A scooped neck Hepburn Dress

October 15, 2014.Reading time 7 minutes.

Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Hellooo my ladies (and gents)! This post is long overdue, I can tell you! (Is she seriously posting a summer dress right now? Yes, she is!)

As you know, I released my Hepburn Dress pattern in August and have been working on all the different variations since then. At the moment I somehow sew more than I can photograph or write about (living the dream, guys!) and I really need to work on maintaining a better equilibrium. Otherwise things like posting pictures of summer dresses on October will keep happening.

Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com Pattern & fit:

Adjustments: shortened skirt, scooped neck variation, bodice graded up half a size.

Anyhow, as you can see, I’m pretty happy with this dress. I have to admit though, that some things didn’t go as I wanted. First of all, let’s talk about the bodice. I made the scooped neck variation, which has a slightly lower neckline in front and back. It’s a bit more summery than the other two variations, which have a high neckline (pleats are optional). My first Hepburn Dress was a bit tight around the bust, so I graded up half a size for my second one which was a perfect fit. The peachskin polyester didn’t have much give so adding half a size to the bodice was a good idea.

For this dress I used a very soft 100% cotton for the bodice which I also used for the bodice lining. It is slightly stretchy and therefore, has quite a bit of give. With my extra half a size and the soft cotton the bodice now is a bit loose after a couple of wears. It not too bad, it looks much worse in the pictures, but I will have to grade down to my normal size when using a similar fabric next time.

I won’t be wearing the dress too often now, but unless I gain weight over Christmas I will take it in before next summer. Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com What do you think about the proportions? The original Hepburn skirt is much longer and I think this one got a bit too short for my taste. It’s sort of a babydoll dress length and I’m not sure, but I might be too old for that. I normally like my skirts to end at or just above the knee if they’re fuller (fitted ones are allowed to be thigh high).

So why did I make the skirt that short then? Guess what, I was stupid enough to buy too little fabric. And since I actually made the pattern and wrote the instructions and should know about these things, you can consider it very stupid. For some reason I thought 1m would be enough (it’s got box pleats, silly one!) and bought 1m of each fabric.

Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com

The fabric:

So I bought 1m each of a turquoise 100% cotton fabric and a beautiful cotton wax print (£3.95/m on Goldhawk Road). Both fabrics are gorgeous and were easy to cut and sew with. In order to fit the skirt pattern on the wax print cotton I had to shorten the hem quite a bit. That’s also why I decided to skip my beloved hadnstitching and went with a narrow machine stitched hem instead.

Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com Due to the softness of the bodice fabric the top bit of the zip is also a bit wonky. It’s probably just too heavy for the lightweight cotton and it stretched out a bit even though I understitched the whole neckline.Did I mention this dress has pockets? I love me some pockets, I think every dress should have them! I will add a tutorial on how to add pockets to your Hepburn Dress soon!

Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com I lined the pockets with my bodice fabric for an extra pop of colour.

Some people have problems with scooped necklines and narrow straps like the ones on this dress, as sometimes the straps slide down the shoulder. This often happens when you have sloping shoulders. The pattern includes instructions on how to add lingerie strap guards which basically solve this problem. As long as you attach them to a goodfitting bra, the straps won’t go anywhere and the bra straps won’t peek through. It’s a win-win!

Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com

As the skirt is 100% cotton and I don’t like lining my dress skirts (reducing fabric expenses and, of course, being lazy), I really need to sew a slip to wear underneath. Worn with tights, the skirt clings to my legs and rides up when I walk.

I have to really nice satin polyester which I want to use for that. I’m thinking about just cutting out a rectangle and gathering it with an elastic on top. This should be enough for a little slip to wear underneath cotton dresses. Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com At the moment I still wear the dress with a little Chanel-style jacket. I need to find a high-waisted cardigan! All the ones I have are too long and look silly with my dresses.

And guess what was in the post when we came home from taking pictures? (Almost) nothing’s better than being inside on a cold autumnal afternoon with a cup of coffee and a sewing magazine. Hepburn Dress scooped neckline version by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I have only 3 nightshifts left before going back home to Germany for a couple of days! I probably won’t get any sewing done, because I will be sleeping any free minute for the next days, but hopefully I can catch up one posting some of my makes when I’m home.

