New Look 6723.... success!

I have completed my wallpaper dress!

I learnt lots of things whilst making this dress, one of which being it doesn't matter how careful you are at measuring, you can still end up with a dress that's about 2 inches too big for you. I will take a note of this and (probably) end up making this in a size smaller next time. I think I've seen bloggers mention this problem before, have you encountered anything like this?

I'm still really happy with it though, I like the casual element that the slightly bigger size gives. But I'll try and make a smaller one next time, to see if I like that aswell.

In the picture to the left you can see me taking advantage of the pockets that I added to the pattern (all dresses/skirts should have pockets).

In these pictures you can see the shared garden in our Edinburgh flat... and the light disappearing from it even though it's only 1pm in the afternoon. I'm going to really miss this outdoor space, but I'm not going to miss that it loses light so early in the day! Hopefully I'll have a garden all of my own in our new house

  

Overall I'd say this pattern is easy enough to make, the instructions are clear, and there are no confusing extra steps to trip you up. However, it annoyed me that it didn't come out the size that it said it would, so it loses points on that score!

If you'd like one that might be a little more accurate, this pattern looks quite similar to the Peony from Colette patterns. There is a project on at the moment called a Sewalong, which you can join in to make your very own Peony, bloggers will take you through the process step by step and everyone can add in hints and tips for making this dress the perfect fit. I had already started my dress, so have missed out on the chance, but if you want to give it a go, click on the logo at the bottom of the page to have a look. Happy Sewing!

Deborah

New Look 6723... and my stupidest mistake so far

So! My first attempt at making a dress for about three years, and I'm making it from a pattern, and due to the success of my pencil skirt I am once again following the instructions.

The first thing I had to do was make an adjustment to the dress pattern. From my measurements I was a size 18 hip and waist, and a 16 top.

I'd like to mention here something that I'm sure people know but I want to put my two pence in. You have to measure yourself and use these measurements to choose your dress size. I'm usually a size 12 in dresses, and have fallen into the trap before of just going for it and making this size... only to find it is then three sizes too small. This is much more depressing than measuring your body, and matching this to the (clearly mental) sizings on the pattern packet. Do not be depressed! You have not put on 6 stone since you got up this morning, the pattern people just live in a strange bubble of sizing. So... rant over.

Back to the point, to match up the pattern pieces I just drew a line after the waist point, following the curve of the pattern piece as much as possible, starting from the size 16 line and ending on the size 18.


First to the mistake... I cut out my skirt pieces (the biggest bits of all) upside down! This was kind of irretrievable, I cut out new pieces in the end and had to buy more (stupidly expensive for my first go at this dress) material. I then cut out as many pieces from what I had left as possible, being a bit haphazard with the pattern, but at least not upside down. The next day when I cut out the skirt, I went back and started thinking again and doing things properly. I started by lying out everything I had on the floor to see where I was up to, how it was going to look etc. I recut my skirt pieces, matching up the pattern to the top piece (which the pic above does not do... I was going to attempt to use the back as the front... the pattern was far too higgledy piggledy). And then cut out my lining pieces. Everything was going to be ok!

Because of the trauma so far on this dress, I decided not to take any chances on the sleeve (which I've never done before... the sleeve, not take chances) so I made a muslin. Which basically means that I cut a sleeve out of cheap fabric, tacked it on to see what it would look like, and how sleeves work without ruining my fabric. This worked really well, as you can see from my pleased face in the picture.

I worked out from this where I wanted the sleeve to finish, as in seeing the sleeve on I thought the 3/4 sleeve might be a bit much with all that pattern. I marked this spot on the muslin and cut out my sleeve pattern pieces accordingly.


This is where I am up to so far! I'm so proud, and cant wait for my next challenge... a lapped zipper! wish me luck!

September Weekend Projects

Working for the Council has some benefits, the best of which is the Midlothian September weekend. I have a four day weekend to play with, and for the first time (probably since we moved up) we don't have visitors!

The original plan was to make a practise version of my wedding dress (above left), but with the prices of fabric up in Edinburgh, and the amount of fabric needed for my first draft pattern V1094, I decided to get a pattern with a little less fabric. So I chose New Look 6723, and a beautiful vintage wallpaper-esque navy blue fabric. I think I need the most practise on the bodice, so went for a basic one to start with, to work my way up. I'll keep you posted with progress on this one.

The project I've first started is a re-working of the orange skirt (in the centre of this picture), when I first bought this skirt it was a number of sizes too big for me. So I did my usual job of taking it apart and adding a couple of pleats. It sort of fit, but having lost a little weight over the summer, it has just become unwearable. So I've gone back to basics, taking all the seams apart, and making the pattern pieces from New Look 6128. I ran out of fabric to do the waistline, so I've added in some dark green and blue tartan as the pocket pieces, adding some contrast. I think it works, but will have to wait and see if I wear it when it's finished.

You've seen a variety of pictures of my flower embroidery, and I'm coming to the end of finishing it. So I bought some teal pom pom trim (my favourite kind of trim) and I'm going to add it to the edge of the pillow/ cushion to make it slightly more cushion looking (hopefully). Also, Im thinking it needs something a little more in the main area of the cushion, feels a litte white to me. I've got some plans for how to fill this in... watch this space!

Obviously I have taken on way more than I can do in this weekend, but it's quite nice to have exciting plans ahead. Ill update you soon with my progress!



Deborah