The Sewing Revival’s Fernbird Dress might be my favourite pattern this summer.
My first version had all the fun of mixing two patterned fabrics.
These two viscoses just wanted to be together. They are both from my local bricks and mortar fabric store, Spotlight.
I bought three metres of each fabric. Because I wasn’t sure what they’d end up as. Eye-roll required. As it turns out, most of the red and almost all of the other fabric have now been sewn into three garments.
The Fernbird dress flanked by Newlook 6471 and In The Fold ruffle sleeve top
Totally love how this turned out. Get so many compliments every time I wear it. And I feel great in it every time I wear it.
So of course I made another Fernbird. Also using Spotlight viscose.
The back story to this one is that I specifically had this pattern in mind when I bought two fabrics to make it up in (not like my last post!) Two fabrics.. Because. Worked so well last time.
Yep. Totally good idea. But, see the dress?
The second fabric never made it.
And I’m not mad about it.
This is a fabulous dress pattern. 10 out of 10 would recommend!
Pattern Fantastique’s Phen shirt pattern has intrigued me for a long time. Just look at that shape! Even the simplest cuffs for this pattern are curved!
(Yes, I did print my pdf pattern on pink paper)
The Shirty September theme of #magamsewalong (make agarment amonth) was the perfect reason to try it out.
(A new shirt and a new skirt! It was a shirty and skirty September for me. The skirt is another version of Burda 09/2008 #134 in a wool cotton blend)
I used a small floral cotton shirting from my stash but originally from someone else’s stash – I scored this lovely fabric from one of the second hand shops at Port Elliott. It has “Cloud 9 organic cotton” printed on the selvedge and has a crisp shirting weight feel to it – if it’s quilting cotton, it’s very nice quality!
Small floral on a dark background – almost the worse fabric for a shirt with lots of details:
– like two front pockets with rounded corners and placed unusually high. Bet you can’t see them unless I put my hands in them
(Look at the pockets! Don’t look at the waist with some of the facing showing. It doesn’t pay to tuck your shirt in quickly and without a mirror before a photo)
– a deep back yoke with stitching at the top of the pleat and a hanging loop, completely camouflaged
– two piece sleeves which turn into the “placket”, those curved cuffs I already mentioned…
The only thing that isn’t lost in the florals is the amazing dropped shoulder batwing sleeves.
I made a size 18 and its a smidge tight at the hips.
I didn’t baste the side seams to check the fit – an excellent tip from Beck, IsewthereforeIam for this pattern – and I think I probably continued the seam too far. The curved seams mean a few mm too far and you’ve gone down a size or three.
The curved seams also mean that you can have an incredibly blousy top without a lot of volume to tuck in. Genius design.
(Untucked. With bonus tired face)
(Tucked in. With the same tired face, and a touch of shirtiness to my expression)
This pattern has very comprehensive instructions and many of the steps also have diagrams. The only one I ignored was interfacing. Instead of using iron on or sew in interfacing, I just added another layer of fabric. Except for the front button band. Which was a mistake – the button holes are a bit puckered on each end.
I appreciated that the instructions included trimming for turn of the cloth for the cuffs, collar, collar band and yoke. You don’t usually get this level of detail on a shirt pattern.
(The result of my attention to trimming to get the right amount of turn of cloth is impossible to see with this patterned fabric. But I know I did it, and it worked!)
But it’s those instructions that made this a Shirty September sew for me.
Either the instructions were written a bit differently to what I expected, or I’m used to next to no instructions and just doing my own thing. I seemed to spend a lot of time reading them and checking them rather than just sewing. And that made me shirty! Beck has also recently made this pattern and written a great post about it – I agree with everything she says about the instructions!
Will I make it again? Probably! I’m intrigued by the “bunny ears” tie collar and tie cuffs version and I’d like to try it again in a drapier fabric. And I won’t need to read the instructions next time!
Yes that was a new top under my coat in my last blog post! Well spotted M of Nonsuch.
I had originally pulled out the fabric to use as lining for this coat. It’a been in my stash from before children (my eldest ‘child’, Felicity, is 24). The colours work well with my coat fabric and I liked the idea of a patterned lining.
Then my 24 year old pointed out it was too nice for lining. I knew that! But she was right!
Thus the plan was born for a patterned top to wear with the boucle striped coat rather than lining the coat with it !
And in my ongoing theme of sewing patterns from Burda magazines from the last decade, I chose this pattern from 2012:
I made a size 46 despite reviews that it ran a bit small because my fabric was a stretch polyester. I also didn’t cut the neck ties on the bias, again because it was a slippery stretch fabric. The sizing and the ties turned out fine. it could be snug in a non stretch though – the reviews were right.