Have a great week!

Happy sewing!
♥

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Let’s try something funky!

October 13, 2014.Reading time 8 minutes.

Burda 04/2014 #112 Funnel Neck Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com Hey folks, hope you all had a great week! Mine was super busy and I have quite a bit of the behind-the-scenes stuff to share with you. I’ll probably squeeze into an extra post though, because I want to share my newest make first.

A little while ago, the lovely guys over at Funkifabrics (@funkifabrics) asked whether I’d like to try some of their fabrics. What a question! Hell Yes! You should really check out their website, they have the most amazing prints you will ever see! Seriously! It took me two days to narrow my samples down to 12, which I shortly afterwards got in the post.

The Fabric:

FunkiFabrics specialise in flexcite stretch (swim and dancewear) fabrics, so you will only be able to order lycra, but they have thousands (no kidding) of prints to choose from. Everything is designed and printed in the UK. Pretty awesome, if you ask me. Some might see the narrow fabric options as a disadvantage, but I think it’s pretty cool. First of all, lycra is super versatile. You can use it for swimwear, lingerie, leggings, dresses, skirts, sportswear and what not. Secondly, since the fabric is the same for all prints, it’s perfect if you want to mix prints and colours. You won’t have to worry about two fabrics not going well together. I picked a print called Prism. My challenge this year is to use more bold prints and colours. I think with this project I definitely achieved that.

Burda 04/2014 #112 Funnel Neck Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

At first I wasn’t sure what to make with it, but then I realised that I could simply use a jersey/stretch dress pattern. It’s just not the right season for sewing bikinis, you know (but I will with some of the leftover fabric). So let’s talk about the pattern:

The Pattern:

The pattern is…tada!…Burdastyle 04/2014 #112. Yes, I know! I haven’t used Burda patterns in ages. Lately I was all over indie patterns, but if you’ve followed this blog for a while now, you will know that I am a big Burda pattern fan. Since the print was so funky I thought I needed a slightly more funky dress pattern as well. Luckily, I recently went through all this year’s Burda magazines and this came to mind:

It’s a funnel neck dress with a twist. It has all sorts of design details going on. The whole dress piece is cut as one on fold. So there’s only one side seam, which is gathered at the hip and makes the hem slightly asymmetrical. One sleeve sits off-shoulder – since there is no side seam on that side there’s no shoulder seam. The sleeve is inserted by clipping the fabric horizontally and then using a very tiny seam allowance to attach the sleeve (which has no sleeve cap). The dress pattern itself is basically a large rectangle, darts in the front and back cinch it in at the waist and make it more fitted.

Adjustments: I shortened the dress by 20cm and lengthened the sleeve by 5cm. I cut out facing for the funnel neck instead of simply hemming it. I cut out a size 36 (UK 10) which I graded to a size 40 from hip downwards.

Burda 04/2014 #112 Funnel Neck Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

The Fit:

It’s quite hard to say something about the fit. Since the pattern is quite funky, I have no idea how this dress is supposed to look. It fits comfortably, but I am not so sure about the off-shoulder sleeve. Design details like this always have you end up with a batwing -like bunch of fabric under your armpit. Despite all the darts, it’s not extremely fitted and the funnel neck does not behave and keeps moving around, that naughty bastard.

Issues:

There were loads of issues with this make. Luckily, I could fix most of them. I had some issues with the gathers at the hip, as they came undone when I overlocked the side seam. I should’ve used some twill tape for reinforcing that part (or learn how to gather with an overlocker). But in the end I could salvage it and it doesn’t look too bad. The print is way too busy anyway for people to notice.

