Vintage Blue Ikat Ultimate Shift Dress

Hi Guys,

Today I am back with a little bit of me sewing, a simple Sew Over It London, Ultimate Shift Dress. I have been sewing a lot for others over the last few months, and not really had a lot of time to sew anything for myself. The last last dress I made, the Liberty Alpine dress, I made to go to a Craft Party in and I made to a deadline, so ultimately I was rushing up until the last moment to finish it in time. Cue hand sewing til midnight... totally worth it though :)

And the same goes for this dress really, just finished in time for a deadline.  Last week I was sewing some gifts up and it got to Thursday and I checked the weather report for my trip out on Saturday.

Now, if you haven't already realized I live in England...  and as most will well know, it is pretty much essential to check the weather report if you want to go anywhere. I was travelling to another part of the UK and I was informed we would have sunshine!  oh hello!Well, I was not prepared for that!

 So after checking my wardrobe and finding that I didn't have a single thing suitable I decided I would have to whip something up. Truth is I have just not had time to update my summer wardrobe, I have been so busy with other projects and because summer just doesn't seemed to have arrived here yet, there hasn't exactly been a rush on the sleeveless vests and sundresses! The summer wardrobe is now edging closer to the top of my list.

On a side note, I really need to stop this last minute sewing, I don't enjoy it very much, and I don't want to start putting pressure onto a skill that I really love... sewing. I need to plan more, and put time aside to sew the things I really need to fill those gaps in my wardrobe, not just last minute sew things when I have been too busy to plan ahead... not good.

Anyway... Me, a trip out, sunshine, nothing to wear. I decided I didn't have time to go too fancy, and if I wanted to make something I had just Friday to do it. So, I opted for the lovely Sew Over It London Ultimate Shift Dress pattern. I guess you could say this has become a bit of a well loved pattern for me. I think I have made four altogether and I find it a really quick garment to put together with really pleasing results.

Next up was choosing the fabric, I had a quick look in my fabric stash and pulled out some rather lovely Vintage Ikat blue cotton. This fabric was a rather lucky find from a local Vintage Fair. They don't usually do textiles there but there was a lady selling home furnishing fabrics and she had two pieces of this wonderful stuff! I think in total it cost me £6 for the lot, and I only used one of the pieces, so I am now wondering what to make with the second piece?! Suggestions would be very welcome!!

So am I going to stop chatting about the weather like a typical Brit and show you the dress...

The print had a bit of a crazy pattern to it and if  wanted to follow grain and keep those diamonds running parallel down my body it meant that the diamonds seemed to go on a bit of a wander across by body. I think that is just the pattern though and it was the best possible placement without loosing those strain grain parallel diamonds. Hey, I am happy and sometimes with vintage fabrics you just have to go with it, I have had countless pieces that the prints are all kinds of crazy off grain, but I think I just about get away with this one... 

I was a little worried about this colour on me. I loved the colour, but I was worried it would make me look larger, but I think keeping the silhouette clean with a simple shift dress has help to minimize that.

This is the first Ultimate Shift Dress i have made with short sleeves and I really love them! I was a little skeptical at first as I usually go for a three quarter length as I find that a flattering for me, but this could be my new summer sleeve length!!!

And if any of you are wondering if  got my dose of sunshine.... I totally did not...it rained and poured all day, so much so I put on my tights and brogues instead of my sandals. You win some you lose some.

 Here I am on my way down to see my friend, we were stuck in traffic, in the rain, but I was just too excited to be seeing my friend and wearing my new dress. (I wasn't the driver by the way) ;)

That's all for now, I am back to sewing for others for the moment, and I am eagerly awaiting the next gap so I can get sewing my summer wardrobe!!

Do you have any favourite patterns that you return to when you are in need of a quick make?

I am always interested to hear!

I am also open to suggestion to what I can use my left over Ikat fabric for? I have just over a meter left and feel a bit clueless about what to use it for. If you have any suggestions please drop me a message in the comments below. :)

Thanks for stopping by...

~HJF~

Me Made May 2015 Round up!

Hi all,

Today I am back with a round up of all of my Me Made May outfits. I have to say I started this challenge thinking I would just enter the odd day here and there when I could but in the end, I wore me made clothing every day for the month of May. It was however a challenge and I will get to that later. First lets do a round up, the fun bit, with photographs, yay!

