Lyra for the Last of the September Sun

 I’ve broken with my blog tradition of many year doing a ‘Last of the Summer Sewing’ post. This will have to do instead - to be fair no one is really DONE with summer in September are they it’s still so nice outside sometimes. 

One last ‘summery’ make for me has been another Tilly Buttons Lyra Dress. It’s one of those patterns I never warmed to at the start but absolutely love now. A great shirt dress pattern that can be used to show off an amazing print.

I made a few changes to the pattern now so I can have a better fit. Step one was to completely remove the darts and move the waist up a tad. I brought the shoulders in a fraction so they sit better and that was it really. Tiny tweaks that made a big difference to how comfortable I feel wearing it.

Although I’ve blogged about the Lyra dress before this needed a place on here for this EPIC PRINT.

It is a John Louden digital print viscose that seems to have taken off in popularity in recent weeks. I’d picked mine up from Stitch & Stash a little while ago but Instagram went a bit wild for it. It was seen in Boyes (a shop in North UK) and with Roy’s Material World in Leicester but seems to be rather elusive now!  I was informed not much of it was made however I managed to pick up a piece for a lady in the US who wanted it shipped out as she loved it so much! (Crafty Clyde’s Concierge Service seems a good idea now…)

To me it looks like a lovely holiday scene, some Mediterranean cafe or something however the text is in English (it says ‘coffee and hairdressers’ which amused me). Regardless, it’s a beautiful print and really great quality fabric to sew with.

I went for all the tiers on this one making it extra swooshy.

I have managed to wear this one before the weather changed, however it will make a great dress for next year ☀️ 

Short and sweet little post today 

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Making Matilda - Megan Neilson Dress Success!

 

Good morning everyone

Coming your way today with something entirely NEW! (To me that is - to everyone else this is old news as usual).

Apparently I love an Aussie pattern designer - by pure chance (Pattern Emporium and Style Arc being my faves) - and now another! 

I have spotted this Matilda Dress ages ago but never really gave it a thought. However I got attached to the idea of the cargo pockets and utility style of this one which I thought may be good for my new shape. 

There are princess seams (which seemed an easier option for fitting my chest), drop shoulder or sleeves (nice for a broader back), pleated breast pockets (volume), and an A-line skirt with roomy statement pockets (big butt skimming properties) and collar and stand (winner winner chicken dinner I do love a shirt dress). 

I got his absolutely epic fabric at Croft Mill -not somewhere I usually browse but Zesty Zebra took my heart. 

I made not one, but two toiles for this dress! Who even am I. It was a slow sew project that has been going on in the background for several weeks. 

On the size chart I picked a 16/18 which was were I best fit into. A starting point.

The first toile gave me the general shape of the dress which was 'ok' but certainly didn't fit. My first adjustment was to do a flat chest adjustment - ie pinch out all the excess at the princess seams to make it lay better. If you're taking out the bust fullness, the waist tends to need moving up too. My toile was very low waisted so I brought that up by 1 inch. See pics below:

The effect of this adjustment was that I then had a gaping armhole. Very annoying. This was also fixed by pinching the excess out into a dart shape for a bit of wizardry.

The excess fabric was pinned out as below into a dart. Cut into the dart and close it up to make it disappear. It's then necessary to smooth off the armsyce curve which meant trimming off that little triangle in the second pic. This pattern has a front yoke and therefore the yoke piece also needed adjusting. I lined up the pieces and again trimmed off the excess in pic 3.   Gape be gone!

The dress having a front and back yoke, means you do a 'double burrito' to finish the seams and it gives a 'beautiful inside as out' finish. The waistband also has an inner piece which encloses all the skirt and bodice seams for another flawless finish. I hand stitched that down and it looks so satisfying. 

The construction of a shirt or shirt dress is great as you can just do little sections as and when you want. I feel like they have 'chapters' that you can just put down and pick up. Placket, collar, buttons...

The dress also has seams in the back for shaping which I love as I have a sway back so it sits really nicely. No adjustments needed to the back. 

I made this during the hot hot day so there was only really one label to choose. The lovely Aimee at Sew Anonymous sent this to me. 

She's one of life's lovely humans so do have a look at her shop. Talking of lovely humans - Shout out to Karen (of the seaside) who incredibly ran a Race For Life and had my name on her back amongst others. I was so touched by that. We've never met in person but sewing had us connect as we sewists do. Thank you! x

Back to the stitching...

This is obviously the sleeveless version which I prefer for warm weather. Easier to pop a cardigan etc over the top then without sleeves getting stuck! 

I did cut out the pieces for the collar however when I tried it on, I really liked the 'mandarin collar' version using just the collar stand.  (Fun fact - prevents your armour from chaffing).

I spent a lot of time on this one therefore I definitely have to make another! Or several now the fit is correct. After feeling a bit rubbish its been nice to find something that feels nice to wear. 

Whats got two thumbs and loves the Matilda Dress? This gal!

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Parker Ponte Pants (and Shorts!)

To quote Rodney in Only Fools and Horses - 'hello, can you hear me over those trousers?'

