Simplicity 2053, Side Pleat Dress

Several patterns have come out the past couple of years with side pleats, and I have most of them.  However, when I saw Simplicity 2053 had a waist seam, I had to add yet another version of this pattern to my collection.  A waist seam is a necessity for my pear-shaped body.

I planned this pattern for a mustard-colored wool I bought from Fabric Mart a couple years ago, but I wanted to test out the pattern first before cutting into my special fabric.  I got this fabulous Michael Kors cotton at the fabric swap portion of the DC-area Pattern Review meetup in November, and it was perfect. 


As part of my pattern-testing, I added muslin sleeves to the bodice.  I don't like the weird sleeve that comes with the pattern so I used my generic Burda woven sleeve.  It would need a little bit of sleeve-cap reduction, but otherwise fit into the armscye fine.

I also found that the neckline was very high as drafted.  You can see the yellow pin marking a more flattering height for the neckline.







This pattern does not come with a lining.  I hate facings and use a lining instead wherever it is possible.

In this case it was a little tricky, because I didn't want to just duplicate the pattern in lining--the pleats add a good deal of bulk and I didn't need to double that.

Instead, I used the front bodice and skirt pattern from New Look 6968 as the front lining.  S2053's bodice is slightly longer (and the skirt slightly shorter at the waist) than NL 6968.

The neckline and armscye required minimal reshaping.  I traced them from the from the non-pleat side of the S2053 bodice front.  Once these small tweaks were made, the lining fit the fashion fabric perfectly.

I used a contrast cotton for the bodice lining (and slippery rayon for the skirt lining).  This piece was a leftover from a top I made years ago, before my discovery of Pattern Review so no photos.  It had been in and out of the donation bag about a dozen times.  I still liked the print, but could never imagine a project for it.  I am so glad I pulled it out of the donation bag in the nick of time before my last giveaway, because I just love it for the lining!  I used my all-machine clean-finish bodice lining tutorial method.







The skirt as drafted was too long for me, something I should know by now!  Normally it's not an issue, but this dress requires a walking slit in the back.  The extensions for the slit started too low for me once the skirt was at a flattering length.  I just had to stitch the extensions in place.  Luckily, it's only ugly on the inside.  You would never guess there was a problem from the outside.








This fabric was high quality but incredibly frustrating.  It has subtle stripes, which required matching. Stripe-matching on its own is a pain, but in this instance the stripes disappeared as you got closer to the fabric.  So when I got close enough to the fabric to pin it, I could no longer see the stripes.  Aiyee!!!  Luckily, their subtlety and the pleats that made stripe-matching impossible along one side seam helped me not to be too stressed.  I did pretty good at the zipper and the straight side seam.











I am glad I made this pattern in the test fabric before moving on to my special wool.



While I do like the dress, the pleats are not my most flattering look.  They open up over the belly and there is something weird going on at the bust (I did not do a small bust adjustment because it would have interfered with the pleats--I would have had to narrow the ones nearest the bust).  I'm also not crazy about the pleats opening upward; it looks like they are there to hold keys and loose change. (To answer Little Hunting Creek: The pattern would require some annoyingly extensive redrafting to get them to face downward because it is drafted with the pleat extensions and such to go upward.) So I will have to find a different pattern for the yellow wool.

I cut my usual Simplicity sizes, a 6 at the shoulders and bust, 10-12ish at the waist, and 12-14ish at the hip.  This is cut much more snugly than your usual Simplicity, so the resulting dress is quite fitted, much more than I'm used to.  I think the close fit is flattering, but also a little uncomfortable.  There is no margin of error for a big meal in this dress!

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Sinamay Hat Making Class with Artikal Millinery

The Seersucker Social is coming up on June 9!  You get dressed up and ride your bike around town, and it could not be more fun (Fall's event is the Tweed Ride).  Having a fabulous hat is de riguer and once I had my dress underway it was time to think about head wear.

I have wanted to learn more about sinamay, a flexible, moldable straw fabric, since watching this Martha Stewart video.  Somehow I stumbled upon the class list at Bits of Thread studio in the Adams Morgan area of DC, and saw that there would be a sinamay hat class by Holly Slayton of Artikal!  Perfect timing!

This was my first visit to Bits of Thread.  The outer door is a bit unobtrusive though if you have the address it's not difficult to find.  There are instructions for how to ring Bits of Thread on the call box.





Holly is from the DC area but lives in New York now where she specializes in making bridal headpieces.  But she has a full line of hats and enjoys sharing her millinery skillz in classes.  Here she is modeling one of her creations.










You start with a sheet of sinamay.  Holly had brought a variety of colors for us to choose from.  The straw is easy to cut with regular scissors, so we just sliced off a piece to get started.









