oh my darlin'... ranges!

guys, i've been dying to share this dress with you! i have for ages drooled over the darling range dresses you all have made, but i'm cheap and it's hard for me to buy an expensive pattern and then still have to go buy fabric. i start adding up the costs in my head: pattern... fabric... lining... thread... buttons... then i go buy a simplicity pattern on the cheap and complain about how sucky it is. i really need to be convinced that a $20 pattern will get substantial use before i buy it. since i have so many different versions of this dress floating around in my head, i think it's worth the expense.

that said, a while back julie over at fabric mart contacted me about doing a guest post on their blog—fabric mart fabricistas—if they sent me some fabric. sign me up! she pointed me toward some new rayon fabrics and the darling ranges instantly came to mind. it was a match made in heaven if i do say so myself.

so here she is... new favorite dress! head on over to the fabric mart blog to see my write up there, then come back and see how i made the bodice adjustments!

much discussed over here is how wonky i am proportioned. i'm 5'8" which is certainly taller than average. in fact i have four sisters who are all 2-5" shorter than me. however, most of my height is in my legs making it so that i'm rather petite on top. i have a high bust, spindly arms, and have always had trouble finding necklines that aren't indecent and armholes that don't gape wide open. side boob is just not a classy look for me. i've finally come to the conclusion that, more often than not, i need to do a petite adjustment above the bust, then re-add the length under the bust. if you happen to need a similar adjustment, it's very easy to do. here's how...

pick a point above the bust (about 1/3 the way up the armscye) and fold out the amount you need to shorten by all the way around (i took out 3/4").

obviously this is a not-to-scale drawing

then, smooth out the armscye curve and you're good to go!

once i pinned out the room and tried the bodice back on it just fit and felt right; the neckline hit in a good place, the darts were in the right place, the arm hole wasn't gaping. success! a few tweaks here and there, okay a lot of tweaks... and i had a bodice i was happy with. i decided to leave this fitted but still everyday comfortable. i left off the back ties and added darts, and i lengthened the bodice to hit my high waist. mostly i'll wear the dress belted so i left about 2" of ease at the waist. i did add lining to the skirt portion; since the fabric has a white background i didn't think i could get away without it on a sunny day.

i am loving how this dress came out and i have ideas for a few more... sleeveless, short sleeved, scoop-necked... i really need to get more megan nielson patterns!

—lisa g.

tiramisu success!

thanks a million for all the helpful suggestions on my plea for help last week! i suppose i was having a mini sewing-related meltdown... i know you all are above such, yes? no?! ha! anyways, i really appreciate the feedback. seriously, you sewing peeps are the best.

and, as if you didn't know... photographing a black dress is super duper hard!!!

so here's what i decided to do: even though my pattern printed off-scale at 7/8" for every 1" (i believe that's 12% smaller, fyi) i went with the size i measured (bodice 30 C). now, i'm not a C cup, but all the information i found led me to believe that i should go with my measurement and not my usual cup size. that said, i probably could have gone with a 30 B. for the midriff and skirt i chose the waist size 30 and cut the length one size up. i'm definitely taller than the target size. instead of sewing at the drafted 1/2" SA i serged most of my seams with a 3/8" SA. for reference, my measurements are as follows...

high: 32
full: 33.5
under: 30
waist: 29

the only changes i made to the pattern itself were to eliminate the neckline and sleeve bands. i have nothing against the bands, but for this i wanted a slightly dressier look. i added 1/2" to the neckline to compensate for the bands, then serged clear elastic to the edge from the wrong side, then turned and topstitched the edge. i really like how this worked; it gave me a very fast clean finish. for the sleeve hem i turned it in 1/2" and hemmed before sewing up the side seams.

the bodice fit pretty well without too much fiddling. i didn't crossover the neckline as much as the pattern calls for (my CF notches are about 1" apart) because it looked so closed up on me. actually my only real disappointment with this pattern (which may not be the pattern's fault) is that the neckline is too small to lay flat around my neck. i could (and may) widen the neckline slightly to eliminate the wrinkling i'm getting, but i'm going to wear the dress a bit before i go in and perform surgery on it.

