The Gathered Dress in Double Gauze

Each summer, I seem to have a favourite dress pattern which I end up making multiple versions of.  This year, it's The Gathered Dress by Avid Seamstress.  I've made three, this is number two:  short sleeved option and in Nani Iro double gauze.

It's a little crumpled from lots of wear!  It's a great style for a heatwave: loose, but still fitted at the shoulder and with a little back shaping to avoid the sack look.  The sleeves are on the longish side for short sleeves and stop at a flattering place, low on the upper arm. They also help protect against sunburn but I could imagine a cooler version would be a shorter angled sleeve.  Any changes made to the pattern were mentioned here, sleeves were unchanged.  

The double gauze has less drape than the linen I used for the long sleeve version but enough body to cope with the pockets and is of course, nice and airy to wear.  The print is Sen Ritsu and has been in my stash for a long time, years even.  I picked up a great tip from Cheryl of Sewstitchybee. She suggested holding a neck facing in place by adding a label on the back neck facing and stitching through all the layers.  I find labels scratchy so I used some of the fabric selvedge and it works really well!  Great tip. Another Gathered Dress coming up soon...

Denim Pinafore with Embroidery

This project has been a while in the making. I bought the dark denim from Plush Addict at least six months ago. It's quite heavy, like a sturdy pair of jeans and it's heavily dyed so I prewashed it a couple of times and it still made my fingers blue when working with it. It stayed in my stash until I gradually formed a plan with a vintage pinafore dress pattern, an embroidery book and a Cotton + Chalk Sunday set pattern...

I started with the embroidery and a large chunk of denim that could be trimmed down for a pocket.  The pattern is from Zakka Embroidery by Yumiko Higuchi. It is a genuinely inspiring book, there's such incredible beauty and simplicity in her designs. I traced the outlines on to Sticky Fabric Solvy which I've mentioned before.  You can see the process from stitching to dissolving to the finished design.

The bib, straps, waistband and pockets were cut from the Cotton+Chalk Sunday Set pattern. This was a freebie with Simply Sewing magazine and given to me by a friend. I made a size S and it is generously sized. I did make a quick waistband before cutting the other pieces out but it still came out larger than I planned so I tightened it a little with an extra bit of overlap on the waistband clip. The skirt was from a Woman's Realm vintage pattern. It's a long triangle shaped A line with a few gathers at the waist and I chose the longer view on the right which without the frill is a long midi. I did make a trial of the bodice of this pattern originally but it was way off in size with lots of fullness in the front. The Cotton+Chalk pattern is a circle skirt with gathers which is a bit full a bulky for the look I wanted. 

The side pockets were sewn using an 'Out of sight' feature in the March issue of Threads magazine. It was one of those technique articles that they do so well and it created the best finish on the inside as well as the out. Threads is one of the few magazines where I cut and keep the features.  The top stitching was done using Gutermann's top stitching thread from a denim thread box. I used theGutermann's standard sew-all thread shade 339 in the bobbin and the top stitching thread on top with a Superior Threads 100 Top stitching needle.  I've tried various ways of doing this and a large top stitching needle makes a big difference to keeping the thicker thread tension even.

My daughter described this look as 'Scandi Kindergarten teacher' and said I looked like I was ready to whip up a stack of flower crowns out of twigs and wild flowers.  She knows me well.  Thanks to her for taking these pics on one of our regular beach walking trips.  It was a genuinely slow stitch project with a fast ending and it has already been much worn in the last week. 

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Factory Shirt in Nani Iro Pon Pocho: With High Round Back Adjustment

I have a back-log of projects to share dating back from the last couple of months and I'm off my usual day job for a two week break with lots of sewing work to catch up on  so I'd better get on with it.

I made a couple of Merchant and Mills Factory dresses over the summer- see here and here- and I modified the pattern from the start.  They were much worn and I could see the potential for a top using this pattern so after finding this Nani Iro Pon Pocho on sale during the summer at The Draper's Daughter I bought 1.5 metres and got planning.   I love the relaxed fit of my dresses- loose but not baggy or sack like, and I especially liked the drop shoulder detail which means that you can sew your sleeve in flat- so easy, who doesn't like that?  Setting sleeves in is always tricky!

I had a minor fit issue with my dresses; the front neck was pulling slightly to the back which after a little consultation with Fit for Real People- which I've found to be excellent on all fit issues that I've had- I found diagnosed as high round back .  I followed their instruction and added extra space to the upper back bodice to allow for rounding of the shoulders and back. I blame age, computers and sewing for this- all hard to avoid!  