 Holly had brought enough balsa wood millinery heads for each of us to work on.  While sturdy, the heads are easily pinnable.  With this free-form style, you just start folding and pinning until you get a shape that you like.

Once your shape is set, you take strategic stitches with sturdy thread so that it stays that way.








There was a lot of creativity within the class.  Holly's approach is to explain the basic principles of the materials and to set us free to create.  I am more of a "create within constraints" kind of person (hence why I love sewing but am horrible at and hate painting), so for me this was more about exploring the materials than anything else.










Here are some decorative elements that can be made out of sinamay, a bow and an orchid.

My completed project is a hat mostly only in the sense that it is sitting in my head (precariously--I have fine, slippery hair and needed a different kind of clip).

Source: debenhams.com via Trena on Pinterest

I should have done my research *before* the class into what kind of hat I might want to make.  I am thinking that I am into the saucer hat, as in this dark gray saucer hat (£45.00) from Debenhams.com

And, of course, obligatorily as seen on Kate Middleton (love the flourish of the curly feathers!).

Source: hatsandveils.net via Trena on Pinterest

Source: izzianaimage.com.au via Trena on Pinterest

I also really love this one, which appears to be cut as a spiral.

There is plenty more inspiration on my hats board on Pinterest and all photos from the class are here.

So right now I have a hat-making fire in my belly!  I'm not going to tell you how much I spent at Judith M Millinery Supplies and Hats by Leko/HatSupply, nor that I bought a balsa wood head because I realized too late after I bought my groovy aluminum hat forms that you really need a pinnable form.

Simplicity 2938, Silk Princess Seam Tank

Source: zappos.com via Trena on Pinterest

Is there anything more luxurious than a silk tank?  It's easy to wear and comfortable for hot weather, but instantly dressy enough for most any occasion.  You generally have to go pretty high end to find silk in RTW, like this Cynthia Rowley Printed Silk Tank ($275).


Mine was a little easier on the wallet.  I got this silk print from Fabric Mart for $9.99/yd several years ago.  I made it into Vogue 2858, but I never got much wear out of the dress.  It had a dropped waist which just does.not.work for me, and I made it when I was still learning fitting (well, I'm still learning--I guess I mean earlier in the journey) and it was slightly too tight at the ribcage; I was afraid a deep breath would split the fabric.

So after years of not wearing it, I finally took it apart and salvaged the fabric from the skirt.  I had just enough to make this top (the hem is a serger rolled hem because I didn't have enough length for a real hem).




 In my previous iteration of this top, I used a self-bias tape to bind the neckline and armscye edges.  For this one I decided to finish with foldover elastic.  Who says it's only for knits?

To start, I staystitched the neckline and armscye.  I was happy with the neckline where it lay in its raw state, so I stitched just a little in from the edge (retaining the seam allowance in the final garment).

For the armscye, I staystitched at 1/2 inch, 1/8 inch shy of the 5/8 inch seam allowance.  This was to prevent stretching and  to mark my line for seger finishing.

Serge both the neckline and armscye to prevent fraying.







When I went to Golden D'Or in Dallas over the winter holidays, I was hoping they would have foldover elastic.  They had some, but the choices were kind of weird and the only thing that appealed to me was this black and copper elastic.  When contemplating this tank top, I thought it would be perfect.

When I showed my sweetheart tee finished with FOE, Country Girl Couture asked that I share my two-step process for application.  My previous attempt to apply FOE by sandwiching the edge of the fabric had been a disaster.  Maybe I don't pin well enough, but the odds of me catching the fabric were about even with not catching.  So here's what I do instead.

First, stitch the FOE to the wrong side by putting the FOE underneath the right side up the fabric, against the machine bed/feed dogs, keeping the fold at the edge.  This was kind of difficult as the fold was not easy to see on this particular FOE.  It's more obvious on most, I think.



If I had been doing this for a knit, I would have used a wide zigzag here, but since I didn't need any stretch I just used a straight stitch.

Here's the view from the wrong side (you can see the right side with overhanging elastic here).









The next part is really easy.  Just fold the elastic over to the right side and stitch in place.

For a knit, I would use a narrower zigzag and stretch the elastic slightly as I sewed (just because a narrower zigzag looks nicer, in my opinion).

I had a bit of a tough time getting an accurate straight stitch on this pass; the stitch wanders a bit.  I think I would have done better with an edgestitching foot and adjusted needle position.








It makes a nice and easy finish without too much bulk.  So think outside knits for FOE--it's a great substitute for bias trim.

Here's the finished elastic from the inside.