this pattern has you cut the entire bodice and skirt on the bias, but since i was using a solid color i decided to cut the bodice on the straight (placing the back piece on the fold to eliminate the back seam). based on everyone's suggestions i left the skirt bias cut. i'm not entirely convinced that cutting the skirt on the bias is necessary to get the nice drape since this is a knit, but i think in the end it helped save on fabric. i had two yards of this fabric which, after washing, was much, much less. i don't think i could have cut both skirt pieces and the back bodice on the fold.

over-exposed pic to show detail

i decided to leave off the pockets partially out of laziness, but mostly because the only things i stash in my pockets are kleenex, not good with black fabric; and my iphone, which would be too heavy and pull at the skirt funny. i do kind of wish i had a place to stash my hands though, i never know what to do with them when i'm not holding a child.

ditto

i wish i could comment more on the actual pattern sizing, but i do know i would have ended up taking this dress in quite a bit. the pattern recommends sizing down for a snug fit and that is basically what my mis-printed pattern gave me. in fact, i think the printing mishap ended up saving me a lot of unpicking and resewing. so i guess that's a win!

my final thoughts: i can really appreciate what steph is doing with cake patterns. the whole multi-sized bodice thing is a fantastic idea and i think she's really on to something. that said, i just don't feel the need to fiddle so much with the sizing on a knit pattern. there is a lot of ease built into this dress and i wonder if that just causes more problems than it solves. however i look forward to seeing how her business and patterns evolve; obviously this pattern has been a breakaway hit, and there is no doubt that i really, really love this dress! it checks all the boxes of wardrobe staple, versatile, comfortable, everyday wearable, works with a cardigan... i could go on. i do want to make a stripy version to take advantage of the cheveron effect of the skirt and bodice... in fact this was such a quick dress to sew up i have no doubt that i'll be making more!

—lisa g.

mad for plaid

i definitely struggled with this dress more than i thought i would, but it all worked out in the end. i chose mccalls 5927 because of the simple lines in the bodice and plain but not too plain skirt. let's face it—i'm a sucker for pleats and pockets. i mentioned before that i'm trying to work out a fitted bodice pattern or sloper that i can have on hand. after a few adjustments i think i've come pretty close with this one. the pattern came with several different bodice pieces based on bust size. i thought this would be super helpful in getting to my target shape a little faster. unfortunately, they treat both A and B cup sizes as one. not so helpful. past experience has shown me that i need a 1 1/2" dart intake. this bodice has a 2 1/2" intake so i was able to immediately spot and adjust this.

i had just read through the palmer/pletch "fit for real people" and one very good point of advice they give is to pick your bodice size based on your upper bust measurement, then adjust as necessary to fit your waist. in retrospect, i should have been able to figure this out myself. i quite often stared and stared at those bodice cutting lines because my bust lands me a much smaller size than my waist. then, even though i'm 5'8", i usually need to do a petite adjustment (taken out above the bust) then add the removed length back in under the bust. then for your lower half you should pick a size based on your hip measurement and adjust the waist to fit. totally obvious, but still a lightbulb moment for me.

i love my plaid fabric, and a darted bodice is really nice for not disrupting the pattern as much as a princess seamed bodice would. however, if you're working with a stripe or plaid, the waist dart can make the lines go all jagged in a soul-crushing sort of way. OCD much? guilty. but not to despair... there is a super easy way to fix this.

draw a line through the middle of your dart. then, pivot the dart as necessary to make the center line run parallel to CF. now when you stitch your dart, the plaid/checks/stripes will match up and chevron at the dart seam. genius, i know. now, if your skirt has a match point that is supposed to line up with the dart (pleats or front darts), keep in mind you'll have to adjust that as well.

on the left: original dart placement
on the right: dart pivoted so the center is parallel to CF

because i was using this squishy, comfy, cozy flannel, i chose to leave the bodice unlined. which is ironic because i usually end up adding linings to dresses and then griping about the fact that the pattern doesn't include lining instructions. if you've never lined a dress before and/or fear the very idea of lining a dress, rest assuraed. this pattern has directions for a FULL lining. even the sleeves. which seems kinda weird, but there you have it. this flannel has a sort of natural stretch and it's quite thick. all in all, it feels really nice against my skin and has enough movement to be super comfortable. the only reason why i lined the skirt was so i could wear tights. this is obviously a winter dress and tights are a must. i used a bemberg rayon and it's perfectly slidable. no crazy ride ups!

