Give scuba a shot - you will probably LOVE it

Hello! Happy 2017, I know we're are nearly at the end of January, but I'm still in week one somewhere - where has time gone? Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and you had a fun NYE enjoying ALL the cuddles at midnight. I'm here to report on my latest make, and I am VERY excited about it!

A couple of weeks ago the lovely Lucy at Sew Essential contacted me to ask if I would like to sew up one of their patterns with a fabric of my choice. Was there ever a more redundant question?! I merrily headed straight over to their lovely collection of dressmaking fabrics and patterns. Choosing the pairing took some time! I decided to let the fabric drive the pattern choice - I normally operate in this order. I was tempted by a couple of the beautiful woven fabrics, but I decided I wanted to try something a bit different. Then I stumbled across this...

A scuba jersey with this beautiful paint stroke design. I wanted it: an interesting fabric and ALL the colour. SOLD (or not as the case may be!). I've worked with scuba once before for a wedding guest dress for a lovely friend, and I was thrilled with the result.

By Hand London Anna Dress with a dipped hem half circle skirt in a reversible scuba from Fabric Godmother

It has beautiful body, and I love the look of the raw cut hem. Here it is on said lovely friend (beautiful body and all)...

Decision two: the pattern. This was mainly driven by the dress above. The dipped half circle skirt worked so beautifully with a scuba, but I'd been there done that. So this is where the peplum obsession began. I wanted a new dress for work, so a wiggle dress was a strong contender and perfect for a peplum. Several patterns fitted the bill on the Sew Essential website. I wanted a simple darted bodice with sleeves and a straight skirt. I thought if I couldn't find the perfect pattern with a peplum I could draft one just as you would a circle skirt. However, I was in luck I stumbled across Butterick B6087 - it even had a dip shaped peplum!

I decided I wanted to go for the view B bodice with short sleeves, the shaped un-gathered peplum and the view C straight skirt (apparently the view versions are different on the front and the back of the envelope! Anyway, you get the idea).

The last scuba I worked with had a relatively small amount of stretch but a good weight. As I hadn't handled this fabric, I was a little apprehensive to dive straight in. Lucy offered to send me a sample, but I was too impatient to wait, and I threw caution to the wind!

It arrived very quickly, and I was over the moon. It was beautiful! Lovely and soft against the skin with good structure for that peplum. However, it did have more stretch than I had imagined. This wasn't a particular problem for the dress itself, but it made working out what size to sew a little more difficult. I was planning to cut a pattern size smaller to compensate for the stretch, but I needed confirmation. Why worry when you have such wonderful women at you fingertips for advice? I turned to Instagram.

I measured the pattern pieces to get an idea of the built in ease and settled on a size 8. I should have been patient and waited for Sew.Very.Bridget's advice as the dress ended up being enormous! She suggested wrapping the fabric around my bust considering the stretch and fit I desired then comparing that to the pattern pieces. Perfect advice that I will follow from now on when sewing up a stretch fabric with a woven pattern -Thank you, Bridget!

The pattern suggests a lining for the bodice. As I was working with scuba, I decided to draft a facing to reduce bulk in the bodice.

I sewed up the shoulder seams, the facing, and the side seams before pinning it along the back seam at S/A and squeezed it over my head. It was huge!  I could pinch a good 1.5'' S/A either side at the back! I should have waited for Bridget and taken into account the amount of stretch in the fabric as well as the ease in the pattern before cutting. I unpicked the side seams and re-sewed them to redistribute the excess on either side and at the CB.

I figured I would have similar problems with the skirt, so I went straight in and matched the S/A to the bodice side seams. This worked perfectly.

Next for the sleeves. I measured the sleeve ease by walking it around the bodice armhole using a pin. I knew I wanted a sleeve that sat perfectly flush with my skin, so the ease had to go. Just as in the bodice and skirt, the built in ease for a woven pattern to allow movement just isn't required with a stretch fabric. I went ahead and removed that ease using the techniques I learnt at a pattern drafting class at Bath College last year. It has been so useful I thought I'd share a summary below. You can use either or both techniques depending on your requirements to add or remove ease in the sleeve head.

I then moved on to that dreamy shaped peplum. I cut it out very carefully as I knew I wanted to keep the raw edge un-hemmed. I increased the S/A as I had for the bodice and skirt. Other than that it came together quickly and it hung beautifully!