Because I was sewing with silk, I used French seams throughout.  The only exposed edge is at the hem, where (as mentioned) I finished with a serger rolled hem due to lack of length in the fabric.

As in the previous version, I left off the zipper.  The top easily pulls over the head.

You can see that my only real issue with this top is that the print is slightly offset at the CB seam. I didn't have enough fabric to match it exactly.

I had in mind to bring this top to keep at work to match a suit I have there.  Right now, I don't have a top for under the suit so I'd be sort of stuck if I actually needed to wear it!  (I also have about 5 different blazers, enough to match just about anything I might wear.)

But it turned out so cute I don't want to banish it to work!  So now I have to figure out a boring top to make that I won't be tempted to keep at home.  Heh.

Cidell took the photos for this so there are some great ones!  All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Patterns and Shoes

I went on a fabric fast for Lent.  I managed to break it the first week when Fabric Mart got some Dry Flex in stock, but I have been steadfast since then.  I even skipped Fashion Sewing Club at G Street Fabrics in April so as not to be tempted.  I don't have an end date in mind, though I really need to come up with one--without a specific date or event to look forward to, I am more likely to slip up.  However, my big victory for the month was going to the May Fashion Sewing Club and buying only ribbon and zippers--no fabric!

However, my fast does not extend to patterns.  I picked up a bunch during the BMV online sale, and then got a few more at Joann.  I need Joann to have a Simplicity sale on one of the random dates I am there.



Woven dresses.  I've resisted Vogue 8631 in the upper left for a while now.  It's a great shape, but the oversize fit is a bit of a non-sequitor with the style and I don't like the super wide armscye.  However, no other patterns have come out that refine those features to my liking so I'll have to size down and hope it works. 



Knit dresses.  The Suzi Chin on the left bears a strong resemblance to the lovely Issa London dress spotted by The Selfish Seamstress in a shop window.  I am wondering if the McCall dress on the right can be made in a woven.  It says it's for knits, but as a wrap dress it only needs to go up a size to work for wovens, right?  I'd want a lot more underlap on the skirt, though, regardless of whether it's in woven or knit.



Tops.  I really like that Palmer/Pletsch wrap top on the lower left.  The shoulder pleats are a nice detail, and the wrap looks like it's a bit higher and secure.  I see it more for cool weather than warm as it seems a lot of fabric.  I'm hoping a lot of people on Pattern Review make this so I can get some ideas!



Fancy dresses.  I had somehow never noticed the vintage dress on the left.  I like the simple shape in front with the surprises in the back.  I am also thinking the volume in the back will make it comfortable for biking.  I had thought to use one of my African fabrics for it, but now I'm thinking maybe navy blue with white for the back neckline, sort of a reverse sailor look?  Hmmmm.



Only two of the patterns have firm ideas on what they'll be made into.  For the Issa knockoff, this watercolor print knit.  I'll have the stripes going vertical for the bodice and skirt and horizontal for the midriff.




















For the Vogue colorblocked dress, these coordinating fabrics from Africa.  They are the same fabric, but the left one was block printed.  My friend who brought me these from when she lived in Liberia said the coordinates are very popular for tiered ruffles.

However, I can't decide if the print should be the main body as in the pattern envelope, or the fauxlero.  I'm leaning toward having the print as the fauxlero and the solid as the main body.  Thoughts?


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Thanks to all who have pointed out Hot Patterns' new pattern that bears a suspicious resemblance to the DVF Grandie top I tried to knock off.  Alas, Hot Patterns is just not drafted for a body shape that remotely resembles mine.  It is easier for me to start from scratch than try to use one of their patterns.  Though I am curious about the shapes of their pattern pieces.  I may return to the Grandie top someday, but it won't be for a while, LOL.

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Samina asked about the shoes I was wearing with the Grandie blouse.  I get compliments every time I wear them for photos and in real life.  But here's the secret:  I got them for $15 at Ross.  I wear dress shoes for work so infrequently (and in real life never) that I decided to start buying cheap shoes instead of nice ones.  I was only getting a few wears before the heels went hopelessly out of style so the cost-per-wear was too high to justify a nice pair.  I have to say, I made an auspicious switch in these shoes!


The brand is Sam & Libby.  I got them maybe up to a year ago, but when I stopped by Ross a couple of weeks ago I spotted another pair in my size.  I'm not going to lie to you:  I bought them.  Now I have a pair for work and a pair for home.  I don't know how regional Ross's offerings are, but it may be worth a quick run-through of your local store to see if they have them.  Despite the low price, they are surprisingly comfortable.

