Trench Dress: McCalls 6279

 

 

The Facts

Fabric: Salmon Pink (or is Coral? I can’t decide). Matte Satin Fabric at RM9 /USD3 a yard, it is called ‘Matte Satin’ – I found it in the upholstery section. View A of this dress requires 2 yards (60 inch width). There’s a matte side (the wrong side) and the satin shiny side (the right side).  I used the matte (wrong side) for this dress as I didn’t want to look PINK AND SHINY!  After I cut out the fabric, I think pink is an unconventional colour for trench dresses, but oh well, I need to work through my stash before I buy new fabric!

Pattern: McCalls 6279, gifted (Thank you!!)

Notions: 10 large cover buttons, 4 medium cover buttons.  I bought the cover button set from Daiso at RM5 a pack, if anyone has a cheaper resource, do buzz me as I love cover buttons!

Time to complete: I didn’t count, I did it intermittently over 2 weeks. 

First worn: Today in my garage

Wear again? Yes! To work tomorrow, but perhaps I will tone down the pink with a brown belt instead.

Total Cost: Approximately RM30/USD10

Pattern Notes and Thoughts:

The pattern was labelled ‘EASY’ on the envelope. Although the construction wasn’t that tough, it’s time consuming.  The fit is very good, I didn’t have to make any alterations at all to the size 12 I cut.  I love the epaulets at the shoulders (the pointed loops, I learned a new word!), they make the dress very smart. The pointed belt loops with the buttons at the back are also a nice detail.  I also like the collar details, the little stand up collars than followed by lapels.

The only change I did to the dress was I interfaced the facing for the front double breast sections. The instructions call for interfacing the main fabric instead of the facings. I did it because I learned from the sewing community that interfacing tends to wrinkle after a wash and sometimes may also cause wrinkles to the fabric that it is adhered to; but if you are using a heavy fabric for your dress, I do not think it will matter much.

{Edited to add: Now that I see the pictures, I think it’s ‘TOO PINK’?  I should have used some normal buttons instead of covered ones?  Perhaps if I find some nice ones at the store I may replace them, but it’s a real waste of 14 covered buttons (which costs RM10!) and the local craft store doesn’t carry a good choice of larger buttons in 7/8 or 1 inch size…what do you think? Too Pink?}

The Little Monkey Girl in A Sailor Dress

No, I haven’t made a new dress for my Little Terror for a while now since I started sewing for myself (yeah guilty!).  This is one of those dresses that I’ve made ahead for her, you can check out the original post on the dress, it was made 10 months ago but today she wore it for the first time.  She loves the slides, and I just found out today she can hang on bars, the little monkey!  I am afraid that I wasn’t that athletic or agile at her age (2.5 years old).  I can see she takes after her dad on this trait..

Look at me, mummy!!

She’s very good at climbing too! 

Recently she prefers to walk down the slide rather than sit on one..

The little monkey in action

Double Collared Licorice Dress

Happy Chinese New Year 2012 of the Dragon!  I joined the 2012 third challenge theme for the week of 23 Jan.  The following post was my entry for Sew Weekly's 'Made This Look' challenge:

The Facts

Fabric: A slippery, drapey, geometric print named ‘Bunga Cinta’ (Flower of Love in Bahasa Malaysia) at RM5.90/USD1.80 a yard (after 70% off), 2 yards.  Most probably polyester.  Malaysian fabric stores prioritize on the name of the fabric collection rather than accurately spelling out the fiber contents; and the salesmen are also ditto about these details.  Off-white Lining Fabric to line the dress (yay to another lined dress!)

Pattern: Licorice Pattern from the Colette Sewing Handbook (the handbook has such ‘yummy’ pattern names!)

Year: 2011

Notions: Basic Zipper and Covered Buttons

Time to complete: About 10 hours

Make This Look Inspiration From: ModCloth Magnetic Personality Dress

First worn: 22 Jan 2012 for Chinese New Year Eve celebrations

Wear again? Yes! I like how this dress is comfortable and the dress just skims over my curves and the tie belt gives the right amount of shape to the body.

