The 'All's well that ends well dress' (Cynthia Rowley for Simlicity 2406)

  Mr Sewingsu loves a good boot sale and a few weekends ago he came back with a whole stack of uncut patterns. A few were the wrong size, a few I just didn't like, but quite a few were worth keeping hold of and this one in-particular caught my eye.

  I decided I would make one last summer pattern using some lovely viscose I bought from an Etsy seller. I decided to embrace the cut out shoulder trend and make view B. I do love the back slit but this is not a look that I could carry off so I intended to put a zipper in. I could see from the finished measurements that there was quite a bit of ease but I thought that as it was supposed to be loose and billowy I would go with the suggested sizing. I made a size 20 at the bust grading out to a 22 at the waist thinking that it would be better to make it too big and then take it in if necessary. Unfortunately I didn't take into account that the process of making the dress made this impossible. You can't try the dress on until the sleeves are inserted which is nearly the last step by which time all the facings are attached and the sleeves fully lined! When I did try it on it was way way to big, I abandoned the zip idea and crossed over the back opening to create a smaller neckline, using two cute buttons to hide my hand stitching. I am actually quite pleased with the result:

The instructions for inserting the pockets are crazy so I just did it my own way. I had read online that the sleeves were a bit tricky but I just took it slowly and it wasn't as bad as I had expected.

I rather like how the sleeves turned out.

After wearing it for a few hours my front hem is much higher than the back - either I needed to have adjusted the back above the belt to the same degree as the front when I put it on or it is my bust and tummy that is using extra fabric - not sure how to stop that??

Dodgy back/butt shot!!!!

It has an obi style belt/sash which you can't really see well in the photos but is lovely and I really like this touch.

  All in all I am rather pleased with this dress. I am planing a couple of winter versions (view c) in a dark floral viscose and perhaps another in a black pointe. When making this again I will go down a size or two, and cut the back on the fold.

 Thanks for stopping by!

                        Su xx

Seagull dress (Tilly and the buttons Bettine).

  It's no secret that I love the Tilly and the buttons Bettine dress - I made it twice last year but these no longer fit and I wanted to make another for this year. I found this lovely sea bird fabric in the sales and knew it would make a great Bettine dress. 

(forgive the wrinklyness - I took this photo while it was hanging up to dry!)

I cut the largest size as I remember when making it last year it does come up small and I wanted a nice loose fitting top. I also added 3 inches to the skirt length. 

I had some scraps of dark blue very lightweight denim that I used for the contrast pockets which I think work quite well.

I usually wear a little leather belt with it which looks great but I forgot to put it on when we went out to take the photos!

I had anticipated that there would be lots of cooler rainy days this summer to wear it on but the weather down here has just been amazing so I have only ended up wearing it once! To take these photos and then out for a birthday lunch!

 I hope you are enjoying the summer wherever you are!

   Thanks for stopping by!

         Su xx

McCall's M7093 top in Nani Iro double gauze.

 I mentioned before that I had seen Hila's wonderful chambray version of M7093 and decided to make my own. I treated myself to 1m of Nani Iro pocho in turquoise. I also ordered some contrast grey double gauze but didn't read the description properly and missed the bit about it being 'open weave' - Oh my goodness it was thin:

  Far too thin to use it for the contrast areas of the top as I had intended. I had spent quite a bit ordering both pieces of double gauze and really didn't want to spend any more on buying more fabric for the top. So I doubled up the grey gauze for the side contrast panels (Thanks to Hila for the suggestion!):

  

  And used some lovely midnight blue muslin I had in my stash for the back piece.

  It was a simple but interesting make, piecing it all together. I hadn't  made sleeve darts before - they are a bit pointy so I am not sure what I have done wrong in their construction.

  I also hadn't  worked with double gauze before and did feel like it was a bit of a race against time to get the seams sewn and overlocked before they unraveled! It will be interesting to see how well it stands up to washing!

We visited a local garden and had great fun spotting the sculptures, climbing in the tree house and walking through bamboo tunnels.

I LOVE the pockets (obviously). It has a really nice hi-low hem too but I didn't manage to get a good shot of it.

Back shot on the rope bridge!

Imitating the giant star gazing hare was a must!

Abakhan fabrics have a sale on liberty prints at the moment so I ordered some tana lawn to make another M7093 top and some cord to make the tunic version - I will need to draft some pockets for this and maybe lengthen it a little but I don't think it will be too tricky..........

  Thanks for stopping by!

          Su xx

Ogden cami into a summer dress

I was going to post about my completed M7093 top today but as it is so sunny here on the south coast  today a summer dress post seemed more appropriate.

  There really isn't much to say, I lengthened the True bias Ogden cami to make it into a dress, I had been thinking above knee would be best but made it way longer by accident and actually like the just below knee length best. I made it up in green linen from my stash (and had enough left to make a cami length too). I like it loose but also made a tie so I can make it more shaped if I want to.

  I really love it and am keeping my fingers crossed for lots more summer days to wear it on.

There is a little gaping  at the bust area.

I like it with the waist tie too.

It was surprisingly difficult to get a good close up shot when using a camera and timer.

And one of the back too!

I hope that wherever you are the sun is shining!

  Thanks for stopping by!

       Su xx