Ok outfit one was my Tartan Linden sweatshirt, which I really enjoyed wearing layer over a shirt, this worked for me.

Outfit two was one of my Dungaree dresses that I drafted from a RTW dress, this gets worn a lot, and I love it.

Outfit three is my Grainline studio alder shirt dress layered with a jumper, I think I prefer it like this as the neck is a little large so the jumper helps hide this a little ;)

Outfit number four were my Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers in a paisley pattern, super comfy like a stretch jean and also get a lot of wear because of that. 

Outfit number five is a chiffon tunic dress, self drafted, that has a silk yoke made from a scarf, I used to wear this for work a lot (with trousers, not leggings, fear not) but I think I have fallen out of love with it....

Outfit number six, I think is up there with my favourites, my self drafted polka dot vest and my By Hand London Victoria Blazer in a navy crepe?

Outfit seven is my Grainline studio Alder shirt dress shirt refashion which you can read more about here. 

Outfit eight is a self drafted boxy top made in some striped stretch satin viscose, this was made to wear to work but still gets a lot of wear now. 

Outfit nine is the same self drafted top as outfit eight but in grey chiffon and with a faux black collar and back neck keyhole detail, again this is old now and used to get a lot of wear to work. 

Outfit ten is my Tilly and the Buttons Francoise dress which you can see here.

Outfit eleven is another pair of Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers, this time in a stretch cotton featuring a tile print.

Outfit twelve is my Grainline studio Linden dress hack which can be seen here.

Outfit thirteen is my Parrott party frock or Emery dress if you like. I love this dress, it would have been better with ought the tights but it was way too cold!

Outfit fourteen is another self drafted boxy top in a really cool digital printed chiffon I picked up earlier this year and made during selfish sewing week, read more about that here.

Outfit fifteen is my Ikea fabric house print dress in a self drafted pattern. I loved this dress when I made it but looking at it now I am not so sure.

Outfit sixteen is my self drafted vest again, this has proven to be so useful to layer up between seasons.

Outfit seventeen is another dungaree dress in navy cotton twill, nautical is my favourite. 

Outfit eighteen is my third and last pair of Sew Over It Ultimate Trousers in a Tartan cotton. 

I skipped one day of Me Made May, well I didn't, I was still wearing my super comfortable snowflake Linden but I had come down with tonsillitis and wasn't feeling the selfies so I had a few days of accessories and stand ins to get me through.

Outfit nineteen is my latest and most favourite newly knitted bobble hat, I can't remember the yarn I used but it is wonderful.

Outfit twenty is my mustard scarf, which technically isn't me made at all, but Mum made. She made a piece of batik cloth for me with polka dots on it the hemmed it to make it into a scarf, it is the softest thing ever and rather dear to my heart. 

Outfit twenty one, Mr. F stood in for me and modelled one of the bow ties I made him for Christmas, it is a favourite of mine, I wish I had a matching party frock of the same fabric!

Outfit twenty two is my Carolyn Friedlander Nest Egg Tote which double as a handbag. 

Outfit twenty three is my Peter Pan vintage fabric emery which was also made earlier this year during selfish sewing week.

Outfit twenty four was my newly drafted t-shirt style top with cuffs, soon to be blogged. 

Outfit twenty five is my Sew Over It Ultimate Shift Dress in a cotton lounging leopards print. 

And that about sums it up, I have left out any repeats, as I am pretty sure seeing twenty five selfies of me is enough to last anyone a lifetime! 

I didn't think much of it when I signed up the this challenge, I just thought, hey, this will be fun, I might get to meet some new people and get some inspiration. It was so much more than that! 

When I have looked back though my photographs of the month I can honestly say there are very few outfits that I am really happy with. So I decided I needed to analyse this and do something about it. 

I took a look at the outfits I really liked and tried to narrow things down a bit. 

And as it turns out, this is it. Twelve out of twenty five and I am still not sure about a couple of these but I think that has more to do with fit than anything else. 

I looked at what I was left with and it still didn't fill me with joy, it wasn't a whole wardrobe of garments that I could piece together to make outfits. 

The other outfits that didn't make the cut were just, not me anymore, I think it is a combination of poor choice of colour and just out growing a style. 

