Something fishy - Simplicity 1366 top

How amazing is the print on this fabric? Rhetorical question, so no need to answer! It's from Clear It in Melbourne and I've been seeing it pop up on sewists blogs and Instagram's for the last two years or so. Sadly it had well and truly sold out by the time I got myself to Clear It so I'm very lucky that Anna had some in her stash which she sent up to me. Thank you Anna!!!

I had just over a meter of fabric to play with; and the fabric is quite thin and floaty (so different to the fabric content Anna speaks about on her blog - I think there were two bolts of this print floating around Clear It). It seems perfect for a little summer tee and I'm happy that I could fit the Simplicity 1366 onto the fabric.

There's not much to say about the sewing of this top - as it's pretty much the same as the other two I've made. I stuck with lengthening the pattern by 7.5cm. I don't think I've mentioned it before but I don't use the neckband piece supplied with the pattern - instead I grab the piece from either my Ebony Tee or Marianne Dress as they are wider and thus easier to worth with (especially where the fabric is a little fiddly as this was with the neckband).



I think this looks good with pants, and I'm yet to see how it'll work with a more floaty skirt (it might be a smidge too long). I think it will work well with my many Mabel Skirts too! This is how I wore it out to lunch yesterday - very comfortable!

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Pattern: Simplicity 1366
Size: 18
Modifications:  added 7.5cm to the length, added 1cm to both the side of the front and back neckline and dropped the front neckline a bit. Shortened the sleeves by 5cm.
Fabric: Fishy knit fabric from Clear It in Melbourne thanks to Anna
Changes for next time: none

Stiff as a board Tessuti Tokyo Jacket

I had initially ear-marked this fabric to go in the "swap" pile for our recent Sydney Spoolettes fabric swap as I knew I would never make a dress out of it as originally planned (woven dress + me = no thank you). Now that I've been sewing for a few years I do have quite a few pieces in the stash that are just not "me"...hindsight really is 20/20.  However, I did quite like the fabric and couldn't quite bring myself to part with it.

I have been keen to make another Tessuti Tokyo Jacket and this seemed like as good as any fabric as any to try it out in a bigger size. I knew the jacket would be quite stiff as it's similar to a cotton drill but it's REALLY stiff...which I suppose is not quite dissimilar to how a traditional kimono must feel when you have all the various layers on. I feel swamped and engulfed by the fabric!

I think this is one of those makes that looks WAY better in photos than it does in real life. In fact I'm quite chuffed with how nice it looks in these photos with a simple, fitted black midi-dress. I was going to donate this to Vinnies, but perhaps I'll hang on to it for a bit and see if an occasion pops up where I can wear it.

This was a fairly easy sew (partly as the fabric was so stiff), but like my first Tokyo Jacket (made in a very shifty fabric) the neckband gave me trouble...which is why the pattern tells you to baste the neckband before sewing it with your machine. The neckband kind of "grew", the result of which you can see on the right of the photo below -- it's not flush with the hem (which also happened with my first jacket...also not basted. I've learnt my lesson for next time).

Also, you can see the top stitching on the left is "on" the neckband; but on the right it's on the jacket. This is because I sewed from the wrong side and not in the ditch like the instructions say so I couldn't see what was happening on the right side...and also because I didn't baste the neckband down. Lazy me got what she deserved, but by this stage I was SO over the jacket and ready to move on to something else.

Once we're back into summer sewing I will make this pattern again with some fabric I bought a few years ago in Malaysia. It's softer, but not super drapey or slinky so should be easy to sew with but be nicer to wear.

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Pattern: "Tokyo Jacket" by Tessuti
Size: XL
Modifications: none
Fabric: something or other woven from Clear It in Melbourne.
Changes for next time: none, other than better fabric choice.

A Summery Coco

Ta da! Yes, folks...what we have here is ANOTHER Coco! And I think I really love it...thought it's still growing on me...like a slow burn kinda thing. I actually thought I'd finish this dress and then chuck it in the charity bag...but it's a keeper for sure.

I bought this crazy fabric from the Alannah Hill Clear It Outlet in Fitzroy during my trip to Melbourne in August (it was the ONLY fabric I bought during my entire four day trip...impressive, huh)?

The fabric is some sort of Polyester/Elastaine mix that has a little bit of weight to it, and a good drape. For me, the Coco works much better in this sort of fabric rather than a stiffer Ponti-type fabric that the pattern recommends. It just sits better...

After have some..."issues" with the necklines on my other Coco's I really didn't want to try attaching a neckband to this dress. I also didn't want to use the funnel neck option as I think it would look weird with this fabric and would be too hot for summer anyway.

Soooooooooooo....I decided to try and make a facing and I have to say it worked pretty well for a first attempt (it's a bit puffy, but meh, I can't see it when the dress is on so I can pretend it's perfect). I topped stitched the facing down near the neckline, and then again at the bottom of the facing as it was curling up quite a bit (should I have used some stretch interfacing perhaps)? I think the neckline looks really good, and coincidentaly the exact same technique is used on a Leona Edmiston dress that I bought which I noticed after I brainstormed this technqiue all by myself *fist pump*.

I also decided to make this version with shorter sleeves and I added a cuff as I think it's a neat way to finish a sleeve. Twin needling is just way to risky and I didn't want to use a zig-zag stitch! The cuffs could possibly be a fraction tighter so I'll keep that in mind for next time.

I think the dress looks OK from the back too, but it still pools above my butt...I think I have a sway back in addition too much junk in the old trunk. Whatever.

I feel really pleased that I managed to come up with some ways to adapt this pattern for summer and to address some issues I've been having with the neckline. I'm not sure the facing would work with a ponti version (would it?) but it worked well this time. This is basically the dress I've been wanting to sew since I first sat down at a sewing machine just over a year ago.

So now that I've made the dress I always wanted I guess it's time to move on to a new hobby, right? As if!