One Yard Project: Dirndl Skirt

I have a love/hate relationship with Pattern Review contests.  It's fun to sew along and have encouragement, and it's also nice to have outside forces determine your next project rather than making the agonizing decision myself.  On the other hand, I have a big list of projects that I really do want to make and only about half my contest entries actually come from that list.  So I deviate from things that are high on my sewing list to make things that don't appear at all, simply to fit within the contest parameters.  Despite all this, the contest often wins out.  I guess I like the company.

The One Yard Project contest is a new one (it ended yesterday; I finished the skirt and pattern review on time but had to finish up the photos*), and it's a clever idea:  You have to find a use for those short lengths in stash.  They did allow you to cut off one yard from a longer length and use it, but I think the better challenge is in using an orphan piece.

*Although the contest closed early, before midnight, and I wasn't actually able to enter it.  Entered, yay!

This polyester chiffon (or maybe it would be georgette) came from the swap table at PR Weekend Montreal.  It has many of my colors in it--turquoise, olive green--but somehow isn't *quite* right for me, perhaps because the overall effect is more muddy/muted than clear/bright.  The piece was 34 inches long (for my metric readers, a yard is 36 inches).



It had a small burn hole in it (like the edge of an iron--no missing fabric), which I fixed with interfacing and zigzagging.  The trickiest part is lining up the cut edges and pressing the interfacing on to keep them together.  Sometimes it's easier to put a piece of interfacing, glue side up, on the ironing board, then place the skirt right side up over the patch.  Line up the edges and then press.

Once the hole is interfaced, just run a close zigzag stitch over it (from the right side, so you can see the hole).  If your thread matches, the fix is nearly invisible.

I've gone back and forth about this fabric way too many times in the two years I've owned it.  It would make a nice flowy top, but the overall color effect isn't great near my face.  I almost made it into a skirt for my bike wardrobe for The Netherlands, but balked.  Because of fabric limitations, I either had to have the print running vertically (as I finally ended up doing) or add a contrast waistband if I wanted the print to run horizontal.  Stripes are big right now, but they are pretty much all horizontal, so vertical stripes might look dated.  But a contrast waistband limits the tops that can be worn with a project.  Dilemma.

The One Yard Contest made me finally just make a decision.  I decided to go for vertical stripes, throwing outdated caution to the wind.

So that I didn't spend too much time on unplanned sewing (and didn't have to deal with the waistband situation), I decided to do a gathered elastic waist.  Of course, I had to make it complicated and it probably would have been easier in the end just to do a waist facing and zipper!



On the PR trip to Montreal, I found some olive green picot elastic that happens to be a good match for the skirt.  However, I feared that the picot elastic alone would not be strong enough to hold up the fashion fabric and lining (lining does not count against your one yard allotment, under the terms of the contest).  So I stitched it to some sport elastic.





I was hoping to just stretch the elastic to fit the fabric, but the width of the fabric greatly exceeded the elastic's stretch so I gathered the skirt and the lining.  I first sewed the wrong side of the lining--so that the right side would end up facing outward--to the elastic with a wide zigzag stitch (to allow for stretch).  I positioned it so the left "bite" of the zigzag was close to the decorative picot edge of the green elastic, meaning that picot edge would stick up over the waistband.







Next I gathered the upper edge of the fashion fabric and positioned it in place right side against the elastic, sandwiching the waistband.  I stitched from the lining side so I could use my previous stitching as a guide, again using a wide zigzag for stretch.






I flipped the fabric to the right side and there was my little picot edge!  I pressed the fabrics down, but finding them still very bulky I topstitched with a twin needle to preserve stretch.  However, the twin needle stitching does not have as much stretch as a zigzag and I have to pull the skirt on over my head instead of from the floor over my hips.  The topstitching negates all the work I did to sandwich the picot and I could have just gathered the fashion fabric and lining together, but c'est la vie!  I knew this would be a quick and dirty project.







The lower edge of the skirt is finished with a serger rolled hem to keep it as light as possible, and also because it's easy!

I sewed in a button to mark center back.










While an elastic waist dirndl is not the most flattering thing ever, this skirt can theoretically be worn with a tucked in top to show off the elastic.  The elastic can also be covered with a belt, or a top can be worn over it.

I'm not totally in love with this skirt, but it is useful, bikeable, and will work just about year-round, depending on how it's styled.  It matches a lot of the solid-colored tops I have in my closet.  It also has a nice flow, as you can see at right.

I wore it yesterday and it is comfortable and breezy for a humid Spring day in DC, but the slippery rayon lining means I can wear it with tights and boots for winter.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.


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I sat out the "best of" contest, even though I eventually want to make another Simplicity 2369  mock wrap dress, which made the list.  I had to draw the line somewhere!

Do you enjoy contests, or do they interrupt your "real life" too much?