So here are my findings from my Me Made May challenge.

I do not make enough me made comfortable clothes, I tend to make clothes for occasions, dresses mainly, this is ok, but I am at home a lot at the moment and party frocks just won't cut it! 

I do not have a colour palette so my me made clothes do no coordinate particularly well, this is fine for individual garments such as dresses, but for separates, it would be nice to be able to coordinate my pieces. 

I do not make many warm items of clothing, so, when the weather is bad I am often left wearing RTW items that I am not happy with.

So, I have decided I would like to do a bit of a wardrobe overhaul and reassess what is missing from my wardrobe. I can then draw up an action plan of how to fix it. 

In my next blog post I will go into more detail about my plan to make my me made wardrobe work for me! 

Lastly I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone that took part this year. I have met some amazing, inspirational people through this challenge, people I would not normally have had a chance to chat to, everyone has been so welcoming and supportive. The sewing community really is a great thing to be a part of. 

If you have taken part in Me Made May this year and have found it helpful, I would love to know why? 

Has it helped you identify gaps in your wardrobe? 

Has it made you realise which are your favourite me made items of clothing and which go largely unworn?

Or have you just seen people's entries into the Me Made May challenge and are inspired to join in yourself next year?

Let me know in the comments below...

~HJF~ 

Yoke top pattern hack

This make has been hanging in my wardrobe for a little while now, I finished it probably in September, ironed it and forgot all about it, hence not sharing.

I made my first Lauren Guthrie Yoke top a while back in October. I got the pattern free with my subscription of Love Sewing magazine. 

I really loved the pattern but I felt it didn't quite suit my, ahem, figure and the gathers only accentuated that. 

So after making my first yoke top I decided a pattern hack was in order. I loved the yoke and the neckline, but the gathers for me, personally had to go.  

Here is yoke top number one.

Loved the contrast piping, the slightly sixties collar and the a-line fit. I decided the best way to go would be to add bust darts for the shaping and I used Sew Over It - Ultimate Shift dress bodice as a guide. I could have drafted a new lower bodice piece from scratch but I wasn't going for anything too dramatic, and the measurements were pretty much spot on with out too much grading, I just had to shorten it. 

So here it is, my bust darted Lauren Gutherie Ultimate Yoke top. 

I used a rather lovely rayon mix from my vintage stash, which has wonderful drape and I am really hoping will work well for the summer. I usually make my own piping but I was at Chorley market and spotted a stall selling the most amazing jewel coloured bindings and pipings. Well that was it, I bought a selection, lovely. Although I love the colour of the piping, I will be going back to making my own as the quality was a little disappointing. 

For the back I left it pretty much identical, but instead of including a button placket I finished it edge to edge, creating a key hole, with a hook and eye fastening. 

And because my pictures don't quite do the fabric justice here is a close up. 

I am quite happy with the changes I made, but I think I will return to the button placket next time, I just think it creates a neater look. 

Looking forward to making my next one now. 

And here are a couple of me, looking super awkward in bad light, sorry about the bad quality. Hopefully my pics will improve now my remote has arrived and I can take pics in the daytime, yay!

Thanks for stopping by!

~HJF~

Christmas dress.... In January?!

I love a good christmas outfit, it was always a highlight as a child, what I got to wear on Christmas Day, and I guess not much has changed.

This year I decided on a dress, to be precise the Sew Over It - Ultimate shift dress.

I have made this dress three times now, it's a really simple shift dress, A-line shape and can be whipped up in a couple of hours. 

I made my first one for a wedding last October and made a few changes to the pattern for round two. 

I decided I wanted to go with a rather Christmassy fabric, and add a bit of bling.

So I did just that... I went with a holly print fabric with gold accents. 

But that just wasn't enough! 

I decided to bead the cuffs and stitch gems round the neckline. 

That's where it all went a bit wrong. 

This seemed like an excellent idea, really, it did. But somehow I managed to go from sixties inspired shift, to a dress fit for a glamour nana. Bad times. 

I still like it, and believe it or not, it looks a lot better on than it does on the hanger. 

I sadly didn't get to wear this on Christmas Day, or Boxing Day as planned as I wasn't well. I think this one might be left hanging in the wardrobe until next year. 

Thanks for stopping by and reading my seasonally inappropriate post. 

~HJF~