Tag: raglan

Simplicity 2184: Vintage dress pattern holy grail!

Well, it’s taken me almost five years to find it, but here it is – my vintage dress pattern holy grail, in the form of Simplicity 2184.

Raglan sleeves. Short and long sleeve options. FRENCH CUFFS. Convertible collar. In a size that I don’t have to re-draft too much. HALLELUIA! All I need to do is add pockets in the side seams (and 3″ to the waist) and it will be PERFECT! It even still includes the embroidery transfers for the monogram. *swoons*

It’s probably just as well that I need to wait for it to arrive all the way from Canada (I bought it on Etsy, from HoneymoonBus), hopefully that will ensure that I’ve calmed down a little bit by the time it arrives. I’ve already mentally sewn it in about 153 different fabric combinations, and thrown out every other item of clothing in my wardrobe. I need to slow down.

I posted the link on Facebook, and several people were somewhat boggled by the term “Slenderette”. Thankfully a friend discovered that Gertie (whose blog I am now reading obsessively) had contacted Simplicity to find out what on earth. Apparently the term was used for patterns that were specifically designed to make you look more slender. Not that this is going to work for me, as I’m going to have to let out the waist by at least three inches to make the dress fit – or invest in some fairly serious underwear.

Yes, underwear is still an ongoing issue. This stupid annoying fibromyalgia thing that I’ve got going on means that wearing a bra is absolutely excruciating, so I haven’t done it for the best part of a year. (And the Fashion Police didn’t arrest me or anything! It’s been a revelation!) Those “secret support” vests – sorry – camisoles with a soft bra hidden inside are a bit better, but they still have a constricting band of elastic around the body, so they’re not ideal. I did make a lovely soft teddy from bamboo fabric, but there were some issues with the fit (which is why I haven’t blogged about it yet), and Paul said it looked “like Victorian underwear – in a bad way”. Clearly some improvement needed there!

I keep looking at Kiss Me Deadly, whose vintage-inspired underwear would be perfect underneath this type of dress. But sadly their pretty things are outside the realms of my budget at the moment (anybody want to buy me a Vargas dress? Go on, you know you want to!), and I’m not 100% certain that my body will tolerate being squished by powernet all day.

So perhaps while I’m waiting for this pattern to arrive and fill me with wonder and glee, I should concentrate on doing some experiments with underwear. I’ve only made a couple of bras since I went on LCF’s Structured Lingerie course, and that was two years ago. Now I really want to do their Lingerie Workshop, but again, budget, and the courses take place in the school holidays, which is when I tend to be doing extra hours at work. Hey ho.

In the meantime, I’ve been reading blogs such as Ohhh Lulu, and reading my 1970s and 1980s lingerie-sewing books, in the hope that these might encourage me to get over my terrible fear of wasting fabric, and actually cut something out. I think now’s the time!

Dresses and skirts for Tiger Lilly

Here you go – these are the eight finished pieces that I’ve made for the Tiger Lilly boutique. I just need to sew in the labels, and then I can take them into town.

Just in case you’re wondering how you might order a circle skirt or a tunic dress for yourself, you can do that here. Bear in mind though that I won’t actually be able to start work on any orders until after I get back from my honeymoon!

Once I get back, I need to put together a fabric chart. That way you can see which fabrics are readily available to order, and which vintage pieces I only have enough of for a single dress or skirt.

I also need to have a big clearout of my fabric stash. (Shocking, I know!) I have loads of pieces that I collected over the years which aren’t suitable for the things that I’m making now, and I need to create a lot more space in my Shed.

For now though, I need to get a move on with some of the pre-wedding preparations – and that includes getting these skirts and dresses out of my Shed and into Tiger Lilly’s shop!

A Couple of Cupcakes.

Cupcake skirt and tunic dress

In case you’ve been wondering about the sudden flurry of sewing photographs that have been appearing on Flickr and Twitter – I’ve been asked to put together a few things for a local shop.

Tiger Lilly is an independent vintage and retro boutique in Reading’s Harris Arcade. Chloe has a lovely ever-changing collection of vintage clothes from the 40s to the 80s, but a lot of vintage clothing tends only to turn up in smaller sizes. To remedy this, Chloe also stocks a range of complementary vintage-inspired clothing from labels such as Vivien of Holloway and What Katie Did.

