B5605: E.colaine goes vintage

I'm aliveeeeee!! 

Sort of I guess, just been super busy with school and some other stuff. Wanted to update and then I found this post I sort of forgot about. 

Pattern: Butterick 6505 View B

Fabric: lightweight cotton from mood (loooong time ago, sorry!)

Listening to: 30 rock reruns (aw yes my fave)

I actually meant to post this a long time ago, but never got around to it. I got super busy and sort of forgot, which is a pretty good summary of this dress. I meant to get more pictures of the design but I already packed it away for winter so I decided to go for it! This is a vintage reproduction pattern and it's super pretty but maybe doesn't suit me that well. I made it with a super lightweight voile from mood, which might be a bit sheet but with the lining and pleats in the skirt it works out. I really liked a lot of the vintage details with this pattern, including some pretty cool skirt pleats which are unfortunately a bit obscured by the large scale print. 

One of the things I meant to get a picture of is the sleeve gussets. They have an interesting diamond gusset for mobility in the sleeves. Maybe it's for the best that I didn't get a picture because I definitely did not do the most amazing job of inserting them! This was a nice vintage detail to get to try though. This dress also comes with pockets!! These pockets are super deep and I have actually uses the pieces a number of times when I wanted to add side seam pockets to something. 

This dress came out pretty nicely but I don't end up wearing it that much. I think I enjoy sewing pretty dresses more than I like wearing them, and I'm trying to be smarter about what I sew being something I want to wear. I know I keep saying it but I really need to bite the bullet and get into making some jeans. I wear jeans almost every day and they never fit me very well off the rack. That being said this was still a pretty fun project and I got to try some new techniques which is a plus!

Helmi dress- not quite what I intended

You win some and you lose some- not that I think this is a total loss, but this is definitely a case of the wrong fabric for a pattern. 

Pattern: Helmi tunic dress from named

Fabric: dobby check chambray from style maker fabrics

Listening to: Lore

So this dress doesn't look tooooo terrible when it's belted, but I think that the fabric was just too stiff for this design to really look as good as it could. the pattern is great, but I think  that it probably needed a bit more drape than this fabric would allow.  When I was planning this dress, I really wanted a chambray tunic that would be comfortable and breathable. I am kind of paranoid about sun damage so I like to have summer options that keep my shoulders and chest protected, but this dress came out sort of.... 1984 prole? At least that's what it seems when I look at it. 

There are a few factors that contribute to this. For one, the fabric is beautiful but probably a touch too stiff as I mentioned. It's also just.. a lot of grey. I also found that the sleeves were pretty voluminous, which again probably doesn't look great with the stiffer fabric. I really wanted this dress to be shoulder covering but I think maybe it would look better if I shortened the sleeves or made it sleeveless. As is it just reminds me a lot of like 18th century underwear. I think another factor in this is the stand up collar- I think this is a design element that I just don't like that much. 

The pattern itself was great- very easy to use and I love the concealed button band which I had never sewn before. Also I love that named patterns draft for 5'8"!! I usually don't alter them, since most of my extra height at that point is from my legs. Not that adding length to patterns is really that much extra work but it feels pretty cool to be able to make a pattern as is. One factor that might be contributing to the extra boxiness of this dress is that I finished the waist seam with a french seam, which may be adding some extra stiffness. I have been thinking about maybe adding a drawstring to this seam and putting in eyelets. Since I think this dress really can only be worn belted (at least, that's how I feel wearing it!) I may as well add something directly to the dress so I might wear it more. 

If I make this pattern again, I think I will definitely stick to a viscose or something much more drapey than cotton.

Without a belt, it just looks kind of sad to me. like scrooge's nightgown. The view from the back is honestly even worse than I thought it would be. But I still think the worst is unbelted with the button all the way up

I do not think this is my look. Since it's almost fall weather here (honestly, hurry up crisp air!) I may just put this one away for the season and revisit in the spring. I think I have some ideas of where to start to improve it, but I have found that sometimes if I put something away for a while I either like it a lot more or have a much better idea of what to do with it. Also, I would rather be sewing fall/winter clothes right now, and not fussing with a dress that I probably won't want to wear again until spring! 

Sort of annoying though because the actual sewing on this dress came out pretty nice. But, live and learn!  I think I consistently overestimate the amount of drape that fabrics have so it's a good thing to keep in mind. 

willow tank

Hello!!!

Hot on the heels of my kalle shirt dress post, here is another waste limiting make. This is the willow tank from grainline studios made from the last little pieces of the black tencel from my kalle dress! 

