A Floral Agnes Dress

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Oh, hello there!

It’s embarrassing how long it took me to write up a post this time! I have to blame a whole new bunch of hobbies for it. I’ve discovered wool spinning and all that comes with it and have spent the last couple months pretty much doing nothing else than handling wool in all shapes and forms. It’s really fun and distracts me from sewing at the moment. I’ve been making all sorts of little projects for the kids in my family, as well. So I’ve been very much involved with all things creative. People ask me all the time how I have the time to do so many things at once and, well, I haven’t. I really have to make time to be able to explore so many creative activities and some things have to get pushed to the bottom of the list. In the last few months it’s been mostly working out (the most likely candidate) and blogging. Preparing a blog post eats up a lot of time and, to be honest, isn’t always the most creative part of the process for me.

Just before discovering the joy of old spindles and raw fibres I finished a couple of really cute outfits which we photographed months ago. One of these was this really lovely jersey dress, which I’ve worn endlessly since then.

pattern: hacked Agnes Top (Tilly and the Buttons), size 10
fabric: 1.5m of printed jersey (gifted)

cost: next to nothing: fabric was gifted, 10cm elastic (1.99€/m), 
matching thread from my stash
duration: ~2 hours

I used the Agnes Top pattern by Tilly and the Buttons and lengthened it into a dress. It’s the third time I made myself an Agnes dress, the other two dresses (here and here) are some of my favourite garments to date. It’s fairly easy to do this freehand. I usually use the Sew Over It Cowl Neck Dress as a base for the skirt part, since I really like the fit and length. As I said, you don’t necessarily need a skirt pattern for this. You could simply drop the hem down to knee-length and curve the side seams a bit following the shape of your thighs. 

An Agnes dress is super comfy, but doesn’t look too slouchy. You can easily dress it up with some heels or dress it down by wearing trainers. It’s also one of my favourite garments to take on holidays, as it’s such an allrounder and fits easily in any bag without creasing. 

I love the feminine shape of the neckline. It’s such a simple, but effective trick to use a short length of elastic to ruche the centre front and turn it from a scoop neck into a pretty v-shape. This technique is included in the pattern booklet and can also be easily applied to other garments. You could also use this trick on other tops you would like to update. Any scoop neck would be perfect for this. The elastic is stitched down with a zigzag stitch, which only takes a minute or two.

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I would really love to get my sewing juices flowing again! I’ve been browsing a bit for new indie sewing patterns and bought a couple Sew Over It dress patterns recently. I would really like to explore other brands as well, since I feel I’ve been missing out on all the latest pattern crazes (Myosotis Dress anyone? I’ve been eyeballing you!).

Do you have any recommendations for patterns and indie pattern designers which I should check out? Please let me know in the comments!

xx

Charlie


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Elephant Print Agnes Dress

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

 

Hey guys, hope you’re all having a fantastic Sunday!

After spending the last couple of weeks mostly sewing for friends and family, I finally could squeeze in a sewing project for myself. I really have to be more selfish with my sewing if I want to keep wearing handmade clothes! I find it really hard to say no to requests and then also I often find myself offering my help. Sounds familiar, anyone? For some reason I can find little joy in sewing for others, especially if there’s no opportunity for a fitting. Putting a lot of work into something not knowing whether it will fit is just not enjoyable to me. (The exception is my nieces, really. Sewing for babies is always fun as fitting is easy and you can just go wild with your fabric choices and use up all your fabric scraps.)

I bought this amazing elephant print jersey on Stoffe.de (myfabrics.co.uk in the UK). I loved the print right away. I wanted to make an Agnes top at first, but had enough fabric left for the dress hack. The last Agnes dress I made has become such a wardrobe staple for me, which can easily be dressed up or down for the occasion, that I had to make another one. It was my husband’s birthday that weekend, and a dress would be much cuter for the party than jeans + top.

As mentioned before, I used the Tilly & The Buttons Agnes Top pattern, which I have sewn and hacked many times before. (Check out my project gallery for all the different versions!) Hacking the top into a dress is really, really simple. I also added 3/4 sleeves and went for the simple scoop neckline, as the print was busy enough.
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

 

As always, the fit of the Agnes pattern is amazing. As the fabric wasn’t as stretchy as I had hoped, it was a little bit tight at first, but stretched out after the first wear. The Agnes pattern is super versatile and so quick to cut out and sew. I wasn’t really lucky with the first bunch of Tilly patterns (especially from her Love At First Stitch book), as I just couldn’t get them to fit right no matter what I tried. But Agnes really makes up for it!

The pattern is perfect for busy prints like my elephant fabric. Although I used this pattern quite a few times before, all the clothes I made with it look so different, that you can’t really tell it’s the same pattern.

