Sunday 20 August 2017

Rainbow Taffy Blouse

I am so late for this party, the Colette Taffy Blouse but as they say: better late than never!

I have had this pattern forever.  It was offered as a freebie download in a sewing magazine and never one to pass up a freebie, I grabbed it and a quick look around blogosphere reveals it could be as early as 2011; I think it was given as an enticement when the Colette Sewing Handbook was released.

Anyway, it has sat there quietly gathering dust, along with a chiffon remnant I have had in my stash for not quite so many years.  I may have mentioned before that I love a good rummage through the remnant bin of my local fabric shop.  I never pay more that £5 and manage to come away with enough fabric for dress and this was no exception.  This chiffon is the female equivalent of Joseph's technicolour dreamcoat.  It has every colour under the sun and most are in my autumn colour palette (so unheard of) and will go with just about everything.  Trying to get through my stash of fabric I paired it with the Taffy pattern.

I decided to wing it and not make a toile for this.......there is method in my madness.  Colette is known for making their patterns to fit a C cup (unlike the Big Four, who only do a B), it is a bias cut pattern (so will stretch) and it has big floaty sleeves.  The downsides mainly mentioned are the sleeves are HUGE and the neckline quite wide.  Being a C/D cup and thinking I am fairly broad shouldered, I decided it was worth a shot without the toile.

It is a very easy pattern - only 3 pieces: bodice front and back and sleeves.  There are ties but I didn't have any instructions so didn't make them (and was wondering what the marks on the side backs were, sigh!).  I couldn't pattern match but I did try to go for colour matching at the sleeve head and figured it wouldn't matter too much if I didn't get it spot.  I didn't and it doesn't!

The edges of the sleeve and neckline are edged in binding and I didn't have a light-weight fabric so decided to make chiffon bias-binding...........sharp intake of breath!   I managed it and do not intend repeating that particular task EVER!  I decided to use the binding as a type of facing for the sleeves but did a bound neckline as I didn't want to take anymore off the edge, just in case it did prove to be on the large side.  Oh and a word of warning, those sleeves are massive, they are almost full circle.

And here it is.



Have to say that the comments re the wide neckline are right, it is a bit wide, even on me (of course it could mean I'm not as broad-shouldered as I thought), but I can live with it.   That said, I love it and I have to say, I think it may become a favourite staple.  It is a dress-up-dress-down item.  It will go with loads of things, pencil skirt, jeans, smart trousers and I have a few cardigans that will go with it.  And I really love the sleeves.   They are big and floaty and hang beautifully (and hide a multitude of sins, if you catch my drift) and the fit of the top is great.  The ties aren't really necessary, not for me anyway but I may make a belt just to jazz it up a bit.  Definitely worth a go and is spectacular in the right fabric!

Monday 14 August 2017

Honig Design Garden Party Dress (aka Sit-on-my-bum-and-do-nothing-dress)

Well I've finished it, at last.  My Garden Party Dress.  I came across this dress a few years ago whilst on my blogosphere travels and loved it.  It's simple and modern but with a vintage vibe.  It's a free pattern so I decided to give a whirl and have to say that I was impressed.  It is beautifully presented, clear instructions and pattern.  There are 2 options each for sleeves, neckline and skirt, which ain't bad for a freebie! About 2 years ago, I was in my local crafty gift shop and spied a length of Art Gallery fabric.  It was enough for a dress and so found it's way into my sweaty little paws.  I later decided to marry it with the Garden Party Dress.

I had to make quite a few changes to the pattern.  The bodice is fairly fitted and because I suffer from back neck gaposis on dresses, I decided to do a size 12 with an FBA, and to be fair, having to do an FBA is a standard alteration for me these days.  However, Miss Honig Design must be a tiny petite thing as the bodice was waaaaaaaay too short; I'm not even talking crop top here , more bolero length on me!  But, changes made and it went together pretty well..........at toile stage.

You know sometimes there are clothes that just refuse to play nicely, well this was one of them.  I pinned the pattern to the fabric, was just about to cut it all out, when I remembered that I had to pattern match it, so off it all came.  Next day, I laid out the skirt (which I hadn't done the day before) and found the front skirt was too wide for the fabric, so a bit of jiggery-pokery on a quick pattern alteration and the skirt was cut out, with the panels on the front skirt nicely matching.  I then managed to arrange the bodice have it match beautifully across the back bodice, only to realise I had forgotten to match the back skirt, doh!  It was this point, the dress got its alternative name.  A friend spied it on the back of the chair midway through making, and (ever the truthful person I am), explained the mishap.  "So what are you going to do?" she asked.  "Sit on my bum and do nothing when I'm wearing it!" said I!  And actually, truth be told (see, I told you, ever truthful), it would have been impossible to match the back skirt as I didn't have enough fabric (that's the trouble with a pre-cut length!) though I did try!

Anyway, it all went together beautifully, I managed the concealed zip without a concealed zipper foot although the zip did come out once!  The difficulty came attaching the skirt to the bodice.  The skirt was a size 16 and the bodice a 12 so the skirt pattern markings didn't match the bodice.  I eyeballed it,  sewed it all together and found I had the pleats going the wrong way on one side.  So out it came and then it didn't line up with the waist dart, so out it came again.  Third time lucky, hurrah!

Here's the dress in all its glory.  I don't love it but I will wear it.  I love the dress style, it is very easy to wear and is a lovely swishy skirt (even in cotton and lined with cotton), not too much for daywear.........just maybe not in this fabric.  I don't normally wear pattern (actually, I don't normally wear dresses but I'm trying to change that!) so it is quite a departure in style for me.  There are a few niggles:  it is a bit baggy under the bust in the ribcage area.  I tried to fix it but the waist darts were going right up to the bust point and I'm not a fan of the pointy boob look!  I have since found a potential fix but will leave it on this dress for now.  Also the armholes are a bit tight and need adjusting; I think this is the difference in toile fabric (an old duvet cover and then curtain lining, both of which are softer than the fabric I used for the dress) compared to the dress fabric.  But I love the style.  Think I'm going to try tweaking it and make a couple of wintry dresses, using the long sleeve option.  But I really do suggest you try it.  It's a lovely pattern and with so many style options.......a girl can never have too many dresses, right?


And again excuse the semi-ferocious face......I really must learn to make more time for photo-taking rather than throwing my camera at Little Miss as we are rushing out the door!