In general I don’t name my dresses. There always are exceptions, like now. I love buying fabric and yarn on vacation, this fabric was bought in Seattle – hence the name.
I’ve had this pattern for quite a while. I had used the skirt portion before but not the whole dress. I was debating which neckline. I like the drawing of the stand-up collar but how will it actually look on the dress? I checked out the reviews on Pattern Review, most people like the pattern and a few even had examples with the stand up collar. They look good.
I learned as a child that the backside of the work should looks as clean and as neat as the front. This referred to embroidery, but the same is true with garment sewing. Having a serger makes cleans seams easy. After inserting a sleeve, once I’m sure there are no ripples or tucks – I serge them as well.
I served the seams open, the fabric is thick (yes it’s a thicker quilting fabric, I just love the print). Sometimes after pressing the seams open I will serge the seam allowance together. You can even see where I marked the pleats and darts. No, this won’t come out in the wash, I use Wax Tracing Paper from Richard the Thread. If I am sewing with a very fine or sheer fabric I will actually do thread marking. But I wasn’t worried about the blue showing through to the front, if any did – it would simply blend in with the very busy print pattern.
The hem was done on the machine as well. Once again, no one will see the tiny threads on the front of the dress. The amount of hand work I do on a dress really depends on the fabric and pattern.
Having a pocket is veery nice on a dress. It has to be a full skirt, I don’t want pockets to mar the look of a tight pencil skirt. I faced the front with white lining fabric and the back with the fashion fabric. That way the pocket isn’t as heavy, but the visible part, when using the pocket is actually the back.
A lapped zipper is a very classy look. One thing is I had to cut the back pattern pieces with 1″ seam allowance rather than 5/8″ which is the standard for home sewing patterns. Wonderful instructions are available in this Craftsy Mini class (which means it is free!) Mastering Zipper Techniques.
I love this dress. The neckline came out perfectly. I love the way the dress looks and of course I’m thrilled with the fabric. For Southern CA, this is a transition or even winter dress.
I have also discovered that these days, I like my skirts to hit mid knee, longer than that is looking dowdy to me right now. Of course that may change in a few years.
Looking good from the back as well.
Tag: Sewing patterns
Balancing the giving
Having just given Aytan the quilt, I had to make something for Shira. To be fair, she gets a lot of handmade dresses from me. I could make some more shirts for Aytan, but that can wait.
Of course I already have a collection of children’s patterns, mainly little girl clothes. What I like about this is the semi circle skirt. It flows differently from a gathered skirt, I like it on myself and I like it on little girls. I collected my materials, yes, this fabric is Liberty of London that I bought at Pearl Soho Orange County, CA. It was no cheaper there than other places, but I think it may have been the bolt end so I got a break on the price. Liberty has wised up to us quilters, this is from their quilting line.
I do not like the facings for the neckline and armholes that home sewing patterns have you do. I either line the bodice, or use bias binding. It can be either decorative on the outside or pulled inside and top stitched. In order to do that I needed to remove the seam allowance from the fabric. This time I am using fold-over elastic for that purpose.
It was easy and worked well, next time I may stretch it a little more so I don’t get that wavy look. I didn’t have lime green thread, but I think the top stitching in the aqua works well.
Exposed zipper are still very popular. I’ve seen zippers that are so decorative, they are made to be installed this way. I feel this upgrades the dress from pretty – to pretty stylish.
That wasn’t enough for me, I had to do more. Lately I’ve been playing with EPP, English Paper piecing. I will have to write a whole post about that. Here is the wonderful Fisker paper cutter and the resulting hexagon flower.
Using the same aqua thread to attach to the dress. This time I ‘quilted’ each hexie. 
At the age of 5 I was taught how to cross stitch by a wonderful German woman. She told me that the back of the work must be as neat and clean as the front. I try and do that with everything I make. Having a serger makes this very easy when sewing.
The dress looks very nice on a hanger, but ten times better on an adorable model. I had given her the dress the night before, of course she wore it then and demanded to wear it again – WIN!
Looking good from the back.
One more, just because she is so cute and models the dress so well.
Sewing with Knits and a commercial pattern
A little history. 1860’s was the beginning of tissue patterns in different sizes – made for the home seamstress. Through the years there have been many changes, initially there was no need to include instructions, everyone who was going to use these patterns knew how to sew. Look at vintage patterns from the 1940’s and sewing instructions are minimal. By the 70’s – 80’s the pattern companies realized that more detailed instruction was necessary, but I’m sure they limited themselves – so as not to make the patterns too cost prohibitive.