since i didn't line the bodice i drafted a facing. i know some people avoid facings like the plague but i happen think they're great for a clean neckline finish. since this fabric has a tendency to stretch funny and get all bent out of shape (it has a twill weave) it also helps to stabilize the neckline and keep it in check.

the only place that really gave me nightmares was the zipper install. an invisible zip was not an option given the thickness of the fabric so i got a standard zip and had intended to do a standard zip install. so you're supposed to baste the opening closed, topstitch around the zipper, then remove the basting. so i basted, pinned the zip in then went to topstitch. but... see that high, narrow neckline? nope. can't get it through a sewing machine when everything is closed up. i tried to go in from the skirt side, but that was so awful and wonky i quit after a couple inches. as usual, i made this far more complicated than necessary, and ended up going for a lapped zip.

i had only done a lapped zip once before and it seemed really hard and didn't work out. i think i did the zip three times only to eventually rip it out and hand pick it months later. so i never tried it again. but for this dress, a lapped zip was the only remaining option. i ripped out all the stitching i had attempted, un-basted the seam, added some fusible to stabilize the edges, and lapped that zip. and it went in perfect with my first try. go figure.

i don't often do a narrow skirt but thought it would be a nice departure from my more pouffy gathered dresses. the skirt is slightly off in fit, i could use another inch of ease in the backside. but who's counting? i already let out the side and back seams as much as i possibly could. rookie mistake... i didn't check the pattern's finished hip measurement. oops. i think i've determined though, that my hips aren't that wide, just le booty. things you don't learn from making gathered skirts, huh.

i think i need to raise the back neckline
and/or add a back neck dart to fix the gaping.
that would be my "not impressed" face

so there's my long-winded final analysis of this dress. my only real gripe is that for this large scale plaid i should have gone with a pattern without a waist seam; unless i'm wearing a belt it just looks funny. that and i could totally stand narrowing the sleeves a touch, they're slightly boxy but... next time, right?

—lisa g.

a few thoughts on fitting

i had wanted to muslin and tweak and muslin again for my plaid dress, but time slowly got away from me so i had to streamline the process a bit. i had just picked up a copy of the palmer/pletsch "fit for real people" which goes to great lengths showing all sorts of possible fitting problems and how to tweak them out. now, you know when you have a rash or some weird ailment that you are just sure is a sign of something worse? then you google the heck out of it and come up with all sorts of possible deadly diseases and you're convinced that you are officially knocking at death's door? that's kind of what this book does to you. it's a little overwhelming and quite honestly, might be the cause of so many sewists over-fitting.

not to discredit the info, but it can be a bit much. and lest the sewing gods strike me down right here and now, i should clarify: i'm all about making clothes that fit. in fact that's what has fueled my sewing. i know i simply do not fit one size from top to bottom and unless it's good quality RTW (i.e. the kind i can not afford), it's difficult to make your own alterations. if i want a fitted dress, i'm gonna have to make it myself. but, i also need to remember to leave some breathing room and not reject a make simply because maybe i should have done this or that alteration. sometimes good enough really is good enough.

[steps off soapbox]

at any rate, these gals came up with the whole "tissue fitting" idea, so i gave it a half hearted try. i don't have a fitting buddy, and i'm not enrolled in any sewing classes, so an accurate tissue fitting is pretty difficult to do by myself. it did cue me in that perhaps my sleeve fitting problems are simply due to the dreaded "forward shoulder." curse not having good posture all my life! thankfully, this is a super easy adjustment to make, and one i will be making from now on. after tissue fitting and making several flat pattern alterations, i made up an actual muslin. turns out (other than the forward shoulder thing) i made a few too many "fixes," solvable by tracing out a new size. yes, tracing. cuz i do that now.

