Sew: Floral Colette Patterns Moneta Dress

Amazing what you find in your blog draft posts! I made this dress long ago and I'm very pleased with it. The fabric may be a little lightweight for this pattern but it seems to be surviving.

This is my fourth Moneta dress. I have my beloved Jaywalk striped version, a red one that was gifted to my mum, a plain black one and this floral one. I find them the perfect work dress paired with some heals and a blazer in Winter.

Project Details
Pattern: Colette Patterns Moneta Dress, size XL
Fabric: Viscose printed jersey (Floreale Nero) from Tessuti Fabrics
Alterations: Omitted bodice lining and pockets, lengthened by 5cm
See Also: Sew Brunswick #1

Sew: Colette Patterns Myrtle Dress in Mood Knit

I wore my beloved first Colette Myrtle dress today and realised that I've never blogged it. I engaged my trusty blog photographer and snapped a few photos this afternoon. He has even taken to snapping two shots for front, back and both sides!

This Myrtles dress is made in a cotton knit that I purchased from Mood Fabrics in LA when we were on holidays in 2013. I bought enough fabric for a maxi dress but it was printed terribly off grain so I could only use a limited amount of it. I managed to squeeze this dress out thankfully. It is quite a thin and non-stretchy knit so probably better suited to a Myrtle than a maxi dress anyway.

The pattern came together well but I stuffed up the elastic casing. I was trying to cut corners and ended up catching the fabric to the elastic which is not ideal. You can see in the photo above that the fabric is catching. I have more fabric in the front than the back. Oh well.

Project Details
Pattern: Colette Patterns Myrtle dress, size XL
Fabric: Printed cotton knit from Mood Fabrics LA
Alterations: 4cm sway back adjustment, removed 3cm total from back neckline, omitted pockets
See Also: Sew Brunswick #1 | Stitchin In My Kitchen | Bluebell and Brook | Evolution of a Sewing Goddess

A good friend of mine refers to this dress as my hepatic vasculature dress. It makes me laugh every time I wear it!

L x

Sew: Colette Patterns Negroni Shirt in Liberty Samols

For the second year in a row, I made my husband a Liberty shirt for Christmas. He gets other gifts but I love the idea of giving him a handmade with love Liberty shirt. I think I've found myself a new tradition!

His last Liberty shirt has been a definite winner. He wears it a lot. You can see his 2013 Christmas shirt here.

This shirt was inspired by a shirt I saw in a shop window early one morning while walking through Melbourne Central. I could see the price tag, which was well in excess of $300, and thought there was Liberty fabric which was similar and that I could make my own sailboat shirt. To my surprise, the Liberty fabric was tiny little pirate ships. Bonus!

Try not to stare at the fabric too much, it gives you a bit of a head spin and headache. These photos are in focus but the print makes them look blurred. There is no horizontal pattern in this print but there is a vertical pattern which was a bit tricky for me. I deliberately did not match the pattern on the pocket. Living on the edge!

Project Details
Pattern: Colette Patterns Negroni shirt, size L
Fabric: Royal blue on white Samols Liberty of London cotton lawn from Shaukat
Alterations: Shortened sleeves by 7cm
See Also: True Bias | Needles & Haystacks | Sewn By Elizabeth | Thornberry

I love making Liberty shirts. The process is very soothing and enjoyable. It is an extra bonus that he he clearly enjoys wearing them.

L x

Sew: Red Colette Myrtle Dress

Oh, I love a good cowl neckline! Combine this with my favourite colour and it's a match made in heaven. My love of a cowl neckline is well documented with my numerous V1250's. The Myrtle dress has a more blousier (?) cowl bodice combined with a floaty A-line skirt. The final dress has a more relaxed and casual look than my beloved V1250.

The method of finishing the bodice is pure genius. As always, the Colette Patterns instructions are well written and clear. I had no trouble making this dress and everything came together easily and quickly.