Instead of inserting a zip I sewed the dress together along the CB seam. The joy of stretch! I finished all the seams inside in yellow on my overlocker. I left the peplum and sleeve hems raw, and I hand stitched the CB hems of the peplum and the skirt hem. I would have left the skirt hem raw too, but I was typically indecisive about hem length. Un-hemmed, the skirt hit me around mid-calf. I loved this look but only with heels, and realistically this is not how I will wear this dress for the majority of the time! Boots or small heels will dominate, and when you are only 5ft, I had to hand stitch the hem in place so it hit just above the knee. I do like that I have the option to bring it down if I change my mind (or suddenly grow!).

I realised after I'd done it that I'd normally leave the facing free and stitch to the seam allowance from the inside by hand - don't do it the way I've done it in the photo! 

All in all the dress only took me a couple of hours to sew after I'd done with all the umming and ahhing about the sizing. I love the finished dress - I've worn it twice to work this week, and I plan to wear it out for dinner for my Dad's birthday this weekend.

My confidence sewing with stretch fabric is growing. But those pesky machine hems still seem to cause me the most gyp... cue daydreaming about owning a Coverstitch machine! I stumbled across this beauty on the Sew Essential's website when I was browsing fabric. I can feel my other half rolling his eyes as I type this. One day... I'll have to find a bigger flat first!

Thank you again to the lovely Lucy at Sew Essential for the beautiful fabric and pattern - I love my new dress!

Lots of love to you all x

Who needs a christmas tree when you have embroidered tulle?!

While browsing the rag market at SewBrum in September, I spotted a gorgeous length of embroidered tulle at one of the stalls. It was a pale gold/green tulle with a gold Paisley design and little pink and gold flowers. I held it up to the light, and as it shimmered, I tried to stop myself imagining myself gleefully twirling in it. With all the restraint I could muster, I pulled myself away. We live in a small one bed flat in Bath, and 80% of 'our space' is piled high with silks, brocades and bold African wax. My goal for the SewBrum fabric trip was to make slightly more conservative choices for an attempt at a more everyday wardrobe... Pah! Who am I kidding?!!! I'm like moth to the flame - I CANNOT STOP MYSELF! I need to come to terms with the fact that I will ALWAYS be A LOT overdressed. As for the space issue, we'll just have to move! After a debriefing with Pecia and Becca I made my way back to the stall and joyfully handed over my £12 for the 2m length! It was mine!

Along with this little lot... such a practical bounty! I'm like a magpie.

It sat in my stash for over a month before the perfect occasion presented itself... the Fold line Christmas party. If you can't be overdressed with a group of sewists then when can you?! I found this perfect gold lining fabric in my stash. It was a gift from my chap's Dad, and the embroidery looked beautiful over it.

After a quick browse through my pattern stash, I selected the Elisalex dress. This was the first dress I ever made, so I am very fond of it. I imagined the princess seams with a box pleat skirt - beautiful! I fancied sewing a pattern I knew like the back of my hand but with the slight challenge of underlining in the gold lining I was in for a blissful day! I drafted a quick short sleeve to fit the armhole instead of using the original pattern sleeve (I cannot wait to get my hands on the updated version of this pattern - the By Hand London girls have reworked their magic with this beauty!). I wanted the sleeve and the bottom section of the skirt to be sheer over the skin, so I decided I would just underline the bodice and use a free lining in the skirt to cover my modesty! There was only a metre of the gold lining so I had to be very strategic with the pattern pieces. I squeezed out a half circle skirt as a lining that was perhaps a little shorter than I would have liked (it is a good job I'm a midget!).

I played around with the pattern placement to get the paisley repeat running perfectly down the middle and to avoid any awkward positioning! I cut the underling first then used it to cut the tulle.

Even my slippers are ridiculous!

 I basted the main pieces and the underlining together before constructing the bodice as usual.

This was one of my most enjoyable sewing sessions to date. Seriously, I was squealing with glee!

I lined the bodice with a piece of beautiful blush silk gifted to me by the wonderful Julia.

I tend to buy 22" zips in bulk in several colours from Weaver Dee. I then cut them to size. After a zip disaster last New Year's Eve (I pulled the zipper off the bottom of the zip after I'd sewn it in hours before the party - cue Dave to the rescue! Does your significant other have to run to the rescue when things go horribly wrong too?) I always cover the bottom of the zip immediately after I shorten it. Functional and beautiful!