so, when i declared to all the interwebs that i was going to make a plaid dress and it was going to be awesome, that clearly came from someone who had never in fact done plaid. the envelopes always warn you to buy extra yardage for plaid-matching. did i heed the warning? no. no, i did not. in my defence, it's in tiny print.

i spent a full hour with my fabric on my dining room cutting table puzzling out how to arrange things when i finally traced off an extra copy of each pattern piece so i could arrange and cut the entire thing as one layer. then i went back to the cutting table and spent another two or three hours arranging and matching plaids. i was determined to get this to work! ultimately i found a way with minimal compromise. initially i had the fat black stripe going down CF, but i shifted things slightly and really, it's for the better. this is one of those uneven plaids so it isn't symmetrical anyways. ultimately, that works out in my favor so it's less obvious when something isn't perfect.

to make myself feel better, i kept referring back to some online pics with way less than perfect plaid matching. that they are selling for money. i would never in my life pay for such poor matching! sewing snob? guilty!

see that? one quarter of the fabric is upside down.

things aren't much better here either. look at that skirt! shameful.

[these are from modcloth.com. i seem to have lost the direct link if you're

looking to buy a plaid dress that is poorly constructed.]

but really to top it all off, the twill weave of this fabric caused it to constantly pull off grain. not only were my pieces butted up against each other for cutting, but the whole thing kept shifting. i kept stretching and pulling, then quickly cutting my pieces before it twisted again. all in all, this dress was not the quick make i thought it would be. i had wanted to finish it before thanksgiving, but alas it was not to be. which was okay. i was able to put it aside and come back to it without a deadline. and... it might actually be finished now. and... it might actually be pretty awesome. but more on that later.

—lisa g.

knit maxi dress

someday i may win an award for super clever blog post titles. heh... or not.

ALL SUMMER all i wanted was a nice easy maxi dress. mcalls 6559 to be specific. it's just a simple tank dress, but i was forever set back by poor online fabric choices. the fabrics were fine, just to be clear, but i would order one and inevitably it was not right for this project... too thin, too stretchy or just not the right print for a garment that covers 90% of me.

then finally on a complete whim i ordered this giant granny floral from girlcharlee.com. i heart them lots. seriously awesome and affordable fabrics over there. it was my last shot at finding the right fabric for the maxi i just needed to have.

fortunately the print was perfect! but again the fabric with the cream background was a bit thin and see through, so this time i decided to add a partial lining and call it a day. evidently finding solid cream colored lightweight knit is hard. and expensive. my shell fabric was $5/yd. my lining, $13/yd. grrrr..... whatevs.

i realize this is summer's end so most likely anyone who was going to make a knit maxi dress has already in fact done that. however, i also think this is a good transitional dress. i can easily layer it up with a jacket or add a sweater and belt.

so here's the nitty gritty...

this pattern has two lengths, so i cut the lining to the shorter length, sewed the shell and lining separately then layered them and attached the bindings. i cut the binding from the lining material so i would have a solid colored binding. the lining is slightly darker than the shell fabric, but close enough that i wasn't gonna sweat it.

i happened to notice the pattern layout for this and it instructs you to cut this on the cross grain. as in, having the stretch go up and down instead of side to side. whaaaaat? after a few minutes of that doesn't really make sense... i went with my gut and cut it on grain. lo and behold it worked out. i graded from a 6 up top out to a 12 at the hip and down and i am very happy with the fit. the neckline is a bit low and if i'm being picky i have a little bunching at my lower back. not sure there's really anything i could do about that, although i discovered a nifty swayback adjustment for this type of cut over on pattern-scissors-cloth (this is a long post on the topic, make sure you read all the way to the end!). i'll probably try that out next time. 

as always, i have to deviate from the directions somewhere and surprise surprise, i went my own way on the bindings. the pattern has you just turn the seam allowance twice and top stitch. not gonna happen. i cut off the seam allowances, cut strips of binding and serged them (on my widest setting, about 3/8") to the outside. then using the serged edge as a guide, simply turned the binding to the inside and topstitched it with my twin needle from the outside. worked like a charm! i may do a little write up on how to do this at some point, there is a knit wrap dress in my future i plan to revisit this technique on...

i love how this dress turned out. i'm pretty leery of any dress without a defined waist, but you just can't beat the ease and versatility of this look. you could easily knock this pattern out in an afternoon, or even use it to make a basic tank top—racer back or not (it has both options). heck, you can even put a giant star on your hip. i chose to do the racer back and solid colored bindings to contrast against the giant floral print. i feel like this combo is a little less expected. i've worn it several times and will definitely revisit this pattern. it even has a little tie cardigan pattern that i might make sometime. all in all this is a great little pattern to have in your stash!