High round back alteration is easy adjustment to make which basically adds a long narrow wedge to the back to accommodate the rounding.   I've annotated the photo to make it clear what had been added. It involves drawing a line from centre back and stopping at the seam allowance of the shoulder area.   I wasn't exactly sure where to put my line and this time it was quite high- I would go a little lower for a closer fitting top.  Cut along the line stopping at the seam to create a hinge.  Place a piece of pattern paper underneath and open out at the centre back around ¼" to ⅜".  On this I knew I only needed a little.  For other patterns I've made I would add ⅜"- I judge this by how much I feel I want to pull the top bodice forward at the collar when I wear it.  The top part of the centre back needs a minor truing up to keep that line straight.  That little fillet of paper creates just a little more room and gave me a great fit.

For other alterations, I used top patterns that I like the length and fit on so Tova and Carme to draft the waist width and hem length and Kanerva for the sleeves- I used the existing short sleeve pattern from the Factory dress, added length and narrowed it.  The cuff is finished with a cross cut binding. 

As with the dresses, I used David Paige Coffin's Shirtmaking book which I guess was reprinted as it has gone from being unaffordable and hard-to-find to being easily available and I finally got a copy of my own.  The only difference was with this collar, I used light fusible interfacing - Perfect Fuse in Sheer - on both collar and under collar to keep the double gauze under control - it frays very easily.  The placket, under collar and stand facing are from a fat 1/8th of Liberty lawn- it's amazing how a little piece of fabric like that can do all those jobs!  I squeezed this out of my 1.5m with nothing left, only the smallest scraps!  I am very pleased with the result.  It's a casual comfortable, warm top and it works well with my charcoal Fumeterre skirt.  It's easy to pull off and on over my head and the colour and print is uplifting to wear on days when I want to be more practical and keep warm!  I aways like to keep things simple with big prints and strong colours and this style offers a lot of potential for more simple tops with options like a lower neck and a rounded collar.  Thank you to my daughter as ever for her photos- she knows exactly what I want without me even saying. x

I Love Nani Iro Month: En Garden Factory Dress

My heart leapt when I received an email from Frances of Miss Matabi a few weeks ago asking if I would like to take part in her wonderful Nani Iro month of projects and gorgeous fabrics.  I couldn't write my response fast enough and within a short time, my fabric choice, En Garden Ki double gauze arrived.  It is an amazing colour, a green that matches my cutting board.  I am a big fan of green.

I didn't have an immediate idea of what I wanted to make.  I knew it would be a dress and I wanted it to be simple- avoiding zips, buttonholes or fiddly fastenings and making the most of the gorgeous print.   Sewing with double gauze reminds me a little of pastry baking: it needs minimal handling.  Not sure if it needs cold fingers too but you catch my drift.  After some dithering, I settled on the Merchant and Mills Factory Dress pattern but with some changes. The double gauze En Garden fabric definitely needed a prewash; it turned colour catcher jade green.

I sketched out my ideas in a Fashionary- a sketch book with the body 'croquis' already lightly printed on the paper.  I don't usually do this but it did help get my head around a few style variations.  I did my usual internet research to see what others had done with the dress.  Most people make it up in a neutral high quality fabric like a yarn dyed linen chambray or a light denim which looks lovely but for me it is a little like the sewing room with white walls and a single sewing machine on an empty white table- a dream that is never going to happen.  I like pattern, it lifts my spirit in the way plainer fabrics rarely can.     I find the revere collar style of the factory dress a little reminiscent of school uniform and games kit and prefer a collar with stand, so with a library copy of David Paige Coffin's wonderful tome, 'Shirt Making' I set about drafting a two coloured tower placket, a collar stand and a collar.  The benefit of using a placket is that the front piece is cut out of one piece of fabric and maintains the design.  I made a test garment first from some pretty but poor quality cotton found at a car boot sale and I was glad I did, it allowed me to make many mistakes and master the technique!

I used the Deer and Doe Bleuet collar and stand pattern pieces as a stating point and adapted the size to fit the existing neckline of the factory dress.  The front placket with point was in the book and I changed the length of the placket and kept everything else the same.   My contrasting fabric was some Oakshott cotton; the colour is discontinued but you can find similar here.  I added Perfect Fuse sheer tricot fusible interfacing to the placket, mainly to keep the edges stable on the double gauze section.  

Here are the other making stats.

• Cut size 8 Factory Dress pattern and on reduced the bodice sides and waist by a total of 4"-an average of 1" on each side edge.   Repeated on the skirt pieces.  On the front skirt I took the inch from the centre top of the waist and kept the bottom half the same, grading the outside seam line.
• Pattern used 2.5 metres of 110cm fabric.
• Contrast fabric for stand up collar, part of the placket and the pockets.
• Moved the bust dart points upwards by ¾" inch on each point.
• Top stitched the shoulder seams and sleeve seams.

• Changed the pocket construction so that the top of the pocket was caught in the waist seam rather than having pocket bags flapping around.  I used Christine Haynes Emery Dress pocket pieces and her construction method.
• I added bias binding to the inside of the waist seam to neaten it up and have it smooth against the skin.  It looks a little uneven on the inside but on the outside there is a ¼" topstitching line to keep it in place.

