually is more comfy with a slippy slip.  And then I’ve made the mistake of not allowing any extra ease in the lining resulting in the inside seams pulling/ fraying a bit when the fabric is a bit delicate.  And that’s such a shame.

So, I have Edinburgh & the Crafter’s Ceilidh to thank for a. putting me in touch with Alanna from Lazy Stitching who recently posted about lining her skirt with some extra ease & slightly gathering the lining to the waistband.  That was such a well timed post, thank you Alanna!  Edinburgh also provided me with the opportunity to purchase a couple of lining fabrics, with a wonderful emerald green shiny lustrous poly lining & the magenta version you see above.

Hoorah!

But making the Meringue with a lining was not straightforward & required a few attempts & a little bit of brain work.  And think I did.  Should I cut the hem facing, or should the lining duplicate (with extra ease) the skirt pieces?  I opted for the latter approach, although I think this was the possibly the route less travelled.  But, cut skirt pieces I did in lining adding an extra couple of inches to the width.  I did not cut a hem facing.

More thinking was then undertaken – the sawdust was smouldering I tell you – to work out the order for sewing, trying to understand the feasibility of being able to get at the hem + lining to attach both through scallops as well as being able to attach the invisible zipper & machine sew the lining to the zipper (using the Colette Patterns approach).  I’d worked out that it would be possible, if a little skirt contorting, to insert the zipper before the hem.  Sewing the invisible zipper worked out fine – I could attach the lining via the machine stitched route (as shown in the Handbook & on the Colete Patterns website).  This was done before attaching the lining to the skirt at the hem.    

But it was the length of the hem that was the problem.  Alert!!  Lining this skirt is tricksty this way!  If it wasn’t for my Valentine, Barbarella I don’t know how I would have managed.  Getting Barbs to model it I could see that the length of the lining was pulling up the hem in a minor (but unacceptable) pseudo puffball effect along the scallops.

I would not have seen this very well when wearing it – possibly only noticing it as I was taking photos to post on the blog (how frustrating would that have been?!)  The picture above shows the first attempt at a finished skirt before I recast the waistband.  It was actually complete & wearable (if you go for puffballs that is!)  What is happening is that the lining & the skirt were hanging at slightly different lengths & the lining, being a bit too short was pulling the skirt to “bag” at the scallops.   Usually with a lined skirt the skirt & lining are only attached at the waist (& zip) & from there hang interdependently of each other at the hem.  With this skirt, the lining & the skirt are attached at both waist & hem & if their relative lengths are at odds with each other this happens.

Gosh was it an effort getting this right.  I tried hanging it upside down by its scallops to get the length equal.  That resulted in some of the hem being OK, but not all, so it ended up being worked as a three phase hem.  What worked best for me was to use Barbs & to work my way up from the hem to the part of the waistband that needed shifting.  Working on a 3D form was more successful than the coat hanger approach above!  But – hoorah! Barbs was most helpful, & as I said, she saved my Sewniverse.

Now, it made me think how should I have done this?  What if I didn’t have a dress form?  In the comments to the last post lovely Lauren from LLadybird (whose awesome piped Meringue I remember gushing over) let the secret slip out.  Avoid all the pain of this by 1. using the hem facing as usual & 2. lining the skirt as normal with an inside lining attached at the waistband but loose at the hem.  You can of course make the facing out of lining fabric to gain that splash of oo la la should you wish.  Should have checked that out before I started.  Simples.

So following on from explanation of my inspirations last time which would have made a single post overlong, it’s time to see what I did with the skirt of many curved edges, that is the Meringue skirt.

This Meringue is such a pretty style that I wanted to mix it up a bit & use a masculine pin stripe with the very feminine hem detail.  I’d bought some wonderful wool pinstripe, a very dark navy, from my local fabric shop last year.  This fabric was a bit more expensive than my usual cheapness & I wanted to do it justice.

And do it justice I did (in terms of reworking bits that didn’t cut the mustard first time around.)  Yes, I actually unpicked the finished waistband, replete with buttonhole & button sewn on to correct the hem & the waistband seam that slightly missed the straight edge of the pinstripe.  But I am not expecting any praise for this, don’t get me wrong.   It’s the kind of thing any decent sewster  covers off every make.  I am just usually lazy!