Will there be more Agnes’ in the future? Hell, yeah!Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com
Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I’m so happy that spring’s back! The sun is luring me out of the house. Luckily there are enough rainy weekends still, to get some sewing done for the warmer season…

Do you have any recommendations for wardrobe staple patterns? And what are your spring sewing plans?

xx

Charlie


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Two Agnes Tshirts

Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.com

A (slightly late) Happy New Year everyone!
As you might have (not) noticed, I took a little blogging break after Christmas, which was necessary due to being away over the Holidays and starting a new job this month. But now I’m back and filled with an endless amount of sewing mojo!

Too bad I mostly only have the weekends now and the wedding is coming closer, so I am (hopefully) channelling all this energy into making a gorgeous wedding gown. Don’t get too excited, I’ve only just started (shame on me!). I’ve been procrastinating for months and now really have to get going. I’m not yet worried as I work best under pressure. Right now I’m working on the muslin, but this will be a seperate blog post.

Although I won’t have time to sew much else, there will be quite a few garment posts soon. My 2015 me was clever enough to sew and photograph loads of projects before Christmas, so I’ve got some blog posts lined up.

Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comThe two Tilly & The Buttons Agnes tops I’m showing you today were Christmas presents for my bff. So, please ignore the fit! We are similar sizes and shapes but the tops were ultimately made for her and not a perfect fit on me.

I won’t say more about the pattern, because I already told you how much I love it here and here and here.

Adjustments:

These two tops are again variations of the original pattern. As you might have noticed they are not as figure-hugging as the pattern is intended to be. My friend doesn’t like super tight tops although she’s got a gorgeous figure, so I went with quite a common Tshirt silhouette. For this I simply added more ease around the waist. I redrew the side seams so they were more of a straight line starting at the armhole.

Also, I shortened the sleeves and made them a tiny bit wider around the hem. I left the neckline as it was. For the second top I went with the ruched sweetheart neckline.

Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comThe Fabric:

For the first Tshirt I used a slightly heavier cotton knit fabric with a yellow/white/black dots print. My bestie loves dots, but I wasn’t quite sure about the colours and the texture, so I made a second top just to be on the safe side!

This fabric is very soft but quite heavy and reminded me of a cozy warm pyjama. The finished Tshirt looks really cool, though and doesn’t scream pyjama to me. As the fabric was quite thick, I made the simple scooped neckline as I wasn’t sure whether the ruching would work with this fabric.Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comAnyway, I had already bought the second & safe fabric, so I made another one. These tops are so easy and quick to sew, it didn’t even make much of a difference.

This jersey fabric is super thin and very stretchy. It’s cotton, as well, but a much better quality. The ruching at the neckline worked really well on this and I love the result! Too bad I had to give it away!Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comAgnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.com(Ignore the turned up sleeve, I don’t know how to dress myself!)Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Soo, as you can see the Agnes Top works as a simple Tshirt, as well! I can’t stress the versatility of this pattern enough. I’ll probably make even more just for the fun of it. When you have little time, quick sewing projects are so so satisfying!

xx

Charlie


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T&TB Agnes Dress in John Kaldor Jersey

Tilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

HACKING AGNES INTO A DRESS

Hello again!

After reviewing the pattern and showing you my wearable muslin, it’s time to get out the actual project I was working on.

The pattern and fabric used for this project are courtesy of WeaverDee.com. They very kindly offered me to pick some fabric along with a pattern for me to try. (As usual, all opinions are my own.)

I wrote about the pattern, the Agnes Top by TILLY AND THE BUTTONS,  after I made the puff sleeve version as a muslin.

For hacking the pattern into a close-fitting dress, I picked a gorgeous navy blue John Kaldor jersey (92% cotton, 8% elastane). The fabric is very smooth with quite a cool, luxurious feel to it. It didn’t give off any fluff after washing and the colour didn’t fade. It’s quite a dark rich colour, but it was a bit hard to photograph which is why it looks a bit greyish in some pictures. WeaverDee.com also has other beautiful John Kaldor jerseys, the fuchsia and kingfisher ones look soo tempting!

The fabric sewed and pressed really well. When pressing dark jersey fabric you always have to be careful to only press from the left side of the fabric, other wise the bulk of the seam allowance might leave marks on the right side.

Tilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Tilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

PATTERN ADJUSTMENTS & FIT

To make the top into a dress I used my hip measurements and lengthened the top all the way to knee-length shaping in below the hip. I’ve done this to a couple of stretch patterns, so I keep using an older hacked pattern as reference. You can merge any pattern by lining up the bodice and skirt pieces at the waistline. This is the reason why I try to copy all marks when I trace a pattern. You never know when you might need it.

source: http://shop.tillyandthebuttons.com/
source: http://shop.tillyandthebuttons.com/

I made the view with the ruched neckline detail and short sleeves. The original length of the sleeves was a bit short for my taste, so I lengthened them by about 10cm.  I love 3/4 sleeves or sleeves that at least cover the elbow. They are easier to wear in colder and warmer seasons alike and look just so much classier.Tilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comTilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comTilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comThe dress is super comfy and looks great with tights and is also great for layering with a cardi or jumper. That is something you might want to keep in mind if you are planning to make the puff sleeves. They do look quite bulky once you wear a cardigan on top.