The construction was straightforward except for the right angle seams which required a bit more attention. I fused squares of very light weight interfacing to the corners and stay stitched before I sewed the seams. That makes clipping to the stitching line before you stitch it a bit less hair raising.
I forgot to raise the bust darts – a standard change I usually need to make because I’m short waisted. Luckily the busy print means this only obvious when I point it out!
I made the cuffs 2 cm longer and interfaced the cuffs with a poly organza but didn’t interface the neck facing, apart from a square at the point. They both turned out fine, although slippery polyester organza inside slippery polyester stretch fabric probably wasn’t the smartest move for the cuffs. A simple woven cotton would’ve been better.
I was delighted to be able to use some mustardy yellow glass buttons in my stash These were my mothers or grandmothers – inherited stash from a long line of sewists! And I love how they look on my cuffs.
I’m unconvinced the length of this top is right. It’s too long to wear untucked with the coat because it’s longer than the coat (yes I am still asking myself why I didn’t measure it up and work this out before I hemmed it).
I don’t think this length works with an above knee length skirt (as below) and it doesn’t look any better with leggings or trousers. Something is wrong with the proportions on me. Even in my highest heels.
It looks particularly bad with a knee length skirt
I like it a lot better tucked in. And then all that extra length makes no sense.
Keeping it real- wrinkled skirt after a morning of sitting
The skirt is new too!
I had a remnant of a light cashmere wool coating in turquoise that coordinated perfectly with the top and the coat.
It’s really glorious fabric. So I made a simplified version of BurdaStyle 09/2008 #136 – no double yoke, no pockets and no hem tucks. I pegged the side seams in about half the amount the tucks would’ve taken them in. I added a centre front seam because I felt I’d oversimplified it too much. Size 46 waist and 48 hips. It’s a bit loose through the waist but the ease makes it very easy to wear.
The yoke was lined with a lighter weight wool blend remnant and the skirt lined with acetate lining that was yet another remnant! Stash busting at its finest. Slow fashion label from KATM seems very appropriate..
These are my favourite colours so I am very happy with this outfit and all the individual elements (except that the top which needs to be 14 cm shorter! Oh and those bust darts! I still love it though..)
There’s also something very satisfying about much loved fabrics in the stash being successfully transformed into garments and moving into my wardrobe.
Doesn’t always happen… so I’m enjoying it whilst I can.
Style Arc’s Hope Woven Dress pattern is hugely popular. Several Instagram sewists (I’m looking at you @rou2an1_made and @johassler) have made more than 10 versions. Yes. More than 10! There’s even a hashtag for multiple sewing of this pattern: #hopedressspringseternal.
And it is deservedly popular. This style seems to look great on everyone, every body shape and every age. Why has it taken me so long?
My first version was in a chambray with an embroidered border. So I cut the skirt and all the other pieces out with the grainline running selvedge to selvedge rather than parallel to the selvedges. Seemed to work just fine.
It has pockets!
My fabric is soft and I only have fairly robust interfacing in my stash so rather than interface the neck facing pieces, I used vilene bias tape on the neck edge instead.
I cut the tape using the pattern pieces as my guide, pinned the tape at the centre front and seams, eased the neck edge to the tape with more pins and then pressed The neck edge has slightly stretched out but this process brought it back in. Luckily! I followed up the ironed on securing with machine basting. And then faced as per normal.
I love vilene bias tape.
The sleeves are described as 7/8th length, but either I have the sizing wrong (this is a size 16) or longer than normal arms – they are more 3/4 length on me. I like them pushed up a bit closer to my elbow joint to give a bit of puffiness
Waist? What waist? Why are you looking for one? Don’t think I can find mine.
This is a really comfortable dress to wear, but if you’re looking for a waist enhancing dress this is not the style for you. But oh so comfortable to wear! Did I say that already?
Version 2
Of course there is a version 2. This is also midi length.
I can’t get my hands out of the excellent pockets in this design
Style Arc says there is a knee length version too, and shows one in the line drawing but doesn’t include a pattern piece or cutting line on the skirt pieces for it. So I just cut out another midi length.
I thought a lot about how to fit this all on my not quite long enough piece of fabric and still place the ‘stripes’ were i wanted them. This meant the skirt was 4 cm shorter than drafted, but not the 20 cm or so it would have been if I was actually thinking about it being knee length. And a shorter skirt would hve made the pattern tetris a lot simpler!