This was my first make using Barbarella.  She is stellar.  She is already saving my sewniverse.  The fit on this skirt is perfect & it if it wasn’t for her I think I would have really struggled to get the lined hem right.

I plan to follow up this post with a post devoted to lining this skirt as I found it quite a challenge & think it deserves discussion.  This post will be purely a show & tell.   But Barbs, I LOVE YOU!!!!  You are my valentine

Look, it’s got a satiny cerise lining – coo!!  Do you like the vintage button?

 It slightly peeks out at the hemline in a slightly flirty (tarty?!) way…

I wore it to a Senior Board meeting at work (in a supportive role, I am really not an important work person)  & inside I trilled to think I was unconventionalising my pinstripes.   The conversation might have been *very important & strategic* but I was wearing a secret bird of paradise.

And this is the waistband that I recast.  I had to spend a lot of effort on the hem (more in the post to follow on lining this madam) which meant unpicking the waistband.  Which was actually a good thing in my efforts to be a more perfect sewster, as you’ll see the waistband is sewn on the crosswise grain & the first time the stitching didn’t quite follow the pinstripe.  It was obvious.  It had to come out.  How did I get it right this time??

Well, in a similar way to sewing piping I machine basted along the line of the pinstripe on the outside of the waistband piece with bright thread so that when I came to attach it to the skirt I followed the basting as my stitching line.

Now whilst I made this to wear to work, I do like the look with theMorrissey Tshirt.  I reckon this could be dressed down with the right accessories & look kind of artsy.  Shame I’m too old to wear such a tight fitting rock tshirt!  (You’ll see I’m holding back on converting into pants! In deference I think to the Moz)

[Sidebar: Apologies for the pictures .... don't you find you get bored trying to get the self timer shots right?  Sometimes one just has to entertain the cat.  He was there, trying not to watch me.  In fact, I think I was expending far more energy than he was.  Such is a cat's life.  You know, come in to a warm house, leave a massive dead rat in a secret place for days while the underfloor heating's on ..... we are not on good terms at the moment.  Meow indeed.  Sorry.  Needed to sound off!]

Hello all!!! Sorry I have been less frequent than usual, but this has got to be the busiest 6 week period at work – ever.  But I think it’s come to an end.  And what do I do at the end of a work period of intense trauma?  I go crazy mad sewing of course!  At one point I had three things on the go at once (I told you I was crazy & wild didn’t I?!)

And just in case you were wondering, all else has gone to pot.  Unfortunately my half marathon training has suffered.  There is no way that I will run faster than last year.  I am destined to forever joke about my slowness (to hide the true pathos) & avert my eyes at the official photos that record the weary shuffling gait as opposed to the springy gazelle that I dream of being.

Here is a picture of us all stretching after Sundays 10.75 miler though …. ha haha!

Photo courtesy of Bo, thank you for sharing.

Oh well.  Anyway,  onto business.

This is a taster to warm you up with some inspiration while I gather my photos.  And remember my birthday giveaway is open until the weekend – not too late to enter

Yes, here is a collection of sewing wonders with a common theme.  Scallops seem to be clip clopping rampant through the sewing community.  I have vivid memories of  Kirsten’s scalloped “brunch” shorts last summer.  They are even lined…..

Roobeedoo’s taunting these shorts with  promises to follow with  some purple velvet ones.  (Purple velvet- you heard right.  From the same stable as the pink corduroy flares.  What credentials!  Can hardly wait)

Do you remember Tilly’s scalloped edge jacket a la Betty Draper?  I think the sewing world united in outpourings of love & admiration for its beautiful details & swooned over the scallops.

And adding scallops to the hem of the much loved Colette Patterns Sorbetto is genius methinks.  Here is Judith’s adorable polka dotted version (& check out the Clovers too)

 And then up popped Marie from a Sewing Odyssey last week with her skirt with scalloped waistband.  SO pretty!  Follow the link for more close ups as it is truly cute.

