Tag: tunic

Not quite a pillowcase top

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Still feeling inspired by the Great British Sewing Bee, this time the alteration challenge to create something from a pair of curtains. I’ve done a fair amount of fabric recycling in the past, from curtains, duvet covers, and end-of-roll fabrics. The tunic dress above was made from a gorgeous brand new vintage bed sheet, and I was able to use the border print along the hem.

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I was suddenly inspired to make a little cropped layering top, that I could fit onto just a pillowcase-sized piece of fabric, so I opened up my pattern drafting software and came up with this. Sadly it doesn’t fit onto a pillowcase, because I hadn’t taken into account the actual size of a pillowcase when I was working on the design. Oops. It does however fit onto a single metre of fabric, so it’s a very economical little top.

This prototype version is cut on the bias and has a seam down the centre front and back. The only reason for that is because the pieces were cut from the skirt of a dress that I made years ago, and never wore, so it’s still fabric recycling in that sense. It would definitely look better without the seam, and in this type of fabric I don’t think having it on the bias really makes all that much difference.

IMG_4931I’d originally envisaged wearing this with trousers and a long-sleeved t-shirt, or maybe over a camisole top in the summer. When I had a rummage in my wardrobe though, I spotted this empire-line dress and thought they’d go really well together!

The top is designed to be reversible, with the v-neck at the front if you have a pretty necklace to show off, or at the back if you have, say, a lovely tattoo, or perhaps you just prefer the higher neckline. This one is finished with some vintage nylon lingerie trim, but I can also imagine it with very fine organic cotton lace. In fact it would look lovely with some deeper lace around the hem as well.

10406953_10152469716633829_8661130960669008137_nIn fact, way back in May, I bought a little pile of organic cotton fabrics, most of which are about a metre in size. The bicycle print and the matching spots have been turned into a tunic for a friend, but all the others are still sitting in my stash. I think I might have just discovered what to do with them!

 

 

 

Assam Tunic

Assam Tunic

Today I decided to take a day off from doing anything I “ought” to be doing (like packing the house ready for the move), or any kind of “useful” sewing (like more bloomers and summer tunics to wear in this ridiculous heat), and make something that had been nagging at the back of my brain for a few weeks.

This is a silk dupion tunic, with broderie anglais trim and bias tape edging, waiting to be dyed in the tea urn. The stitching is brown because it’s polyester and therefore won’t dye, so I wanted to use a colour that would tone in afterwards. (In future I’ll use cotton thread, but right now I’m using up the stash.)

Assam Tunic

The tunic is elasticated all the way around the waist, under the bust, and around the edges of the top. It wraps over at the back. The broderie anglais trim might be polyester, polycotton at best, so it’ll probably stay cream.

Assam Tunic

It has a fixed, ruffled halter neck, and wrapover back detail. The bias trim is polycotton, and won’t take the dye as well as the silk, so I chose a colour that would still look good with whatever dye it did take up.

Assam Tunic

First dip into the tea urn…

Assam Tunic

The tea itself had been brewing for about two hours. This photo was taken after about another two hours in the tea, and the fabric was already much darker than it looks in the photo! You can see that the trim is still very pale, but the bias binding tones in nicely. The machine embroidery on the trim represents the tea leaves in the dye. (Although I used bags in the urn, as they were left over and out of date.)

Assam tunic

Squeezed out of the tea, the bias trim has taken up the dye nicely, but the broderie anglais is still very pale. The white overlocking on the shoulders is unfortunately on the outside. I had a bit of a moment when applying the broderie anglais, so I made the executive decision that two little white seams on the back of the neck wouldn’t matter too much on an experimental piece.

Assam tunic

Rinsed until the water ran clear…

Assam tunic

Here it is dry, and just waiting for finishing touches. I hung it outside, in the shade so it wouldn’t get bleached by the sun, and it dried at record speed. (I suppose the heatwave has its uses.)

Assam tunic

I added gold ribbons at each side to fasten, and another one in the front for decoration.

Assam tunic

Ta-daa!

There is a little bit of a story behind this piece. The assam tea bags were bought specifically for a reunion with a long-lost friend, about three years ago. Said friend then always seemed to be too busy to come and visit me enough times to actually drink the tea, and we’ve since all but lost touch again. It wasn’t until I came to tidy the kitchen cupboards to sell the house, that I realised the teabags have actually been out of date for eighteen months. Rather than waste them, I thought I’d turn them into something pretty for myself.

Blue Organic Cotton Dress

Blue organic cotton dress

This is a little tunic dress, from one of my own patterns. The main body of the dress is blue organic cotton from Bishopston Trading. The yoke and assorted other parts are also organic cotton, from Kaffe Fassett’s collection for Rowan a few years ago.

The pockets are set into the side seams, because it seemed like a good way of creating a nice sturdy finish. As the tunic is so full, next time I think I’ll make patch pockets and place them a little further towards the centre.

