Finished Project: "But, Peter, how do we get to Never Land?" "Fly, of course."

'Peter Pan' collar mission complete! 

I am very happy with the result. I wanted to finish the dress by Thursday so I could wear it, but at the same time I promised to take care and take my time. No pressure, no stress. I put the radio on each night and sang along to the nation’s top 30 songs while sewing. I think I am now a One Direction fan.

The perks of living alone and no longer having a gym membership - I finished the dress over three nights. Because I don’t have a live-in BF, pets, kids, or Facebook (haha), I can sew for hours without any interruption. The best. What did I do before sewing????

Day 1: Went to Spotlight to look for a Horn sewing cabinet – came home with fabric instead. Traced pattern, cut fabric, sewed bodice and skirt.

I used the V8469 bodice without the sleeves, and added Peter Pan collars. I followed Gertie’s online tutorial to draft the collar. I put iron-on interfacing on the midriff lining pieces. I stay-stitched every single curvy bit on the bodice. I PFF’d (press flat first). Day 1 blog post here.

Day 2: Cut lining, sewed bodice lining and skirt lining, sewed everything together, bagged the bodice, inserted invisible zip and sewed lining and dress together. Zig zagged my hems. When joining the bodice and lining together, I took great care to make sure the seams matched up. I even unpicked one side because it was a couple of millimetres off. I hate unpicking, but I wanted to finish the dress knowing I put in 100% effort. Now, to the invisible zipper: this time I was awake and alert and I still buggered up the zipper! I only sewed a couple of centimetres and I could see the invisible zipper foot was not doing it’s job. It was malfunctioning!! I used my regular zipper foot instead. It was soooo much better. I had more control over where the needle was going and could see if the zipper was rolled out enough. I’m quite happy with the zipper job.

Day 3: Hemming. I used the twin needle on my machine to finish the hem on the dress.
Sorry, the red is soooo hard to photograph. If I had natural light, it might turn out better.

V8469 bodice with Peter Pan collars and full gathered skirt.
Outside, premium cotton sateen.

V8469 bodice with Peter Pan collars and full gathered skirt.
Inside, sunsilky lining.

I am really addicted to lining. I love how it looks and feels. Sometimes I spend more money on the lining than I do on the dress fabric! I love how it hides all the seam allowances inside and all my ugly backstitching. Maybe when I learn how to operate my overlocker, I won’t be too bothered by seam allowances and can go back to making unlined dresses.

Pattern: V8469 bodice, drafted own collars and own skirt.
Size: Size 6 bodice, graded to size 8 waist.

Skirt info: 

• Length 50cm (54.5cm with 3cm hem and 1.5cm SA)
• Skirt width 2.4.m
• I cut the 2 pieces on the centre fold (60cm wide, from centre to selvege, length 54.5cm). I cut 1 of the pieces in half to make the back of the skirt (needs a back seam)

Fabric: 1.8m premium cotton sateen (red), 1.8m sunsilky lining (red), 0.7m whisperweft interfacing.

Notions: Invisible zipper (hot red) 24", Gutermann thread (156).

Modifications: 

• added Peter Pan collars,
• replaced skirt with full gathered skirt.

Time: About 13 hours, over 3 days.
Total cost: $25 - thanks 30% off sale - (fabric, lining, zip), pattern, whisperweft interfacing, thread from my stash.

TIPS for next time: 

• Maybe make the skirt less wide. 2m wide might be enough,
• Use regular zipper foot for the invisible zip - the invisible zipper foot is... broken.

New techniques learned: 

• Drafted my own collar, thanks to Gertie's online tutorial (part 1, part 2, part 3).

"... pop ya collar, don't let 'em sweat ya ..." - Usher

V8469 bodice with Peter Pan collars, upclose.
Collars, bust gathering, zipper, twin needle on the hemline.

Weekly dressmaking class: In this week’s class, I started tracing my Simplicity 3222 vintage pattern, cut up calico to make a toile/muslin. I’ll sew the toile up during the week. I hope it fits! It’s a size 10, so will fit my waist, just hoping I have enough up top to fill out the bodice! I am very exciting to be sewing with an actual vintage pattern, the paper is so crispy J


Tonight, I'm off to pick up my Horn sewing cabinet. Very excited about that!! My overlocker and sewing machine will now have home-sweet-home..

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Squiggle, squiggle, squiggle, squiggle, squiggle yeah! And a quick zipper tutorial!

I sing that in the tune of LMFAO's song Sexy and I Know It when I look at this fabric... cos the fabric is 'magenta squiggle'. Naming this dress the "3am Squiggle" dress.

A skill that I learnt recently and have used on this dress is inserting an invisible zipper between the dress fabric and the lining, like how the zippers look on RTW. I have been taught that lining can be hand sewed to the dress fabric... but I do it by machine! Clean machine finish :D

My attempt at a tutorial... 

How to insert zipper in a fully lined dress!

Time to insert the invisible zipper
between the fabric and the lining.

Pin the zipper at seam allowance.
2.5cm seam allowance at the back for me.
I have a small back.

Separate the lining and the dress.
Baste zipper on the dress fabric only
(like you would on unlined dress).

Sew zipper with invisible zipper foot.
Repeat on the reverse side.