Total Cost (excluding Colette Handbook): Approximately RM16/USD5

I was browsing Modcloth.com and it appeared to me that the collar of this dress is so much like the famous Licorice pattern.  I have seen a few completed Licorice dresses online sewn with solids; and the dresses featured in the book and Colette’s blog are all in solids as well.

Previously I was really wondering if I made a huge mistake choosing a busy print for my version. I was feeling very insecure and not confident as the dress was nearing completion, I suspected that I will not like this dress in the end as I have always associated the Licorice with solid colours; and already regretting that I was such a rebel to use a busy print. But when I tried it on for the second time I realized that I really like it; this is what my good seamstress friend used to call as ‘Let the Dress Simmer’.

It was really a nice coincidence that I chanced upon this modcloth version and it gave me the idea to ‘break’  the busy print by adding another collar made with leftover purple lining cloth underneath the main collar.  The purple covered cottons on each side of the collar also provided good contrast and lent a hint of cuteness to the dress.  I sewed the purple collar according to the original seam allowance of the collar pattern piece; but added another 1cm seam allowance to make the smaller collar piece in busy print.

For this challenge, it’s my first time using slippery and drapey fabric, as I have only sewn using the good old easy-to-sew cotton/blends to-date.    I referred to this useful tutorial to cut the slinky fabric, it does help!    Another tip to generously use pins..and more pins to hold your fabric in place before joining the seams  I noted that it is tougher to set a sleeve using slinky fabric compared to the good old cotton.

Thoughts on the Pattern + Instructions:-

I cut a size 2 from the Licorice pattern but sewed a 1cm seam allowance instead of the normal 1.5cm.  For modesty sake, I also lengthened the skirt, I usually do not have do this with my other patterns as I am only 158cm tall, but the original style is meant to be above the knee.  This is really a cute pattern with a retro twist (the boat neck collar) and puffed sleeves are so darling (one has to use drapey fabric to enjoy the effect).

The Colette Sewing Handbook has instructions on how to sew lining to the main dress using a sewing machine. I have made 4 other lined dresses using patterns and instructions from McCalls and Butterick which calls for handstitching the lining - after attaching the lining to the dress on the neckline, they recommend to machine sew the centre back seam beneath the zipper, then hand slip stitch the rest of the lining to the main fabric (i.e. slip stitch lining to the edge of the zipper and around the armscyes).  Colette on the other hand recommends: After attaching lining to the neckline, turn the lining and dress so the right sides of both dress and lining meet each other; and sew the lining to the edge of the zipper using your sewing machine (take care not to catch the main dress) - the last step is to join the remaining center back seam of the lining beneath the zipper.  This eliminates the need for hand stitching your lining!

Little Terror Goes to Playschool

Little Terror is currently 2 years and 5 months old, she has commenced the 3 year old playschool class this month. Despite already into the 3rd week of school, every morning she still cries when she knows she has to go to school, she may start crying already in the car or start crying when she saw the school building. The teacher told us she will generally cry for about 5 mins after we have dropped her at school and then stop and enjoy herself...I hope these crying bouts will end soon.


You can see that she's not smiling for me in the pictures as she knows she's going to school. She is wearing this dress I made for her in Dec 2010 for the first time today.  She is really small sized and slowly growing into the clothes I have made for her in the past year, and it gives her mum a good excuse for not sewing for her for the past 6 months (as Mum was too busy sewing for herself in the past 6 months!)

"Mum, I don't really care for school you know......."

(please excuse the shoes in the background)

"Mum, do I really need to go? Can we go to grandma's instead?"

The grumpy little lady. 

Crossing her arms is her current way of telling me she's not pleased she has to go.

A view of the back of the dress.

Royal Blue Work Dress: New Look 6909

I recently signed up to be a Contributor for Sew Weekly 2012.  In conjunction with Sew Weekly 2012 second challenge theme 'Accessorize', I made this blue dress.  Read about my Sew Weekly Contribution for this dress here.

