Charming Chica

Today, I bring you the last of my holiday outfit photos. These pictures were taken on an early morning tour of the Alcazaba of Málaga, a beautiful eastern-influenced castle ruin from the 11th century. 

It is a well-known fact, that when a seamstress is going on a holiday, no matter the duration or destination, she needs a fresh, new wardrobe to bring with her. And being the seamstress that she is, she is going to make it herself in a matter of days before departure.

That seamstress might be me. 

Luckily, I had a stack of new, fresh summer dresses that hadn't been worn due to the crappy summer weather, so I told myself I only really needed to make this one outfit. 

I made this blouse back in September, just a few days after the pattern was released. It is, of course, the Rita Blouse from Charm Patterns by Gertie.

The fabric was a small scrap of floral cotton poplin bought in a sweet little fabric shop in Flensburg a few years ago. I had about 30 cm of full-width fabric and a handful of medium-sized scraps left and I used every last bit to cut out this blouse. In fact, I had to piece the sleeves, but it is not too noticeable once they have been gathered. 

I made a straight size 6, and I am very happy with the overall fit of the blouse. I can wear it both on and off the shoulders (mostly on the shoulders) and still move around comfortably in it. My measurements were between the 6 and 8, but I sized down after consulting the finished measurement chart and facebook.

I did have to shorten the elastics quite a bit but didn't make any other adjustments.

The skirt is the Zinnia skirt by Colette Patterns. I recently had a lot of unused SeamWork credits burning in my online pocket and used a couple (3 to be exact) on the Zinnia skirt, as I had had my eye on it for a while. I sewed a size 6 and the only adjustment was to swap the waistband pattern piece out with my beloved waistband interfacing tape for a clean look and a slightly narrower width.

I sewed it up in a wonderfully soft, hot pink linen fabric that has been in my stash for about 5-6 years. I had 2 meters of linen and just about managed to save some large scraps for another planned project.

The buttons are from Stof2000. The pattern calls for 10 buttons, but I omitted the last button because I felt it was placed too close to the hem to be really useful.

All in all, I love both Rita and Zinnia, and they make a very cute outfit when put together. I will be making more of both of them, but especially the Rita! I have a lot of ideas for pattern hacks, including long sleeves, dress variations, and neckline ruffles!

Do you also sew last minute garments before a holiday or is it just me?

Have a nice day,

Angelica

A Slice of Black Forest....

... with a cherry on top! This is what this me-made outfit reminds me off!

And who wouldn't like a slice of cake with the weather we have here in Denmark at the moment? There was rain and thunder outside during my little photoshoot :(

Cake and weather aside, this skirt is the How To Do Fashion "No. 8 Svaneke" skirt with 6 panels and the box pleat hack as described in this blog post from Nanna. In these pictures, I am wearing it with the zipper at the side, but it can also be worn with the zipper at the back, as shown on the dressform below, depending if you like the pleats meeting at mid front or not.

I made it up in this cherry print polycotton from Minerva Craft, a birthday gift from my boyfriend back in April. I got 14 m in total for my birthday, so expect to hear that phrase again soon, lol.

I used some waistband interfacing tape from my moms stash (thanks, mom!) for the waistband instead of the included waistband pattern piece, as I prefer the look of it. For the length of the waistband I just measured the waistband of one of my beloved Hollyburn skirts and added 1 cm of seam allowance on each end.

To add some extra interest to the skirt, I added 2 rows of bright red cotton tape to the hem of the skirt. I REALLY love how it turned out, reminds me of the navy and white trimmings on vintage sailor dresses.

The black color of the fabric did fade a bit during washing & drying and it shrunk a bit under too hot an iron, but I love it anyway. Using polycotton like this is fast becoming my go-to for 50's inspired dresses and skirts because of the slight stiffness and fun prints and also for wearable muslins because of the cheap price tag.

The top is the SeamWork Elmira Cardigan. I have wanted to make this since it came out and finally found the time to sew it.

The fabric is a wonderfully soft viscose & lycra jersey, also from Minerva Crafts. Somehow it is opaque enough as one layer on the back and sleeves while being thin enough not to be too bulky for the double-layer fronts and tie pieces. It was a bit fiddly to work with, though, but I would not hesitate to buy it again.

At first, I made the cardigan up as written in the instructions, but I absolutely HATED the way the left front tie sat in the side seam. It weighed the side seam down and made it impossible to adjust the waist using the ties. In the end, I chopped the left tie off while taking the side seams in anyway, cut it 30 cm shorter and sewed it back on at the short edge of the front piece.
This way, both fronts has the tie piece as an extension of the wrap, but one tie is shorter than the other. To wear it, I wrap the side with the short end over first and then wrap the side with the long tie over and around my back, to meet the short tie at the opposite side seam. (I hope that makes sense)

For next time, I have traced off a second, shorter tie pattern piece for the left side, and might put a buttonhole/slit in the left side seam to make the wrapping a bit easier and/or neater.

I made a size small despite being a medium in the size chart. I will recommend sizing down in all knit patterns from SeamWork and Colette if you have narrow shoulders and/or an A/B cup like me.

All in all, I really love these two items, especially worn together like this. The outfit is just vintage-inspired enough without being costume-y or unpractical. I did wear a petticoat for the pictures, but the skirt is lovely without it as well :)

I will leave you with this cute picture of Marie sitting on the cherry skirt. Have a nice weekend!

Disclaimer: I did receive the How To Do Fashion pattern for free as part of being a pattern tester. All opinions are my own. 

Colette Hawthorn and the Autumn/Winter of a 1000 Shirtdresses

I am just barely making the deadline on this, despite having started it back when the challenge was announced. This is my official entry to the Autumn/Winter of a 1000 Shirtdresses.

I had such great plans. I would dig out my Colette Hawthorn pattern and do all the dreaded adjustments that I knew would be necessary to make the Colette C-cup bodice pattern fit my barely-B frame. Then I would use some beautiful textured fabric given to me by my grandmother, and it would be the cutest of spring dresses.

Well, that didn't happen.

First of, this fabric was a pain to work with. The texture made it hard to sew vertical seams and the vertical buttonholes was a nightmare of skipped stitches and unpicking. The printed white flower motifs stuck to the iron, making ironing from the right side impossible. Ironing from the wrong side made the fabric "grow" as the texture was flattened.

Second, I might have over-fitted the bodice armholes, and they have become too tight. It is still wearable, but would be more comfortable if I would bother to take 1,5 cm off the edge all around the armholes.

Thirdly, I am not sure this style is for me. It looks SO cute on the dressform, but not quite as cute on me. I have a low bustpoint/long collarbone (ballerina neckline?) combined with a hollow chest, and this high, nocthed neckline and collar just seems to accentuate that. Low, scooped necklines just suit me better, I think.

All that aside, it is a beautifully finished dress. The hem and armholes are finished with self-fabric bias tape and sewn down by hand. The front and neck facings and collar edge are understitched by hand instead of top stitching. The shoulder seams on the collar and facing are pinked to minimize bulk and all other seams are overlocked.

The buttons are from a local fabric store and are the perfect shade of pearlescent blue. They are quite large, so I only used 10 instead of the recommended 13.

Hope is not completely lost, though, and search for the perfect shirtdress continuous. I might try Vintage Vogue 2960 or a button-front version of Sewaholic Cambie next... wish me luck!

Lastly, a big thanks to Mary of Idle Fancy for hosting this sewing challenge. I am not sure if I would ever have had finished this dress otherwise ;)