Phase Eight

Phase Eight

I wasn’t expecting to buy a new summer dress, especially not so hot on the heels of having made one! But we were walking through Debenhams and this one leapt out at me from the Phase Eight rail. It was my size, the last one left in the shop, and reduced from £85 to £19. Now that’s my kind of bargain!

It’s made from cotton lawn, and has a detachable slip/lining in the same fabric. (I don’t know why the website says viscose, it’s definitely cotton.) Raglan sleeves, slightly gathered, a bit of a ruffle, pintucks, an empire line belt, and the perfect colour. Technically I could make this dress myself, but in reality I never would. Mostly because of the pintucks. They’re so fiddly that I probably wouldn’t bother.

As I was sprinting gleefully towards the till, I discovered that one of the straps on the lining was broken. I politely mentioned this to the cashier and he gave me an extra 10% off, making it even more of a bargain! A couple of stitches later, and the dress is even better than new. I expect I’ll be wearing this one rather a lot.

Altering some new trousers

H! by Henry Holland

I like Henry Holland, and he had some trousers in Debenhams, and they were pink tartan, so obviously it was compulsory for me to buy them.

(Yes, I know they look ridiculous. I have every intention of wearing them anyway.)

But!
Because these are tapered trousers, the legs were much too tight in my usual size. So I tried the next size up, which were much more roomy in the legs but ridiculously enormous around the waist.

So I looked at the trousers and came up with a solution.

H! by Henry Holland
First I carefully removed the fake pocket welts from the back.

H! by Henry Holland
Then I wrapped the resulting strip of fabric around a length of elastic, and sewed them together many times.

H! by Henry Holland
I tucked the elasticated strip underneath the belt loops, and sewed it into place. Now the trousers can’t do that annoying gappy business at the back!

I also slipstitched down the inside pleats on the front, so that it didn’t look as though I was carrying inexplicable balloons in my pockets.

Ta-daa!

New trousers.