And Casey has the made the most amazing scalloped edge collar, as well as providing us with a tutorial to make it ourselves …. delicious.  Will I ever get the time to try all this for myself?  I know I want to ….

Where can’t you add scallops I ask myself?  The Coletterie has a tutorial for adding a scalloped hem here…. I think I seriously need to try this out for myself.  I could also see scalloped edge short sleeves on a Violet blouse perhaps (short sleeved variety).  Scalloped trouser hems?  Gotta get practising !  

Now you know where this is leading ….all of this is occuring in parallel with the very pleasant contagion that is spreading via the Colette Sewing Book & its first pattern in the book – the scalloped hemmed skirt, Meringue.   Now there are some amazing versions out there since it formed the first element of the Sew Colette Sewalong, co hosted by Sarah at Rhinestones and Telephones and Erin at Miss Crayola Creepy, which *just for a change*, I signed up for, but missed all deadlines (only just though!).  Catch the wealth of styles on in the Flickr group.

So yes, in case you are asking, mine is a Meringue.  It is a raspberry filled meringue.  Not without its challenges, but I am very pleased with how it has turned out.  Here is the first picture to whet your appetite ….

I shall be reporting back this week with more photos & a separate post about my trials & tribulations trying to line the thing.  Tricksty tricksty!

Thank you to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday over the weekend & entered the giveaway.  You are super lovely- thank you (says me still feeling all warm & fuzzy).  It’s still open until 18th February for anyone yet to enter.  I am in a state of “Amazon Wishlist birthday euphoria” & will share some of the amazing books I was given for my birthday in a later post (all related to sewing-  my friends & family are so lovely, generous & have eventually succumbed!!)

But this post is an “At last”.  I am the proud owner of a nylon covered hollow body doppelganger!  In theory at least.  Yes, I have a dress form!! I am positively looking forward to discovering the limitations having a dress form brings, but for now am bevvied up getting all excited like at the prospect of not being stabbed by pins, being able to reach back alterations, waltz around with a tape measure around my neck & pins between my lips  & at some point even having a go at draping maybe?  I am sure that there will be frustrations further down the line & that my expectations could be rather high for just how much use it will be, but I am forever an optimist.  I have been lusting after one of these for over a year now.  I have fought many a bloody bidding battle on eBay, to retire, wounded, pride dented, but glad only that I forced someone else to shell out more cash for the dummy that “should have been mine”.

Thanks to all the lovely seamsters who have already shared their research & findings on which is the best new one to go for.  (Karen you helped heaps & I read all the comments from others to your posts which were as helpful) I’ve taken the plunge, opting for as much adjustment as I can handle, including torso length, getting the Supafit Deluxe dressmaker’s dummy which handily came in on sale here at Sewing-online.com.

This model I’d say is brilliant, although I didn’t need the torso length adjustment as it turned out.  In every way except my sway back it accommodates my measurements without any extra padding, which I am pretty surprised at.  The adjustment wheels also seem sturdy enough even though they are plastic.  And buying from Sewing-online – well, it came three days after I’d ordered it!  Brilliant service.

So to get to this point I should say that this is a massive investment & I was saving my pennies in my button jar, but it was slow progress.  Father Christmas was not very flush this year, so I couldn’t expect to find a large box stuck in the chimney.  Instead dearest Gary pulled through & topped up my savings fund for my birthday.  I am not sure which bits he bought: the bazonkas, right hip & left shoulder perhaps, or maybe he would prefer to have contributed to the hourglass waist & the bazonkas again, or maybe the behind, the neckline and the bazonkas (spot the common theme?), I’m sure I paid for the chalk marker hem and the tripod stand!    So I am feeling hugely filled with anticipation, already it’s been put to good use  - adjustments for my 80s high waisted Vogue skirt (its high waist is about 8″ too big & this needs to be distributed across numerous seams).

What about a name though?  Tilly has broached this subject before – there are the “yays” and the “nays”.  I’m in the “yay” camp, (any opportunity for silliness) & consider this is actually going to be a stunt double for me- sparing me stripping off (often in the cold) & heading downstairs to the full length mirror & plunging pin after pin into my fleshy bits.

