DIY obi-style, jersey belt

I’m not quite sure what to call this “thing” that I sewed. I’ll call it an obi-style belt for want of a better term. The idea came from a friend, who sent me this photo.

I believe it featured in a Tibi shoot. It wasn’t for sale though and only being used for styling purposes. How frustrating for people who don’t sew!

I could, however, look at the picture and appreciate that it would take me all of 30 seconds to draft (yes, draft… it’s Tibi after all), and then sew with one hand tied behind my back and one eye shut. It really was that simple.

I used a beautifully soft, lightweight rayon jersey that I sewed into a tube with about 1.5 inches of negative ease. I then turned that tube out to the right side, keeping the lengthways seam to the middle, and stitched the short raw ends together. From the outside, your can just see a single seam down the centre-back.

The belt needs to stretch a little to pull the shirt in, but you don’t want it compressing your internal organs like a Kardashian. You want it to feel comfortable if you plan on wearing it all day! The width of my band is about 15 inches, so that makes it wide enough to be scrunched down as you see in the pictures. The diagram below shows exactly what I did. My seam allowance was 1/2 inch.

I really love the way it looks paired with a crisp, white shirt. It is the perfect accessory for Fall. In fact, it is so perfect, that I decided to make another right away. A smooth, lightweight, merino jersey would have been perfect but I didn’t have any on hand. I did, however, have a small remnant of a wool/acrylic knit. It’s thicker than I’d like (since nobody really wants extra fabric around the waist), but it works out fine if I scrunch it a little less (and it will be super warm too!).

I paired it with the same white shirt, and a favourite pair of pants. I made these thick cord culottes a few years ago. I wore them nearly every day during the Winter before last, which was probably why I couldn’t stand the sight of them last year. They were originally shaped more like a skirt. To jazz them up a bit and fall in love with them again, I bought the leg seams in (unfortunately this required a little more effort than planned… ie. moving the side zipper… but it was worth it). Now they have a more boxy, trouser-like shape. I also refreshed the dark colour with a bit of over-dyeing in the washing machine. I love them all over again.

 

 

A Mini Chloe production line and pretty new labels

It all started when my daughter’s little friend pulled me aside one day and whispered, “I really, REALLY love Harper’s dress”. And that was just the icky poly tester version I made her. The poor child was suffering though the heat and weight of it that day, but she still refused to take it off.

Also about this time, the Dutch Label Shop contacted me to see if I’d like to try out some of their labels  . I was given the labels for free. It was such a busy time for me that I very nearly didn’t take them up on their offer, but I’m glad I did.

I uploaded my own design to be made into a Woven Logo Label and I absolutely love how they turned out. I didn’t expect the lines to be so defined and clear. They really do look great. The service was also excellent. They have a representative on hand to check the designs to make sure they suit the label and they contact you if needed. These labels are a little larger than what I’d normally put on a kid’s dress, but in real life, I’m much more likely to put a nice label on a coat or jacket and these will suit that perfectly. I also rarely sew for anyone outside of my direct family and I don’t make a habit of labeling everything I make. However, there is something very nice about the finishing touch that a label gives the garment.

But back to my production line of Mini Chloe’s, which include some of those dresses in the picture above. The first off the rack was made in pink fabric  as requested by the little admirer. It’s the only dress I didn’t get around to having modeled (P.S. my models charge me actual money for photo shoots these days!). It’s also not my best work sewing-wise, but the fabric is divine. It’s a vintage cotton or mixed natural fibre, but it feels like washed silk. I was in a big rush to get this dress done to surprise the little girl.

Then, I made her two sisters each a version. I used some Art Gallery voile for the little sister.

And a beautiful mix of silks for the eldest girl. These ones are a special gift so I took care with the making of them.

Then, I felt guilty about my middle child only having that horrid (but spritely yellow) polyester version. So I scrounged through all my scraps to discover that I had enough fabric left to whip up a rayon and silk version in her size. This one will be lovely to wear. She already has a matching skirt in this fabric, so she immediately fell in love with the dress.

