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Back wrap dress tied with a bow: A Sew Over It Molly top hack
I love following a pattern, but sometimes, when an idea strikes you and you see an image of a garment right in front of your eyes, but can’t think of a pattern to use, it presents a great opportunity to get creative with what you have. This was the case when I saw this Art Gallery fruity jersey in the fabric shop. I knew I wanted a dress that would wrap over at the back and have a tie at the top for good measure, because we all know how much I love me a bow (and it’s also functional, preventing the dress from potentially slipping down the shoulders). I…
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The Joys of Slow Sewing and Pattern Adjustments: McCall’s M7974 Dress
The lovely Sally of @modistasewing organised a challenge in April which encouraged sewists to share pattern adjustments they make to achieve a better fit. The #memademodista challenge inspired me to sink my teeth into the M7974 by McCall’s that I’ve been lusting over since it came out. Now that their patterns come digitally, it was easy to get during one of their 4.99 $ sales. The bodice comes with a plunging v-neck, gathers at the bust and shoulder to add shaping, a back yoke, and a midriff panel. I knew I would have to toile this and adjust the bust to make it sit in the right place, and this…
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An exercise in tracing and cutting flimsy fabric: Burdastyle asymetric trench coat
If you saw my Make Nine on Instagram, you know one of the items on the list was a drapey trench coat. I didn’t have a specific pattern in mind, but put an image of a Burdastyle 02/2018 pattern in dusky pink drapey fabric there as a possible contender. I was also considering the Victory patterns Ulysses. But then I saw a gorgeous trench coat made by Vesna of @kelerabeus on Instagram and was instantly drawn to the asymetric hem, the soft lapels, and the back pleat. She used another Burdastyle pattern, this time from the 04/2018 issue. I own this one and have considered the pattern before, but until…
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Comfortable and cosy: Lockdown fashion with my favourite jersey patterns and patternhacks
Like so many of us, I have been spending more time at home than I would like these past few months. This has had a profound effect on my wardrobe. Usually I am a very dressy kind of girl, no matter the occasion. Pretty dresses or blouses and skirts were always my go to. However, these are not the most practical to wear at home, or rather I do not feel like wearing them, saving them for something more special. Like… I don’t know… actually going to the office sometime this year? Anyway, back to my working-from-home wardrobe, which now consists mainly of leggings and jersey tops. I’ve made a…
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Tie the ties: Liesl + Co. Belgravia dress in festive red
With Christmas just around the corner, I thought I’d share this festive little number made from wine-red ponte roma fabric from Dům látek. I bought it in the autumn with some fabric money I received from my colleagues at work and I knew I wanted to turn it into a comfortable, but classy dress. As soon as I came across the Belgravia dress by Liesl + Co., I knew it would be that one! I love waist ties, but this dress takes it to the next level. The waist ties are integrated into the front bodice pieces which have enough excess volume to substitute for bust darts. When tied, this…
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Ravello + Elodie = Ravlodie? The best of two wrap dresses
You know how it is. You spot a new pattern, instantly fall in love with it, impulse buy it, then you sew it up, put it on, and the thing that all sewists dread comes to pass – the fruit of your hours-worth of labour is just a bit, well, underwhelming. Or just not quite right for you. When the Sew Over It Summer Dreaming E-book came out, I was really drawn to it. All the pretty colours and the Indian backdrop made me snap it up immediately after release. I particularly loved the Ravello dress, especially the short version Lisa wears made from the mustard Atelier Brunette double gauze.…
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Stripes and pintucks: a Burdastyle shirtdress love affair
Shirtdresses are one of my favourite things to wear. They can look really smart, buttoned up to the top, or more casual when left more open, with the sleeves rolled up. This Burdastyle pattern from the 01/2010 issue is a particular favourite. It features beautiful pintucks along the button band and a lovely pleated skirt, a mandarin collar , and narrow cuffs with a bias-bound placket. When I saw this shirting from a top Czech manufacturer in Textile Mountain, which sell deadstock fabric in Prague, I knew it was destined for this pattern, with a few modifications. For this version, I drafted a rounded collar and used the mandarin collar…
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More flowers and v-shaped back necklines: Burdastyle summer dress
I mentioned in my last post about the Rifle Paper Co. dress that it wasn’t the first time I have made this bodice. So here it is, along with the original panelled skirt, made from a lovely printed cotton from my local fabric shop Nanitce. The pattern is from this year’s April issue of Burda, and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. The patterns in the magazine can be a bit of a hit or miss sometimes, but this one is definitely worth putting your Sherlock Holmes hat on and finding the correct pattern pieces amidst the mess of intersecting lines on the patternsheet.…
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Head to toe in Rifle Paper Co.
Who doesn’t love Rifle Paper Co.? I have been lusting over their gorgeous fabrics for ages. They are extremely hard to come by in the Czech Republic – I have so far only seen one print in Materialistic. So when Lamazi fabrics had their Boxing Day sale, I treated myself to a couple of pieces. This rayon was the most treasured one, and I kept rethinking what I would like to make from it. It’s only 112cm wide, so I bought 3 meters to have enough fabric to play with. I finally bit the bullet last weekend and made it into a swooshy summer dress (and still have about 0.5m…
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My new favourite summer dress: the Closet Core Elodie
Wrap dresses have been very popular in women’s closets and sewing pattern companies offerings for years, yet the new Closet Core Patterns (formerly Closet Case Patterns) Elodie wrap dress proves there is always room for more. I had the great pleasure of pattern-testing it a few weeks ago and it’s already become a staple in my wardrobe. I’ve sewn up the short-sleeved version with a short skirt in a spotty viscose twill from Dům látek, but if you’re feeling fancy, the skirt also comes in a midi and maxi length, and you also have the option of making the bodice long-sleeved. You know it’s goodie when as soon as you…