Flip the lining over so the right sides
of fabric/lining are facing eachother, pin.

Tuck the top bit of the zipper inside so you can sew it in.
Sew lining and dress fabric together close to the zip.

This is how it looks inside out.

Reverse it and voila!
Zipper is between the lining and the fabric.

Now... the finished dress and pattern review!

Do the squiggle, yeah.

I used the fabric I got from Spotlight yesterday and sunsilky lining** that I got for 1/2 price today from Lincraft.
Took 2 hours to cut, 5 hours to sew up the dress, lining, zipper and hem.

**Sunsilky lining: 100% Polyester. Permanently anti-static, treated to breath like a natural fibre.

"Techniques" (which might be normal practice for most seamstresses) that I used on this dress, which I must remember to use all the time cos I love the result so much:

• PFF (press flat first)
• Stay stitch - I always forget to do this!! I will make a mental note to remember
• Zipper inserted between the lining and dress fabric
• Twin needle hem

I'm proud to say that I did not unpick any of my seams! I made zero mistakes with this dress. This is a first! Usually when I sew late at night, I end up having to unpick at some stage, but not tonight. I started sewing at 9pm tonight and finished at 2am. I'm very nocturnal.

I'm also very happy that my front darts, side seams, and zipper all matched perfectly! The back darts were a little off, but that's ok .

Perfectly lined up darts.
M5845 front bodice.

Darts unaligned but the waist matches at the zipper.
M5845 back bodice.

The only modification I made to the pattern was lower the neck by 2" (5cm) and raise the back by 2" (5cm).
Oooh, and I added in-seam pockets!

Drafted my own in-seam pocket pattern.

Pattern Review... 

Pattern: McCall's 5845

Size: Size 6 bodice, graded to size 8 waist, size 6 skirt.

Fabric: 1.2m cotton sateen, 1m sunsilky lining

Notions: Invisible zipper (black) 16", Gutermann thread (000) 

Modifications: 

• Lowered neck by 2"
• Raised back by 2"
• Skirt pieces shortened to 18.5" (3cm hem)
• Added pockets
• Regular (1.5cm) back seam allowance
• Invisible zipper instead of dress zipper
• No vent
• Darts on the inside not outside (damn! I said I would put them outside next time I make this dress, oops).

Time: about 7 hours
Total cost: $14 (fabric, lining and zip), pattern and thread from my stash.

Here are some photos of the inside of the dress.

McCall's 5845

Finished the hems on the machine using the twin needles.

McCall's 5845

I wasn't very keen on the fabric when I saw it, but it was $5/m, so what the heck, I bought it, but I really like it now. At first glance, I thought it looked like a leopard print, but at closer inspection, it looks like blobs of spilt paint, lol. I really like it. Even if it does look like skanky leopard print, the high neck balances it out, haha.

I know I say this about every single dress after I finish making it, but I really love this one. I sewed with a lot of patience and applied techniques that I have learnt at sewing class and by reading online blogs. I guess it shows that I am improving if every new dress tops the last one.

I really like this dress cos it is fitted. It is very rare for me to fit "fitted" RTW dresses... if they fit at the bust and hips then it doesn't zip up at the waist. If it fits the waist, then its loose and yucky at the hips and bust. So glad I can customised my dress to fit my body.

McCall's 5845 (back)

McCall's 5845 (back)

McCall's 5845 with pockets.

Alrighty, off to bed for me :)

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Finished Project & Pattern Review: Vogue 8469, Floral Fantasy.

Last night I completed my floral fantasy V8469. Finally! I think it has taken about 8 classes (aka 16 hours!!). My tutor was just as eager as me to finish it so I could wear it to the Christmas party.

In last nights class, I put the zipper on, a long 55cm invisible zipper. I thought I would have issues for sure... 55cm is more than half a meter that I could potentially stuff up! Luckily, it all went swimmingly. 

The seam allowance was 1.5cm but I gave it 2cm seam allowance, as per tutor's fitting instructions. I basted the zipper with the machine and used my invisible zipper foot to stitch the zipper. 

I finished the back seams on the machine. 

Last week I already cut off the excess length (15cm). Last night I cut another 2cm off, serged, turned up 3cm to hem. This time my tutor let me finish the hem on the machine! What a luxury! "Just this once" she said. I got to use the twin needle function. Didn't even know it existed. 

Finishing the hem using twin needles.

I finished the hem line at home, hand stitched the gap in the back seam where it meets the zipper and hand stitched the facing.

I gave it a quick wash and tumble dry and iron.

Hand stitching.

I was suppose to wear this dress to my Christmas party tomorrow night, but last Sunday I made a back up dress (Black & Wine dress) so I decided to wear this dress tonight to an event at Melbourne Museum called Cross Species Wilderness Adventure for the Palate.

Pattern Review: Very Easy Vogue V8469

Size: 8

Fabric: 2.3 meters cotton sateen $41 

Notions: Invisible zip 22" (black) $5, Gutermann thread (000). 

Modifications: 

• No lining, made facings instead
• 2cm seam allowance instead of 1.5cm (back seams) 
• Skirt pieces shortened by 17cm 
• 3cm hem (instead of 3.2cm)
• Ties same length on both sides so I have options to tie at the back of front side.

V8469, Floral Fantasy.

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