I’ve worn this with and without the belt, and I think it looks great either way. The belt is made from 5cm elastic, simply covered with matching fabric which gathers as the elastic contracts. The ends are fastened with loops and matching fabric-covered buttons. Next time I’ll add a slightly thicker interfacing, or perhaps a scrap of corset coutil, to make the front panels a little less likely to fold over on themselves. I also need to make another one about two inches longer, as this one’s a bit too tight for my liking!

I’ve been thinking for a long time about what to make with my organic cottons, and I’m really pleased with this tunic and belt. This is going to be the start of some thinking out loud in fabric, as I try to work out which styles might be available for sale.

Regency dresses or summer tunics?

This is Vogue 8434, a pattern I added to my stash recently – partly because I was thinking about shirts for the summer, and partly because Vogue were having a sale.

In my giant fabric mountain I have nine metres of linen – three metres each of black, white and purple. I also have three metres each of matching cotton lawn. This was originally earmarked for making three lined Regency-ish dresses to wear on a three-day trip to London next month.

I’d been wondering what to wear underneath the Regency dresses (more bloomers? Long, loose trousers?) and then I remembered that I have these Gossypium yoga trousers in black, white and purple. The purple ones used to be pale pink, but I dyed them in the same wash as the purple cotton lawn, so now they’re a perfect match! I could make three of these tunics in linen… or in lawn… or in linen with floaty lawn sleeves…

Question is, which am I going to get more wear out of – three Regency-ish dresses, or three long linen tunics…?

(And more to the point, what shoes am I going to wear?!)

Regency-ish Dress and Bloomers

Regency-ish dress & bloomers

(Sorry about the terrible picture, trying to take photos of black lace is a nightmare.)

Today I have finally finished all the hand-sewing on this Regency-ish dress based on Simplicity 4055. Some of it was of my own making – I had to bind the edges of the armholes to stop the seams of the net sleeves from being scratchy. Originally I’d put poppers at the back, but it turned out to be a bit tight and every time I moved they’d pop open. Not good for dancing. So I unpicked the poppers, put in eyelets, and now it laces up. Not very Regency. Ah well. The length’s hardly period – and it’s even shorter than I’d intended, hence the definitely not-Regency bloomers to go underneath.

The bloomers started life as Simplicity 2777, view E. I left off the waist casing, and finished the top edge with picot edged lingerie elastic. I also left off the leg bands and ruffles, because I found a piece of very extravagant garter elastic in my stash. It was much too stretchy to use as an actual garter, but absolutely perfect for trimming these little shorts.

I’m still trying to get used to the shape of the dress. It’s pretty and I know it’s basically the same shape as me, but I’m so conditioned to believe that every woman should have a neat little waist that I feel as though it looks a bit frumpy. Hopefully that’ll wear off when I put it on and discover that it’s actually comfortable rather than digging into the waist that I haven’t got, which is what happens with most of my other dresses. Which is why I never wear them.

I’m wearing the outfit on Friday evening, so hopefully I’ll be able to ask someone to take a better photo for me!

A dress to match the ties.

Simplicity 2307

Okay, so I did have an ulterior motive for making those last two ties. This is the dress version of Simplicity 2307, the same as the fish blouse I made a little while ago. Once I’d cut out the hem band, sleeve bands and neck facing I had plenty of fabric left over, so a couple of ties seemed like the way to go.

This dress isn’t supposed to fasten at the neck, but I find it a little low cut for my liking. I plan to add a hook and eye, or a little button and a thread loop, and I thought that a matching tie would be the perfect finishing touch.

Hopefully it will also help to disguise the fact that I just can’t seem to get the neck facing to sit nice and flat. I had the same problem on the fish blouse, but thought that it was to do with having too many layers of interfacing. I didn’t interface the neck facing this time, and the back piece just doesn’t want to stay put. I need to double check the pattern piece, because it seems as though there’s just too much fabric there.

I’m also a little bit uncertain about the proportions of this pattern. With the hem band it comes down to my knees, which is fine, but there’s something about the length of the dress or the depth of the band that just isn’t quite right. Maybe the band needs to be a little less deep. Maybe the dress needs to be a couple of inches shorter. Maybe the band stands out too much because of the contrasting fabric. I’m not sure.

I think I need to wear this one a couple of times, before I decide what alterations I need to make to the next version.

Butterick 5260

Butterick 5260

This little dress is the first time in ages that I haven’t made a single alteration to the pattern as I was going along. I simply cut out the pattern, cut out the fabric, and sewed it all together according to the instructions. Very unlike me.

It’s Butterick 5260, view C.

The dress is much longer on me than the pattern illustration suggests. I’m about 5’5″, and it sits just above the knee. For some reason the sleeves have come out extremely long – they completely cover my hands. As it turns out I don’t mind that, but it was a bit of a surprise when I tried it on!

The fabric is a devoré (or burnout) velvet of unspecified fibre. I suspect polyester. It’s one-way stretch, and it was much easier to work with than I expected. There was the usual amount of fluff clogging up the sewing machine and the overlocker, but the pieces didn’t shift about too much while I was sewing.

I think a future project needs to be a range of slips in different colours, to wear underneath. Otherwise I’m not entirely sure how much wear I’m going to get out of a mostly-transparent dress!

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…