But that’s not all. I was sorting through my small remnants of silk and rayon for middle child’s dress, my daughters were taking delight in recalling the clothes I’d sewn with all the different fabrics. They came up with the idea of “friendship dresses” for their closest friends (who also happen to be sisters). The plan was to incorporate fabrics in the friends’ dresses that I’d already used for theirs (so they could match). I had to use a bit of creativity to find enough fabric, but adding panels to the dress design made it easy. The second one will be on Instagram soon.

I love this little dress pattern and I love my new labels. The dress is so quick and easy to sew that it makes gift-sewing a breeze and the labels add the perfect final touch. I have no doubt that those cold-shoulder sleeves will be out of fashion at some point, but the dress is still a simple, classic shape. I might try sewing it sans-sleeves next summer.

 

A mini Chloe dress for Miss Eight

My girls have been watching my production of cold-shoulder dresses and tops and begging me to make them the same. This make is literally all scraps, right down to the miscellaneous, handmade, but unmatched silk and rayon bias bindings.

It’s almost an exact replica of my Chloe dress pattern, but in a mini size.

The fabric is an old poly from Spotlight. It fades a little, and catches occasionally, but it’s lightweight, and otherwise wears pretty well. In fact, it wears incredibly well, because I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Miss Eight wearing her other dress in this fabric at least twice a week since I made it.

This dress was always intended as a wearable muslin, but it has turned into one of those rare occasions where I don’t want to change a single thing about it. And I’m pretty sure Miss Eight feels the same. I’ve been watching her wear it. It looks comfortable and non-restrictive for play. It’s nearly too short for her, but she likes to wear bike pants under dresses anyway, so it still works. On an average height girl, the dress would be more modest.

Miss Six and Miss Four have put in their orders so I better get to work grading this pattern down for them. It looks like we might all be twinning in a few weeks.

Yet another cold shoulder dress #lscchloedress

And in my best attempt at boring the beautifully knitted socks off y’all… here is yet another cold shoulder dress. I’d call it my favourite, but I’m still so desperately in love with this one.

 

I know very well that this style is trend-driven and it doesn’t suit everybody’s aesthetics. There’s heaps of ease through the body to make this dress so glorious to wear on hot days. The easy fitting, slipover design imparts a sense of freedom to the wearer. If you like your dresses fitted, this one just isn’t for you.

I made this version of the Chloe dress up in what I think is rayon. I found the fabric at an estate sale a while back. The burn test indicated a natural fibre, but the lovely, drapey hand of the fabric screams rayon to me. The rayon provides the beautiful drape that this dress deserves.

I’ve made the same pattern up in a crisp linen and a (poly) organza. I really, really like those versions, but I don’t love them quite as much as I do the dresses. In fact, I’m not the only one who loves my dresses. My daughters have been begging for their own mini-versions. I was lucky enough to have a bit of extra sewing time (and scrap fabric) so I whipped together a little scrappy version for Miss Eight. This dress (both the big and mini version) is a super quick sew.

But OMG the mini version is just the cutest! I put a sneak peek on Instagram and I’ll probably get some more photos up there soon. It looks totally gorgeous on Coco so it looks like I’ll be turning this one into a PDF pattern too. I’ve made too many promises. I need to grade the mini-design down to two more different sizes for her sisters now, so I might as well do it properly and add a few bigger sizes as well!

 

More luxe loungewear

I made this set using a gorgeous, loose weave, rayon knit. I tried to keep the style extremely simple because the fabric was a little annoying to work with. The raw edges stretched out and unravelled just to look at them. The seams also stretched easily when stitching or overlocking and it took me a while to get the tension right to avoid wavy seam syndrome. I’m not too bothered though. This was always intended to be a comfy, at-home, lounge-around set, and nothing more.

The top is very loosely based on the Simplicity 1366 pattern. It’s been a magically morphing design for me. I think I may have dropped the shoulders and widened the sleeves. I also lengthened the arms, modified the bodice length and neckline, added a (loose) turtleneck, and a waistband. Some of these changes were made for this top, and some have been made in the past. I’ve lost track.