So, just a little bit more thinking before cutting would have been good! Then I could also have lined up the sleeves better too- it’s almost but not quite pattern matched. how does this even happen?!
I didn’t even think there was any chance of pattern matching. My focus was on getting a bit more length onto the sleeves (I managed to get 5 cm more). Not that you can see the extra length in any of the photos- in all of them the sleeves are pushed up and sitting in my elbow joint – because I love the puffiness!
This fabric is a gem from my stash. It’s a rayon viscose blend double weave. A bit like double gauze and with lovely body and a slight shimmer.
I used a gathering tip from @kaleidoscopekatie_ : overlap the gathering stitching. This stops the gap that’s not gathered where you start and stop your gathering stitching in the same line and close to each other.
safety pin at centre front and bright red and pink thread for gathering
Look! no gap!
Thanks for the tip Katie!
Do you think I stopped at two Hope dresses? Well… I couldn’t… I had to make a knee length version. I might also be trying to join the #hopedressspringseternal club.
So, another Hope blog post is coming soon … just as soon as I can get photos!
Have you made a Hope dress? Could you stop at two?
Why was fabric purchased as a souvenir? Is that really a question for a sewist? I’ll answer it anyway. It wasn’t because it was Scottish in style, fabrication or colours – the only thing Scottish about it was that it availabe in a fabric store in Scotland. It was for the normal reasons I buy fabric – I liked it.
And then it sat in my stash for a long time – because I had to find the right pattern for this lovely fabric…
..and that turned out to be Cris Wood Sews Envelope Dress.
I didn’t intend to make a kaftan. I was planning more of a knee length Envelope dress.
The way the Envelope Dress is cut out means that the length of the dress is the width of the fabric. My fabric was 140 cm wide. I know that a knee-length dress is not 140 cm from shoulder to hem but I still wanted to cut it out this way, even with the likely need to trim it to knee length. Why? Because putting the ‘stripes’/’panels’ running vertically could be more interesting that having them horizontal.
Well, that was right – I like how they look in the vertical orientation.
It was also very clear as soon as I tried it on that it needed to stay this length and be a kaftan, not a knee length dress. So I added side slits rather than hemming it shorter.
Occupational hazard of posing with a fancy drink for blog photos
The Envelope Dress is a very easy ‘pattern’ to construct and the instructions are great.
If you haven’t made one yet, I highly recommend it – it’s a unique and fun way of constructing a garment.
This was an indulgent project. Not because the fabric was precious or special. But because it was totally decided upon on a whim.
Which shoes?
This project leapt ahead of other projects that would have been more practical and actually filled a wardrobe gap. Just because I felt like sewing the three 1 metre lengths by 115 cm wide pieces of fabric left from an earlier project.
I have to admit that it was very satisfying to sew so organically and without a plan. When I overthink projects they sit uncut and unsewn. Yellow roses spring coat I’m talking about you!
There is some sentimentality associated with this fabric
Eating crepes from a street vendor on Avenue des Champs-Élysées
Bought in Paris with Felicity
Best fabric weights ever
Cut out, for a previous project, at M of Nonsuch’s place on a rug, with Mr Bingley. There was still cat hair on these remnants five years later!
The remnants are also those bits of the fabric on which the pattern was printed a bit off grain. A whim with a sewing challenge. What more could I want!
I picked simple patterns – the Closet core’s Cielo for the top in a size 16 and a Burda pencil skirt made in my new larger size – 46 waist and 48 hips – Burdastyle 07/2012 #134. I didn’t add the hem darts but I angled the side seams in about half the amount to sort off get the same pegged effect.
There wasn’t enough of the alphabet fabric for a top and skirt, or of the stripey squares for either, so the top got a bit of both. In hindsight, stripey squares on the back might’ve been a better idea than using them on the front.
those shoes…hahaha
I surprised myself by not only having blue and orange shoes that worked with these new garments, but also having other me-mades that work – a blue and orange top, an orange coat and an orange shirt (not pictured). Of course plain black works too.
Who knew orange and blue were neutrals and could play so nicely in my wardrobe?
@adelaidesewists organised this swap in July. I took 13 lengths of fabric and it felt good. My no-longer adored fabric was going to a good home and not landfill. Someone else is going to make something amazing from it.
What I took
I come home with 6 lengths of fabric (not as much as I took – #winning), so I saved fabric from landfill too. So much to love!
Fabric swap skirt!
This skirt is from one of those fabric. Thanks Rhoz! And thanks @adelaidesewists!