The simple silhouette makes this dress a perfect basic for different outfit combinations. The ruched detail is a pretty feature and also adds a really good shape to the bust area. I really like how the neckband is pulled slightly into a v-shape. It makes it look a bit less sporty. It’s not quite the heart-shape as shown on the pattern envelope because the neckband is a bit too bulky to be pulled down that far. But I like this look better anyway.Tilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comTilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.comTilly & the Buttons Agnes Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Will I make it again? I am really happy with this make. It came together in no time (2 hours tops) and is such a great wardrobe staple. I rediscovered jersey dresses this autumn and keep wearing them all the time until they’re all in the wash. I have to say I like the dress best of the all the Agnes’ I made so far (I made four different tops), but that’s just because I am not a jeans and t-shirt kind of type. Jersey is one of the fabrics that gets damaged through use and washing quite quickly, let’s see how this one holds up.  I definitely see myself making tons more (just in case)! 

xx

Charlie


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T&TB Agnes Top with Puff Sleeves

Tilly & the Button Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comTilly & the Button Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.com

MERRY SEWING EVERYONE!

Hello sewing-friends! Hope you’re having a great festive season!
My mum-in-law gave me a handmade (!) sewing (!) advent calender, which is absolutely awesome! Every day I get a new suprise sewing supply, notions or fat quarters of beautiful fabrics. It’s the best gift ever! Too bad it ends on the 24th – it really could go on for ever. It never was so easy to get out of bed in the morning!

But that’s not the only reason why December rocks. Not only do I love getting together with my family so very soon, I am starting a new job in January and until then I’ve got a couple more weeks off. And you know what that means. I am in a total sewing frenzy. I am almost done with finishing handmade Christmas presents, so the selfish sewing IS ON!

This sounds really bad, but it makes me very happy.

I’ve made more garments than I can blog. Maybe I can get around to posting them during the holidays, but I also might be very distracted by Plätzchen and mulled wine and will probably completely forget about it.

Aaaanyway, back to the actual reason why you’re reading this post: I finally gave in and jumped on the Agnes-train, just like all of the other sewing bloggers out there. I don’t know why I hesitated so long. I guess, because the pattern is so very basic and therefore quite expensive. But I don’t mind supporting independent pattern businesses and by now I’ve made 5 different Agnes’ – so the pattern is definitely worth buying!

I often underestimate basic patterns, but when I finally buy them, they often are mind-blowingly good! Basic patterns are easy to sew, to adapt and very time-efficient. Best example is Agnes (or Ultimate Pencil Skirt, Coco, Lottie Blouse etc.): I’ve made five different versions and not two are the same.

Tilly & the Button Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comTilly & the Button Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.com

THE PATTERN & FIT

The pattern is the Agnes Top by TILLY AND THE BUTTONS (courtesy of WeaverDee.com). I made the long-sleeved version with a ruching detail on the puff sleeves.

This is the very first one I made, more or less a muslin, but a very wearable one. I had some fitting issues with Tilly’s patterns in the past, so I decided to make one from inexpensive fabric remnants before cutting into the good fabric. I think I used less than 1 metre of fabric.

I knew from reading other blogs, that the pattern runs quite small. According to the envelope it has quite a bit of negative wearing ease. I didn’t want it to be too tight, so I went with a larger size where the finished garment measurements are the same as my measurements. I cut out a size 4, which astonishingly fits me really well. (According to the pattern I am a size 3: 34in at the bust. Size 4 is 36in at the bust, but the finished garment measurement is 34in. Keep that in mind when deciding about how tight you want your top to fit.) Apart from making the sleeves a tiny bit wider, I did not have to change anything else in the following Agnes’ I made.Tilly & the Button Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.comTilly & the Button Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.com

CONSTRUCTION

The top is super easy to assemble, no major sewing challenges really. If you are new to sewing, the neckband might be the trickiest bit. For me that was my biggest worry, but it turned out quite well on the first try. For the later versions I shortened the neckband pattern by 5mm (so 1cm over the whole length) and now it sits perfectly flat. After making 5 Agnes’ I now consider myself a neckband pro. I never felt so good!

The sleeves are constructed in flat, which is my favourite technique for knit fabrics. It’s just so much faster than a set-in sleeve. The sleeves are ruched by a small piece of elastic, which is stretched while you sew.

I like a puff or ruched sleeve, but both in one are a bit too much for my taste. It makes my shoulders look quite massive, not quite the romantic look I was aiming for. Unless you consider football romantic. It wil probably look really lovely on a petite figure (someone like Tilly herself) but I will stay away from this look, I think.

It looks alright with a simple, close-fitting skirt, so it will definitely get some wear now and them. I scrapped the ruched sleeves for all the other versions and I am super happy with those.
Tilly & the Button Agnes Top by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Will I make it again? Well I know that I already have! And there sure as hell will be more. Although I love more challenging projects, this pattern is pure instant-gratification! It’s very versatile as well and it doesn’t use up much fabric – perfect stash buster pattern. Overall grade: 9/10.

xx

Charlie


Happy sewing!

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