The Facts

Fabric: Blue mystery fabric. The local Malaysian fabric stores fondly calls this kind of fabric ‘The Yellow Line’. It has sheen to it, medium weight, and the salesperson said it’s for making trousers. Most probably polyester. Good buy at RM8.80/USD2.75 per yard, 1.75 yards required. I meant to use it to make wearable muslins as it’s half the price of viscose fabric.

Pattern: New Look 6909

Year: 2011

Notions: Basic Zipper, Hook & Eye, Interfacing

Time to complete: I didn’t really count. Most probably at least 15 hours (not including cutting pattern and fabric, I take another average 2 hours to do that).

First worn: Today, 8 Jan 2012 in my garage as the weekend and the garage is when and where the hubby will take my photos

Wear again? Yes! I have already worn it to work the day after.
Total Cost (including pattern): Approximately RM30/USD9.30

To my family and friends who know me well, I am a no frills, non-accessory person who almost likes to wear the same style and weekend outfits as it is always a rush to dress to go out on weekends after getting my 2.5 year-old Little Terror ready. Actually in nature I am also very lazy in primping up myself! :). I make more effort for my workplace outfits though as the job calls for it. This is a really interesting challenge as it reminded me that I have a new mustard bag that I bought during the last week of 2011 that I have yet to use. The zipper and the mustard colour really called out to me………. actually I saw the 70% off sign first. Malaysian readers, it’s a VOIR bag by the way, nett of discount it was RM34.50 / USD10.70. I have never worn mustard before, it’s a first! I used to be really wary of this colour but I think now it’s rather becoming!

I attempted a hand pricked lapped zipper but I think it wasn’t that successful as you can see some whites from the zipper. I learned to make a skirt vent via making this dress.

Pattern Notes: I cut a size 10 for the pattern but I sewed a 1cm seam allowance on the sides instead of the usual 1.5cm, as I am smaller on the top but pear shaped on the bottom. The fit on this dress was quite spot on for me, it’s quite flattering. I also adore the cute collars and bow. The puffed sleeves are awfully cute too. The pockets placement are also quite elegant. I interfaced the bow as someone rightly pointed out in Sewing Pattern Review.com that the bow will be floppy without interfacing (thank you for mentioning that!). I omitted the collar facings in favour of fully lining the dress. The hems were done without the aid of a special blind hem foot, you have to check out this great tutorial if you are not aware a blind hem can be done without a special sewing machine foot. I used to hand stitch my hems but I find this method alleviates the bumps/bubbles problem on the hem.

Another Peplum Dress: Butterick B5520

To continue my recent fascination with peplum dresses, I made another!

Pattern: Butterick 5520.  Close-fitting, tapered, above mid-knee length, lined dress.  I cut a size 10 for the bodice and tapered to a size 12 for the skirt.  This pattern calls for shoulder pads, which I omitted, so the raglan sleeves seem a bit large on me?   So I am not too crazy about the sleeves.

Fabric: 1.25 yards of houndstooth/checked maroon fabric and 0.25 yards of contrasting dark green fabric at RM16/USD5.30 a yard.  Dark colours are actually not my style but these are sturdy suiting fabric, so I caved in. Total Cost: Approx. RM30/USD10 (inclusive of lining and zipper).

 

I wished I had used a maroon/black colour zip or invisible zipper instead!  Maybe I should attempt a lapped zipper next time.

 

Wear Again?: Yes, to work, (with air conditioning please in this Malaysian climate!) as the fabric is pretty thick! I was sweating when I took these photos, haha!