I did lengthen the dress but ended up going back to the pattern length. It runs quite long. I made a size XL and did my standard sway back adjustment in addition to removing 3cm from the back neckline.

I quite like this dress and I will wear it but I'm not sure if it is very flattering on my plus-sized figure. I am of the belief, that a more fitted silhouette is often more flattering on a fuller figure than loose, voluminous garments. I don't mean tight fitting, just well fitted. The volume of fabric in looser fitting clothes seems to make me appear larger. Does this make any sense??

Project Details
Pattern: Colette Patterns Myrtle dress, size XL
Fabric: She Read Red viscose spandex jersey from Tessuti Fabrics
Alterations: 4cm sway back adjustment, removed 3cm total from back neckline, omitted pockets
See Also: Thornberry | Frocks & Frou Frou | The Drapery | Miss Make

I wore it to work today with a slim black belt and my beloved Moneta jacket.

I've decide that iPhone photos by a 5 year old are better than none. At least it allows me to blog my makes and stay connected to the online sewing community during the reno. And it keeps me sane!!

Photo bombed by a cheeky 3 year old!

L x

Sew: Colette Moneta Dress

I may have bought an excessive amount of Jaywalk fabric.... Is 7.5 metres excessive?? I also got 1.5 metres of the natural colourway... I have plans people!!

A Moneta dress was always on the list, plus the competition Laurel dress. I also plan on making a Mandy boat tee out of both colourways. That might leave me with enough for a simple knit pencil skirt or something. Jaywalk overload! It is such a beautiful quality weight fabric. I can't get enough of it.

You've probably seen a million versions of the Moneta dress around the online sewing community. I think it's a fabulous pattern. I wasn't that keen on it at first but thought it was worth a shot. It came together beautifully and I've worn it a LOT in the 3 weeks since I made it.

I omitted the side seams pockets as I don't need any extra bulk on my hips, thank you very much. I also chose not to line the bodice. It's not necessary, adds a lot to the fabric requirements and would be too hot in the Australian summer. I simply bound the neckline with the black stripe. Otherwise it is a straight size XL with the 3/4 sleeves.

There is a little bit of excess fabric in the underarm area. I could fix this by sewing a larger seam allowance in this area. I probably should but it doesn't seem to bother me at the moment. Maybe one day... 

I had a bit of trouble sewing the skirt to the clear elastic for the waist. My machine likes to grab the clear elastic which makes it quite tricky to stretch and sew at the same time. I might try a normal elastic next time instead of the clear elastic. You can see in the photo below that the gathers aren't even. I seemed to have avoided having the gathers on my hips, which was a successful fluke of genius. Now, if only I could work out how to do this again... 

As I mentioned, I've worn this dress quite a bit since I made it. It is so comfortable yet stylish. I wear it with my beloved Cordova jacket and patent pumps to work or a cardigan and boots for casual.

Project Details

Pattern: Colette Moneta, size XL

Fabric: Black/natural viscose/elastane jersey knit "Jaywalk" from Tessuti Fabrics

Alterations: Omitted bodice lining and pockets. 

I should also mention that the length is as per the pattern. This is worth mentioning because I always lengthen dresses but I had to remove the extra length from this. I'm 178cm tall and it is a good length. My only other suggestion is to not over fit the dress. The weight of the skirt pulls the bodice down and makes it slimmer. Over fitting the bodice, especially in a plain fabric, would show every lump and bump. This happened in my Lady Skater dress and I consciously avoided it during this make. 

I'm super pleased with this dress and I plan on making it in a red knit that's loitering in my stash. Have you made the Colette Moneta dress yet? 

L x

Ps. I entered this dress in the Jaywalk competition too. It was a last minute decision!

Sew: Jaywalk Laurel

This is one bad ass Laurel. Laurel is supposed to be sweet and feminine but this one ain't! Jaywalk fabric, black knit, exposed zippers and a touch of red. A match made in heaven. 

