Sew: Papercut Patterns Sway Dress in Red Linen

 

Probably not the most flattering of dresses but I'm not fussed. Today is going to be a scorcher here in Melbourne and I'm also flying to Brisbane which is a whole different kind of hot. My temporary childless days are over, as I'm going to get the boys from "Club Grandparents" and to see my family (very briefly).

This red linen sway dress was conceived after the success of my (yet to be blogged) Frocktails dress. Although, it's not as successful. I'm not sure what happened but the neckline has warped, possibly due to stretching. I failed to stay stitch or stay tape the neckline as I didn't need to with the first. I also have trouble keeping the straps on my shoulders so I have safety pins in there. So a bit of a doozy but you can't win all the time.

This was my Christmas day dress. It was great for sitting on the floor unwrapping presents, eating copious amounts of ham and just general lounging around. And it went perfectly with my Christmas light earrings.

Project Details
Pattern: Sway Dress by Papercut Patterns
Fabric: Red linen from The Fabric Store
Alterations: Removed some fullness to accommodate narrower fabric, lengthened by 10cm, used v-neck for front and back.
See Also: Lladybird | Noble & Daughter | Idle Fancy | Thornberry

And because I'm a sucker for punishment, I will probably sew this again and hope for the best!

Sew: Tessuti Alice Dress

Is there a period of time after which you cannot post an item on your blog?? I believe I made this dress at the end of last Summer and then put it away, so it's about 11 months old. Better late than never!

This is of course the Tessuti Alice dress. I'm not sure I can add much value to the discussion on this pattern. It's simple, easy to put together and perfect for hot weather. Just make sure you go down two sizes. I'm still not sold on this style on me. It does look a bit shapeless on me but some days just call for a glorified sack.

I do love this linen. I had a tiny piece of the orange colourway a few years ago. I couldn't justify the expense of it for a full garment. Then one fateful day, I saw it online reduced or as a remnant, I can't remember which, and I snatched it up. I have a little bit left which I'm hoping to get a top out of. Thankfully, fabric doesn't go off.

Project Details
Pattern: Tessuti Alice dress, size M
Fabric: Printed linen from Tessuti online
See also: Boo Dogg & Me | Thornberry | The Little Miss Gee Story | Miss Pippilotta

Sew: Tessuti Alice Top in White Linen and Lace

I've decided I'm just going to blog my recent makes without waiting for decent "blog worthy". Life is just a bit hectic and I miss blogging so I'm just going to post my finished garments. Also if I don't blog them, I forget what I've done. These photos are from a few months ago. I was not walking around recently in bare legs and arms!

This is my first real attempt at the Tessuti Alice pattern. I made a quick and dirty muslin for size and didn't even bother attaching the sleeve bands. There was a lot of talk going around the interwebs about how large this pattern ran. I usually make a size L-XL in Tessuti patterns but going on what other people were saying I decided to try a medium. Despite my measurements being in the XL range for this pattern I got a perfect fit with a size M. So if you haven't heard it before, go down a size or two in this pattern.

The lace is a remnant I picked up at Tessuti Melbourne when H was a newborn (4 years ago). It's been sitting there waiting for the perfect combo. I finally settled on a linen and lace yoked top and chose the Tessuti Alice top pattern.

Project Details
Pattern: Tessuti Alice Top, size M
Fabric: Cotton lace remnant and medium weight white linen from Tessuti Fabrics Online
See Also: The Little Miss Gee Story | Ada Spragg | Boo Dogg and Me | Nearest The Pin

So there you have it! A completely seasonally inappropriate blog post to get me back on the wagon.

More soon!

L x

Sew: Merchant and Mills Camber Set Dress in Banana Leaf Print Linen

Following the success of my first Camber dress, I proceeded to make another (two). This version is made from a medium to heavy weight linen from Darn Cheap Fabrics. I believe it is from the same range as the much talked about pineapple linen. I spotted it on the Darn Cheap Fabrics Instagram feed and asked Lara from Thornberry fame to get me 2.5m if she was going past anytime soon. She very kindly did and then proceeded to prewash the fabric for me and deliver it to me at Sewjourn. How's that for sewing friendship?! Thanks Lara!

There's not much else to say about this dress. I made the same alterations as my Nani Iro version plus removed the 1cm from the shoulder for this dress due to the stiffness of the fabric.

Project Details
Pattern: Merchant and Mills Camber Set Dress, size 16
Fabric: Banana leaf printed linen from Darn Cheap Fabrics
Alterations: 3 cm side seams, lowered bust dart apex by 2.5 cm, removed 1 cm from shoulder

I have another metre of this fabric. I first thought I'd use it for cushion covers for our soon to be finished renovation but now I'm thinking a boxy tank to go with my new culottes. What do you think? Cushions or top?

L x

Sew: Tessuti Ruby Dress in Black Linen

My new favourite dress! The Ruby pattern by Tessuti is super simple and stylish. I chose to make it in a mid-weight black linen as I thought the fabric would fall beautifully with a bit of weight in it. I was right! I lengthened the dress by 20cm for a more relaxed look.