I lengthened the sleeves by 5cm in the front, because I like that slouchy look. One thing that I really need to practise is sewing the hem on stretch fabrics with my twin needle. I used a smaller twin needle (3mm) for the sleeves and a larger one for the hem (4.5mm). Normally I don’t have issues with my twin needle, but this time the bottom thread tension was to high and my stitching looks like piping now. It sort of looks ok, so I am not too unhappy about it. A friend of mine told me that it’s actually possible to fiddle with the tension somewhere at the bobbin case, I have to find out how! After all these years, my sewing machine still keeps secrets from me.

Burda 04/2014 #112 Funnel Neck Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Another issue I encountered was this. Since the back of the fabric is white, the funnel neck ended up looking very awkward and I didn’t like that the left side of the fabric was showing through. I thought I could simply fix this issue by facing the funnel neck. Which I did. Now it sort of looks ok when it is all nicely pulled into place.

Burda 04/2014 #112 Funnel Neck Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com

But when I bend over and all the fabric moves to the front, this happens: Burda 04/2014 #112 Funnel Neck Dress by thisblogisnotforyou.com Well, I have accepted this fact now and it didn’t bother me too much when I wore the dress. It’s super comfortable! And look, even my shoes’ lining matches the dress!

I have almost 1m of the prism print left and am now thinking of what to do with it. Not an easy decision since the print is so recognisable. Maybe a bikini or some really funky knickers. I will let you know anyway! Over all, this project was super fun and also quite challenging as I struggled a bit with some of the design details. Nothing is more satisfying than salvaging a sewing fail. I quite like the way the fabric and pattern work together, I never would’ve believed that lycra is such a great dress fabric.

What would you have made from this fabric?

Happy sewing!
♥

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A Tilda-Miette Skirt – It’s a wrap!

October 6, 2014.Reading time 6 minutes.

Tilda Miette Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.com Have you heard about Tilda fabric? I hope you have, because it’s awesome! Tilda fabric was actually the first fabric I bought after I got my sewing machine (I bought a pack of fat quarters on Amazon because I had no idea how to shop fabric back then). This year I used up all my Tilda leftover fabric for making my sewing machine cover. When White Tree Fabrics asked me to join their blogging team I was super excited that they had Tilda fabric in stock. All I had to do was find the right pattern to go with it.

White Tree Fabrics specialise in dressmaking fabrics, haberdashery and patterns.They have all Tilly & The Buttons patterns in stock and I thought why not add the Miette to my Tilly pattern collection?

The fabric:

After forcing the Mr. to help me pick a nice Tilda cotton, I finally went for the “Ella Slate Blue”. All Tilda prints are very romantic in style and since this one also looked a bit like washed denim I thought it would be perfect for a skirt. The fabric quality is amazing, it’s quite heavy-weight and very very smooth. It was really nice to sew with. I did my best to match the pattern and have to say that I did quite well. You can barely see the pockets!

Tilda Ella Slate Blue fabric

Tilda Miette Skirt by thisblogisnotforyou.com

The pattern:

Now let’s talk about the pattern! I was a bit worried that the Miette might not be my cup of tea. I’m not a big 1970’s fan and those pockets just seemed to scream 70’s to me! As I had more than enough fabric, I decided to make the version with the pockets anyway.

Furthermore, I was also worried that the A-line shape of the skirt might not fall softly and therefore look a bit frumpy on myself (all this was suddenly going through my head as I was cutting out the fabric and I was starting to doubt my decision).

The pattern itself was really straightforward and the instructions so clear and detailed that the skirt came together without any problems in only a couple of hours. I made a size 3 which I did not grade up to a larger size at the hips – it’s a wrap skirt, so I though I would be fine.

I overlocked all seams with off-white thread and pressed them open. I hemmed the skirt with my machine, about 1.5cm from the edge, after folding it over twice.

The skirt doesn’t need any zips or buttons, it simply closes by tying it in the front. There is a tiny hole in the waistband (see pic below) where you pull one tie through and then join it with the other one in the front to make a bow. I still haven’t figured out how to tie it so it looks like a nice bow, not just like a crooked propeller. The ties have a nice length, not too long and not too short.

The fit:

I really was pleasantly surprised by the fit of the Miette Skirt. It didn’t look 1970’s frumpy at all. The skirt drapes quite beautifully and you can barely see the large pockets, which are super practical (hiding large smartphones)!