Thinking of stunts then makes me think of action heroes -

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or even Burt Reynolds*.  (Wrong!  My dress form will not be called “Burt”)  Following female action heroes then,  it was going to be Ripley,

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She can handle all manner of crap / alien dressmaking I could throw at her!  Then I kicked myself for not remembering my heroine Princess Leia- similarities to a tailor’s mannequin, don’t you think?

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& then I got it -

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“Who can save my sewniverse universe?” Barbarella can!  So if you see me veering more towards PVC & accessorizing with silver knee length boots, please say something!

Welcome to the nut house, Barbs!

*Why Burt you ask?  How can you ignore the dare devil displays in the Smokey and the Bandit films?  And Canonball Run?  Say no more.

Hi de Hi Campers!

Cast of Hi De Hi

I’ve an announcement to make: It’s my birthday & as there are some lucky threes going on here I decided to give three things away in a giveaway to you lovely readers.  OK, first of all you have to tolerate me accounting for the threes before I get onto the goodies.

1. 3rd February is the obvious one – the date of my birth;
2. 3 day weekend for me as I am taking Friday off – a fantastic reason to celebrate I declare!
3. Er, well, there is a three in my age this year too.  (And it’s not at the beginning!)

And that makes three lucky reasons for three prizes.

So, what’s up for grabs?  I thought quite long & hard about this, in fact I have been doing lost of creative thinking about you gorgeous bloggers out there, & will have something else exciting to test on you later this month, but for now, let’s get to the mercenary bit! reward…

Up first, in lot 1 is my signature ric rac.  I am spreading ric rac love in zigzagination & will make it easier for you to join in with 3m each (brand new) of red, bright yellow, black velvet as well as some gigantes white (which would look lovely at the hem of a summery skirt methinks) .

 Zig-a-zig-a- aaah

Lot 2, can you guess what’s coming?  Happens to be a brand shiny new pattern.

New Look 6000 for those of you who have been admirers of NL 6000 Fest’s party-goers !!  Woo hoo!! Just make sure when you make it you tell me & we can have another party update  If you haven’t seen the wealth of inspiration brought by other sewsters out there go check out my roundup.

And lot 3 is a book, but rather a special one.  You know I like making jewellery, well I bought this book for me ages ago as I loved the pretty flower jewellery.  Beautiful Handstitched Jewellery by Emi Twakiri is ideal for anyone who can sew a bit or crochet but doesn’t have pliers & tools for normal jewellery making.  This is very much fabric & thread based.  The designs are unusual, crafty/ arty & very pretty – bobbles, flowers, crochet cherries, tassles- gorgeous.

I really do love the designs & have earmarked some of them for “another time when I feel like it”.  But it’s as new for someone else to take on & be inspired by.

If you want to be entered into this giveaway please leave me a comment telling me which prize you’d prefer to win (yes, you can enter all if you want!).  I’ll run this giveaway for about a fortnight, closing it on midday 18th February.  And I’ll post anywhere !

Oh, & I’m not likely to get replying to any comments as I’ll be SO busy being birthdayed so can I say in advance, you are all lovely, I do appreciate any comments you leave everytime you leave them- thank you for sticking with this ol’ badger & encouraging her!  I cannot describe how much pleasure I get from the online sewing/ knitting/ crafty community xxx

Ok, so it’s only violet in name, & very deep green with sprigs on in actuality.  The Colette Patterns Violet blouse though had been tempting me for a while before I laid out the dosh.  What’s not to love – slightly scoop neck with a peter pan collar.  Pretty gathered yoke.  Cute puff sleeves.  But I thought surely I could draft my own pattern to make this?  Surely I had enough in my pattern library to cobble my own version together.  Surely.  But then I collapsed under the burden of beauty, visualising the many wonderful creations on the internet (Flickr has a lot to answer for), succumbing to my ultimate laziness.

Funnily enough I cut this out over the Christmas holidays possibly just as Joanne at Stitch and Witter was contemplating Violet.  After a New Look 6000.  I like the collective consciousness going on here.  Joanne finished two beautiful versions before I got to the finishing post however.