This dress was one of many makes at our recent trip to Sewjourn. I'm slowly getting photos of all the other makes. Slowly, slowly...

I attached the binding following Lara's instructions. Basically, you attach the binding to the wrong side and then flip it out, hiding the seam allowance in the process. I top-stitched from the right side ensuring it was beautiful and even. The weight of the linen made it a bit bulky and thinner than my fellow Sewjourners. Not sure I did it exactly like them because their binding came out wider. Oh well, I quite like the thin binding but it would be very tricky in a finer fabric.

I tried to crop a few photos so you can see the binding.

Project Details
Pattern: Tessuti Ruby Dress/Top, size L
Fabric: Mid Black Jin Linen from Tessuti Fabrics online
Alterations: Lengthened the dress pattern by 20cm
See Also: Thornberry | Blogless Anna | Sew Tessuti | Boo Dogg and Me

These photos were taken yesterday in Melbourne city. It was 38 degrees and blowing a gale, so the skirt is a bit skewed. The Ruby dress in linen makes the ultimate hot weather dress. The extra length and weight of the linen also prevents any wardrobe malfunctions in the wind!

Sew: Tessuti Pia Dress in Black Linen

Well the sewjo has definitely returned. Yay for that! I just don't sew as much as I used to, due to a full wardrobe and other commitments. But I'm ok with that! Late on Thursday night I decided to sew a dress for Friday night drinks with the school mums. I had all the supplies for a Pia dress so it was a go! The fabric and pattern was cut out on Thursday night and I finished the dress at 5pm on Friday. The sewing part really only took about 2.5 hours on Friday afternoon, interrupted by school pick up and feeding the boys. Gosh they can eat!

 
When Tessuti released the Pia dress pattern I wasn't that keen on it. I decided to hold off until next Summer as I certainly had enough things to work on. I'm so glad I changed my mind. I love it! The pockets add interest to an otherwise simple style. I also really like the wide shoulders.

In terms of construction, things went together extremely easily and I really enjoyed the process. There is something soothing about sewing with linen. I did my own thing with the bias binding at the neckline and armholes. I finished one shoulder seam and then applied the neck binding before closing the other shoulder seam. The armhole binding is applied before sewing the side seams. This method is my preferred method for doing binding as I often have to fit the side seams once I've tried it on. Inevitably, I always end up taking the side seam in from the armhole to waist. I also eliminated the centre back seam. I didn't think it was necessary so I simply removed the 1.25cm seam allowance from the from the centre back and cut it on the fold.

Project Details
Pattern: Tessuti Pia Dress, size L
Fabric: Black linen from Clegs
Alterations: Removed centre back seam (cut on fold after removing seam allowance)

Apologies for some of the dodgy iPhone photos. My photographer only took from the waist up with the DSLR! I'll have to give him a lesson on photographing a dress. 

I wore it out on Friday night to the Brunswick Mess Hall for drinks with my Funkis clogs and Dinosaur Designs necklace. I then pulled it on again on Saturday morning, in a post-cocktail fog, and wore it down the road to the hairdressers and beauty salon. It worked really well belted with a red belt and a pair of red Saltwater sandals. Multi-talented dress. Perfect! That's my kind of dress.

Have you succumbed to the Pia dress? Do it!!

L x

Sew: Simplicity 4237 Linen Pants

These lovely linen pants are another un-posted Sewjourn make. I have more un-posted makes, including a pair of denim Colette Patterns Juniper pants. I made those before we went to America over 6 months ago...

Moving on, I haven't actually worn these linen pants until this week. The Como linen from Tessuti is lovely and soft but not too thin. I've used this pattern several times and have now forgotten what the original pattern looked like. It is a great starting point. I really like the wide waist band which sits flat under clothes.

To prevent the inevitable linen bagging I stitched and ironed fusible stay tape into all the waist band seams. I was a bit concerned I'd gone overboard as when I tried them on at Sewjourn they were very firm! It took about 10 minutes of me wearing them around for the linen to relax. They are now perfectly relaxed and casual.

In previous versions, and in most pants, I get a weird excess of fabric in my groin area. When I did the Tessuti pant fitting course last year, Vanessa told me it had nothing to do with my crotch but everything to do with my centre front seam. I needed to add an extra 0.5cm to that seam to allow the fabric to skim over my "protruding" stomach and fall nicely over my groin. It worked a treat! I'd been trying to remove the fabric from that area and had never thought about adding fabric to another area to fix the problem.

I'm looking up at the bees in the trees in this photo but it is a good photo to show the fit across the back and across my butt. The length looks a bit long but when on flat ground (not grass that is in desperate need of a mow) it skims my heel. Lara helped me hem these. Thanks Lara!

Project Details
Pattern: Simplicity 4237 (OOP), view D, size 18
Fabric: Como Storm Linen from Tessuti Melbourne

I have another pair of these in black linen. It is extremely difficult to photograph plain black pants. I'm just glad I got these up on the blog!

Happy Weekend everyone!!

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