It takes a good six months from concept until the pattern is in the stores. The Big Four (McCall’s, Butterick, Vogue and Simplicity) are trying to find that sweet spot between – high fashion and classic form. They don’t want their patterns to be like H&M Stores – full of trendy clothes that change every month.
They do have more leeway than the independents. First of all, a much larger client base and distribution network. So although they do carry basic standard patterns, they can afford to offer more specialized patterns.
Case in point this pattern I made last year.
A pattern for either a knit top with peplum, or simply lengthened – a dress. How does this differ from the Moneta pattern I just made? Look closely, the front bodice is made from 4 pieces, not one – so if you want to work with stripes – you can create the wonderful graphic design you see in example C.
Look at the skirt, not a simple rectangle that is gathered at the waist – rather a circle skirt that has a completely different drape and flair. Here is my version, a simple red and white stripe, working hard to match the stripes, I now have a dress you won’t find in the stores. That kind of matching simply isn’t worth it for a simple knit dress.
Here is a RTW (ready to wear – store bought) shirt. At first glance you may say, it’s the same. But it isn’t. The side section stripes do not match up. The center is one piece with horizontal stripes, not the chevron I achieved. The one thing that is exactly the same is the circle peplum.
Even the back has the chevron, created by using two pattern pieces. If you look very closely you can see that I didn’t match them perfectly – so don’t stare at it for long!
This fabric is heavier weight as well, it’s amazing the variety of cotton knit jersey fabric out there.
As to the instructions, no they are not as detailed as the Moneta, which is fine. I’m a good enough seamstress and anyone who sews for a while quickly gets to the same level of proficiency. Another wonderful thing is the internet, there are so many You Tube sewing tutorials available for free. As well as Craftsy classes, Threads Magazine, other publications, books and live sewing classes in stores or adult community centers.
I am very happy to see good independent sewing patterns out there. But I am not willing to criticize the Big Four or dismiss them. As a sewer and knitter, I don’t want to create my own patterns, I am thrilled that others will do that work for me. I will tweak, or change, I know that I am putting my own individual stamp on my handmade clothes, without the need to create a pattern from scratch.
I’m thrilled that the Big Four recognize that putting out complicated difficult patterns is worth their while. I’m sure the simple pattens pay for the cost of these, which is why I don’t feel bad about having a very large collection their patterns and I’m always willing to buy more.
LeahSewing with knits and indie patterns
Having a serger makes sewing with knits a breeze. Wearing a knit dress in the summer is also a breeze.
Fabric, a simple cotton jersey from Michael Levine. The pattern is Moneta by Collette. In the last 5 years a whole crop of pattern designers have emerged. The sewing world tends to be all excited about these designers and many sewists will praise them to the moon. This is a very basic knit dress pattern, I like the collar treatment so I plunked down $18 for the printed version. That is a lot of money for a pattern, when one can find the Big Four (McCalls, Simplicity, Vogue and Butterick)for sale at about $5.
It states very clearly that this is a beginner pattern, which means tips of the trade about working with knits and very detailed instructions.
I liked the instructions about how to line the bodice with knit lining. I like the result of the clean armhole. There is a link to a how to video on how this is done. Another good tip is using clear elastic to gather knit fabric for the skirt. These tutorials are available for free, so why pay the $18? Because Collette is one of the better indie pattern designers out there, and I’m happy to support their effort. No, I won’t be buying another beginners pattern, but they do have some nice intermediate ones. My paying full price allows them to offer their videos and tips for free. 
Here it is, an adorable little summer dress.
I like the fit, it is snug, since I have the figure to show off, why not!
I’m a little disappointed in the collar. I didn’t pay attention very closely when looking at images online, I thought the points met in center back – didn’t overlap. I have to remind myself, this is a beginners pattern, and overlap is much easier. It is cute but I originally wanted more sophistication.
I do like the way the collar looks from the front. Also, this dress has pockets, something very nice to have in a little casual dress.
All in all, I’m very pleased with the result. Since I have the pattern, I will probably use it again for a version with sleeves. I highly recommend this for beginner sewists. If you are a moderate to experienced seamstress – it probably isn’t worth the money. Next post I’ll talk about another knit dress I made last year from a McCall’s pattern. I’ll compare the indie to the Big Four patterns.
Leah