In hindsight, a lapped zip would have been the better choice, but it was a Sunday, and I was dying to get her finished for the party the following weekend. The invisible zipper gets a little stuck at the waist seam but otherwise isn't too much of a problem.

The rest of the dress came together beautifully, with much gleeful exclamation from me! Such a joyful sew - I love sewing something that you could never in your wildest dreams afford to buy ready made!

I hemmed the skirt with some pale pink cotton bias binding from my Grandma's notion stash. I hand stitched it in place to get a flawless finish.

I cut the main skirt so the finished edge of the fabric formed the hem, that way I could make the most of the beautiful embroidery and there was no need to finish it myself!

My dress form sits in the only space we could realistically have a Christmas tree. Therefore this year, she was the Christmas tree!

Far more beautiful than a christmas tree in my eyes! 

Anyway, here she is on...

I wore her to the Fold Line Party earlier on in the month (you can watch Gabby's video of the event here); to town on christmas eve and all day on Christmas day with my family!

Totally casual with a jumper right?!

I never want to look away- so shiny!

I'm yet to wear her to Morrisons - but I assure you, it will happen! I'll be spinning in the fruit aisle like...

Many thanks to Mini_adventure, Akathimberlina, Lady Sewalot and RedwSews for encouraging me to buy the fabric, and of course to Max and Julia for the lining fabrics!

I hope you all had a wonderful christmas and wishing you all a very happy new year!

Lots of love,

Vic xx

Finally.... The bridesmaid dresses!

Following on from my last post......

With the Bride sorted it was time to think about the other ladies in the bridal party. We deliberated for a long time about colour and style. I advised a heavy crepe for beautiful, dramatic drape, but the colour was a problem! We started with prints, then to corals then full circle to navy blue (after a consultation with the Mother and Grandma of the Bride!). As you know, I am a colour lover through and through, and I have to admit I was a little worried about this choice. Sometimes navy can wash people out (well me at least!). However, when the bride turned up with the fabric at my door, it wiped all worries away. It was such a rich navy with a beautiful shimmer and paired with bright colours I knew it would look gorgeous! The ambition of colour was achieved.....

The wedding accessories. Flowers and hair piece by Roots Florel Designs. Bags and confetti by me! 

Photo Credit: Alex Dunderdale.

Next, the design. We turned to the other girls. I gave them a choice from 4 By Hand London patterns - the Anna, the Kim, the Flora and the Elisalex (P.S have you seen they have 25% off all pattern this weekend?!).  I, of course, chose my beloved Anna, another followed suit (after a little persuasion!) and the other girls wanted the Flora wrap bodice. All perfect choices for our beautiful drapey fabric. As the bridesmaids were dotted all over the country and one in France (!) I knew I would realistically only have one chance for an in-person fitting. I sewed up some toiles after the girls had sent over their measurements and popped them in the post for a Skype fitting.

All looked okay at this point so I tweaked the toiles a little and took them for their in-person fitting at the Hen do (you can read about the crafting I did for the hen do here).  The Anna fitted like a dream, but the dart positions on the wrap Flora were out on both girls. Once I was home I tried on the toiles myself and noted similar problems so I hoped if I fitted it to myself they would fit! With a little feedback from Elisalex and a little experimentation, I soon had a good fit (on me at least!). I moved the waist dart by 1" towards CF and widened the the bust dart. I then held my breath and cut into the beautiful lining (Regent Street from Moda available here).  I stabilised the neckline with some twill tape as suggested on the By Hand London sew along. This worked a dream at preventing any unsightly gaping on the big day.

I staggered the dresses, and I made mine first. After I had finished my bodice, I draped some skirt styles around myself. We had discussed a knee length skirt but at this point I thought the dress needed some more drama. So I cut myself a tea length half circle skirt. I tried it on and instantly knew it was the right decision. SO swishy!

After prancing around my living room, I decided I needed to line the skirts. I chose this gorgeous pale pink chiffon from Husqvarna studio in Bath. I let the lining and skirts hang overnight, and I am sure glad I did, just LOOK...

After I had evened out the hem, I used my rolled hem foot to finish the raw edge. Pretty beautiful if I do say myself!

