Entry tags:
Sewing: ZW shirt | remodelled skirt
(Bah, whole post got eaten!)
The short version: Two new projects completed.
The ZW shirt in purple viscose came out much nicer than I thought it would. C had the great suggestion to sew up the placket rather than risk puckers from buttonholes and I'm pleased I took her advice. Can't wait for warmer weather. I know what I'd do with this pattern next time, and I can use it as a dress base too.
I remodelled a dated and moth-nibbled 100% wool Vilene shift dress into a pencil length relaxed midi skirt. Managed to remove the full-length lining with invisible zipper so that's tucked away for other projects (too big for me). I used the unnibbled bodice for a waistband and a lined sleeve for a feature pocket, and did a wide elastic waist. I relined it with new lining--ordered "petrol blue" which looked much darker online, but hey-ho, it's not a terrible coloour and it's a cute flash at the back-slit. Exactly the kind of "weekend skirt" you want in winter to wear with tights and a jumper, but being wool it'll work for all but the hottest summer days. With new elastic, poly lining and the cost of the dress the whole skirt came to £13. AMAZING.
I love wool. What an amazing fabric.
Have had no patience to take proper photos (also the light is very bad this week) but here are a couple placeholders below the cut.

Next project is underway - V1966 western-style shirt in William Morris-style fabric. Being from 1975 the pattern is helpfully constructed so an overlocker isn't necessary - lots of flat-felled seams and self-facings. I think the only thing I'll have to change is the armscye; the pattern has a lining (it's a "jacket" shirt) which hides the raw seams there, but I can either give felled seams a go or use some binding. So much is possible with commerical 1.5cm seam allowances!
Then after THAT I'm making a summer dress for C but she's still deciding on patterns, so if I finish before she gets there then it's a new pair of PJs for me as I have shrunk a cotton gauze PJ top in the dryer by mistake (*cries in BIBA*)
The short version: Two new projects completed.
The ZW shirt in purple viscose came out much nicer than I thought it would. C had the great suggestion to sew up the placket rather than risk puckers from buttonholes and I'm pleased I took her advice. Can't wait for warmer weather. I know what I'd do with this pattern next time, and I can use it as a dress base too.
I remodelled a dated and moth-nibbled 100% wool Vilene shift dress into a pencil length relaxed midi skirt. Managed to remove the full-length lining with invisible zipper so that's tucked away for other projects (too big for me). I used the unnibbled bodice for a waistband and a lined sleeve for a feature pocket, and did a wide elastic waist. I relined it with new lining--ordered "petrol blue" which looked much darker online, but hey-ho, it's not a terrible coloour and it's a cute flash at the back-slit. Exactly the kind of "weekend skirt" you want in winter to wear with tights and a jumper, but being wool it'll work for all but the hottest summer days. With new elastic, poly lining and the cost of the dress the whole skirt came to £13. AMAZING.
I love wool. What an amazing fabric.
Have had no patience to take proper photos (also the light is very bad this week) but here are a couple placeholders below the cut.


Next project is underway - V1966 western-style shirt in William Morris-style fabric. Being from 1975 the pattern is helpfully constructed so an overlocker isn't necessary - lots of flat-felled seams and self-facings. I think the only thing I'll have to change is the armscye; the pattern has a lining (it's a "jacket" shirt) which hides the raw seams there, but I can either give felled seams a go or use some binding. So much is possible with commerical 1.5cm seam allowances!
Then after THAT I'm making a summer dress for C but she's still deciding on patterns, so if I finish before she gets there then it's a new pair of PJs for me as I have shrunk a cotton gauze PJ top in the dryer by mistake (*cries in BIBA*)
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Thoughts
Impressive.
I've seen "pencil" as a shape descriptor, not a length descriptor; a narrow skirt with a straight or fitted shape. They are most often though not always midi length. Hmm, if I had to guess, though, I'd suspect "office" length which is what's permissible in a business dress code.
>> I relined it with new lining--ordered "petrol blue" which looked much darker online, but hey-ho, it's not a terrible coloour and it's a cute flash at the back-slit. <<
Petrol blue is a light to medium blue-gray. You can often find multiple samples of a color name online, and a text description, that can help you pin down what it will look like. But yeah, colors online are consistently unreliable.
>> So much is possible with commerical 1.5cm seam allowances! <<
Seam allowances are easy to expand on most modern patterns. The only time that's difficult or impossible to do is when the pattern pieces are laid right next to each other, and most modern patterns don't do that. I've seen historic patterns that use every bit of the bolt with no room for corrections. Occasionally modern wastefulness has its uses, and pattern adaptation is one of them.
Re: Thoughts
My next project *is* one of those where the pattern layout is very crammed, and I need to lengthen in the back for my tall wife, and the fabric amount is the fabric amount. So geometry brain will have to be in play... stay tuned for progress.