Pattern: Willow tank from grainline studios

Fabric: leftover black 4.5 oz tencel (mood) from my kalle dress

Listening to: Criminal

After I finished up this top, I think I had a small handful of fabric left! I LOVE when that happens, it makes me feel so efficient!

After I made my Kalle dress I had a little bit of the tencel left, and thought I should make a little top! I love this fabric and I also love using up every last scrap of fabric if I can. I had to cut the back piece in 2 pieces, since I didn't have enough fabric to cut in one. Also, I had to cut one piece on the cross grain, this is much more apparent in these pictures than it is in real life. This is not the end of the world to me, especially with a scrap busting project like this. I actually wanted to make this a bit cropped, though I was a bit limited by fabric as well. But I think this is actually the perfect length for what I was going for with this.  I also just pinked that back seam since this was a quick little make, and finished everything with some navy bias binding I had on hand. I am very happy with how it turned out! I've already washed it several times and it is holding up well.

I mentioned this with the kalle, but the slight sheen of this fabric (which I think is SO pretty) makes it look WAY more wrinkly in these pictures than it is in real life. I have worn this top a bunch of times and I really need to do a FBA if I want to make it again. It's ok if I don't move my arms that much, but after moving a bit the whole shirt rides up a LOT which is sort of annoying, esp since then it catches up in my armpits, potentially getting deodorant on it. I really should do a FBA way more often than I do, I can often get along with choosing patterns drafted for a larger cup and/or wearing a bralette instead of anything with underwire and/or grading to a larger size in the bust since I also have broad shoulders but I need to be better about it because I'm sure things would fit me better, which is sort of the point with sewing my own clothes! Speaking of garments fitting me better....

I really need to get on making my own pants. I have a really hard time finding pants that fit me (slightly curvy and TALL) and have gone too long just wearing whatever works best. WTF is going on with the pocket placement on these guys? I don't normally really look at my butt,  and these pictures are eye opening. My butt is not the roundest but these are not doing me any favors!!! Anyway...

seriously I don't think pants pockets should be fully on the side of your body? What is going on here? dang.

Tencel Kalle shirt dress

Hi friends! today I am going to discuss a make that I think came out particularly great! It's sometimes hard to tell when I am planning a new garment how it will come out and how much I will like it or if it will look like what I imagined, but this kalle shirt dress turned out just about exactly how I thought it would!

Pattern: Kalle shirt dress from closet case patterns

Fabric: 4.5 oz black tencel from mood (sold out, sorry!) 

Buttons: silver shank buttons from amazon

Listening to: Reply All!

This black tencel is really gorgeous. It has a really subtle sheen, which in these pictures makes it look straight up shiny and SUPER wrinkled, but in real life it looks neither so wrinkly nor so shiny!

The fabric has maybe slightly more body than I would prefer for this design, I think it might look slightly better with a bit more drape. but overall I love the way the sheen dresses up the look, since the design is pretty casual. The shape of this dress is maybe not the most figure flattering, but I have really embraced the mentality that not every garment has to be fitted to be flattering. Plus, the roomy fit means this dress is SO breezy and comfortable in warm weather. 

Construction of this dress was pretty simple, and the instructions were great! I added about 2 inches to the length as well as reduced the scoop in the side seam (just lengthened that seam by about an inch probably before starting the curve) I just generally am not a fan of the extreme curve that the original pattern has. If I make this again I will probably reduce the curve even more. I love a little bit but I think the overall amount is a bit too much for me personally, though the amount of curve looks great on the cropped shirt version of the pattern. 

I topstitched everything with a grey thread which I think has a nice subtle contrast to the fabric. The back side of the fabric is much lighter, which you can see at the hem of these photos and also on the top of the pocket! I was debating the pocket with the contrast fold but now I don't know what I was thinking, I love it! I also picked some silver buttons, I love the way they look with the dark but slightly shiny fabric. Again, this fabric has a MUCH more subtle sheen in real life than it seems in these pictures!

Oof that back is wrinkly. I ironed this after washing it and then hung it in my closet but I should have ironed before these pictures, clearly! Although I do think some of the wrinkly appearance is from the shine of the fabric and the camera flash. That being said I have worn this dress A LOT and washed it a number of times so I am pleased with how it has held up! I was a little unsure what would happen with this fabric after multiple washes but it looks the same as it did when I first made this.

