MMJ 10 & June Challenge Summer Dress 2: Ahh dotty dotty

Yesterday the "bug" bit me again. After having promised myself not to sew after work, i decided I wanted a new maxi dress. This time I made sure I chose a simple and fast project. I love sewing yes, but waking up like a zombie in the morning is not my cup of tea. I wanted a maxi dress with sleeves, but I did not have any patterns at home that could help me. So I decided to use the top half of my new look 6816 pattern, as the top of the dress, and then use a rectangle for the rest of the dress.

Last weekend, on coming back from my sister's place, I decided to stop by goldhawk road, not to buy fabric, but to check out what lycra they had for swimming suits. I came out with so much fabric I had to hide them in the back garden before going through the front door, so my husband would not know I had fallen prey to the fabric buying sickness again.

One of the things I bought was this jersey fabric. I got 2.5 metres for £7. I used about 1.5 metres, so I still have some leftovers, which will should come in handy for another project. All in all, I spent about 2 hours from cutting to finishing. Not bad aye?

I decided to tie another headtie because my hair is horrible. I think I need to do my hair this weekend.



Porridge time yay!!!





Yum yum!!



Full view.

 Have a cracking weekend everyone.

New Look 6816 top

006, a photo by Dibs and the machine on Flickr.

Yesterday I made a top for work today (I wish this could happen everyday). I decided to do a quick project, as sewing after work can be very tiring sometimes, so I picked New Look 6816 purely because it said it was a 2 hour project. It took me less than two hours (can you believe it?), but only because I decided to sew it with my overlocker.



I made the red version with the short sleeves, and put ruffles at the neck. I used my overlocker for the side seams,then used my regular machine to sew the hem, as I wanted it to have a wavy look. I used a tight ziz-zag stitch for the hem, and a looser one for the sleeves.



For the ruffles, I simply cut four strips of fabric, gathered them, and attached them to the neckline.

This was my first time sewing with Knit, and I found that you have to guide it all the time, or else it will keep twisting. I also noticed that knits(or at least what I was using), don't gather as easily as woven fabric. When I tried to gather the two rows of stitches I had done for the ruffles, I found it very difficult. So i added another line of stitches, and that solved the little issue.

It was a fairly easy top to make, and I will make this again.

Assembly line tops

May is almost over, and with each passing second, my anxiety builds up. I don't know what on earth pushed me to sign up for Me Made June. Are sewing challenges always this stressful? I have a couple of dresses, 1 skirt and 2 tops. Which by all accounts is clearly not enough for 31 days. So, I'm having to cut corners by

1) sewing the easiest projects I can find.
2) trying out all time saving tips with my projects.

I'm currently making 3 simple tops at the same time, so I'm calling them my assembly line tops. I'm using the New Look pattern I used last time for my 1 hour top experiment. Yesterday I cut all three at the same time. Magic?.....NO. I layered them, and pinned the pattern at the top, and cut them with my rotary cutter in order to avoid shaky scissors manipulations.

Place folded fabric on top of each other and pin pattern in place

Using a rotary cutter and cutting mat, cut out pattern pieces



Done!
My phone is acting up hence the shaded bit at the bottom.


Today after work I plan on sewing them. Fingers crossed I finish them tonight.

Does anyone have any time saving tips for me please?

1 hour top experiment.

Do you ever buy a pattern because it promised you would finish the item within a fixed number of hours?

I did just that a couple of weeks ago when I was on holiday up in Darlington. Most of the patterns promising amzing results within the hour or two hours are normally meant for knit fabrics and since I do not have an overlocker yet, I never buy them. My machine can sew knit fabrics, and I have actually tried sewing with scraps of jersey ( I think it was),  and it does sew well, but I don't have the confidence yet to actually make a whole dress or top.

I am still psyching my husband for an overlocker, dropping not-so-little hints here and there, sighing with constructed frustration at just the right moments, moaning about how my bday is so far away and I actually feel like receiving a present. Its not working so far, because I still don't have an overlocker, but I know sooner or later, the noise will get to him, and I shall be the proud owner of an overlocker. How soon is soon though, I have no clue. All I know is if I do succeed in making him buy me an overlocker, I shall nominate myself for an Oscar.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. So, I bought New Look 6483, which promised me I would have a brand new top in 1hour. I quickly grabbed the pattern, but upon closer inspection, saw the little print, which said the said 1hour, was "sewing time" only.

Over the weekend, I cut out the top, and kept it in my project basket, waiting for a day when I will be inspired. Yesterday after work, presented the perfect occasion to make this top. I came home from work late (8pm), so I did not really have enough time to sew, but I really felt like sewing. So I took out my cut project, and set my timer.

1 hour later, I had finshed sewing the main parts of the top, but I still had to finish the seams and the hem This took an additional 1 hour. So, New Look, the 1 hour might be okay for an experienced dressmaker, but for someone like me who still has to read instructions in order to make a simple top, 1 hour is abit ambitious dontcha fink?




Good for work

 




I have never sewn so close to the edge before. I was very happy with myself when I did this binding.

 


Good for nights out with my jeans too.



 I'm really happy with this pattern. I used a metre I think. I don't know how much fabric I had in the first place because I bought this fabric as part of a £5 bundle of remnant fabrics from one of the shops in goldhawk road last year. There were many types of fabric in that bundle, and I think majority of them were about 1 metre each. So expect to see many more of such tops, with my remanat fabrics.

 The only changes I made to the project, was using bias binding instead of self facing the neckline and the armholes. I decided to go for the bias binding because it saves time, and also because I wanted to incorporate a plain colour. I could have used yellow, but I only had red at home. So red it was.

Next time when making this top, I will try not to make it so plain, using these Boden tops for inspiration.



Ruffles down the front




Serious neck treatment




Sew in beads.

 Its a good thing the Goldhawk Road Fabric Fandango is next weekend. That way I can buy more lovely fabric for these easy tops.

Have a nice day

xoxo
Dibs

New Look 6025 top

This weekend the weather was really beautiful. Unfortunately for me though, I had to go to Christchurch to see a friend who lost her dad, so I could not make good use of the sunshine. I came back today, and as soon as I got home, I started making the New Look 6025 top.

I decided to make View A, but as I progressed with the blouse, I decided to make the neck and sleeves more interesting. So I used some yellow bias tape I had at home, and added a black lace trimming to it. When cutting the fabric, I forgot to cut the right length, so I cut the hem too long. I fixed this by cutting off the excess fabric, and made an elasticated hem.

It was a really fast and easy blouse to make, and I will definitely make this top again. I will like to experiment more with trimmings, as I think they make projects more unique. Plus I find the process of deciding on how to alter your outfits really enjoyable as you get the chance to be creative.

My finished top.