Sabrina and Victoria

I had an occasion lately for wearing something a little more dressy, a fun Gala musical event at our local theatre, a good excuse to try out a different pattern and make something new.  So, whilst surfing the internet one Saturday evening I ended up with the byhandlond sabrina dress.

I love this pattern, it's 'a sweet and simple princess seamed A-line dress', and it really does come together very quickly.  I decided to use fabric that I have had hiding for a number of years that I got from Tessuti, it was for one of their competitions that I never got around to using at the time.  It's called Gridlock (if you google Tessuti Gridlock you will see all the creations that were made at the time).  It's the first time I have made a ByHandLondon dress, I did buy the Anna, but wasn't sure about the bodice, I thought it would make my very wide shoulders appear even more wide.

Clearly need more width here!

Anyway, this pattern is great and very simple, I think it took a couple of evenings.  There is a bodice lining, for that I used an atelierbrunette fabric cosmic blue, which goes really well with the Gridlock fabric, it's so lovely and soft to wear as a lining to.  It pressed beautifully too and as long as you do your understitching there shouldn't be any poking out.  The gridlock fabric can be used either side, white or blue, so I thought I'd use the princess sections to do that, I think it works well.  The back has an invisible zip which went in fine.

Unfortunately, as is very obvious from the photo, it is a little bit snug around the waistline, I suppose I could let out some of the seams, not sure I'm going to be ripping this one out though.  I do really like the pattern though so if I make it again I'll adjust accordingly, I think I would also use a lighter, more drapey fabric, it would be nice in linen for summer or a crepe fabric.  It's simple enough in style to make a great work dress too.  You could, of course, do some colour blocking like black and white, lots of possibilities.

I wore it with my byhandlondon victoria blazer that I made a couple of years ago when it was first released - I think they went very well together.  Also because of the A-line design of the dress, it was great for dancing!  No photos of that, you'll just have to believe me!

Lisette skirt

I forgot that I hadn't blogged about this Lisette skirt as yet and, in fact, I have a little bit of a back-log of things to post.

Anyway, I had wanted to sew a skirt, with what I think is a bit of a 70's vibe, for a while.  So, whenever the new Lisette patterns were released under the Butterick line, I really fancied the skirt on B6182.  (Mind you, I pretty much liked all four of the patterns)  It is a skirt with an A-line, a deep front pleat, side front pockets and an invisible zip at centre back.

I wanted a fairly neutral fabric, so that I could wear it with a lot of different tops and eventually chose a pale blue soft washed denim from fabricgodmother.co.uk.  It is quite a light blue, paler than the photos on their website, just what I wanted and perfect for this skirt, as it not as rigid as some denims.

B6182 skirt worn with Maria Denmark Birgitte tee

The back has an invisible zip closure, so a nice neat finish.

The pattern, in general, is very straightforward, there is nothing really tricky - the most difficult part for me, especially with a skirt, is deciding on which size to make.  I do have a bit of a tummy these days and my hip measurement is comparatively much less, so I did have to do a bit of 'blending'.

This meant that I had to shave a bit off the sides of the pockets, so they have turned out more narrow than they should be, but I think it looks fine.

B6182 skirt

I'm not sure if I went about that the right way, I probably still could have had the wider pocket, but I should have thought more about it before I cut my fabric!

The other thing was that I should have used a heavier interfacing on the waistband - I thought mine was a heavy one, but it is tending to roll over a bit, but it's nothing major.

This is the sort of skirt that I would call a classic, it would look good in a variety of fabrics, if you wanted summer colour one of these wax print cottons would look really good.  I think it would look great for a work skirt in navy or camel or white (for the summer, although it's very difficult to find good quality white fabric, I think)

So far I'm getting good mileage out of this pattern and I might even think of the dress version of my top, which incidentally I like, but should have made a couple of inches longer.  It is quite cropped - just thought I'd mention that.

B6182 top

Me-made-May '15, second half.

 So I thought I'd better report in on Me-Made-May.

I sort of gave up on flickr half way through the month as I had some trouble uploading photos, instagram was more convenient for me this year.  (I just started it at the beginning of May so getting used to it)

I managed to wear at least one me-made every day.

Day 17 Christine Haynes Marianne dress in merino.

 Can't believe I was still wearing a merino dress mid-May but the weather was wet, cold and very windy for much of May.

Day 18 Liesl & Co Cappuccino top

 The Cappuccino blouse has been getting a lot of wear from last September, love the style of it and love the weight and colours of the Anna Maria Horner rayon fabric.

Day 19 Wiksten Tova Dress in Liberty cord

I think I made 3 Wiksten Tovas in total, 2 dresses and 1 top, it's not a great style for my shape, but no way am I getting rid of this one because of the fabric, Liberty cord is so soft and velvety.

Day 20 Jennifer Lauren Bronte top

I really like the Bronte top, got a lot of compliments last summer when I wore it, so will probably make at least another one.

Day 21 Colette Laurel top

Day 22 Sewaholic Oakridge blouse

Day 23 Simplicity 1806 blouse

Day 24 Merchant and Mills Factory Dress

Day 25 April Rhodes Staple dress

Day 26 Liesl & Co Cappuccino top and Jamie Christina Sol Hoodie

Day 27 Lisette Portfolio Tunic

Day 28 Merchant and Mills Camber top

Day 30 Butterick 6182 skirt (Lisette), Maria Denmark Birgitte tee

This skirt is a newbie, not yet blogged, suffice to say (for now) that I really like it.

Day 31 Butterick 6182, Megan Nielsen Bansksia blouse in Liberty, handknit cardigan

Apologies for so many photos all at one go, wasn't very good at keeping up with the recording in May.

Again, I really enjoyed Me-Made-May, the sewing community are a great bunch and full of enthusiasm, it can only be motivating.

Thoughts on my Me-Made-May '15

Seeing so many photos of yourself really brings it home as to what suits you and what doesn't.

Even though I am meant to be reducing the clothing I have, I still have way too much clothing.  Of course when you sew, this is almost inevitable as there are so many beautiful fabrics and sewing patterns, clearly still need to work on self control.

Most of my wardrobe this year is either blue or burgundy, this is deliberate as I had a colour palette in mind (as per the into-mind workbook that I purchased in the New Year, it takes a while to work through, but I thought it was great) I suppose there is a danger of it all becoming boring, but with accessories I think you can make it all look different.

There has to be more purging, but it is definitely harder to part with clothing that you have made yourself.  If clothes don't suit you or fit well, you're probably better off parting with them, at least you have learned in the process.

I always have shoe dilemmas at this time of year especially, too early for sandals and boots are a little bit over the top.

I wore jeans a lot more than I thought, this was partly because of what my May 'activities' were and also the terrible weather.

I still would like to try trousers or jeans (proper ones, that is, not those with elasticated waists), jackets and cardigans.  Most of my me-mades are tops, skirts and dresses, so that gives me something to work on.

Overall, another great Me-Made-May, thank you Zoe again for organising it.