As soon as I saw this competition announced I knew I was going to make a shift dress. Starting with the Laurel pattern, I performed a series of alterations to achieve the look I was after. I did my standard sway back adjustment, removing the excess from the back neckline in the process. After these alterations, I folded out the bust dart all the way across, raised the back neckline and placed the back pattern piece on the fold. I simply omitted the waist darts. I traced off the desired yoke piece and added seam allowances. Voila! It worked a treat. 

I gained inspiration from Pinterest for this make. The Tessuti stripes board was a winner. You can see my particular inspiration pics below. These pictures are all from the Tessuti board.

I was repeatedly drawn to a few key features. I wanted contrast sleeves, coloured binding on the neckline, a loose fit, patch pockets and an exposed zipper. I got all of them except the patch pockets. I want those to be black and if I put them on I was concerned about going over the 20% allowance for non-Jaywalk fabric. So I can add them later if I want. We'll see! 

I decided on red binding for the neckline. It would have been much easier to use black but I do thrive on a challenge. You can see a tiny sliver of the red binding in the above pictures. Below are the inside garment pictures. Pretty, isn't she??

The exposed zipper is purely decorative. I left the centre seam in the back yoke and stitched it together before stitching the zipper over the top. The seam provided the zip with some stability.

Project Details
Pattern: Colette Laurel dress, size 14
Fabric: Black/natural viscose/elastane jersey knit "Jaywalk" and black dot com jersey from Tessuti Fabrics
Alterations: Sway back adjustment, removed 3cm from back neckline, folded out bust darts, omitted centre back seam, omitted back waist darts, raised back neckline 1cm.

A good shift dress is trans-seasonal and I will be wearing my Jaywalk Shift with boots and tights for the next few months. It works well both ways.

Thanks to Tessuti Fabrics for a wonderful competition and encouraging this wonderful online sewing community. Good luck everyone!

So the big question is, pockets or no pockets?? 

L x

Sew: Linen Colette Iris Shorts

I was debating about posting these shorts as they are really simple and don't make for exciting blog reading. I'm not usually a shorts wearing girl but my boys are growing up and some days just call for shorts instead of dresses. I'd seen a lot of linen shorts around in the shops and I like the style of loose linen shorts. 

Even though they are so simple and plain (and extremely hard to photograph!), I do love these shorts. The colour and style goes with most of my tops and blouses. The loose fit is comfortable and flattering. I find RTW shorts too tight in the thighs and way too short. 

I made these up at Sewjourn in December and they were really, really tight when I first put them on. Almost indecent and definitely not comfortable. I'd sized down from my last pair as I knew the linen would bag out. I'm so glad I made this call as they now are a perfect relaxed fit.

Project Details
Pattern: Colette Iris Shorts, size 14
Fabric: Como Storm Linen from Tessuti Melbourne
Alterations: Lengthened by 4cm, omitted pockets.

There's really not much else to say about these shorts. They're lovely and simple. Perfect for lounging around home on a rainy day.

Happy Australia Day weekend!! 

L x

Sew: Colette Peony Dress in Gingham

 

 

I'm always a year or two late to the sewing party. The Colette Peony dress has been around for a few years and I've only just gotten around to sewing it. I bought it early in my sewing blogging "career" and it promptly sat in the ever growing sewing pattern stash for a very long time. That was until I needed a pattern to fit in the Fitting Friends class at Tessuti. I was a bit lost as to what pattern to select. I was going to go for a blazer but thought it might be a bit too much to fit in to a class. I then thought I really should fit a dress style that I always wear, a fitted bodice with a fuller skirt. I chose the Peony because I am yet to read a review of it that doesn't require a few adjustments.

 

I finished sewing the calico late on the Friday night before the class and was really disappointed. The calico fitted!! Or so I thought.... 

 

 

 

Vanessa Lucas was taking the class and ran us through fitting each other. Rachel and I were up first and it was a great learning experience. The basic principle is that you pinch out all the excess fabric. There are rules but that is the basic principle.