—lisa g.

a shirred dress of my own

last time i showed you how to insert a shirred panel in a dress. i modified mccalls 5838 and made different versions for two of my daughters. i loved how these came out so much...

that i had to make one for myself! i really loved the silhouette of the bridesmaid dresses (new look 6776) i made earlier this summer and decided to use the same pattern in a different view for a shirred back summer dress. in gingham.

pockets!

i love this dress so much... words cannot express.

so after my first shirring experience, i made slight changes to this. i inserted 1/4" elastic at the top of the panel and at the bottom, out of the way of the waist SA. this worked out a little better than zig zagging in the skirt SA. i threaded the elastic through and secured it at the ends when i sewed down the sides of the panel (see my last post).

worked like a charm! in future dresses i would probably either shirr the entire back or insert a size zip. as is, it's a little bit of a struggle to get the dress on and off. but once it's on, it's completely comfortable!

i cut the slide thingies off a cami and made the straps adjustable

i basically just guessed how much of the back i wanted shirred, and went with about half the back width, centered obviously. after some test scraps, i determined that 5" of material would shirr down to about 3.25". from there it's a simple ratio math problem: take the desired finished width times 5 then divided by 3.25. then add about 1.25" in width for a 5/8" SA.

this worked for a medium weight material with a very light lining. if you do this, make up a small test on scraps first.

i love this dress so much i need to find a way to wear it into early fall.

jean jacket and boots? oh yeah, that'll do.

—lisa g.

inserting a shirred back panel

i know summer sewing is winding up, but i recently became addicted to shirring and wanted to show you how i incorporated it into dresses for two of my girls recently. it turns out, adding a shirred panel to the back of a dress is pretty easy.

here's a pictorial (with poor lighting... sorry. one day i'll remedy this situation.)

i have cut the panel to be shirred out of the shell and
lining, stitched and understitched at the top

sew rows of shirring at 1/4-1/2" intervals

stitch down each side, back stitching several times over each elastic

finish the raw edges and snip the extra threads

i have the rest of the bodice sewn, however you could
just have the back side panels by themselves

pin shirring to bodice shell, lining up the top edges

pull the lining over the shirred panel, pin and stitch

trim and snip the top corner

pull the shirred panel out, turning the bodice right side out

repeat on other side

attach the skirt and finish the waist seam allowance

sew narrow elastic to the skirt seam allowance

back stitch both ends to secure

no more wavy edge

hidden waist elastic

all done!

i should note, you can also make a casing at the lower edge of the shirred panel to feed elastic through instead of zig-zagging in the seam allowance. the kids dresses turned out great. so great that i decided i needed to make something similar for myself. i'll show all the finished dresses in another post because this one has enough pics as it is!

BIG NEWS!!!

okay, not really. but i just want to put this out there. i will be making a winter coat this year. i was chatting with my lovely sister who also sews and i mentioned that i need a new coat and really want to sew one this year. she mentioned that she also would like to make one and i said she and i can have a little sew-a-long to help each other through it. then i figured, why not take this public? i don't plan to offer expert advise (because i have none) but i thought if anyone else out there is sewing up a winter coat, we can all hold hands and do this together!

i don't plan to start this project until late-ish september and probably have a finished coat by mid-ish october. so if anyone is inspired to join in, i thought i'd put this out there plenty early. so there you have it. a winter coat not-quite-sew-a-long! feel free to spread the message on your own blogs, i completely welcome the advice and knowledge of those who have already ventured into coat-making territory!

—lisa g.