I had a metre of this fine cotton which is almost lawn-like that I bought from Goldhawk Road at the Fandango last summer (I’m pretty sure it was just a metre …but no more than a metre and a half)  Let me tell you, I managed to get the longer sleeved version out of it, save the undercollar which is cut from some spare.  This collar is greedy on fabric you see.  Even with the short sleeved version I wouldn’t have been able to get another collar cut, so as there was enough, I opted for this sleeve length.  I’m not sure I like them as much as the short sleeves, but I thought I’d give it a go.

Not much to write about this pattern, except, as always, Colette Patterns provide fabulous instructions & beautiful styling.  I adapted it a little to scoop out my waist a little as it was pretty voluminous in an unflattering way on me.

Pre side seam waist adjustment

I thought about adding front vertical darts, but with the gathered yoke, wanted to keep it as more of a floaty top so just adjusted the side seams.

With such a busy print as this I wanted to provide some distinction to the collar. Remember my penchant for ric rac, here on this polka dot blouse, & here on the hem of my “happy” denim dress, well I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to add it to Violet.

The collar & sleeve edges are adorned with very dark navy ric rac.

And I used 9 buttons in dark navy, because, well, I had that many!

So there you go.  I’m not sure how the sleeves will fare under a cardigan, they have potential to annoy the heck out of me.  I will definitely make more, especially short sleeves & maybe sleeveless.  It is my dream pattern! Ultra!

Hello everyone!  If you are interested in what options the home sewist had  during pregnancy to make her own clothing through the decades head over to Minnado’s House where I’ve guested quite a long post on the subject.  It also gives a glimpse into my own (lack of) style showing the kind of patterns I would have had access to during the late 80s, 90s.  Thankfully, in those days photos were not abundant.  Wearing swathes of fabric to vaguely “tent” one’s bump added to one’s feelings of being the size of a house, & did not provide a willing subject for photographs, which is actually a bit of a shame really.  Check out some examples from the forties through to the early 90s at Minnado’s.  I found the (brief) research really interesting.

This is a picture from grandmashouse, that didn’t actually make it into Minnado’s post, as there were so many other patterns to upload, & by golly, is Blogger a tease for uploading pictures in the right order for the uninitiated…..

Tomorrow I should have a post and pictures for my Violet blouse (with ric rac- yay!)

It was the Crafters’ Ceilidh, January 21st 2012.  Did Edinburgh know what hit it?

The fabric shops were most definitely aware that a whole flood of sewists had just entered their emporia, performing that dressmaker’s ritual exponential times over of rubbing fabric from practically every single bolt between fingers & thumb, adding in a stroke to the really tactile fabrics.  Surely they were grateful that they had to lock us in at closing time, so we wouldn’t get away much fabric were we buying?  But what about others in Edinburgh?  We were clearly a pack, each identifiable by a beautiful fabric flower brooch.

Image from Kestrel Finds & Makes

We formed crocodiles to cross roads.  We walked with purpose, ignoring the draw of any shop that did not scratch the handmade/ vintage itch.  But to those working on Lothian buses that had the (mis)fortune to encounter us I think we were just “tourists” and they could only be bemused.   Bemused at the hordes of fabric laden ladies trooping onto their fleet in one go and disembarking (in almost) one go.  Bemused also at the complete lack of understanding about how you buy your ticket on a bus, probably common to tourists, and small children, not just sewists.   Bemused but patronisingly understanding that someone dressed in such a “unique and handmade” dress (& less unique but also lovingly handmade snood) could so easily misplace the ticket purchased just 5 minutes before (the phrase “dippy badger mare” I’m sure went through his mind).

 This post will hopefully add to what’s already been written & I shall try not to repeat content of other excellent accounts of the day.  But read Debi & Kerry’s versions (two of the organisers along with Kristin), Karen’s here at Didyoumakethat, and Roobeedoo has penned her version also.  They all contain some excellent photos, reflect the fun & the characters, describe the day’s activities as well as the joy & wonder that coming together “IRL” brings to the online sewing community.