Both the leather pants and the shorts were based on V8909. I made the leather pants about three years ago now. I refashioned them more recently to have wider, and longer trouser-style legs, but they are otherwise, very much a reflection of the original pattern. The shorts are a summation of all the fit-changes I’ve made over the past few years, including a lower waist height, and improved crotch curve and length. I also omitted the faux fly and pockets, and shortened them significantly and added hembands.

 

 

A little dress refashioned

What do you do when a pretty little dress gets ripped to shreds? Well, shreds might be a slight exaggeration, and to be completely fair, it probably wasn’t entirely the fault of the child. The dress was getting a bit too snug across the chest, which was probably causing undue stress on the fabric. This child is a champion grower. She’s going to be taller than me.

She is also, by far, my roughest customer. I can’t tell you how many knees and bums and legs she’s worn through in this past Winter. I’m at the point where I won’t make anything below the waist for her anymore. It’s more sensible to buy cheap RTW leggings and trackie pants during the sales. In the past few weeks, I’ve been converting some of the salvageable ones to shorts for Summer (like the cute pink pair below). Even Miss Three doesn’t cause as much damage as her to clothes as this one does.

This dress refashion was very simple. I cut off the yoke as high up as I could and simply attached a waistband. The waistband is a scrap of lycra from my recent swimsuit. I gathered the (circle-shaped) skirt to fit the waistband and threaded some elastic through it for a little extra security. The blue was the perfect match for the skirt.

She looks like such a little lady here!

The length of this skirt is so grown up. I like the look of it on Miss Five even though I know the length is going to be subjected to all kinds of horrors. No doubt I’ll end up cutting off a torn inch here and a torn inch there, like I do with all her other dresses, until it ends up as a mini. The only thing that seems to withstand this child is silk CDC and quilting cotton.

However, I don’t think sensibility should always get in the way of fashion, especially not with little girls who like length and swish. It’s become an instant hit, which is a relief. I wasn’t quite sure how she would take the idea of me refashioning one of her favourite dresses.

 

A playsuit for Miss Five

Miss Five has had her heart set on a cheetah print playsuit for a while now. She fell in love with a silk swatch I ordered a while back and I convinced her that it would suit a little playsuit. The idea of her in cheetah print kind of appeals to me. But because I was drafting this pattern myself, I thought I’d test it out with scraps first.

The bodice is made using some beautiful Art Gallery scraps from my Carolyn Pyjamas and wrap pants. I had such a small amount of this left that both the front and back bodice pieces have centre seams. It’s not ideal, but you can hardly notice with the busy print.

 

 

 

 

The pants are refashioned from my long yellow kimono jacket. When cutting the pattern pieces, I positioned them along the side seams to preserve the pockets for the playsuit pants. The kimono rayon is heavy and drapey, but those pants would work just as well in another type of knit or even a woven fabric.

Gaucho pants and culottes are so hot right now and I love being able to translate this trend into some cool kiddie clothes. Miss Five fell instantly in love with this little playsuit and I can see her getting loads of wear out of it in summer. It’s comfortable, cute, and most importantly, she can get it on and off without too much bother.

A twirly whirly swing dress

I knew this beautiful, drapey rayon was destined for my middle child the minute I saw it on a roll at Tessuti Fabrics. I even had the dress in mind. I’m just surprised that it has taken me over a year to make it! In all fairness though, I was waiting for the original dress of it’s kind to wear out, or to be passed on to number three child. I try to avoid excess in the wardrobes of my three girls, although sometimes this is very difficult!

A very long time ago, in my pre-blogging days, I muddled my way through designing a pattern for a very simple swing dress. It turned out to be such a winner that I kept the basic pattern. Past-Debbie didn’t make many notches or notes on the pattern, so the yoke placement could definitely be improved. But still, it is a very forgiveable pattern and a style of dress that all three of my daughters just love. 