McCalls M5927, Take 2: Sheath Dress with Capped Sleeves

In case you are wondering why I am able to churn out 4 dresses in the last 2 weeks, I was on a sewcation from work..sigh, but the uninterrupted sewing hours of bliss has ended yesterday. I am back to work next week…so from now on I’ll be lucky if I can complete a dress in 2 weeks, no that’s a bit ambitious, a month maybe……… :)

For this sewing project I revisited a pattern and a piece of fabric! I simply love the pink/purplish fabric from my last Socialite (Peplum) Dress: Simplicity 2282 too much that I decided to make the most of the remaining of the fabric; I bought 2.5 yards for RM16/USD5.30 per yard and I had used a bit more than 1 yard for the peplum dress. I was happy to know that I was able to squeeze another dress from my favourite fabric! So I revisited McCalls M5927 (the Happy Dress) that I made last week.

 

I just realized that the colour of the background is almost similar to my dress’!

 

Pattern: McCalls M5927, View D

Last week, I attempted View A, the sleeveless version, I made View D this week instead (see the grey dress above with the capped sleeves).  I rather like the capped sleeves, they are cute.  I cut a size 10 this time for the top and tapered it to a size 12 at the bottom this time as I found my last View A dress was a bit loose on the top.  On another note, I just found out there is the opposite of a FBA yesterday, which is SBA (Small Bust Adjustment), I think I need to learn this skill to adapt the bodice pattern!  haha!!

Fabric: 1 yard plus of 60 inch wide cotton blend fabric at RM16 / USD5.30 per yard and a normal zipper (I handpicked it!). The same fabric that I used for my peplum dress.  Total Cost: About RM20 / USD7

 

I am a very big fan of fully lined dresses now. They do take a bit longer to finish and plus some hand sewing required, but when you don a fully lined dress as opposed to an unlined one, you can really feel the difference! And it feels store bought. The dress also hangs better on your body (well my personal opinion!).

Wear Again?  Yes! To work next week!

Happy Sewing Everyone! And wishing you a Merry Christmas!

Colette Ceylon Dress

Hello all!  My very first Colette pattern, a Christmas gift from an utterly kind and generous friend.  I have been a fan of Colette patterns for a long time now, and finally I have the chance to sew one! I I like how Colette’s patterns have a retro-modern twist to them, which is so me! haha.
 



The first time I wore it was to a children's christmas concert.  Little Terror is wearing 'The Fishy Party Dress'

Pattern: Colette Ceylon

I cut a size 0 for the bodice and tapered out to a size 4 for the waist/hip.  I took in the sides of the waist area further so perhaps I will use a size 2 for the waist/hip area for my next Ceylon.  The measurement chart indicated that I should take a size 4 though, anyway, all bodies are different! I consulted the talented Miss Lauren of Lladybird on the sizing issue and was very inspired by the piping on her Ceylons, check them out here and here.  The pattern instructions are clear and easy to follow.  The york piece is a bit pulling on this dress because of the sheer fabric and interfacing, of which the combination is not sturdy enough – Ms Lauren suggested to use fabric to underline to the york to solve the puling/wrinkling on the york; shall remember to apply that for my next Ceylon!

Fabric: Seersucker Cotton, that’s why the dress appears wrinkly as the cloth is naturally that way.  They are not pin dots. Each ‘dot’ is actually a box consisting of 9 dots (8 brown dots and 1 blue dot), which explains the choice of blue piping and buttons.  It is RM9/USD3 per yard (45 inch width), I actually only needed 2 yards if I were to cut the interfacing on a different piece of cloth.  Total Cost: ~ RM20/USD6.


Wear Again?: Yes! This is a very girly weekend dress. But sometimes I feel very conscious and sort of like the ‘odd one out’ as people in my area do not really channel the ‘retro’ style so much.

My Socialite Dress: Simplicity 2282

Bad news..my sewing machine has broken down two days ago and today I have sent it to the repair shop, hopefully no biggie.  Maybe it’s because I have been sloughing it too much on Thursday making this dress.  I was on work leave so I had one whole day of sewing bliss. My faithful Okurma machine (which I have never sent for servicing after almost 2 years since I first bought it) died on me right after I finished sewing this dress. It would have been so anti-climax if it had died on me midway!