So happy about the fabric swap.
Also, so very happy with this skirt.
This is a Burda pattern I’ve made multiple time. It’s pegged and it has pockets. Some of my favourite sewing things.
The not-so-useful US Burda site has the pattern here. The German Burda site is much more helpful, even if you don’t read German (and is where I took the line drawing from).
The fabric is a bengaline with good stretch and recovery. I made the skirt up with an elastic waist but without a zip or walking vent or lining or top stitching around the hem.
Do you see a wrinkly waist ?
Does it look like an elastic waist skirt to you?
Do you see a wrinkly waist at the back? No, didn’t think so
It looks very corporate doesn’t it? Especially when I stand more normally.
I love the trickery of using the right fabric.
This is a size 46 waist and size 48 hips (thanks, no thanks, to hormonal imbalances for the size changes – yes I am a woman of a certain age).
This fabric was difficult to cut out because the print didn’t appear to be strictly on grain. I pinned every 5 cms or so and then stretched and ironed to force it into shape. I cut the front in a single layer and the back pieces separately.
The elastic waist was a bit of an experiment. I could have added a waistband to this pattern and inserted or sewed elastic to that, but I didn’t.
Instead, I cut a length of 4 cm wide elastic to my waist measurement, joined it, and then sewed it to my already prepared facing. Yes a nice even circlet of elastic sewn to a curved facing. I stretched the fabric of the facing and the elastic and used a zigzag stitch to sew the elastic to the facing just a smidge under the waist attachment sewing line. (No I did not change the thread in the overlocker to blue. I like the red. And I might be a bit lazy)
I then stitched the facing, with its elastic, to the skirt, using a narrower zigzag stitch and stitching very close to the elastic but not catching it in. Also whilst stretching. Which is why the stitching is a bit wonky.
Then trimmed the excess seam allowance of the facing close to the stitching line
After I turned and ironed, it all looked pretty good! The bottom edge of the facing has a bit of fluting due to the elastic but it’s very smooth from the outside.
Smooth waist! Also this is a classic scissors in the pocket photo with bonus measuring tape in the other pocket
I stitched in the ditch to secure the elastic/facing down at the side seams and centre front and back. So easy!
The hem was also secured with a zigzag. Almost invisible on the outside but pretty obvious inside due to that lovely red overlooking.
The skirt is about 4 cm shorter than drafted.
The orange and blue top is Burda 02/2015 #128 and you can read all about it here.
I’m very happy with this new skirt. It’s super comfortable to wear and just the right weight for the end of winter in Adelaide. Thanks again Rhoz! I hope you like my grey, black and white knit as much as I like your blue and white bengaline.
Mine is made from a floaty cotton voile that has been in my stash almost forever (9 years – I’ve patted it appreciatively and admired its colour and hand many times since it came to live with me). This fabric is designer deadstock – from Gay Naffine/Lucy Giles.
I made several adjustments to the pattern to get the fit better.
I traced off a size 46, petite-ed the bodice by 2 cm above the bust dart and made a 2 cm forward shoulder – which meant I also brought the tucks in the sleeve head forward. Are you supposed to do that?
The adjustments certainly worked for the shoulder fit, but the bust darts ended up a touch high.
The neck depth is good but it is quite wide though – if there is a next time I’ll consider bringing it in a bit.
I didn’t include the front slit but I did keep the idea of regular tacks down the front band by adding pearl buttons (shining in the bad side light of the image above)
I used a very light interfacing for the neck band and the front bands as well as to reinforce those square seams
A KATM tag on the side seam above the slit because I can.
I promise this is the last ‘touching my hair’ photo!
The skirt is an old favourite made in my new larger size – 46 waist and 48 hips – Burdastyle 07/2012 #134
I love the quirkiness of the darts at the hem. I didn’t sew the darts to the outside as per the pattern for this version. There was already enough going on with the stripes.
This is a stretch cotton that’s been in my stash for even longer – 11 years. Bought in 2010. That’s deep stash. This fabric is also designer deadstock- from Gay Naffine.
The second summer top is Friday Pattern Company’s square neck top.
It is the second version I made – the first one was an XXL as per my measurements but with the neckline raised by 2.5 cm. It was too big in almost every dimension except through my hips. It was made up in a beautiful blue shirting cotton but that wasn’t enough to save it. It has already been donated.
The second one was a XL bust out to XXL hips plus 2.5 cm removed in the bodice above the dart and through the sleeve and then the neck also raised by 2.5 cm.