You can also get an idea of how many of us there were & what a challenge & great job these lovely ladies made in organising us.  Thank you so much, Debi, Kristin & Kerry.  (Apologies for the random photo editing using Picnik’s bits & pieces.  It’s an expression of happiness)

Karen (Didyoumakethat), Roobeedoo (in their handmade coats & hats) and me (not)

As is always the case, we caught up with old friends and made new ones, & this time missed Miss Dibs.  Had a fair few giggles & much sewing chatter.  There was an occasional stray away from sewing talk onto other subjects – but it didn’t happen very often!  Yes, I bought some fabric, mostly linings with a couple of surprise bargain purchases to make some tops & a silk skirt.   I was really taken by the vintage shop, Armstrong’s in the Grassmarket.  I couldn’t resist taking a few photos of the wonderful arrangements that appealed to my rainbow love…

And evidence of what you might be seeing appearing being made on Debi’s blog in the future ….

Another shot below of some amazing outerwear, marveled at by all….

In the midst of the two finest handmade coats!Karen & Kerry (Kestrel finds and Makes)

I would love to know the statistics- the cumulative group miles walked, the total metres of fabric purchased, the numbers of patterns swapped …This unfortunate pattern below was not wanted by anyone once Rachel (sadly not a blogger because she’s a funny lady) had finished her “anti-sell” of it.  She drew everyone’s attention to the styling, the severity of the models.  Fine if you like the 90s “efficient uniform” look.  Fine perhaps if you bought it second hand as part of a bundle.  But this one she bought new!  She had us in stitches – very apt for a bunch of sewists.

I feel super lucky having benefited from the pattern swap (no, the pattern above is not in my possession).  Check out this perfect sailor trousers pattern – it has that “special opening” – what is a front flap called?  I am thrilled to bits to have this one, even though I will need to grade it up a bit- or enter train for  5 full marathons.

 But a very slow burning appreciation dawned on me for my other pattern.  At first, no one was interested.  Its light was hidden under the proverbial bushel, it was one of the figures of fun.   How cruel!  During the “desperation round” where Kate bigged up the patterns no one appeared to want, I saw the light.  This my friends is genius.  This my friends takes Christmas present making for my sons (23 & 19) to a new level.  They have been warmed up over the last few years with made by Mum boxer shorts, flannel PJ trousers, and even handmade shirts.  What could possibly be next?  How could I surprise them in Christmas 2012?

See those outfits on the right?  Perfect.  My lads are Star Wars nerds (admittedly traditionalists preferring the superior Episodes 4-6 –  they detest Jar Jar Binks & the young Anakin – but who doesn’t?).  This will be something I can start sewing earlier than my usual November.  It will be something that will get heaps of laughs, be worn for 10 minutes on Christmas day, but will lurk in a bottom drawer, ready to be pulled out for all future fancy dress.  Gone is the laziness of deciding on the day of the party to dress up as a pimp.   There completes my function as a mother that sews.  I believe that I have not only Roobeedoo to thank, but everyone else at the pattern swap for not swiping this before me.  I am super grateful  - thank you all!!  Truly.  Thank you for all for such a wonderful day & evening – it was a veritable pleasure.

Which just leaves me to say, wasn’t Edinburgh the perfect beautiful location?  Does the sun always shine, are there always blue skies?  It seems so every time I visit.  OK, maybe not all day, & maybe there was a bit of a nippy wind, but I was well equipped with a draft-banishing snood, wasn’t I?   Can I also recommend the most wonderful veggie guest house?  Cathy at the Claymore on Pilrig Street was just the best hostess, 100% brilliant veggie breakfast maker, largest display of wonderful Pre-Raphaelite pictures & was also totally into the whole sewing blogger meet up – she may even have been encouraged to visit the Sewing Bee Cafe when it opens its doors…

I have to blame Law. Kind of around Christmas/ new year following a bit of a buzz about Victory patterns in a fair few blogs, Law highlighted a special offer (now over) which led me down the path of temptation, resulting in buying three awesome quirky and what appear to be very wearable styles. I was most taken by Hazel, a shift dress with a gorgeous bow tie neck that is constructed in two colours.

