White Nursing Cocktail Dress

Some time ago I went to Munno Para Spotlight with a friend and picked up a lovely fabric for 6 dollars a metre. It was a polyester spandex fabric with an off white background with sketchy black roses. I fell in love with the fabric and decided to make a dress with it for a wedding that I was to attend-which was last weekend. I wanted to make a cocktail dress, but had to think long and hard about what design would suit the fabric, keeping in mind that I also wanted to be able to breastfeed in it.  I decided to make a dress of this design.

Nursing Cocktail dress

The dress was to have an empire waist, princess seams, a crossover front with gathers, within which there was to be a hidden opening for nursing access.

Because this was a woven material with a tiny bit of stretch, but I wanted a form fitting dress, I decided it would be a good time to take my Gladwrap pattern and use that to make the pattern of this dress.


Gladwrap pattern

I traced around onto a new sheet of paper and cleaned up the lines. I made two test garments before I was satisfied with it. This was the finished pattern.

Gladwrap sloper

I discovered that I have a swayback, and forward shoulder. A swayback is when a person's back curves inward more than usual, requiring a deeper dart in the back waist.

I wanted a dress that was fully lined, with a combined arm and neck facing. Here are my pattern pieces and fabric all cut out.

Pattern and fabric pieces

Above you can see the facing pieces has already been interfaced-I block fused the interfacing to the fabric before cutting it out. I used a fusible warp-knit interfacing which was really light, had some stretch, and was almost plush on the non-fusible side. It was perfect for this fabric-I also tried it on a twill and a crepe and it still draped beautifully without changing the hand of the fabric.

Warp-knt interfacing

I also interfaced the front bust crossover pieces, as it needed some structure and stabilizing for the nursing access. I marked the bust point on the piece and slashed it to 3 cm above and then overlocked the slash-like this.

Nursing access

I was also careful to mark all the important points with either notches or tailors tacks. The blue thread you see above marked the triple folds on the bust piece. The folds were done in such a way that it hid the nursing access in a pleat-see below.


Front shoulder and bust panels joined

Here I've made the folds in the shoulder piece and joined it to the bust panel. These need to be joined to the back shoulder panels. Then I stitch all the princess seams in the front and back but do not join them to the top panels yet as I need to stitch in the neck facing and lining first.

Front princess seams

Bust and shoulder panels

Next I work on the facing and lining pieces, joining them all together except at the side seams.

Facing and lining pieces

Here the join at the  neckline facing and lining get a little tricky. If you look closely, I made a slit in the center top on the front lining, thinking that it would be necessary to accomodate the crossover at the bust. I found later that the slit wasn't necessary at all.

Next I joined the neckline facing to the front bust panels.

Joining the front to the facing

I graded the seam allowance to reduce bulk, then turned and understitched the facing and seam allowances together. After this, I sewed the bust panels to the princess panels, and then all the side seams.

I marked the nursing slit length on the lining and opened it up.

Nursing access in the lining

Here I inserted an invisible zipper, sandwiching the zipper between the right sides of the lining and the shell, and handbasting first. I don't think its the correct way to insert an invisible zipper into a garment with the lining, as the zipper can get caught in the lining. I had to redo the zipper twice before I was satisfied with it. Next time I'll set the lining away fron the zipper.

I had left the armhole edges on both the lining and the shell raw, so I did a rolled hem on the armhole  shell with black thread. I overlocked the lining armhole, and used the overlocker to cut away 1cm all around the armhole so that the lining wouldn't show.

I did a rolled hem with a narrow hemmer on my machine for the hem. For the lining hem, I overlocked the edges to trim away any longerbits, and then I sewed some lace for a couture touch. I love that only I know that it's there.

Lace on the lining hem

And finally....



Here's a back view.



It looks a bit rumpled because it just travelled to Melbourne and back again. I wore it almost the whole day at my friend's wedding.

Here's a view of the nursing access.

Hidden nursing access

The dress was an amazing fit. Using the Gladwrap to make a personal sloper is a fantastic idea. No need to keep making fitting changes or multiple test garments. I highly recommend making one.

Here's a final picture of me at Claudia and Kaiwin's wedding.

Silvia, Manchee, Claudia, me, and Chok Fung

Quick Pencil Skirt

On Monday I bought a 2-metre piece of twill fabric at the opshop for 2 dollars. I knew that it was perfect winter skirt material. I planned to make a Vogue inspired skirt out of it, and after cutting it out, I found that I still had enough left for another skirt. This post will be about that skirt which I knocked up on the fly yesterday.

I wanted a quick pencil skirt with a slit-no zippers or closures-something with a stretch waistband that I can wear whether pregnant or not. I had some black stretch fabric lying around that I had bought from some opshop in some distant past, and some grey lining material that I was given. I quickly measured my waist and my hips-33" and 38". It is depressing to realise  that I'll never be a 24" again.