I popped in for a browse a couple of weeks ago, and on the spur of the moment asked Chloe whether she’d be interested in seeing some of my skirts. I put a photo gallery together, took some samples in, and Chloe has asked me to produce a small range of circle skirts and tunic dresses for her. We’ll see how they go while I’m away getting married and honeymooned, and then I can get some feedback on my return.

You can see the first few skirts and dresses in their own Flickr set. The tunic dresses will be £40 and the skirts will be £48. Each comes with its own matching sash belt, and the skirts have pockets hidden in the side seams. I’ve drawn up a range of four sizes, each of which will fit a wide range of body shapes. The skirts have an elastic waist, and the loose fitting tunics can be drawn in with the belt.

Chloe’s on a mission to support local designers, so I can only hope that her customers love retro styling and interesting fabric as much as I do!

I’ve got a hole in me pocket…

Diane's Beatles Tunic

This is another tunic for Diane – a short hip-length one this time.

Diane’s online name is “Bloomeenee”, so you can imagine that she was very keen to have something made from this fabulous Beatles Yellow Submarine fabric!

Here’s a YouTube clip of the “Sea of Holes” part of the film.

While I was sending off to America for the fabric, I took the opportunity to order a couple of extra metres for myself. I’m thinking of making a psychedelic coat, lined with fleece. Watch this space…

Maria’s Rose Tattoo Tunic

Maria's Alexander Henry tunic

This is my usual raglan tunic/mini dress pattern, in Alexander Henry’s “The Rose Tattoo”. It’s hand bound with black bias tape. Simple as that!

Maria contacted me after I’d made Chloe’s cupcake dress, originally asking for a dress of her own in the same style. I don’t take on custom dressmaking any more (and the pattern’s been discontinued), so I would have had to say no, but in the meantime I’d started making these tunic dresses. Maria decided that this was the perfect style, and sent me a piece of fabric that she’d been hiding away in her stash.

The fabric turned out to be this Alexander Henry quilting cotton in one of my favourite prints – The Rose Tattoo. Perfect!

I’ve also had an order for a top-length version in another novelty print quilting cotton – this Beatles Yellow Submarine print. I might have accidentally ordered enough of the Sea of Holes fabric to make a little something for myself as well. While I wait for it to arrive, I just need to decode what it’s going to be…

The smocked tunic – finished.

Smocked tunic dress

Here you go – the completed blue dress.

I showed you the smocking yesterday, and I’ve just finished the binding and the belt.

This is my usual raglan tunic dress pattern, with the neckline, sleeves and hem all finished with navy blue bias binding. I was hoping to be able to find a navy broderie anglais lace for the hem, but my local fabric shop only had white or black.

The fabric is lovely soft organic cotton from Bishopston Trading.

I’m not certain whether I’ll be making the tunics with smocking to order. Because of the amount of time it takes to do all of the hand sewing, it can make the resulting dress very expensive. In the organic cotton I think it would work out to something like £150, which is three times the price of the same dress without the smocking.

Diane’s second tunic dress

Diane's 2nd 1970s tunic

This is the second dress I’ve made for Diane, using recycled 1970s print bedding. (The first one is here.) This one’s a very pretty, girly design with plenty of hearts and flowers. It’s made from half of a duvet cover, and Diane’s kept the other half to turn into a quilt.

If you’d like to order a pretty tunic dress, the sizes are here, and the prices are here.

There’s also one on Etsy, and I’ll be making more over the next few weeks!

Taking over with Tunics.

It occurred to me that it would probably help me in my plan to take over the world, if I told you how I was hoping to get there.

This is how:

Raglan tunic tops and dresses

I’ve been working on various incarnations of this pretty little tunic dress and top over the past couple of years, and I have great plans for their future. But that can only happen if I tell you how you can buy them – so that’s what I’m doing now.

I can make these in just about any fabric you can think of. Pictured above are knits and wovens, patterns and plain, recycled curtains and bed linen, brand new fabrics and an old t-shirt.

Because I sew each tunic by hand, I can make them in any size you need. Just send me a couple of simple measurements, and I’ll send you a dress which will fit.

All the information you need is here.

Know somebody who you think might like one of these?
Please feel free to pass on the details.

Thank you!

My Little Pony dress…

My Little Pony dress

No, not a dress for a My Little Pony, a dress with My Little Ponies on it!

I’ve made various incarnations of a simple raglan tunic over the past couple of years. I’ve added a matching belt to this one, and a pleating detail at the shoulders and centre front.

Look out for more of the same coming soon…