I hand basted the zips before machine stitching. However, I still had some slight unsightly puckering down the back seam. I unpicked, tried stabilising with some light weight interfacing, and even purchased a walking foot. You name it I tried it. I had made it better, but at this point (a week before the wedding!) I decided that no one else would notice - I was right (at least I hope I was)! If anyone has any tips inserting zips into lightweight drapey fabrics (worse on a skirt cut on the bias?!) do let me know!

I hand stitched the bodice lining in place in the Annas and used some matching pale pink bias binding to enclose the waist seam in the Floras. I think this is the only photo I managed to snap of this...

Waiting to be hand finished at the hem.

Now I was ready for my finishing touches. I decided to hand-embroider the girl's names into each of the dresses in a matching pale pink thread.

I hemmed the main skirt using the same matching pink bias binding for a flash of colour as we walked or span.

Showing off to the lady of the moment.

And that was it...

Arriving on the big day with ALL the important dresses.

... or so I thought. 

It was the day before the wedding and the final fitting. I grabbed each of the girls to check the dresses fitted. Lesson learnt ... NEVER do a fitting the day before a wedding. One of the girls had been on holiday and the By Hand London patterns have very little ease! I was worried about the Floras, but they both fit perfectly... it was the Anna (a dream fit I said - Pah!). I needed to unpick the zip, and with no sewing machine, I had to re-sew the zip by hand. I had very little S/A to play with, but thankfully I had overlocked all the seams inside, or I think the bodice would have disintegrated! 

Oh... the stress. Photo Credit: Stu Chaplin.

We did one last fitting before dinner, and the dress would do up... just! I had a rather sleepless night (not due to Maid of honour speech nerves), but by some miracle, it fitted beautifully in the morning - that one sausage for breakfast really paid off eh?! ;) 

Four dresses that fit! Phew!

I had a spot more sewing to do on the morning of the wedding. I sewed a family heirloom into the bride's bouquet for luck.

Then we were ready!

Photography by Jake Baggaley

It was an absolute pleasure to sew these dresses for a wonderful friend on such a beautiful day. I couldn't have asked for better ladies to sew for. Lessons learnt and memories to be cherished. 

Until next time... sending lots of love and giggles,

Vic x

Sewing my Best Friend's Veil.

On the first weekend of September, my Best Friend had a DIY wedding. Everyone chipped in, and it came together so beautifully. Seriously, one of the best days of my life and I spent most of it weeping, laughing or dancing (or all three!). I was given my chance to pull my weight as she asked me to make her Bridesmaid dresses. Of course, I kept my cool and obliged..... PAH, WHO AM I KIDDING??! SEWING FOR MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING.

But first, THE dress. We spent a day trying on dresses on in Bristol, and the Bride ended up falling in love with the very first dress she tried on! The dress had a romantic almost 'Georgian' feel, and she looked absolutely gorgeous in it. Originally she thought she wouldn't like a veil until we tried on a floor length cathedral veil. She looked so timeless I shed a tear (not surprising really, it does happen A LOT). She was converted. The veil she liked was plain and after glancing at the price tag I offered to make her one. It looked relatively simple, and I could save her a lot of money! The most challenging part was sourcing the tulle, and I found this blog post very useful. I knew I wanted something light weight with a beautiful drape but the idea was to save money - so silk tulles were out of the question!

After much deliberation, we ordered some plain Tulle from Joel and Son Fabrics. We went for this nude polyamide tulle to match the underlay of the bride's dress. We ordered 2m at a bargain price of £12.90 a metre. I crossed my fingers and hoped that the colour matched. I was lucky! It had a lovely drape and it hung beautifully too, pretty similar to English net I suspect. I was happy - I'd nailed the tricky bit!

I then simply sewed two lines of gathering stitches along the top of one edge and gathered as evenly as I could.

When I was happy I enclosed the raw edge with a hand stitch, in some satin gold bias binding to keep everything looking beautifully neat. 

I found this comb in my stash and sewed it to the veil by hand.

I waited to cut it to length when I visited for a manicure the day before the wedding. We tried it on with the dress, and I very carefully cut a curved hem just a little longer than the dress train (a little tricky for one so teary eyed!). The groom was prepping food in the kitchen so I had to keep the whimpering to a minimum.

That was it! Here it is in action on the big day...

Photo credit: Jake Baggaley

Photo Credit: David Cornish

More to follow on the Bridesmaid dresses later this week...

To be continued.


Lots of love, as always,

Vic x