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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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Lockdown knitting: Find Your Fade shawl by Andrea Mowry
My grandma is a big knitter. Everytime I wanted a sweater, she would knit me one, she even sometimes knits for my friends. She tried to teach me when I was a teenager. I managed a couple of scarves and a sweater for myself, but I would run to her or mum for help everytime anything other than straight knitting was involved. Then I got into sewing and forgot about knitting altogether. This spring, however, amidst lockdown, when I was paradoxically extremely busy with work, uni, and another course I was doing, I didn’t really feel like sewing most of the time, but still wanted to do something with my…
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Thinking of getting into sewing? Here are some tips for newbie sewists
Chances are, those of you reading this blog already know a thing or two about sewing. However, once in a while when people find out I sew my own clothes, they tell me how they would like to learn as well, but find it too intimidating. So I thought it might be useful to put my pitch for sewing as the perfect hobby into writing along with some tips for beginners. Grab a cuppa, sit back, and relax, because this might take a while. Why pick up the needle and wire up the sewing machine at all? First of all, because mastering the craft of sewing allows you to create…
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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…
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Nina Lee Mayfair Dress
As soon as I saw this fabric at the shop (Látky Mráz), I knew I had to have it – the combination of a floral print and the mix of blues, purples and pinks is just my cup of tea! When that happens, I don’t always know exactly what I would like to make from the given fabric, but in this case I knew immediately it would make a perfect Mayfair Dress by Nina Lee. I have sewn the pattern up once before as a Christmas present for my sister. I couldn’t find any nice viscose jerseys then and settled for a thin drapey cotton jersey instead, and it worked…
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Tie-front tee: Tilly and the Buttons Freya hack
One of the reasons we turn to sewing is being able to make our wardrobe dreams come true. Sometimes all the inspiration you have gathered browsing instagram, Pinterest, the high street, or observing passers-by materialises in mental images so detailed, you instantly start thinking which pattern to use as a starting point to make it happen. As soon as I got the idea for a jersey top with a tie at the neck, I knew the Freya top from Tilly’s Stretch book would be perfect. The hack itself was actually quite simple – all that was needed was adding the tie and cutting out a little keyhole neckline. For those…