Slipping onto the blog this Sunday with some very LOUD leg wear. 

This post is using some fabric gifted by Minerva (forgive a gal, I've not worked much this year so taking free fabric when it's thrown at me). (Have 10% off on me though with code MSS243EC)

I am an absolute super fan of ponte as it is one of the greatest secret pajama fabrics know to man.

This rather jazzy ponte is called Rainbow Harvest and comes in 4 different colourways. I went for the loudest print in ‘Chilli’. We’re still in summer so I figured a last minute tropical print could be called for.

I did notice that the ‘Grape’ colourway is also gorgeous and could be a really good transitional colour going into autumn/fall.

The ponte is a mix of viscose, polyester and elastane which gives it that structure and stretchiness. This one stretches across the width and down the length giving it a really comfortable fit on garments. I was impressed with the opacity of the fabric as even when stretched tight it doesn’t loose its colour. 

 If we’re going ponte, we’re going Parker Ponte Pant.

My favourite pattern from Style Arc, these are pull on elasticated trousers with a smarter edge to them.

 I've made AT LEAST six pairs of Parker Ponte Pants in the past but for some reason they never make the blog! They are all so different aswell, colours, pocket details, belts.... blogger fail there.

 The pattern has back pockets, however be warned the front slant pockets are ‘faux’ and serve no purpose. That is easily rectified by drafting a quick pocket bag. One the majority of versions I have made of this pattern, 90% have got front pockets. Inseam, or patch pocket style.

For this project I went for patch pocket style as it gives the least bulk. I simply hemmed the raw edge of the pocket slant (for the trousers) and added a little bias band to the pocket slant (for the shorts).

I started by making the trouser version of the Parker Ponte Pants – these are a size 16 (my hips is 47”). Whilst you could argue they are a bit tight, they are very comfortable. If you’re after a more relaxed look trouser just size up.

The original pattern is also full length and can be turned up for a cuff however I cropped these to be ankle grazers. I just felt it suited the season a little better. 

These trousers sew up in a flash, and as I had a little fabric left over, I also used the pattern to make shorts! I popped a contrast waistband on (also in ponte) and used slightly wider elastic than the pattern calls for too. It is just a long strip of fabric for the waistband so you can just decide how you like yours.

 

 

Going one stop further I really used the scraps up to make binding for the Modern Sewing Co Racer Tank! (Now there's a little hidden gem of a pattern)

 

Voila, a mini late summer co-ord set. 

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Bags Upon Bags - Part 2 - Hillside Tote

 Bienvenue to Part 2

Another accessory sewing post today so if that's not your 'bag' no offence taken if you scroll on past. But I hope not :)

Pattern

This time I went for another Noodlehead pattern called the Hillside Tote. I liked the simplicity of the design and the size for a cross-body bag. There are 2 outer pockets on this, front and back, and a sectioned inner pocket aswell. There's also an opportunity for a snap fastener or clasp on this one for added jazz.

This one comes in 'regular' and 'mini' so the opposite spectrum of last week's mega bags. 

As previously reviewed, Noodlehead has the best instructions so very easy to follow. There are no pattern pieces to this one either! It's a series of rectangles for which measurements are given in the instruction pack. 

 Fabric

Once again I made multiples of this pattern. The floral version is a waterproof canvas from Custom Fabrics UK.

This bag was borne out of comedy - I had TRIED to make my pal a hat for gardening - well let's just say hat making is not my forte and there is a small teddy bear at her house wearing said hat. (It was teeny!)

In an attempt to redeem myself I made her a bag instead with the leftovers. I just managed this by squeezing the strap into every tiny leftover piece! The lining is leftover tiger satin from Rainbow Fabrics (cheeky tip off - code RUAN25 gets you a discount site wide).

The green version is some canvas originally from Ikea and 'The Deep Stash' from about 15 years ago. 

The cork layer is 'cork canvas' from Dalston Mills. You can't really see in the pics but there's lovely flecks of gold in there. 

Interfacing

The green version was heavy Decovil - MISTAKE. I broke 9 needles trying to stitch through the layers of this near the zip. I managed it in the end but it was way too thick for 4 layers of canvas, 2 thick Decovil pieces, 2 strap holders and zip. 

The pink version is Decovil Light (same as the hat) and worked a charm. 

(10% code for Minerva as previous - MSS243EC )

Hardware

Once again all the metal hardware is from TrimmingShop -the rainbow set is just fantastic! The snap fastener was also installed with my Big Green Machine which makes it an absolute breeze.

On my green version I went for a gold combo. The pocket is actually a gold magnetic snap fastner installed on the interior. This beautiful little gold frog was the perfect match to this monstera leaf design - it's a pin badge from Vinted! I placed it just below the clasp to make it look part of the fastener.

The Rest

I'll spare you any kind of lengthy explanation however over the months I also made the FREE - yes FREE - Closet Core Belt Bag together with some little zip pouches to organize my stuff. These are great as you just chuck it to and from whatever bag you are using without having to repack essentials.

 

I think I'm done with bags for a while now!

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