My plan was to just measure and cut on the cloth without any pattern. I wanted a rectangle of black stretch fabric about 3/4 of my waist measurement for the waistband, about 6 inches high and doubled over for strength and stability as per diagram below.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="The blueprint"][/caption]

The waistband would go from my natural waist to my hipline, and the twill fabric panels will start from the hip. That way I needn't add darts for the lower panels, since it would fit over the widest part of my hips without any closures. The lower panels are cut simply-my hips were 36+2 inches wearing ease=38", so the front panel was 19" wide with half inch seam allowances, and the back panels 9.5" with seam allowances. The front and back panels taper downwards to 17inches and 8.5 inches in width respectively. The back panels I added about 1.5 inches in width starting from the middle centre back line for a split.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="The cut pieces"][/caption]

I also cut a lining from the above twill fabric pieces.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Cutting into the lining"][/caption]

See Ma! No pins! I was really doing this on the fly. I was more excited about this skirt than the Vogue inspired one now-even though that one is all cut out.

First thing was to overlock all the edges.Most sewing machines have an overcasting stitch if you don't have an overlocker, although if you do plan on sewing garments, you can't beat an overlocker for a professional finish. I love mine.

To make the waistband, join the shortest edges of the two pieces together and form a tube. Use a narrow zigzag stitch, or overlock.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Form a tube with the stretch fabric"][/caption]

Fold the tube in half lengthwise, so that you have a double layer going all around your waist.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Waistband doubled up"][/caption]

The back slit needs to be done first. I neglected to take pictures-but here's a walkthrough. Sew down the back seam as usual, but at the start of the outside corner, change the stitches to the largest straight stitch. Press open, and sew around the slit. Use a seam ripper and unpick the large stitchs up to the outside corner where the slit starts.

Now it's just the simple matter of joining the two side seams together.

Repeat the whole process with the lining.

Attach the skirt to the waistband-pin at quarterly intervals, and stretch the waistband to fit the skirt as you sew. Use a narrow zigzag stitch. Now attach the lining with the same process, just be sure that the right side of the lining faces the inside. Use a blindhem stitch to hem the skirt and the lining, making sure that the lining is hemmed higher so that you don't see the lining from the outside. Handsew the lining slit to the skirt slit.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301" caption="Quick pencil skirt"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301" caption="Back view"][/caption]

Hmm..I didn't do a very good job on the pressing. But I guess it's not wool, since it didn't shrink when I steamed it, and it's not wrinkle resistant.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301" caption="Closeup view"][/caption]

All in all, I'm very pleased with this skirt. It was a very quick job, and I spent only a dollar on the material. It will always fit me, and the pencil skirt is very flattering. It is also great for maternity wear too!

Go home and make one today!

Opshop Finds On My Birthday

Yesterday I turned 26. It doesn't feel like another year has passed and that I'm a year older and only four more years away from the big three-O. In my head I still feel like a giddy 18-year-old. We had a quiet celebration with the family on Sunday night. The Wednesday before, Wyld Man and I had a special night out to celebrate both our birthdays-we're both July babies. I got a Mileni bag as a present from the family, as well as a gift card at Suzannegrae.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Mileni bag"][/caption]

It's a huge bag-I carried it around yesterday with one of the compartments with my stuff, and the other half with William's stuff-nappy, squirt bottle, a bottle of water, nappy change mat, bib, hanky and a stuffed toy!

Anyways, yesterday morning I caught up with a playgroup mummy and she brought me to her favourite opshop! It's run by the Uniting Church and is quite small, but I still managed to bag quite a haul. I got a few things for myself...

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301" caption="Opshop outfit"][/caption]

The tan crossover top was AUD1.75,  and the angora wool skirt was AUD3.  I especially love the skirt, with is a thick stretchy knit, quite warm and perfect for winter outfits. The only thing is that with tights, it tends to ride up unless I make a lining for it, which I shall.

I also got myself a couple of belts for 50cents each-I keep wearing mine out.

I got William a few things-lots of bibs and some little outfits like...

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Marks and Spencer red striped 2 set"][/caption]

...for AUD3. And a couple of Wondersuits...

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Wondersuits"][/caption]

...for a dollar each.

I also picked up 2 metres of a lovely winter weight wool twill.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption=" Twill fabric"][/caption]

I'm in the middle of cutting it out for a skirt. I've decided to make another Vogue 8426-inspired skirt.

When I came home later that day, I had this given to me.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="My Little Wyld Man's card for me"][/caption]

He'd even signed it!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Signed by William"][/caption]

Isn't it the cutest little scribble ever?

And this was his and daddy's present to me.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="365 Day Cookbook"][/caption]

A friend on Facebook reminded me of how blessed I was to have my very own knight and prince.*Sigh*. Happy.