I love the peplum feature on dresses, I believe now it’s all the rage, have you read Burdastyle’s Trend on Trend: Peplums?

 

I really adore the rippling and lettuce-y effect of the peplum! I feel so fairy-like in this dress. 

 

Pattern: Simplicity 2282 inspired by Project Runway.  Besides the flowy peplum which is the main highlight of the pattern, the sleeve pattern is quite special too, on the top it is made of 2 darts forming a box effect, and then another tuck in the middle to create a gathered full effect, very retro!

Fabric: 1 yard of 60 inch wide cotton blend fabric at RM16 / USD5.30 per yard and invisible zipper. It looks like wool, doesn’t it? It’s not.  I think it has some synthetic to it as it stretches a bit and does not wrinkle easily (yay!).  Total Cost: RM18.30 / USD6.10

Pattern Notes:  Initially I had cut a size 12 for this pattern but after the first fit for the skirt area, I think I needed a size 10 instead so I sewed the entire garment based on size 10 seams.  Other than that I made no alterations to the pattern, I think the whole fit is quite spot on for me, lucky!  There are only a few pattern pieces, the instructions are clear but read them carefully on the way the darts should face on the skirt (I didn’t, it gave me some grief!).  Making sure the pivoting point between the peplum and princess seams lie flat was quite a challenge. 

Wear Again: Absolutely! Do you think I can pass for a socialite? :)

McCalls M5927: A Fashion Sheath Dress

I enjoy wearing fully lined work dresses and frequently inspect the lining of these dresses and wonder how it’s done.  So when I saw this McCalls M5927 pattern which features a basic fashion sheath dress that is fully lined, I knew I must attempt this!

Hey my orange bolero and belt goes very well with the dress!

 

Look mum, zero seams!  All seams are enclosed/hidden.  This is my first time sewing with swishy-washy slippery fabric, the lining, it is tricky!  It’s not too tough to fully line a dress but some handstitching is required.

 

Fabric:  Rayon – I got this at the Kamdar sale at 70% off, so it’s only RM3/USD1 per yard.  This is the first time I work with rayon and I noticed it wrinkles easily!!?

I am 158cm tall only and most patterns are for a 168cm woman, so I had hacked off 6cm from the skirt length on the pattern before I trace and cut on the fabric, and this dress only takes slightly over 1 yard! To be sure, get 1.25 yards!  So it’s only 1 yard of rayon, 1 yard of lining (RM3/USD1) and an invisible zipper (RM2.40). Total Cost: RM8.40/USD2.80.  Not too shabby for a fully lined dress. :)

 

Pattern Notes: McCalls M5927.  I made View A, the sleeveless version.  This is a great wardrobe builder pattern, you can vary it a bit and have many different work dresses with one pattern. I plan to make View C (see red dress below) with tabs and sleeves next, in fact I saw the exact same dress in the mall recently selling for more than RM200/USD67.

I cut out a size 12, it fits very well around the waist and torso but it gaped a lot initially around the armscye.  I guess it’s because I am bottom heavy and unfortunately less endowed on top. So I took in about 2cm from each side of the armscye.  I omitted the back slit on the skirt.

 

Underlining vs. Lining!

Do you know there’s a difference between ‘underlining’ and ‘lining’? I didn’t before I made this dress! This pattern actually calls for BOTH underlining and lining but I skipped the underlining to avoid bulk.  I just realized that I had underlined my last plaid dress (that was when I attempted to do lining on a dress without referring to any instructions).  Compare both pictures below:

With ‘Lining’, you can see zero seams on the dress, they are all enclosed, hidden; the skirt lining is separate from the main fabric skirt.  Whilst with ‘Underlining’, basically one just bastes the lining cloth on the main fabric pieces before sewing them up, you can still see the seams - and the skirt lining is not separate.

 

Wear Again? Yes! This is such a happy dress!  I think it is very versatile, I can wear it to work (with a solid cardi) or for play.