Here is a close up of the top where you can see the topstitching a little better, though the colors are a bit washed out. You can also see a bit of one of the cats I'm currently fostering who REFUSED to move for me to take this picture. I also have a towel on the bed to try to encourage him to lie on that to reduce the amount of hair on my comforter at the end of the day but you can see how well that works....

So that's kalle! I will definitely make this dress again, maybe in a bit drapier fabric although I do love the chambray look! I thought I would have to retire this dress for the season but nyc keeps rolling out the gross muggy weather so it's still kalle time! That's it for now! Hopefully I can finish blogging my summer stuff before the weather turns and looking at myself in summer clothes makes me cold! 

Grainline Alder

Hello hello hello! Today I'm continuing on the grainline fan train with my dual alders- views A AND B!! Just can't get enough of this one. Thought I had seen the last of them for the season too except that summer decided to revist nyc this weekend. 

Pattern: Grainline studios alder shirtdress

Fabric: Cotton arrow shirting from Style maker fabrics (sold out now, both of them! Sorry)

Buttons: Gold rimmed black shank buttons from mood

Listening to: The Black tapes

I love this dress! As always with grainline patterns, the pattern is a dream to sew up and the style is a perfect combination of casual and polished. And comfortable!! As I've previously mentioned I'm a bit of  a summer sweater and I enjoy my makes to be able to withstand the heat of nyc subways. The loose fit of alder (and sleeveless design) makes it perfect! 

There's not a lot for me to say about this pattern that hasn't been said already. As always I added about 2 inches to the length at the waist. I made it up in a black arrow cotton shirting from style makers that is beautifully smooth and breathable. I just love this dress! I like the way it looks buttoned all the way up and I love how it looks undone a little. I'm hoping that as the weather cools down it will also look great with some tights and a sweater. There is actually a pocket on this, even though you really can't tell. It's on my right side, I pattern matched it so it pretty much blends in. I finished everything with french seams for a nice clean finish, although there are only 2 seams that require it! I also enjoy adding a belt!

I love the mini length of this skirt, but if I make it again, I might add a bit more length to it. Especially when it's belted it is a bit short. I am planning on making an archer/alder combo with some flannel but for some reason I like my winter dresses shorter than summer dresses... I think tights give me more of a sense of security? Anyway I was such a fan of this dress I wanted to make another one! This time I went for view B

Pattern: still alder shirtdress

Fabric: Cotton Ikat from Style maker fabrics (sold out now, both of them! Sorry)

Buttons: metal "coat" buttons from Mood

Listening to: The Black tapes

This version I made up in the slightly girlier view b, with the gathered back panel. I love the shape of this dress! The fabric is a gorgeous woven ikat from style makers. Side note- I feel like a terrible sewer because even though I live in nyc and could go to mood... I get SO overwhelmed in there and order all my fabric online, even sometimes from mood D: There's something about some of the surprise of what you get with online ordering that I really enjoy. Although, with style maker that almost never happens because their descriptions and pictures are so accurate #fangirl.  Anyway this ikat was gorgeous, it has a slightly more open weave (but is still fully opaque, thankfully) that I think gives it a really nice drape. 

It's funny what I notice when I look at the pictures of what I've made vs just wearing/making the garment. I clearly cut the back piece crooked and the ikat print leans a bit. Oh well! It's funny what sewing my own clothes does to my opinion of garments... I'm not convinced that I would notice that on a RTW dress. although, I didn't notice it on this dress either until I was looking at the pictures so maybe I'm just kind of oblivious. Also, if the fabric looks a little familiar- it may be because this is the ikat fabric that I used for contrast in my crescent skirt. A big reason I am motivated to sew is to reduce waste since fast fashion especially can be SO wasteful, it makes me really happy to be able to use up my scraps and odds and ends in different projects.

This dress I added about 3 inches total for a bit more extra length. I dropped the waist about an inch. It looks like it is supposed to hit high waist, so I didn't add any more length there, and I am happy with where it ended up. then I added 2 inches to the skirt. I like the length! This dress I added both pockets and didn't worry about pattern matching. I can never decide if I want to blend the pockets in or have them stand out. Anyway I went with standout on this one, obviously. Also, I know that Jen/grainline posted a tutorial for how to french seam the corner on the skirt but I was not feeling that for this one so I just zig zagged the edges to finish the waist and the vertical attachment of the skirt to the button band. This dress I also sometimes like to belt. 

All in all, I love this pattern! both views are so versatile and I have gotten a ton of wear out of both of them. I am a huge fan of the fabric as well, I don't always go for larger scale patterns but the woven ikat really won me over! 

