New Look 6000 Giraffe Print

Hi everyone sorry its been so long since my last post. I have been very busy, Miles and I have moved house and we have been finalising the plans and choosing all the selections for the house we are building.  This has resulted in less time for sewing especially as my sewing room was all packed away for nearly two weeks during the move.

The good news is that my sewing room is now all set up and I can get creating. Anyway back to my post about New Look 6000.

This is my second attempt at this dress my first one can be found here. This time I went for view A with the side pleats, I didn't include the flower.

The pattern pieces for the front are separate for each size, I needed an 8 for the top and a 10 from hip down. I cut the two sizes out, tapped them together and graded from the 8 to the 10 at the hip to make one pattern piece.

I Like this pattern as there isn't separate bodice and skirt pieces so it sews up pretty quickly.  

I have started lining my garments instead of using facing. I find it adds a more professional finish and feels nicer when wearing. 

Previously I have only lined the bodice of dresses, this time I went for a full lining. I used this tutorial from Fashion Sewing Blog TV. 

I used this really cute white and black heart print rayon. 

I finished the dress off with a blind hem, using this tutorial from Craftsy. 

This is my best dress yet, I think the lining adds a really professional finish. Thats all for now.

Cream Lace New Look 6184

Hi everyone, I finished this dress a little while back. This is my second attempt at New Look 6184, my first one can be found here. 

I have seen a lot of lace dresses around and wanted to make one for myself, my inspiration was from this lace dress Taylor Swift is wearing. 

The lace fabric was a gift from my friend Sarah, which I used initially to make some of the flowers for my wedding. I only had just enough left over to make this dress and not enough to make any sleeves, it was originally a net curtain from a charity shop. 

Here are some pics of my bouquet and ring ring cushion from my wedding that I made using the lace.

Fabric flower bouquet and my wedding shoes with my dress in the background

Burlap ring cushion with lace and satin fabric flowers

I interlined the lace with an off-white rayon, it was quite time consuming cutting out all the pieces in two fabrics. I sewed each lace pattern piece to the corresponding rayon one using a 1/4" seam, after that the dress went together quite quickly.

Looking at this picture it looks a bit baggy around my waist, I didn't notice this until I looked at the pictures so not sure what happend there.

I really like how this has turned out, I wore it with a brown belt and shoes so it didn't look to bridesmaid or wedding like. It's been very cold here the last few weeks so don't think I will get chance to wear this properly until it warms up a bit.

There are a few wrinkles on the back I think this may be from the way I'm standing.

Here is a close up pic of the pleat detail on the front. I was a bit worried how these would look because of the thickness of the lace and rayon, but they look how they are supposed to.

Let me know what you think.

New Look 6143 in Orange Floral Print

Its been a while since my last post, I have been working in a different role at work which has resulted in longer hours, and less time to blog. I did manage to sew up a few garments and will be blogging about them all very soon.

This is my second New Look 6143, my first one was in a Paris print and can be found here.

The fabric is a cotton sateen I brought from spotlight. I really like the vintage look to this fabric, the flower print is made up of lots of squares which reminded me of the Royal Albert Petite Point china range. When I was little I remember my my grandma having teacups from this range and I really liked the cross stitch feel to the design. 

The first time I made this dress the bodice ended up being too large. The sizes start from a 10 and I now know that I am an 8 on top in New Look patterns. I scaled down the bodice pattern to make it an 8, now this fits perfectly.

I also lined the bodice instead of using bias binding as per the pattern instructions. This was the first time I lined a sleeveless bodice and I made the mistake of sewing the side seams and then trying to attach the lining. I soon realised that I couldn't turn the dress out and ending up unpicking the lining and the side seams. I then attached the lining to the neckline and arm holes and then sewed the side seams. I much prefer the finish with the lining instead of using binding or facings, I think I will line all my garments in future.

I also added in pockets, one of my favourite features in dresses!

There are a few wrinkles in the back but I can live with that. I went for a rid zipper to match the red roses in the print which goes well with my red shoes and belt.

I really like how this turned out and will defiantly be making more dresses with the pattern.

Matching Grey Pleated Skirt and Ruffle Top McCalls 6706 & Simplicity 2599

Dresses are my favourite item of clothing if you hadn't already noticed! but I do like to make other items too.
Here I have made a grey pleated skirt and a grey printed ruffle top.

I used McCall's 6706 option D for the skirt. The other options are two striped skirts, a two tone skirt and a skirt with a short front and longer back. 

The pattern was very easy to put together and the instructions were easy to follow. I even added in a pocket to the opposite side to the zipper (gotta love a pocket!).

I used a grey cotton poplin, after I had cut my material I realised that the skirt style was quite high waisted, I didn't want it to be so high waisted. To overcome this I used very small seam allowances so it would sit closer to my hips. The other amendment I made was to double the height of the waistband as I prefer a wider waistband.

I used Simplicity 2599 option D for the top. I was drawn to this pattern as I love ruffles and this has quite a few options of different types of ruffles all in one. 

This pattern went together very quickly and was easy to follow. Aside from the ruffles what I also like about this pattern is the addition of the side darts which makes for a nicer fit. 

When I brought this pattern I accidentally brought the larger sizing 12-20 instead of 4-12, I am usually an 8-10 on top. To overcome this I found a great method on the Burda website which can be found here to reduce the size 12 to a 10 and I also used larger seam allowances as the 10 was still a little big.