Tie dye jersey maxi dress: AKA the pyjama dress

Okay, so this isn’t strictly sleepwear, and I’d be lying if I said it was the most comfortable dress I owned. But it is seriously the second most comfortable dress I own. This is my most comfortable dress. But this tie dye maxi, I could actually sleep in it if I wanted to. It is made from the softest rayon jersey from MOOD. It is lightweight and beautifully drapey, but not at all see-through. It cost under $4 per yard, so I purchased several!

The design is a hack of my self-drafted Jaywalk dress. I just cropped the bodice to waist level and added a gathered skirt. I used clear elastic as a stay for the waist. This is a great trick for pulling the waist in on a fitted knit dress.

I’ve been getting A LOT of wear out of this dress. To be perfectly honest, I expected to get sick of tripping up stairs and end up chopping off the length with five wears. But it is such a light and comfortable dress to wear that I am even enjoying the length. And the colour is just delicious. It’s called sherbert. I want to eat it!

So this time round, it was Miss Two who scored on the scraps front. She was pretty excited about this dress because it is nearly identical to mine. We inevitably end up leaving the house in matching clothes now, because whenever I wear mine, she changes into hers. She is super cute though. Believe it or not, that happy smile hides a hideous gastro-bug that hit her like a truck only a few hours later. The smiles before the storm…

B5409: Hello yellow kimono jacket!

I’ve been inspired by a few ladies (here and here) on instagram recently. We live in worlds apart and adhere to vastly different dress codes, but I can’t help but admire how these ladies who choose to cover their hair and dress conservatively can look so individual, classically elegant, and fashionable, all the while having to adhere to much stricter fashion rules than I.

One of the things I’ve noticed, is that these ladies know how to layer. And perhaps it is the ability to drape and layer with aplomb, that has drawn my interest more than anything else. And perhaps because of them, I am a little in love with fluid, unfitted, kimono jackets right now. Yes, I’m also smitten with white, and yellow, and big, long dramatic hems…and no doubt there will be another whim to enter my world of fanaticism next week. But today, it is the kimono.

 

I would like to introduce you to my buttercup yellow kimono jacket. I love her! She is made from a beautiful, drapey, matt rayon jersey from MOOD. I cannot tell you how many yellow swatches I ordered before I settled on this one. And I did have to settle, since a remarkably more expensive 4-ply silk crepe de chine was my first choice! The jacket is a LOT heavier than it would be, had I sewn it in crepe de chine. It hangs and drapes fluidly, rather than floats. I’ve paired it with my fancy pant Ralphy tracky dacks and bad hair courtesy of night parties with two of my peeps.

 

 

 

The pattern I started from is B5409. The ghastly pictures on the pattern cover give no indication of what can be done with this pattern. I purchased it in the larger size because I’d originally intended on sewing it in a woven, despite the pattern calling for a knit. Usually, I would sew a size down from the one I chose.

The size I started with was a large (bust 38-40″). I’m about a 35″ in the bust. I made the following changes:

• graded down a size from the armpits to the hem (I had to draw my own lines to do this as the pattern didn’t include the size below)
• added inseam pockets. I just guessed the position of these and stuck them about 3″ too low in the side seams. I didn’t take into account how far down the jacket would hang due to the weight of the fabric and the low armscye
• added belt loops in the side seams (just above the pockets). Again, these are also too low, although I don’t think I will be using them anyway. I was only intending to tie a belt through the back of the jacket, not around the front, and I don’t think it needs this after all.
• ditched the collar and drafted the missing bit of facing. Because of the floppy nature of the fabric, even with interfacing, I stitched all the facing down, from neck to toe.
• sewed the cuffs on the opposite way so that I could fold them up. Tacked them in place.
• lengthened the front and back significantly and created a graduated hemline.

 

I’m really pleased with how it turned out. I will definitely be sewing this jacket again. Next time though, I will skip the belt loops and bring the pockets up a bit higher. I’m thinking I might put in a fabric order for my upcoming birthday to make this in a bright and boisterous printed crepe de chine. What do you think?