That's it for me! going to go drink some wine and enjoy the rest of my sunday. Happy sewing!

Anna dress: By Hand London

Hello hello hello! Here again after a brief hiatus, hopefully I can get through the last of my summer dress queue before moving onto the more wintery items I have on my agenda! Today it's the Anna dress from by hand london

Pattern: By hand london anna dress

Fabric: Falling leaves navy and white cotton voile from  mood (been in my stash a while!) 

Listening to: the audiobook for Neil Gaiman's norse mythology (it was pretty fun)

This dress was a nice, simple little make. nothing too complicated or crazy going on, and I love the fit. I'm a huge fan of kimono sleeves and the print makes it hard to see but the bust gathers in this pattern are very pretty and flattering. I do feel like in this print the dress benefits a lot from a belt- otherwise it just feels like a lot of the same print forever. Maybe I would feel different if it were a bit shorter, so there wasn't just SO MUCH print? But one of the things I love about this dress is the nice knee length. I am 5'10" and one of my favorite things about sewing for myself is being able to make wear garments that are knee length or sleeves that go all the way down to my wrists- unicorns in RTW!

That being said, I did shorten this dress a few inches from the midi length, I didn't think I would wear a below knee length dress that often. I added about 2 inches to the waist- I have made the elisalex dress from BHL before and it was almost HILARIOUSLY short torsoed. I almost always add an inch to bodices but decided to err on the longer side for this one and I'm glad I did! Also- this blog is still new but my distaste for neckline facings is already well documented at this point. I REFUSE. so the neckline is a little higher than it probably should be, because instead of the facing I used navy blue bias tape for the neckline, but I'm pretty sure I did not trim enough seam allowance down before I added it. WORTH IT. I think if I make this dress again, I will put the slit on the side seam and not in the front. I do really like this detail, I think it makes a kind of demure dress a little bit more ~flashy~ but for me it feels like my pasty ass thigh is just out and about more than I would like when I walk, I think a side slit would solve some of that for me. and by solve I mean I wouldn't be able to see it all the time so it may as well not exist, right??

The invisible zip on this one isn't exactly my best work- not really invisible! I think some of that is due to the fact that the fabric is REALLY lightweight, honestly probably too flimsy for this dress but oh well. I had some trouble with inserting the zip. It's not rippled though and the seams line up so a little bit of zip showing isn't the end of the world to me. That being said, I do wish I had used a navy zip instead of the black one I had on stash. I had a navy invisible zip but it wasn't long enough, and hubris got me because I was like, "what does the color matter the zipper will be INVISIBLE BWAHAHAHA" which of course it's not since the fabric doesn't go all the way to the edge.. MAJOR shrug! Looking at these pictures too they're kiiiind of blurry, but moving my couch out of the way so I can retake them is just not going to happen any time soon ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I guess that little guy is just my mood these days. School is crazy currently so sometimes I think you just have to kind of throw your hands up and say I think this is probably good enough. 

True life: I'm addicted to flannel Archers

Hello hello hello! 

Today I'm going to write about my favorite pattern of all time. Seriously this guy is the cheese to my macaroni. I'm obsessed. Almost 100% of the time when I fabric shop I start out thinking of other projects and then go into a fugue state or something and when I come out all I have is like 3 different flannels and nothing else. I had to put a moratorium on making more because there is a limit to how many flannels one girl in a small apartment needs, but I have like 5 different super cozy flannels in my stash that I was intending to archerize. SEND HELP. I would make one for someone else but no one I know seems to share my love of flannel. 

Pattern: Archer: Grainline

Fabric: I THINK it's this mammoth check flannel from fabric.com. Buttons are grey 7/16 shirt buttons from amazon

Listening to: Reply All

In the winter time, I wear flannels probably at least 5 days a week. Sometimes I sleep in them. I love them with all my heart and used to wear men's flannels because I like them oversized, but then they would always be like WAY too wide and sometimes still not even long enough. I like the sleeves extra long so I can pull them over my hands (I ALWAYS roll sleeves up when I'm working so regular length vs extra long is all the same), and I like the back to be long enough to at least mostly cover my butt in case I am going full PJs in public and wearing leggings. The dream of the 90s is alive in my life for sure. 

