Seamwork Bobby Dress - Toile

I've become a bit more interested in trying some new-to-me patterns. I've not had much luck with Seamwork patterns to date but thought I might give their Bobby Dress a whirl with an idea that perhaps it could be a Frocktails contender for whenever we can have a Frocktails again. 

I found some fabric at my local MyHung - it didn't have much hanger appeal to me in the shop but sewn up I think it looks quite nice. 

To start with I made a toile of the lined bodice - a size 18 Curvy. It was quite low cut (too low cut for my preferences) and I think the bodice needs a bit more length on me. The pattern suggests you either reinforce the V-neck with interfacing or elastic. I used interfacing but the neckline stretched a bit. 

I was lucky to nab some more of this fabric for a Take 2 of the bodice. I raised the v-neckline an inch and instead of stabilising with interfacing I used clear elastic. I used clear elastic on both the outer and lining pieces and it feels to bulky to me - so perhaps I'd used interfacing on the lining and clear elastic on the outer next time?  I also think the armholes are a bit big/too low slung so need to think about that also. 

Overall I'm fairly happy with this dress, but it's only a toile so I don't think I'll wear this version. I added some length to the bodice but think I might remove a bit of length (Goldilocks much?) Next time I will shorten the skirt a bit and I want the armholes at the back to come over a bit more. My elastic also needs to be a smidgen tighter. 

I actually went back to My Hung and bought the last of this fabric that they had. I might use it for another go at this; but I'm not sure. I'm thinking of unpicking the skirt from the bodice so I can re-use it (albeit shorter) and salvaging the elastic also....but I might use a totally different bodice as this is not giving me life. 

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Size: 18 Curvy
Modifications: so many; see above

Fabric: Polyester/Spandex from My Hung in Parramatta. 
Changes for next time: again, so many; see above! 

Seamwork Sadie jumper

Is there anything more magical than when a toile (aka stunt garment) turns into something that you can actually wear. In public. I think not!

Behold my very wearable toile of the Seamwork Saide jumper that I whipped last Sunday. I wanted to make this jumper as I thought it might be a good item to take with me to Japan when we go for Christmas/NYE. The fabric is from the Remnant Warehouse - definitely 100% synthetic and only wearable in the depths of winter when breathability isn't really an issue. I do like the colour though - you certainly won't miss me in a crowd (coupled with my red beanie I'll look like a Christmas tree...hmmm).

This was a very easy sew - so much so that I left the printed booklet at work and didn't suffer from not having the instructions. I did read them online however and decided to stabilise the shoulder seams with some clear elastic which is not a step included in the instructions. I think this would be a good introduction into sewing knits.

Turtlenecks aren't really my thing - I don't feel the are all that compatible with big boobs, but I'm willing to go with it for a big, drapey cowl.

The pattern does come with patch pockets but I left those off as I think that if not done properly/neatly the really make a garment look "home sewn" in the worst possible way.

My only quibble with the pattern is the fact that the front piece (on the bottom in this photo) is longer than the back piece (the top layer of paper in the photo below). Surely that can't be right, can it? Either way...I'll level them up for next time.

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Pattern: Seamwork Sadie jumper
Size: XL (from their Curvy Block)
Modifications:  none other than stablising the shoulder seams
Fabric: mystery knit from the Remnant Warehouse - don't stand near any open flames in this garment as it might melt!
Changes for next time: Fix up the length of the back piece so it's not shorter than the front. 

Oslo Cardigan #2

I made this cardigan about a month or so ago but haven't written about it as I don't like it (it's already been donated to charity)...so much meh!

I think the problem is down to bad fabric choice and making a size too big (again). The fabric is a Viscose/Poly/Spandex from Tessuti that I had originally bought for a toile of my Linden Sweaterdress. I decided it wasn't quite right for the dress but would be great for a cardigan. I was wrong.

The fabric is very thick...almost spongy...so the cardigan has no drape. In hindsight this would've been better for a pencil skirt...or a sheath dress (if I wore that sort of thing and/or had a workable pattern for it).

I also really feel that this pattern NEEDS pockets...I wish that Collette had included them with the pattern.

I'm not sure if I'll make this cardigan again. I mean it FITS which is always good; so perhaps I will size down and use a drapier fabric for it if I do decide to go there again.
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Pattern: Oslo Cardigan by Seamwork Magazine
Size: XL with the length left at size 3XL
Modifications: reduced the length of the cuff by half
Fabric: Viscose/Poly/Spandex from Tessuti
Changes for next time: add in some pockets and try it in a more "jumper-like" material. Go down a size

Seanwork Mesa Dress = fail

I'm still on the hunt for a go-to dress pattern and I'm sad to say that the Seamwork Mesa Dress is not it. I think it's more my body's fault rather than the dress, but I'm still a tad disappointed. There's no photos of me in the dress as I don't need those images out in Internetland forever.

I sewed this up in a 2XL leaving the length at a 3XL. I had read on various blogs that the dress was quite short so I added an inch to the length, which was totally unnecessary as it was way too long and frumpy (I'm about 172cm FYI). I found the sleeves to be very loose, I'd prefer them more tighter as it's a more flattering look. The sleeve heads also didn't seem to sit quite right? I also found the neck to be very wide - sitting to far out on my shoulders and also a tad too deep. I also eliminated the side-split as I'm not into that sort of thing.

I had hoped the shape of this dress would be sort of straight down from the shoulders, but on me it clung to every curve, lump and bump -- more body-con style, which is not a good look on me as I have a fat tummy/thick waist. This may explain why I've not seen the Mesa made up by any curvy/plus-sized bloggers.

Oh well...on to the next project.

