KTB - Broderie top (and some extras)

Project - New Look 6392 Broderie top in size 3

Started - probably in 2007? It was part of a number of outfits I made for my niece who is now 10.
Finished - November 2014
Gifted - Christmas 2014
It is amazing what you can find when cleaning out the stash. While looking for something else I came across this pattern bundled up with the white broderie already cut up to make a size three top with the puffy sleeves.

I had started it as part of a gift for my now-10-year-old niece. The other items had been finished and gifted but for some reason I never sewed this one up.

I had some dragon and cow fabric already selected to make clothes for my 2-year-old niece and her dolly so I decided to use this pattern and finish the top as part of a set.

I packed up the lot and carted it off to quilt camp in November and had the top, cow shorts and dragon dress completed pretty quickly.
It must have been the elastic casings in the sleeves that put me off last time. I did 8 sleeve casings this time and they ended up pretty neat.

The whole reason for making the clothes was to have matching dolly clothes for the Kinder Doll I gave my niece for her first Christmas in 2012. I called her Ruby but she now goes by 'Dolly'.

Dolly already had a top made in the same white broderie fabric so the matching shorts were quick and easy. The dress took quite a bit of time because I wanted to make similar sleeves and end up with something that was close in appearance to the big dress. It was fiddly but fun.

My nieces parents skyped us on Christmas Day and saved the gift to open while we were online (which was such a thoughtful thing to do).
She put the dress on straight away, found Dolly and dressed her as well and then went and posed in front of the mirror. The rest of the clothes got modelled as well and although the size 3 was too big it was fun watching her play.

KTB - Rainbow Dropstitch Scarf

Project - Easy Dropstitch Scarf
Started - August 2013
Finished - August 2014
Gifted - September 2014

The Easy Dropstitch Scarf pattern is a free download from Ravelry.
It is an easy pattern for a beginner that gives a result that looks far more complicated than it really is, but I recommend using a thicker yarn than I did. Use something slippery for the best result.

I used Opel Sockenwolle - sock yarn and 4.5mm needles.
I picked the pattern because I wanted something easy but lacy.
I picked the yarn because it was in the stash.

The scarf took far longer to make than I ever intended partly because the yarn was so fine, partly because I kept putting it down, partly because I got sick of it half-way through.

I pulled it out again in winter and got it finished and blocked in time to send it to my sister for her birthday. She lives in the coldest place in the country so scarves don't go to waste. I did take some post-blocking photos but can't find them, so this work-in-progress shot is the best I can do.

KTB - New Look 6429 Mock-wrap Dress

Project - New Look 6429 view D. Knit dress with mock wrap detail.
Started - Who knows? Probably about 4 years ago.
Finished - 28 December 2014

This dress has been sitting in the sewing cupboard for years. It needed the hem to be unpicked, reshaped and resewn, dangling threads removed and floppy facings fixed.

The fabric is a really stretchy jersey knit I picked up on special but is really too stretchy to hold the shape of the dress well. A firmer knit would hold the design lines much more effectively. The fabric pattern was difficult to match and you can see that it is printed off-grain, so the front panel looks like it is hanging skewed.

I remember that I got most of the dress put together in a day or two but wasn't happy with the fit so shelved it.
I remember pulling it out again and adjusting the wrap front and sewing the hem, only to put it on and be dismayed to find the back hem had a big dip at the centre back and the skirt was too clingy and revealing over my stomach and hips. I stashed it away to deal with later.

This week, seeing as the sewing machines were out, the room was tidy and I was on a bit of a roll, I decided to pull it out and finish it off once and for all.

I figured out that the droopy hem was because I had lengthened the back bodice but forgotten to remove the same amount of length from the back skirt. Over-locking before folding up a hem wasn't the greatest idea on this fabric either. I unpicked the zig-zag hem, lay it out flat and trimmed the entire hem using the rotary cutter. I pinned them hem up, pressed well and then stitched in place with a twin needle.

The facings didn't sit well (an issue with everyone who has reviewed this pattern) so I trimmed them back to the edge of the top-stitching, creating more of a bound edge.

All in all, the dress isn't a disaster. it is light and comfortable to wear, so may become a round-the-house dress.

I don't like the cling across my stomach but that is more about accepting my body shape than a design fault with the pattern.

I love the back - the v-shaped waist line sits perfectly. I'm wondering if I can combine the back design with a more fitted front bodice?

Rainy Holiday sewing - knit dress

Project - New Look 6280 View A - knit dress with 'V' neck and bust gathers
Started - 27 December 2014
Finished - 28 December 2014

I purchased this fabric and pattern in November just before my quilt weekend, intending to get it started - at least cut out and ready to sew. As usual I took far too much with me and this didn't even get a look in.

Post Christmas, with an empty, tidy house and a grey rainy day, what else is there to do but pull it out and sew while the boys are flaked out in front of the TV?

The fabric is a fairly firm knit with one-way stretch. It isn't the colour I would normally wear but fine for trying out the pattern to see if it fitted and if I liked it.

The lining was a stretchy jersey. All up, the fabric I used cost around $17 and the pattern was $6.


I've been looking for summer dresses for a while, but everything I try on is either shapeless or far too small in the bust. I bought this pattern hoping I could adjust it for a custom fit.
I tried out a Full Bust Adjustment using this tutorial from 'Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing'.
I used my high bust measurement and the finished garment dimensions from the pattern tissue to select the size to use.

My full bust measurement is 8cm larger than my high bust so I needed to add 4cm width and length to each side of the bodice. This would have been easier if the shoulder line and bust apex were marked on the pattern.

I guessed and ended up too full through the high bust. I could probably get away with a smaller increase but it is lovely to put on something that doesn't pull over the bust and that has an under-bust seam that sits exactly where it should.

I made view A from the pattern but altered the front bodice to have a vertical centre seam rather than a cross-over neckline, as there was enough bulk from the gathers under the bust. I should have dropped the neckline lower as it ended up higher than I wanted.

I sewed the bodice pieces with a smaller seam allowance (by mistake) so the straps ended up too wide and the underarms too high. There was also some bagging on the centre bust seam caused by the incorrect seam allowance. I added a piece of elastic to the front bust seam to gather the excess fabric and pull the 'V' down a bit lower. I think I attached the straps a little too high, so it sits a bit strange over my back. Using the correct seam allowance and getting someone else to help place the straps correctly should fix all these issues on any future dresses.

I picked a size with less than the recommended ease around the hips, and when I make it again I will go bigger through the hips for a looser skirt, especially if I make a maxi version.

The result is a comfortable summer dress. I'll make more of these, but with the changes I mentioned above. I've already been scouting out fabrics online.

Merry Christmas - 2014

We were planning a quiet one at home yet managed to end up with 10 for Christmas day and 15 for Boxing day.

There was swimming and Nerf guns and bike riding and Skylanders and squabbles and cuddles.

There was wallaby watching and bird spotting and a friendly green tree frog watching us from the roof gutter.

There was an enormous turkey and an enormous black forest cake that each lasted at least three meals. There was cool gingerbread house that we didn't eat.

It was lovely to spend it with family and I hope yours was as wonderful as ours.

Merry Christmas.