The fabric used was a silky satin I purchased at Spotlight in the sale section for a bargain price of $4m. When cutting the pattern pieces out I cut 4 ruffles instead of the 3 in the pattern. As I was attaching them I decided after adding just 2 ruffles that was enough - sometimes you can have too much of a good thing!

I am really pleased with how this skirt and top turned out, each time I make something I am learning more and more and each item is slightly better made than the last. Let me know what you think. 

2 for 1 dresses - New Look 6000 and Simplicity Lisette 1419

I saw the fabric I used for both of these dresses a while ago in Spotlight its called Ottoman Suiting its a green floral paint splash print, and I knew I wanted to use it to make New Look 6000.

I brought 2m and as I was laying my pieces out I had about 1/2m left over, before I even started cutting out the pieces for my New Look 6000 pattern, I got out my other patterns to see what I could make with the left over fabric.  I decided on Simplicity Lisette 1419, I only had just enough for the skirt and collar so I used a contrasting white for the bodice.

New Look 6000

I have seen many other versions of New Look 6000 on other sewing blogs and wanted to give it a try, it's a bit different from my usual style of fitted bodice and A line skirt. I made view D without the the collar.

The biggest mistake I made with this pattern is that instead of making a muslin first to check for fit and sizing I went straight ahead and cut my lovely suiting fabric. I cut out a straight 10, usually I am an 8 on top and 10 from the hips. as this was a fitted dress I should have cut out an 8 on top and graded to a 12 at the hips. Instead I ended up having to take it in at the bust and waist and use a 1/4" seam allowance around the hips. Overall lots of messing around and trying on after each amendment to check the fit. 

Putting my mistake aside, this pattern was pretty simple to put together. I liked that the top and bottom was all one piece, I thought that the darts might be tricky but I had no problems with them. As usual when I put sleeves in they were a bit big and I ended up putting a few pleats in, I prefer pleated sleeves rather than flat ones anyway.

Before I make this again I will definitely make a muslin first to check for sizing and before cutting my pretty fabric. I'm looking forward to making the version with the side darts, watch this space for my next New Look 6000.

Simplicity Lisette 1419

This is the second time I have made this dress, my previous version was in an animal print and can be found here.

Add caption

I used white top poplin for the bodice to prevent it from being too see-through I lined it instead of using facings. For this pattern I prefer lining over facings for the bodice as it makes the seam stronger for where you have to slash the front to create the keyhole front.  The other amendment I made was to omit the button from the collar as I didn't think it was necessary.

Overall I am really pleased with how this version turned out and I'm looking forward to my making my next one.

Lisette Simplicity 1419 Giraffe Print Dress

This is my latest completed project another dress I know! but I love dresses and my wardrobe is mainly made up of dresses so why not sew myself even more!

I saw this pattern while surfing other sewing blogs and fell in love with it, its Lisette Simplicity 1419 option A with the Peter Pan collar. I had seen this Giraffe animal print around for a while and really liked it - I'm not usually an animal print type girl!

The dress didn't look quite right so I added the belt which I think improves the look of the dress by cinching the waist in a bit.

I cut a size 8 for the trop and graded down to a 10 at the hips, I have found this  makes the perfect fit for me and its not difficult to do. The only amendment I made to the pattern was not including the button on the front which I didn't think was necessary and looks better open anyway.

The collar was a bit fiddly and they are not quite symmetrical but its not too noticeable. As you can see from the back picture they didn't reach all the way around the back not sure where I went wrong there. Overall the pattern and instructions were simple and the dress went together pretty quick - or I'm just getting better at sewing!

I really like this pattern and think the style suits me. Watch this space for more versions of this dress I think it would look good with a two tone skirt and top with the collar matching the skirt.

Trousers transformation using New Look 6799

I often buy clothes just because I like the print and/or fabric more thank actual shape. One of my goals has been to convert a garment into something else like what they do on the Vintage Clothes Show. If you haven't seen it it's worth a watch. the presenter Dawn O'Porter shows you how to shop vintage and fill your wardrobe with beautiful, timeless pieces that look great. One section of the show has sewing tips and they alter vintage clothes into something new. It is originally from the UK and is on Foxtel over here, click here for a link the website.

So here is my garment alteration, a few years ago I brought some extreme wide leg trousers and I have never worn them but I love the scratchy heart print fabric.


This is my before pic

The trousers were so wide at the bottom that I was hoping I could make an A-Line dress out of them. After getting a few patterns out and seeing what would fit I was in luck I did have enough fabric for an A-Line skirt. I used New Look 6799 as it has a panel in the middle and a neckline than can be made from contrasting fabric.

This is how it turned out - more of a transformation than alteration.

I love the fact that now I have a garment that I will wear and is more me. This is the second time I have used this pattern, I made two variations to the instructions firstly  I didn't line the bodice so I needed to use bias tape for the armholes and I didn't add a button to the neckline at the back. The positives from this pattern is that it fits well with no alterations, the instructions were mostly simple and easy to follow. The negative is that both times I found the neckline really tricky and I end up unpicking and re-sewing parts because the stitches have missed the back of the facing, not really a negative for the pattern just that I need a bit more practise!

Let me know what you think and I would love to hear others stories of garment alteration/transformation.