A (rare) bit of selfless sewing

About 4 years ago, when I first got my sewing machine, with the aim of making a few alterations here and there, and perhaps a cushion or two, I told my sister I'd make her some pyjamas for Christmas. After all, "how hard can it be?" I thought?

I strolled into my local sewing shop for possibly the first time, and bought some floral brushed cotton. When I got home I can't remember exactly what I did, but I believe I started by sewing the hems, patted myself on the back because they were neat, and then realised that no human leg would ever fit inside...

Four years and a little more experience later I figured I ought to be able to make a decent enough job with a pattern.

Enter Fifi! I've always thought this pattern looks beautiful, though I always sleep in baggy t-shirts, so I didn't seriously consider buying it. For the first time, I ordered a printed Tilly pattern, and it was lovely to work with printed instructions, good quality paper, and more importantly, no pritt-stick!

I found this gorgeous cotton lawn in faithful old so'n'sews. I forgot to take a picture so this one is from Minerva, who also stock it online. They claim it's a Liberty print, but it was £12/m in my local shop, and there was no mention of the brand on it - maybe Liberty just sold the design? It's a really beautiful, silky cotton and the colours and print are dreamy, Liberty or not.

Photo from Minerva

The way the bodice comes together is ridiculously satisfying, particularly the little cups which are shaped with little pleats, and join the rest of the bodice with french seams. I had a little practice at making the shorts on some cheap cotton from Fabric Land, as I thought stretching out the elastic might be a bit tricky, but it's all good fun with Tilly's tips (as ever!).

I initially wanted to finish the hems with a lacy trim, but in the end the only colour I could find that looked right was some grey bias binding which matches some of the smaller flowers perfectly, so I settled for having a peek of that instead. Looking at them now this was a good choice - I think the clean lines of the binding look really neat, and lace would have been overkill with such a busy print.

In the pattern there are instructions on how to make your own bias binding - you only need this for the straps but that extra peek on mine is where I used it to finish the hem.

I posted these off just over a week ago, and they have luckily turned out to be a good fit! I've already made myself 3 pairs of the bottoms, including my practice pair, because they're such a quick make, and use so little fabric. The finishing on these is better than anything else I've made, so I was a little sorry to see them go! 

Too nice to wear?

When I ordered this lovely rayon from eBay I wasn't sure what dress I'd make. When it arrived it was so much lovelier than I'd expected that I couldn't wait to get started, I don't think it was in the house for more than an hour before I started, and the dress was finished by the end of the day!.

I'm a sucker for the little sleeves on the Anna dress but not so keen on the panelled skirt. In the end I taped the front pattern pieces together then did the same with the back pieces, overlapping the seams. I cut the front on the fold and 2 back pieces, and just freehanded the curves around the slightly jagged edges. I also lengthened the sleeves by 3cm.

The hem came up 7cm from the edge, which I need to remember next time I'm cutting out this dress.

Overall I'm pretty happy with this, but the boob pleats that I like so much about the Anna pattern aren't the right match for the stripy fabric, so I'd replace or redraft the bodice to have darts at the side instead if I were to do it all again. I'm also now fully fed up with facings, so I'm going to figure out how to line a bodice next time I make a dress.

Despite this being both comfortable and a good fit, I have yet to wear it, which is really frustrating. I tend to dress fairly casually and while I'm not afraid to wear big prints and bright colours, I guess I feel like there'd be some raised eyebrows at work if I turned up in something so... nice? Maybe it's just not my style, but there's something that just doesn't feel totally right about it, and so she has yet to make it out the door. Live and learn, I suppose!