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Minimalistic shirtdress for the summer
Here is a bit older make from last summer that I didn’t get to posting at that time. I bought this lovely stretch cotton poplin last spring when visiting Edinburgh. At first I did not know what to do with it, since it is a bit crispier than the cottons I’m used to deal with. Then I saw this shirtdress pattern while leafing through the March issue (3/2016) of the Finnish sewing and crafts magazine Suuri Käsityö and decided to try the pattern even if it is a bit different from what I usually wear. The design of the dress takes inspiration of a man’s shirt and it is loose…
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Rainy day with Cami-dress
Pauline Alice has a wonderful retro-inspired patterns but the only one I have attempted is the Cami dress. It has the full skirt in the style of 1950s and a high waist. There are two sleeve variations, a short sleeved version and a 3/4 sleeve with a turned cuff. The latter works better for the autumn/winter dress but for this summer dress I chose the simple short sleeve. I particularly like the shape of the shirt collar. Often I feel that the collars are drafted a bit too big for me, but this is just perfect. The length of the skirt comes a couple of inches above the knee, so it…
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Nostalgic polkadots
It seems that I have found another favourite pattern to use over and over again. I made this dress last summer and loved it, even if the fit wasn’t perfect. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon this gorgeous lilac coloured polkadot viscose fabric when visiting Eurokangas in the neighbouring city that has slightly bigger selection than my local one. I have never worn this colour before, but I was pleasantly surprised that the colour suits my winter-pale complexion. Anyway, I got instant vintage feels and started thinking about sailor collars and flowing skirts with puffy sleeves, so I dug into my pile of sewing magazines and found the one…
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Navy blue shirtdress with triangles
I found this lovely viscose print fabric from factory remains section of the local fabric Shop Eurokangas and didn’t even have to think whether to buy it. I absolutely love the orange and white triangles on the navy background. The fabric piece was big so there was no doubt that I could make a dress out of it. McCall’s 7351 was listed as one of the best patterns of 2016 on patternreview.com website. I love shirtdresses so I ordered the pattern when I saw it was on sale a few months ago. The pattern has options for both a sleeveless dress and a dress with either short or long sleeves.…
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A Mother’s day dress
Here in Finland we celebrate Mother’s day on next Sunday. I wanted to make something as a surprise gift for my Mom and decided on a nice summer dress with a bold print. I sent cryptic pictures of different fabrics to get her opinion and together we decided on a graphic leaf print. I used the pattern for the Lizzy dress from the British Simply Sewing magazine, issue eighteen that I had previously used to make myself a linen summer dress. I figured out that this A-line dress would be safe to sew without me being able to do any fitting, using just the body measurements to determine the correct size.…
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Stella dress with flowers
Stella dress by Ikatee caught my attention immediately, when I saw it. The beautiful frills and light linen were so romantic but also fashionable right now. I was unable to find similar light linen but I had romantic viscose jersey and thought: why not to try a completely different fabric. I made the dress deliberately one size bigger (122 cm) to have some room for S to grow into. The only thing I changed was I turned the edge of the ruffled pieces twice and stitched them rather than making a rolled hem. I had just had some difficulties with my serger and didn’t feel like fiddling with the serger settings.…
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Flounces and sunshine
The sun is shining today and makes me so happy. The grass is starting to grow and if the weather keeps like this the leaves are coming out in a couple of days. I am completely in the spring mood and I’m wearing my newest dress I made using Lekala pattern #4279. I mentioned getting this pattern free and was thinking of all kinds of romantic fabrics until I realised that the flounces need a more masculine fabric for the dress not to be overwhelmingly romantic. So I got this navy blue viscose from my stash that did not really appeal to me immediately. What I thought however was that when the…
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Happy May Day with TV dress
Sometimes ideas just hit me when I come across unusual materials. A while ago a soft plastic storage unit that was hanging in our cleaning closet and storing our wrapping paper broke down. As I was transferring all the stuff to a new one I looked at the plastic pockets of the of the old one and realised that the see-trough plastic material could be reusable. What if I could sew a dress that had a pocket with changing images according to the moods and needs of the person wearing the dress? I started sketching and came up with an idea of a TV screen. I searched trough Pinterest for…
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Suomi-neito (Maiden of Finland) dress and leggings
I have been seriously considering making sewing patterns from scratch for a while. I already have enough sewing experience and I have basic patterns for children that can be used as basis for measurements. After I found this Nuppu print company’s Lumipallo cotton I immediately saw it transformed as a dress for S. I wanted something traditional with some modern elements. I decided to make an A line dress and a high-low hem with a wide ruffle to be worn with matching leggings. I played with some different sleeve and collar options and finally left the dress sleeves with a simple white Peter Pan collar. The back fastening was initially a…
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Stretch cotton fabric from Tallinn and what became of it (part 2)
Funny how sometimes a pattern magazine manages to exceed all expectations. Ottobre design 1/2016 is a magazine that has a loose cover for so much use. The patterns are quite simple and perfect for different patterned fabrics and can be easily modified. The last blog post contained a pair of trousers from the afore mentioned magazine and this time I have made a dress number 14 called Mimmi. This pattern is an a-line dress with pockets and a lovely boat-shaped neckline. I modified the pattern by removing the need for the center-back zipper by inserting a keyhole opening and a button closure. This makes it easier for S to dress herself…