 



 

It's fascinating seeing the fitted and un-fitted sides. Vanessa fits one side of the dress and then taught Rachel to fit the other side of the dress. 

 

 

Here is my fitted front calico.

 



 

And the back.

 



 

 

Once you've fitted your calico, you then transfer your alterations to the paper pattern. That is my favourite part. I love the folding, slashing and ruling.

 

After the class, I went straight home and cut out my test fabric. I bought 5 metres of this black and white gingham at Spotlight for the sole purpose of testing this pattern. It works fine but I think the real fabric needs to be a bit more substantial. This gingham is a bit too light for my liking. 

 

I'm pretty happy with the fit. I could probably take a bit more out of the back length by doing a slight sway back adjustment. Even though the fabric doesn't bunch up the waist seam is a little lower in the back and it should be straight all the way around.

 

There is a little excess fabric under my bust and I think this could be minimised by taking the side seams in a smidge more. I had moved and enlarged the bust darts in my alterations and I possibly need to make them a little bigger to remove this excess.  I'm undecided as I think this could possibly lead to an over fitted garment. It's a fine line between perfect fitting and being able to move! The fabric weight also plays a part.

Photo bombed by Mr H & Mr N!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this dress. I also really enjoyed the fitting class with Vanessa. I've done a few classes with Vanessa at Tessuti and I've always been really impressed.

Project Details
Pattern: Colette Peony, size 16, altered
Fabric: Cotton Gingham from Spotlight
Alterations: Many! See pictures above
Class: Fitting Friends Sew Inn at Tessuti Melbourne

L x

Sew: Colette Patterns Anise Jacket

It. Is. DONE!!

My beautiful fuchsia Anise jacket. I really enjoyed making this jacket. Nothing in this jacket is particularly difficult, it simply takes a long time. I broke it up in to manageable tasks and put it aside when I was lacking the mental strength. I didn't want to stuff it up by sewing when extremely tired or distracted so I made a few simple projects throughout the duration of this jacket construction.

I started with a calico. I know!! How unlike me to actually test a garment. I did cheat and simply used the underlining calico for the jacket body. I automatically did a sway back adjustment, removing 3cm total from the centre back neckline. This proved to be perfect, so I went ahead and made the jacket.

This jacket included many firsts for me. Bound buttonholes, welt pockets, collar plus under collar and underlining. These were all remarkably easy compared to what I thought. I'd psyched myself up and was pleasantly surprised how simple they were. I do like a bit of measuring and ruling. It's the nerd in me.

I lengthened the jacket by 5cm so my shirt wouldn't show as much. I did try 10cm at first but that was too much. The front of the jacket is slightly shorter than back. I didn't notice this until it was too late. If there is a next time, I'll fix that.

I've mentioned before that I bought the lining before the main fabric. I loved the print and knew I wanted a pink Anise jacket. It turned out to be the perfect match. I love the contrast. Unfortunately the lining silk liked to snag despite many new needles.

Project Details
Pattern: Anise Jacket by Colette Patterns, size 14
Fabric: Fuchsia wool blend boucle from Rathdowne Fabrics
Lining: Silk print from The Remnant Warehouse
Alterations: Lengthened by 5cm, sway back adjustment following instructions in the Anise Companion, used one shoulder pad only
Notions: Plastic silver floral print 2.5cm buttons from Rathdowne Fabrics

I didn't use all of the main fabric that the pattern suggested. I have almost a metre left, so if you're going to make this jacket, keep that in mind.

 

I quite like the look of the jacket open. I'm yet to wear it out in public so we'll see how I end up wearing it.

 

A few close ups for your inspection...

I'm ridiculously pleased with myself for making this jacket. I really enjoyed the challenge and taking my time. I should try slowing down more often!!

So, what do you think of my fuchsia jacket??

L x