It’s still not quite right – the cap sleeves pull when I move my arms forward. I doubt I’ll make another one unless I use a knit.
The fabric is lovely though – an embroidered linen cotton remnant from my local Spotlight. It is also from the stash, but it has only been marinating for 3 years.
Stash busting, three garments I can wear and two I love!
***EDITED to add how I do a petite adjustment to the bodice***
I’m very surprised to find that I couldn’t easily point Sandra to a youtube or blog post from someone else that explained how I do this. Either I haven’t looked well enough or what I do is different to what everyone else does. Or perhaps both.
This comes with several warnings:
Writing tutorials is a skill that I don’t have – it’s highly likely that none of this will make sense.
Drawing simple diagrams is also a skill I don’t have – it’s not going to be pleasing to the eye.
This works for me but possibly works for no-one else on the earth – try on something unimportant, like a muslin/toile before you commit to this!
The green lines A, B and C are your cutting lines
Line A: draw this in starting at the centre front and perpendicular to centre front, at least 2 cm below neckline (if you’re doing a 2 cm petite-ing, more if you’re doing more, less if less) out to just before before the armscye stitching line
Line B: draw this in also perpendicular to centre front but start 2 cm below armscye on the side seam (or more or less depending on your adjustment) and stop at about the same position as Line A.
Line C: this line joins Line A and B and is parallel to the centre front
The purple dashed lines are the lines you’re adjusting to.
Measure up 2 cm (or more or less, depending on your adjustment) from lines A and B and draw in a line parallel to them (this is the purple dashed lines).
The red bit is the amount you’re going to remove.
Cut along your green lines.
Shift the pattern piece up to the dashed lines and tape it back together
Now do the same to the back bodice piece
Why I do it this way:
It doesn’t change the armscye, which means you don’t have to adjust the sleeve. I don’t usually have an issue with where the sleeve joins the bodice being too low so I avoid having to make this additional change.
It takes length out only above the bust, which is where I seem to need it to get the bust point in the right spot for me.
This isn’t what I did on the square neck too (I just took 2 cm out from centre front through the cut on sleeves) but it is what I normally do and what I did for the V neck Burda top.
Sandra: Hope this helps and good luck with your fitting journey
Does this make sense? Does anyone else do this? Is there a better way to do this?
I‘m up to my fourth Lodo dress this summer. And I don’t think summer coming to an end will stop me sewing this pattern a fifth time. How good would a winter Lodo look with a turtleneck and tights?
This version might be my current favourite – partly because of the fun I had deciding how to use this fabric, purchased a year or so ago from EmmaOneSock
It’s a 160 cm wide stretch cotton with a large plain border along each selvedge and a wide geometric print through the middle. Or I could describe it as a geometric print with a lot of non patterned potentially unusable fabric each side of the print…
The fabric is from Milly’s 2016 Spring Collection. The three garments shown are all cut across the grain rather than with the grain. I like the effect, but it means the stretch is running up and down rather than around the body. Wouldn’t work with Lodo.
The print is reminiscent of a flag isn’t it, but whose? There are more than 20 national flags with red, white and blue stripes, so lots of options.
Previous Liz only bought 2 yards of this fabric. Which is not enough for a dress if you want to run the geometric print symmetrically through the centre back and centre front. Previous Liz probably though she could make it work, for a shirt. When in doubt, buy another metre/yard… Stash accumulation beyond life expectancy? Yes! Drowning in remnants? Also yes!
Back to Flag Lodo. I offset the print on my pattern pieces and cut both the front and back across the width in one dress length. All the white on one side. All the pattern on the other. Asymmetric print placement for the win!
But do I use blue or white thread for topstitching and the hem? Well, no need for this to be binary – I can use both. White on the white sections, blue on the patterned sections and change over from one to the other on the hem.
The facings were cut from white stretch cotton from the previous Lodo and I again added in seam pockets.
A departure from previous Lodo’s was to add a centre back zip. I used a white one. Not sure why I didn’t use navy given my commitment to change threads over if needed but at least it’s an (almost) invisible zip.
A zip is not needed for this pattern – I can pull the dress on over my head – but I prefer to step into a dress. For fabric like this with only horizontal stretch, it’s a simpler dressing experience.
This Flag Lodo dress now joins a growing collections of Lodos: Brilliant White Lodo, Corporate Tulip Lodo and Holiday Red Lodo.
Final word? This blog post is unlikely to be my final words on this pattern. It’s an excellent pattern in so many ways, and one that works well with my body size and shape and my lifestyle.
He Cooks... She Sews! 