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Pattern: "Mesa Dress" by Seamwork Magazine
Size: 2XL, sewn with 3/8" seam allowance.
Modifications: 1 inch added at the lengthen here line, removed the side-split.
Fabric: Hmm....something stretchy and cheap from My Hung
Changes for next time: none, I won't be making this again.

Seamwork Wembley Cardigan

I'm posting this a bit out of order as it was made before Christmas. That aside, I had such high hopes that the Seamwork Wembley Cardigan would fill a large, cardigan-shaped hole in my cupboard, but alas it was not to be. This make is a big fat, ill-fitting fail.

This is the third toile I made of this pattern - the other two ending up in the bin. To be fair, I was sewing this whilst off sick, so I think the other two fails were the fault of my fuzzy brain. This one however, is just ill fitting and not very comfortable to wear. 

I sewed an XL - my standard size in Colette and Seamwork patterns, but I think this is a bit big - as you can see the shoulder seams are falling off my shoulders. The sleeves are also an odd length - not full length, and not 3/4 - just somewhere in no-mans-land, and a very unfaltering and annoying length in my opinion.

I'm having a major issue with the neckband also. I had trouble figuring out how the pattern pieces went together (the instructions were a bit unclear to me at this stage and a better illustration would've helped - or simplier pattern pieces) and I think matching two straight pieces together (at the back of the neckband) would have been easier than what was provided...which I don't have the brain power to explain but seemed unnecessarily complicated. All that aside, the neckband is way too loose and does not sit flat against my neck -- this is the best I can get it to look.

It's a shame this did not work out as the fabric was a nice remnant that I picked up from Tessuti in Surry Hills and it feels really nice to wear. Now that I look at the Seamwork website again alot of my issues are evident in their photos...you just have to really look for them.

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Pattern: Seamwork Wembley Cardigan
Size: XL, sewn with 3/8" seam allowance
Modifications: none
Fabric: Tessuti
Changes for next time: nothing, I won't be making this again

Seamwork's Oslo Cardigan

When we in Melbourne last weekend for Frocktails a few of the Melbourne ladies were lovely enough to chauffeur a few of the out-of-towners around to some Melbourne fabric shops. I was very excited to tag along as I strongly strongly believe (very strongly) that Melbourne's fabric shopping game sh!ts all over Sydney's. Melbourne seems to HAVE so many great fabric shops. We visited Rathdowne, Darn Cheap Fabrics and the Cloth Shop at Ivanhoe.

It was at the famed Darn Cheap Fabric were I picked 2.5m of the fabric below, initially ear-marked for a Lady Skater Dress, but when I got it home I thought perhaps a cardigan might be better for this slightly thicker cotton/poly/spandex mix. The fabric is sort of quilted...with material on the front and back that are stuck together somehow. It's quite cozy and feels lovely to wear.

The Oslo Cardigan is one of the first patterns from Colette's Seamwork Magazine. I don't pay for a magazine subscription (if you do the patterns are free) so this pattern cost me about $6 - pretty cheap really. I bought the pattern AGES ago but bulked at putting the PDF together as it's about 1000 pages long. Like the Colette PDF patterns the page margins are 1" on each side which seems a bit...wasteful. I was sick all of last week however so had plenty of time to stick this thing together *grumble grumble*.

The pattern is an "oversized" cardigan with sleeve cuffs and a collar that goes the entire way from hem to hem. I sewed a size XL leaving the length at the 3XL as I'm tall-ish so didn't want a short short cardigan to wear with skinny pants.  It fits as expected (it fits = YAY) although I am wondering if I could size down next time...the only thing stopping me is that there is quite a big difference between each size - so going down just one size could make it too small.

There's not much to say about this make really. I read through the instructions before starting and referred to them again only when it came to attaching the collar - just to make sure I was getting things right. It was a very easy garment to sew and (for a change) I had no machine troubles so everything went swimmingly.

The pattern piece for the cuff was ridiculously long so I decided to half the length of the cuff, and even then the sleeve is still too long for my liking, but I guess that goes along with the whole "oversize" thing the Oslo has going on. Next time I will stick with my shorter cuff, but take about 1" off the sleeve piece.

The only other change I made to the pattern was to tack down the collar piece as it would not sit flat due to the bulkiness of the fabric and it was making me feel a bit messy and swamped by the garment. I put in a few machine stitches at each hem and at the back of the collar to stop it flipping up and standing at attention. I feel a lot more tidy in this cardigan now and less swapped by how big it is.

Just gotta say though that this cardigan desperately needs pockets -- how would I go about that doing you think - robbing the pockets from the Tessuti Jacket perhaps?

Back view...just for kicks. I think the cardigan does look big in this photo, but again that is the style and in a more drapey, snuggly fabric I think it would be OK? Still cannot decide if should size down or not?

...and side view...you can see how "drop shouldered" this style is...

When I first put this on my thought was "uh-oh, I've made an old man's kimono-style bathrobe" mainly due to the pattern on the fabric and how stiff the fabric makes the collar. That said, I still wore the cardigan out today for lunch and a walk in the park and whilst it is pretty comfortable I'm not sure how I feel about it, or if it's flattering. I had visions of a Metalicus type garment when I bought this fabric but I'm pretty sure I am not challenging Metalicus at all. Hmmm...

Pattern: Oslo Cardigan by Seamwork Magazine
Size: XL with the length left at size 3XL
Modifications: reduced the length of the cuff by half; stitched down the collar at the hem and back neckline to stop it flipping up.
Fabric: Cotton, Poly, Spandex from Darn Cheap Fabric
Changes for next time: add in some pockets and try it in a more "jumper-like" material. Maybe next winter though...