Overall the skirt fits nicely and the back panels overlap enough to not risk flashing people. You only have to be careful when you come back from the ladies that you pull everything back in place before you step out of the door. It’s worth double checking in the mirror! (Don’t ask me how I know this!)

I quite like the pattern and will probably make the skirt again, maybe even in a softer fabric and without the pockets. The only thing I’m not so happy with is the big bow, as it is not too flattering sitting right on top of your tummy and I also noticed that I can’t wear my lovely pussy bow blouses with it 🙁 Two propellers in the front looks just veeery awkward. Too bad!

When I ordered my fabric I also asked the lovely White Tree Fabric team to add some Tilda ribbon to the mix:

It’s the Sally Blue Green Tilda ribbon. I wanted to add it onto the skirt hem or waistband, but although it’s basically the same print (if you look closely you can see it) it just looked really odd on the skirt, so I had to discard that idea. Luckily, I have a bit of the fabric left and will make a cushion cover with it and will use the pretty trim to embellish it! (You can look forward to more Tilda action!)

White Tree Fabrics just annouced that they now have all the By Hand London patterns in stock, whoop, whoop! Guess what I will be making next? I’m really looking forward to my next White Tree Fabrics make and already started planning 🙂

What are your thoughts on the Miette Skirt? Have you made it? Are you planning to?

Happy sewing!
♥

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Sew Cute To Cuddle [Book Review]

October 3, 2014.Reading time 6 minutes.

Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com Hi everybody! Today I want to share with you a book that I pre-ordered on Amazon a couple of weeks ago. And since I got it last month I’ve been making plush animals!

And if you’re asking whether making plush animals is different from making clothes: Oh my, yes it is! But more on that later. Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

The book “Sew Cute to Cuddle” by Mariska Vos-Bolman includes 12 easy soft plush animal patterns and step-by-step instructions to make them. The book came out 8th September this year, so it’s basically brand-new! The patterns are full-size and in the back of the book. All you need to do is copy them and then cut them out, some bigger pattern pieces will also need to be glued together.

Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Above you can admire the two little fellows I made using the book and its patterns, Larry and Marvin (left to right). According to the book they’re called Mary and Daron, but the Mr. decided otherwise. Next on my sewing list are the owl, the dog (too cute!) and Gronk, the monster. These little friends are just perfect for killing some leftover fabric scraps! And they make cute presents, too. But believe me, once they’re stuffed, you don’t want to give them to anyone anymore! Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

So let’s talk about Marvin first! (Who would have been named Drogon, if it was up to me! But apparently I’m not the one making the decision when it comes to naming stuffed animals.) Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Making Marvin the dragon took longer than expected! Actually, it took as long as making a dress!

The thing with those cute little fellows is, that they don’t use up much fabric, but then they are also awfully fiddly to sew with! For the dragon, I had to sew some seams by hand, especially very tiny curves, as they were too difficult to sew with the machine.

The feet and arms were probably the hardest part to sew. Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

For the dragon, head and body are sewn and stuffed separately and then attached at the neck. You can see the little seam where the stuffing for the head went in at the back of Marvin’s head! (Yes! Between those cuuute little ears!)

The part that I probably enjoyed most, was sewing the quilted wings. They are just the cutest little detail on this little man. Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com Here you can see the chubby legs and feet which were the hardest part. Luckily, the instructions are illustrated and very detailed. So I think even a confident beginner could tackle this project. (The dragon is actually the last project in the book – the other ones are certainly better for absolute beginners!)

I followed the instructions step by step and threw in some handsewing where I had to because things just became a bit too fiddly at some point. I ended up having something that looked like legs and feet, so I’m quite satisfied (although the ones in the book look a tiny bit different). Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Look at those nostrils! Marvin would’ve made a formidable Drogon. Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Next up is Larry, our hippo with a sweet tooth. (Rumours came up that he might be gay)

Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

Larry turned out to be bigger than I thought, if not to say massive. There are no finished measurements in the book, but I should have guessed by just looking at the size of the pattern pieces. Well, usually they turn out to be much smaller in the end after stuffing and all that, but not so with this guy here.