I’d already started to dream about the Victory Patterns Hazel dress when Tilly tweeted about it asking what thoughts were out there for colour combos.  Well.  That fired me up right & proper.  In my mind it seemed to cry out to be made out of jersey, and the fact that it was made out of two colours allowed more scope for stash busting! And I had just something in mind.  Woo hoo! Enter stashbadger!  What a start to 2012 – using something from within my fabric drawers (ooo er, sounds a bit Carry On!).

Sorry crappy evening iPhone picture!  As you can see I chose a grey / turquoise colourway and just about eeked it all out of what I had in my stash. The only time I went off road was with the tie neck – it takes quite a few long pieces of fabric (x4) and is supposed to be made in a solid colour not two tone like mine! But I didn’t have enough.  Ideally it would be turquoise.  Ideally I’d also have sewn the turquoise side on the top, but had thought (upon studying Hazel images on the website) that the collar would fold over (as attempted above).  In truth it’s better not folded over (as you’ll see from the pics below) – it’s much happier sitting unfolded.  But that means I have a grey tie, not a turquoise one.

Shape?  I needed to shape it a bit more at the waist as it was trop sac for me. (It’s still sacklike, but in a shift-dress-way & that can be quite desirable when feeling blobby). (NB  this is made out of jersey – the pattern is designed for woven fabric and is pull on – you’d need to make sure you can still get it on & off if you make any shaping alterations, as Kristiann (the designer) says in the comments)

But I did it. That is I made it from jersey. With my overlocker ( apart from just a little bit of straight stitching around the front neck opening) & the hem (which also doesn’t look perfect as I look at the pictures, but hey ho).  The pattern is designed to have a skirt lining, but being stretch fabric I missed it out & made a (garish) silky slip instead (with yellow lace on the rest of that turquoise sari fabric).

Tips for jersey & using this pattern & an overlocker/serger?  Well, first of all I found that the pattern had loads of notches which was super helpful – I used all of them & found that with something stretchy like jersey the notches allowed me to line everything up properly & with confidence.  I staystitched neck edges also, as you would with most neck edges, but this was particularly necessary with jersey.  I also used some form of seam stabiliser/ seam binding for the shoulder seams so that they didn’t stretch with the weight that is placed on them when finished.  But my best tip?  The one that helped me to get my seams lined up (& there are more that show when sewing in this kind of style where the seams are obvious & part of the design feature.  It was pinning & tacking.  But tacking only where you want the seams to line up – the area that I find greatest slippage occurs when overlocking (cos you want to get those pins out nice & early before hitting the blade, don’t you?)  Remember, despite all the bravado & attempts to impress, I’m still a sewing slob & want to cut corners – not for me excessive time spent hand sewing basting stitches, oh no!  Bare minimum, but just enough.

I haven’t worn it yet, but I’m thinking it could fit lots of occasions, both work and play. With its jersey shiftiness I reckon it’ll be great for hiding a big meal, a totally comfy travel dress, and bring an element of confident sophistication to the office.
What else commends this dress? Why it’s turquoise and will be accessorised by my fave shoes

As for the pattern – it’s a pdf (as are all of the Victory Patterns) & the instructions were clear & contained diagrams & photos which I liked.  I can’t say that I followed them to the letter & also found myself picking up the odd tip / difference in method after I’d done it my way (eg I would have liked to tried gathering stitches for the sleeve head by sewing in one continuous line – out between the dots, turn 90 degrees for a couple of stitches & then back parallel to the start- but caught it after I’d done it my way!)  My interactions with Kristiann, the creative behind this pattern company, were all lovely, promptly answered and personal (eg I asked her opinion about whether it would suit jersey).  Thank you Kristiann (she said make sure you align to grainlines).

I’d definitely make this again.  LOVE it.  But which other patterns did I buy?  Well it was hard to choose.  Go have a look yourself.  I was also taken by ….

Well, Madeleine & Anouk of course!

Anyone else sewing for Victory?