• The collar and stand were interfaced with prepared for dyeing bleach white Kona cotton following a suggestion in 'Shirtmaking'. The interfacing pieces is cut minus the seam allowances and glue basted to the wrong side of the collar and stand.  It is held in place temporarily by the glue and permanently by the top stitching.
• The seams are sewn with Gutermann sew all poly thread but the top stitching was all done with Aurifil 50wt and a very small stitch.  Again a suggestion from 'Shirtmaking'.
• I used a 75 ballpoint needle throughout.  I find ballpoint needles are brilliant for the thin threads and loose weave of double gauze. 
• I added waist ties (pattern pieces from Darling Ranges dress pattern) placed 5" either side of the centre back as even after allowing for loose fit, the back was still baggy.  

• I used seam tape for the hem.

As a finished garment, it is wonderfully comfortable.  Great for hot days and cooler days with a camisole underneath and maybe a hoodie.  A practical pretty dress that can take a day's sewing, a dog walk and time at the beach.  I am wearing it with this year's Saltwater sandals.  I buy a pair each year  and they are another pretty practical part of my wardrobe. The Merchant and Mills pattern is based on 1930s utilitarian factory wear for women of the time but my version has a more 1950s feel.   It reminds me of something my Grandmother used to wear.  Thank you Frances for sending such amazing material, it was an utter pleasure to sew.

Here are links to the other Nani Iro month contributors taking part this month.  If you join in and make anything from Nani Iro, or want to share pictured of your Nani Iro fabric stash, be sure to use the #ilovenaniro hashtag.

Straightgrain   ∆   noodlehead   ∆   Ute

verykerryberry   ∆   Make It Perfect   ∆   Groovy Baby and Mama

A Little Goodness   ∆   SKIRT AS TOP   ∆   Cashmerette

Sew Little   ∆   imagine gnats   ∆   you & mie

SANAE ISHIDA   ∆   Miss Matatabi

And there is a frankly AMAZING giveaway with a big parcel of Nani Iro goodies worth $400 waiting for some extremely lucky person to win. It includes 20 metres of Nani Iro fabric, 6 rolls of bias tape, two signed books by Naomi Ito, sewing patterns and an extra surprise gift from Naomi Ito herself!   I know, my jaw dropped too.  Headover to France's blog and get your entry in, it is too good to miss!

Sewing Camisole Slip- Butterick 6031

Sewing successful undies was part of my self inflicted Me-Made-May pledge (alongside sewing a coat but Shh!  I haven't started that yet!).  When Gretchen's pattern, kit and sew along was released I knew it was my perfect opportunity to conquer this challenge.  These are the results:

 

I did sew a test garment as I was making reducing the cup size to an A and I learnt a lot- as you always do on the test run.  I made the cami and knicks in some spotty cotton/elastane jersey.   I did change the knicker style, especially at the front as I made each pair.  The easiest way to do this is to put them on as you sew and then to draw the leg line that you prefer as you are wearing them with a soft pencil.  The original style is a short style so there is quite a bit of fabric at the front.  I left the back as it was for full coverage!

My machine is fine sewing standard cotton jersey but previous unsuccessful  knicker sewing activities have struggled with any lycra mix fabrics, chewing up the fabric and skipping stitches no matter what adjustments I made.  This time, two realisations: 

1. Lightning stitch is great for sewing knits (stitch 6 and 7 on photo below).  I still used zig zag as all the lace and elastic is attached that way but the lighting stitch is strong and perfect for the side seams.  I didn't use my overlocker, I tried but it wasn't necessary and more trouble than it was worth.  

2. Ballpoint needles are great for standard jersey but for fabric with more elasticity and lycra/elastane content, a stretch needle is the business.  No more skipped stitches.  I bought mine on ebay.  Apparently the difference is to do with the needle eye- helpfully explained here on Sewbox.

My previous knicker activities have involved using picot elastic, this time the emphasis is on stretch lace and here is where I learnt something crucial to my failure last time.  The lace is overlaid on the fabric- no stretching , zig zagged on and then the base fabric is cut away behind.  Before, I have tried to sew lace and elastic on the very edge of stretch fabric and it has slipped and slid whilst I was also stretching it and stitches skipped- all disastrous.  This time, all successful.  I do use ballpoint pins and they make life easier too.

I am so thrilled with the result.  I now have a go-to pattern for a cami and a slip which works in slinky lingerie  micro jersey as well as cotton jersey. 

For future makes, the best selection of lingerie supplies appears to be on ebay, at least for UK folks- thats where I've sourced the biggest variety of stretch lace/clips etc although quality is a little variable.  Buying the kit for this did make it a much easier project than sourcing separately.

I now feel confident enough to make a mini wardrobe of knicks!