This one just became bigger and bigger and his behind ate up three quarters of the stuffing from that Primark pillow I bought. Nothing left for the owl or the dog!

Well, now I know better and will just copy the pattern smaller and make a mini version of this big guy. Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

For both Larry and Marvin I used leftover fabric scraps, which you might even recognise from previous projects. The cupcake fabric was left over from a toddler pinafore I made last year and the flower and cherry fabric I had used for making an Anthropologie inspired kitschy kitchen apron. Sew Cute To Cuddle review by thisblogisnotforyou.com

I really enjoyed making these projects and would recommend this book to anyone who wants to try making their own stuffed animals. No matter whether you’re a pro or a beginner. I love that the projects are quite unusal and not just the typical teddy bear project you would expect.

Have you ever made stuffed animals? Would you like to try?

Happy sewing!
♥

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The Knitting & Stitching Show Giveaway Winners!

October 1, 2014.Reading time 5 minutes.

Win tickets to The Knitting and Stitching Show

Whoop, whoop! We have five lucky winners who will each get two complimentary tickets to The Knitting & Stitching Show!

In order to enter the giveaway I asked you guys to leave me a comment saying what you’d like to see on this blog in the future. My task was to pick my favourites from your suggestions – which was much harder than I thought it would be!

Thank you guys!! Your suggestions were all brilliant and I’ve made a long To Do list for the blog, trying to take as many of your ideas on board as possible! Anyway, I also had to narrow it down to my five favourites which took some time, hard thinking and two cups of coffee, but here they are:

Sabrina suggested sharing more in-process pieces and info on what going on “behind the scenes”. I’d love to do that! I often forget to take in-progress pics although I always enjoy seeing those on other people’s blogs. Good to know that you are nosy enough to be interested in the behind the scenes stuff. I sometimes feel silly writing about things like that, but as long as people are interested I’m happy to share bits and pieces 🙂 (Do let me know when I need to stop!)

Jan’s fabulous idea was it to share more sewing bloomers – my fails and things that go wrong (happens all the time) and how it fixed them. I think as bloggers we often only want to show a near-to-perfect end results and I know from my own experience that it can be really frustrating to see all those perfect garments on blogs when you yourself feel everything goes wrong whenever you try to make something. But that’s just because we compare our behind-the-scenes messes with a picked handful of edited images from others. Sharing my fails and messes will be a challenge but probably a lot of fun as well!

Daniela had three suggestions which all are great ideas for future posts! She asked me to share my very first makes with you guys. I’d love to do that and I don’t even know why I haven’t done so yet. Most of my very first makes (pre-sewing machine times, folks!) are still alive and only need to be photographed. My sewing skills were ridiculous back then, but I’d love to show you anyway. Daniela also asked about sharing my inspiration for my Hepburn Dress pattern (will do!) and sewing more stuff from Tilly Walnes’ book, which I have promised a while ago (shame on me!), so I’ll better get started on those Mimi blouses!

Lou suggested to find some and review some hidden pattern gems that aren’t commonly posted about, instead of reviewing patterns that are all over the place. She also would love to have an insight into the pattern drafting process and what goes into producing a pattern for release. The last one’s quite a challenge, but I’d love to share some more info about that with you. There’s not much out there, so maybe I can share some insight into the pattern making process with you!

Annett‘s idea made me laugh! She suggested trying to refashion a skirt into a hat! Pretty awesome, no? It would be really exciting to try and make a hat out of a recycled skirt. I love the idea! I’m gonna look into that and try to find out a bit more about hat-making first, though ;D

Well, congrats to you!
And thanks to everybody for their amazing ideas!

All winners will be contacted today, so check your email! I will need your address, so I can send the tickets your way! Please get back to me until Friday 3rd October, so that there’s enough time to get them posted to you!

Please note these tickets are only valid all day Wednesday, Thursday 3-7pm and all day Sunday. The Knitting & Stitching Show takes place from 8th – 12th October in Alexandra Palace, London.

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