April 2019 projects

I didn't make anything in March, well nothing worth writing about, I got very distracted by other things.

April has been better, I haven't done as much as I really should have but I did make a couple of things over the Easter holiday. Both things I made were drawn from clothes I already have. One is a dress I've had for years that I wore on really hot days, just a short sun dress with a swishy skirt and pockets on the side. The pockets were at just the right height to catch on things, door handles, the garden gate, backs of chairs, I lost count of the amount of times I caught a pocket and tore the dress, it was excessively patched. I resolved to make a new version of the dress without pockets.

I have lost quite a bit of weight recently so I tried the dress on and noted down where it needed to be taken in. I unpicked the dress and laid out the pieces in turn and drew each piece onto tracing paper. Once I was happy with the shape of each piece I altered them to make them a size or two smaller, basically taking some off the seams. I decided to use some yellow check cotton that I had picked up in a charity shop for £2. The cotton had already been washed so I pressed it, laid it out and pinned my pieces to it, I cut a few of the pieces on an angle to add a bit of interest to the final dress. I put the bodice together first then the main skirt panels then added in the side skirt panels, then I joined the skirt to the bodice. When I tried it on the bodice was a little big under the arms so I took that in another inch. I pinned the straps upside down on the right side of the bodice front and stitched on the bodice lining, when the bodice was turned the right way out everything was nice and tidy. I got my mum to pin the straps to the back for me then I stitched those on and hemmed around the back. I overlocked all the inside seams and hand stitched the lining in and the bottom hem. The dress turned out really well, it fits nicely and will be a great dress for hot days being lazy. I do miss the pockets though.

Hot day dress front

Hot day dress back

The top I wanted to replicate without cutting it up as I think I will fit back into it soon, though it is too small for me at the moment. I pressed the top well, folded the front panel in half and pinned it, I then pinned it to my paper and drew around it, I did the same with the back panel. This time I wanted the top to be a little larger so I added to the seams and bottom. I decided to make this top out of another piece of charity shop fabric (another check), and cut it on the bias. I carefully folded the fabric and pinned it down the crease to keep it from sliding, I followed the diagonals of the check pattern, I cut one panel then refolded in another area and cut the other. I also cut 4 lengths of fabric on the straight grain for straps and several lengths on the bias for binding. I stitched the back and front panels together down the sides and edged the inside seams. The top was a little big under the arms so I took it in and trimmed off the excess. I then bound around the armholes and neck with the bias binding. I stitched the straps into the back first then pinned them to the front making sure they crossed over nicely, I hand stitched all the straps in place and hand stitched around the hem. I'm happy with the way it turned out, it fits nicely and looks great.

Bias cut top front

Bias cut top back

The other thing I did this month was alter a dress I had got on sale to wear to the theatre in May. It is a vintage style wiggle dress in a stretch viscose. It fits great everywhere except across my back where it gaped badly. I folded in a dart on each side of the back zip and pinned them in, I tried the dress on again and and it looked a lot better. I sat down and drew in the darts accurately then pinned and tacked them in place. I then stitched them on the machine and finished off by hand. I took out a total of 4 inches. I showed my mum as I couldn't tell if it was still baggy in the back, she just yanked down the hem and said it was fine.

I have no specific plans for May, I'm hoping I get some more sewing done, there's another bank holiday, always a good time for making so we shall see.