I usually cut the back yoke and cuffs on the bias, as well as the front button band. I'm lazy and those pieces are way harder to plaid match than the sleeves and front/back pieces, also I just like the way it looks, especially the back yoke. I also like the way the box pleat looks "backwards" so that the fabric meets on the right side instead of the wrong side. Actually on this flannel I 100% intended to make the box pleat the right way around and didn't even realize that I messed that up until I was looking at the pictures just now. Oh well, that's what happens when I drink wine and flannel 😆. I used the burrito method for the first time a while ago and I have NO idea what took me so long with that one, it is clearly the superior method of attaching the yoke! I also finished the whole thing with like... faux flat felled seams I guess. They are french seams with topstitching on them. I don't have that many comments on construction that haven't been made by Jen already and like 1000x better than I could, the sew along is ridiculously amazing if you need extra help with steps in the pattern. 

I usually sew up the size 6 for flannels because I like them a bit oversized. I also add 2.5 inches of length to the sleeves and body. Honestly looking at this now my next one (who am I kidding, there will for sure be like.. many more) I might add another inch to the body length. I like them loooong!

I cut the pockets to be identical, but looking at it now I think it would look a little bit better if they were mirrored. Maybe I will change that at some point, the brushed flannel is the same texture on both sides so I don't think it would be a problem. I also often make flannels with just one pocket so maybe I will just remove one permanently, I haven't decided. I strongly prefer 1/2 inch buttons over 5/8 so I always err on the side of smaller buttons than larger. Not sure why that is but it's what I do!

I ended up getting this really pretty blue linen a while ago and I intended to make a dress out of it, but I was worried it would be a bit sheer in sunlight and also I wasn't sure how I would feel about the wrinkly linen look on my entire body. I think for just a shirt it makes sense but I thought I might feel rumpled if it were my entire look for the day. After I decided against a dress I couldn't resist making it into an archer! 

Fabric: Indigo linen from Mood, Buttons are matte black glass buttons also from mood

Listening to: Still Reply all :D (LOVE when I find a podcast with a lot of episodes)

I prewashed the linen and dried it on medium, which I think helped a bit but I am really surprised at how opaque this is in these pictures, even with the flash. I swear when I hold it up it is a bit sheer, but while I am wearing a cami in these pictures, I really don't think you would be able to tell if I weren't. Definitely a bonus with a summer shirt!

Since this would be more of a warm weather shirt, I decided to add some tabs so I could roll up the sleeves and keep them that way. This is a design element that I like in a lot of RTW button ups so I wanted to give it a go! I just sewed a long tube (originally about 2.5 inches wide) so the final tab would be about an inch after pressing. Then I cut it in half and guessed how long it should be, finished the edges, and guessed again where I should attach it. I sewed a square with an x through it to attach at the top of the tab, and then put a button in the middle of the x (x marks the spot har har) so I could button them. I really like how it came out! The tabs are a bit too long, they hang pretty far down my arm when they are unbuttoned but they don't bother me so I'll count that as a success!

Again you can see that I did a backwards box pleat (this time was intentional). I cut this in a size 4 because I wanted a bit more of a fitted look, but kept my usual 2.5 inches of length across the shirt. In this case I did not topstitch as much as I usually do- the button band is not top stitched, nor is the back yoke. I thought this might make it look a bit more deconstructed which I thought would look nice with the crumpled linen. The thread blends in so well with the variegated color though that I don't think it would have been noticeable either way.

This fabric was kind of hard to photograph, the color and the texture seemed to combine into something that even in the best natural light I could find made it hard to see details! but here is more closeup of the collar and button tab, as well as the pockets which somehow totally blend into the background in these pictures. They are there! 

AND I wouldn't say I was addicted if these were the only 2 archers I had made.... Here is the rest of my army all stacked up so as not to terribly overwhelm....

From top to bottom: Chambray from Fabric.com (very long time ago), Blue buffalo plaid from Mood (also old), Grey mammoth flannel from Style maker, red mammoth flannel from stylemaker

TADA!!! My archer posse 😍😍😍😍. I love them so much. Seriously in the wintertime this is like my week of clothing, rinse and repeat. FLANNELS FOREVER! The chambray one in the back is sneaking in there, but it can sit with us, I guess, and now the linen shirt exists too. I didn't have enough chambray to make the inside yoke so I used a polka dot fabric I had instead, I actually really like this detail so I will probably do it in the future with plain fabric yoked shirts. The elbows are starting to wear out though!!! Seriously I wear an archer at least once a week. 

That's it! I could probably keep talking about my favorite pattern forever, so I will just leave it here. I am always SO sad about summer ending but my flannel archers help ease the transition a little bit, for sure!