French It Baby!

 

A slightly delayed post for a slightly delayed birthday party. My aunt and her new husband turned 60 in March and February respectively. Because they live in North Yorkshire, they thought it would be cold and dismal at that time of year and a celebration would best be put off until summer, when the sun was bound to be out and everyone could do country dancing in little cotton frocks and bare feet. Well, it was warm and cotton frocky and bare footy when we left London on Saturday. It was raining when we got to North Yorkshire. It was also freezing. I had only brought a cardigan, which in hindsight was ambitious even in the south.

But the outing did mean I could wear my new "French Gypsy" dress from Sew La Di Da Vintage. Originally, I planned to make the Sew Over It "Betty" dress for this party, but continued abortive attempts to make the bodice fit are turning that particular project into a rather Herculean task. "French Gypsy" has NO shoulder seams to contend with, so my wonky shoulders were not a problem (my wide shoulders were later in the form of chaffing, but that might be over enthusiastic stretching of the elastic when I sewed it in).

I used the heart print cotton I got at the ExCel in April having originally wanted to use the paisley print bought at the same event but it’s basically two inches wide and not suitable for such a big and swishy skirt.

This pattern sewed up really quickly and easily. There are very few pieces and even with my French seaming (too lazy for the over locker!) only took a day (albeit a long one) to put together. I also sewed the midriff section on upside down, which is always hilarious when you’ve done very neat French seaming and your interfacing frays.

 

 

There’s a lot of hand-sewing: all round the neck and arms (sewing on the HOMEMADE bias binding!) and the hem is about a mile long. Obviously, I was still sewing this at 11pm the night before the party, when we had to get up obscenely early to get to Yorkshire in time for lunch. We failed, because I am an eejit who misread the train times.

After much jollity at the party, for which I am eternally grateful to the Lovely Mister for talking to my drunk mother for most of the afternoon while I spoke to a lovely psychotherapist and a soon to be retiring headmistress about the joys of sewing. To give LM an afternoon off from awkwardly taking photos of me on his camera phone, I made use of the very pretty bedding garden and my dad’s camera that he wore around his neck like a tourist at all times apart from when dancing. He was actually mistaken for the photographer several times. So that’s why I look awkward. And also bloody freezing because it was about eight o’clock by this time and I’d lost feeling in my feet.

I do so love this dress. Hopefully, next time I wear it, I won’t be imploring my father to hurry up before I die of frostbite having had to remove my cardy…

Admitting Defeat...But Carrying On

As mentioned (several times now, I believe) I was terribly ill after the ExCel fair (I had a cold. But it was a bad one - the mister came home on the Thursday to find me home early from work under a blanket with streaming eyes and nose whimpering, 'I don't think I was better after all' after the false dawn on Wednesday when I'd declared myself recovered and celebrated by plating potatoes in the garden). So anyway, my sewing was a bit neglected but, from my exile in the spare room, I dipped in and out of all my sewing books trying to find a solution to the ever present sewing problem I have - my weird body. I've read many blogs where the authors have commented on how sewing your own clothes actually gives you more body hang-ups to obsess about. So not only did I have my obvious no boob, no waist, no hip hang-ups from before, I've now got rounded shoulders and a long torso to contend with.

All this came about from how ALL my clothes, RTW and homemade, have the same problem - waist higher at the front than the back, shoulder seams approximately three whole centimetres too far back. I really wanted to make at least one dress this bank holiday weekend, but I wanted something that fitted. Number one on my 'To Make' list is the Blitz dress from Sew La Di Da.. I've raved about Caroline's gorgeous frocks so much and now I want one that fits! So, after some sick-bed googling the other week, I did manage to find a solution. Basically, I cut three centimetres plus 1.5cm seam allowance off the FRONT bodice pattern piece of the dress and attached this to the BACK at the shoulder. The raw edges once cut out in fabric would be the NEW FRONT BODICE shoulder to the NEW BACK BODICE shoulder. Basically, I stuck it together with tape with the old shoulder seams together so the part I cut off was the new shoulder edge. I then moved 3cm of the under sleeve around from the FRONT of the arm piece to the BACK meaning that my underarm seams would still meet the side seams in the right way. So far, so good. I'd also like to point out at this point that I was UNBELIEVABLY proud of myself. Then I realised that the waist was now basically under my bust at the front and even lower than usual at the back. I decided that it probably needed a wedge added SOMEWHERE on the side of the bodice front. I have no idea where, or to what proportion and I'm not good at finding stuff on the internet. At this point, I decided I needed to go on a course about fitting. I've seen loads of reviews for this one from Craftsy and could see that the only bad thing was that it is American and therefore involves all sorts of complicated fraction maths in inches. I'll find a converter and be just fine...

Oh, and I signed up for the Sew Over It Ultimate Trouser Course in June, which should help with the erm...lower half fitting issues I have.

Despite not getting to sew nearly as much as I hoped this Easter break, I am really excited that I've found some ways to fix the sewing problems I have and learn more about my passion for making clothes.

What courses would you like to go on?

A Busy Couple of Weeks...And a Finished Frock

Phew! It's been a busy few weeks for me, hence the blog silence. I just haven't had time to sit down and blog. I had/have a uni essay to finish - just a few hundred more words to complete. In just two more essays after this, it's over. Hoorah! It's been a very long five years - working full time and studying is incredibly hard work.
But, despite all this high-brow (ahem) scribbling, I have done some sewing. In fact, I have done a fair bit: I finished the Sew Over It 1940s Tea Dress Sewalong!

I am very pleased with myself: the fabric was terrifying but I won! The hem is slightly uneven and I had to get my gran round to help with the fit. Remember me saying I cut the size 10 and should've cut the 8? I should always cut the 8! Gran pinned me (and given that she's nearly ninety, she did literally pin me a couple of times!) into the dress and I now have these nifty dart things in the bust. I took in two cm this way, using a double ended dart from the waist band/front section to the arm hole. I also took in about two cm on the back using the same method. 

So here's one of the back as well. I still think that some more could be taken in off the back but I'll wear it a few times first. I don't want to sew myself into a straight-jacket!

And, because I've not blogged for a while, here are some fun pictures. Not too fun mind: I don't want pictures of me looking like a complete idiot on the internet. This is my first fashion shoot, we (lovely Mr and I) were in the garden following a day enjoying the gorgeous weather/hemming a frock when we trolleyed outside to do some pictures. The skirt is beautifully swishy and I wanted a picture of it swishing. Cue lovely Mr crouched on the decking taking pictures with his phone while I spin on my toes. Obviously, most of the pictures are of me looking like an idiot. Here is a slightly idiotic picture shortly before the swishing began:

And here is one of The Swish. This is the best of a bad lot:

I love how the fabric moves. It's so good to get away from cotton, even if I did buy some gorgeous fabric today for my next project, which I hope to start on Friday. So there's something to look forward to.