Vogue Skirt-Check.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Vogue 8246"][/caption]

I've spent the last 3 days making that Vogue 8426 -inspired skirt I blogged about on the previous post and took pictures today. From the start to finish, I told myself that it was going to be a mock-up/test garment/muslin instead of the real thing in order to test the fit of my drafting, and then to later make other versions of it if it was successful. However, I also wanted to make it a wearable muslin. I was quite determined to use fabric from my stash, and only to buy little incidentals like zippers if absolutely necessary. The path to the  end was frought with mishaps, with me miscutting the front centre piece NOT on the fold, and having to piece another bit of fabric to make up for it, then I discovered a hole in the skirt fabric, then after that, I couldnt' insert the lapped zipper properly. Also, this was my first time inserting corded piping, so the results aren't as uniform as it should be.

After reading about SewVeryPrairies' skirt here, I thought and thought about how to draft the skirt. The front of the skirt was quite easy to draft. It was the back which had me puzzled for a bit. The bum-hugging shaping of the back of skirt has to be built into the 3 seams at the back, which ends in inverted pleats. This was what I came up with.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="321" caption="drafts and doodles..."][/caption]

It was quite successful-although for the skirt to hug the bum even more, I'd have to curve in the seams even more inwards. But I'm quite happy with my skirt as it is.

The materials I used were a dark grey crepe material, a silvery rayon? fabric, and bemberg lining.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Fabrics"][/caption]

Here are the pattern pieces laid out on fashion fabric ready to be all cut out.

Ready to cut.

I wanted my skirt to have piping details in the lower waist seams and on the side, but didn't want to buy ready made piping-so I made my own. I started by cutting 1-inch wide bias strips with the grey fashion fabric.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Bias strips"][/caption]

Instead of buying cord for the piping, I used some regular knitting yarn.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Knitting yarn."][/caption]

I used a zipper foot to sew the yarn into the piping.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Handmade corded piping"][/caption]

I was too lazy to take pictures of the process in between. But here are the photos of the finished project.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301" caption="Front view"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301" caption="Back View"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301" caption="Side View"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="301" caption="Closeup"][/caption]

The whole project cost me nothing-I used everything out of my stash, most of which came from opshops.

Not too bad for a mock-up. I'll be making more soon.

My little man was very good-he just smiled at me from his little rocker as I hammer away on my sewing machine. How lucky am I?

Pencil Skirt-Vogue 8426

I have an itch to scratch. I want to sew. Want. Want. Want. I want need more winter skirts. Skirts in sturdy, thick tweeds and houndstooth. Pencil skirts. Skirts like these.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="320" caption="Gray high waisted pencil skirt"][/caption]

But I started having serious skirt envy when I saw this.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="516" caption="Back view"]Vogue 8426 by Sew Very Prairie

White Polkadot Wrap Shirt Refashion

Some time ago I bought a size 12 Marco Polo white wraparound polkadot shirt at a flea market for $5. I didn't try it on, but I love love love polkadots and thought that size 12 should be okay on me. However, whenever I thought to wear it somewhere, it just never looked right on me. It wasn't THAT big, but it didn't fit very well on me. I offered it to a friend, thinking it would be a bit of a shame to cut it up-but she didn't think it was her style. So, I thought, what the heck-I'll just refashion it. I've had it for more than 6 months and never wore it nor done anything to it because, well, it was really pretty by itself. I was afraid of mucking up something.Now if I did something at last,  at least I'd wear it.

This is what it looks like before.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="The Polkadot Wraparound Shirt"][/caption]

It makes me think of a nurse's uniform somehow. The bow would never sit right and it felt that the sleeves were an awkward length on me.

I decided to recut the whole shirt to fit me better- at the sleeves and armholes, and at the side seams. And as in my other two refashions, to cut off the midsection and substitute with black stretch knit.

I cut off the midsection first-just folded the shirt in half and eyeballed it. I didn't really measure anything this time. I pinned the wrap fronts together before I started cutting.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Cutting off the midsection"][/caption]

Next, I unpicked the side seams and the armhole seams and removed the sleeves.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="The unpicked shirt"][/caption]

To recut the armholes and the sleeves, I use my existing personal patterns as a guide to cut around.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="My newspaper patterns"][/caption]

I wanted short sleeves with a black binding with tiny pleats built into it.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="My new cut sleeves"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Plain ol' bias binding"][/caption]

I was so absorbed in making the sleeves I forgot to document the process. What you see next is the finished sleeve.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="I love bias binding"][/caption]

I love the new sleeve. It looks so much younger, instead of 3/4 length sleeves.

Here's another view of the sleeve. I really like my sleeve. Can you tell?

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Another view of the sleeve"][/caption]

Coming back to the missing midsection. I cut out 2 separate pieces of black stretch knit in a vaguely waist-like shape, the front piece one inch wider than the back, the total measurement, about 3/4 my waist measurement.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="The missing midsection"][/caption]

I overlocked the side seams together, forming a tube. Then I joined it to the main garment, right sides together.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="Pinning the two pieces together at quarterly intervals"][/caption]

Then I hemmed the bottom with a twin needle.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="639" caption="The finished product"][/caption]

Doesn't it look soooo much better? I love the new shirt!