Seamwork Sonya

If you’ve followed my blog for a while you’ll know I’ve been a huge fan of Burda magazines.

Not so much any more. Change in editors, reissuing patterns from earlier issues, and less diversity in styles and size ranges have almost convinced me to give up my subscription.

So I’m trying a few other sources. Seamwork being one of them.

My first foray into Seamwork’s large online pattern library was at the end of last year. I chose the Sonya dress.

This design really appeals to me – the shape, opportunity for colour blocking or having fun with stripes. And those huge pockets!

Sizing is always a bit of a guess when trying a new pattern company so I used something from my stash that I loved (obviously – otherwise it would not be in my stash!) but I’d found tricky to use for other patterns. It’s a very colourful First Nations patterned poplin.

I included the artists name from the selvedge as an inside label on the hem. Because acknowledgement is important

It turned out a bit loose through the bust and too long.

I didn’t like the pattern/fabric combination enough to go to the work of altering it properly. Should’ve made a shirt from this delightful fabric!

For my second version I used an embroidered light weight denim from my stash and sized down through the bust.

I topstitched the yoke and front panel seams using the lightning triple stretch stitch with red in the needle and black in the bobbin. I don’t expect this to create a somewhat uneven effect but it’s actually fine for this denim with its simple somewhat naive embroidery.

I made the dress slightly less straight up and down by adding a short piece of elastic to the hems at the sides. It’s a subtle difference but it works.

This was a much more successful garment than the first one. But, to be frank, not one I immediately loved. That could partly be because I styled it with green ballet flats…

And then, several months later I threw it in my suitcase at the last minute for a trip to Italy. Because I figured I could wear with a jumper underneath and boots and tights as well as on its own. Might come in handy I thought. Well. Did it ever!

Selfie in Venice

Fabric shopping in Florence

Wine tasting in Tuscany, with a scarf added for a little extra warmth

Museum visit in Rome with a raincoat and tights, but not cold enough for boots as well

Pre-photo primping over lunch – or so I thought!

This dress was one of my most worn makes on that trip. Why? Well, I think it’s because the fabric is cute, it’s a classic colour combination, it looks good with white sneakers (perhaps not so good with tights and white sneakers…but I was warm!) and the enormous pockets were gold when travelling.

Another reason for wearing a garment more than once before disposing of it.

Now I’m feeling bad about the first version!