Unravel- Beautiful new haberdashery shop..

I just had to do a post about Unravel- the brand new haberdashery shop which has just opened in Denby Dale.

There are so few good wool and sewing shops opening especially up here in West Yorkshire so it's quite a treat to have one open your doorstep!

As well as having some of your usual acrylic knitting wools, Unravel also stocks lovely unusual wools which contain other natural fibres such as linen, silk and cotton, these are available in a great range of natural shades. Some of the wool brands stocked are Shilasdair, Debbie Bliss, Louisa Harding, Artesano, Elvincraft yarns and many more.

Towards the back of the store there are sewing notions and beautiful Indian trims and tassels.

On the first floor there is a charming room called The Shawl Room which houses vibrant scarves, cushions, fabrics and much more from India.

There's also a smaller room next door which contains a nice little range of quilting fabrics. The owner Mary, has also utilised the top and ground floors. The top floor being a gallery space for local designers and artists to exhibit in, while various craft classes will be held on the ground floor. Unravel's website should be up and running this week you can check it out here (there may also be an opportunity to buy from the website in the not so distant future).

Mary has gone for a clean look and layout for the store which I really like, and I think enhances the warming colours of all the wools, threads and trims she stocks in the main area of the shop.

Just seeing all the lovely wools in this shop makes me want to take up hand knitting again, I'll definitely have to try out some of their wools on my knitting machine when the winter comes...I can't wait!

Long time no post! general update...

Long time no post! Sorry for the time it has taken to update the blog. We've been in the process of moving house and preparing for baby number two which is due in a couple weeks! I had mentioned beforehand that I was hoping to get a spring/summer collection out for 2011 but it's looking very unlikely. I have designs ready and waiting to be sewn up and photographed but with all that's been going on it hasn't been possible to commit the time needed to the work. Hopefully I can work on a few pieces for autumn/winter 2011.

On another note I was pleased to receive an update on the Burdastyle Sewing Handbook which I was able to contribute to last year. It's due to be released on November 1st 2011 and I noticed that my bag features on the front cover! I'm really looking forward to seeing all the great projects that the members of the burdastyle website have worked on.

2 hour Maternity top

As many of you will know I'm expecting our second baby in a few months. I'm at that stage where I need proper maternity clothing, tops more than bottoms. I love many of the items for sale at Isabella Oliver as they are stylish as well as wearable. I also like the range of jersey tops they have which are fitted under the bump area instead of gaping, which in my opinion makes me look 5 times bigger! However, as usual I don't have the budget to fork out £49.00 on a plain jersey top so I set myself a challenge. As I'm busy with the summer collection, I don't have heaps of time so the challenge was to design, draft and make a simple, versatile maternity top which could be made in a couple of hours. Yesterday afternoon I managed to do just that!

I started off my altering an existing basic jersey top pattern. You can get the Lydia pattern from burdastyle for a dollar (or free if you email me, I'll send it to you).
I created ruching by cutting and spreading the tummy area, roughly the length of my bump.



For detail I altered the neckline so it was more of a bateau shape and also inserted a gathered shoulder yoke.

Then to finish it off I drafted some very simple grow on cap sleeves.
Voila! A simple jersey top which can be worn as it is or layered in colder weather.



The length and fitted hem is perfect for wearing as a gathered top (allowing you to wear your usual trousers with the fly undone) or a tunic. For this first top I used up some spare petrol coloured fine jersey I had in storage and it's incredibly comfortable, but I think I'll try using some jersey which is a little thicker but still very stretchy. I hope to be making a few more of these in the coming weeks and maybe try out a few other styles too.

The Final Mouret dress!

Happy new year and apologies for the lack of posts over the holidays! Before the Christmas break I managed to finish the Mouret inspired dress for my friend, Carol. I was really happy with the outcome and so was Carol. Carol choose the perfect colour to complement her complexion and also found some really lovely accessories which matched the dress perfectly. She looked beautifully elegant.


I was especially glad to have been able to achieve that square neckline which didn't gape but sat nicely on the shoulders and chest. I find that this is a great difficulty for me and many others when wanting to buy an 'off the peg' dress from the shops. The chest area always gapes! so I end up wearing dresses/tunics mostly made from a stretchy fabric like jersey. A big thanks again to all those more experienced seamstresses from The Sewing Forum who answered a few of the queries I had about this neckline!




The poly satin fabric we used wasn't too much of a nightmare to work with although I did find it difficult to press on a low heat and take to the fusible interfacing at times. This fabric frayed very easily, especially at the bust points where the seam allowances were clipped. Using iron-on interfacing on the seam allowance of these seams really helped me out! and will be something I will be definitely trying out again on other garments.


Hemming this dress was also a tricky choice as it was so fine and snagged very easily. I thought I would be able to hem it by hand but the impression stitches on the right side would have spoilt the hem for sure, no way was I going to spoil the dress right at the end!
So I researched into hemming satin and silk fabrics and decided to use fusible hemming tape which worked beautifully! One word of advice - always, always try out stitches or fusible tapes on a scrap piece of fabric. I had quite a few tries with the tape on scrap pieces of satin before I went ahead and tackled the dress itself. The patience was well worth it!!

Stylish Dress Book vol 1- How to make a tunic dress V

I managed to sew up the next dress from my Japanese sewing book a few weeks ago, dress V which is the shirt dress with a collar and pocket. I found sewing this up was much like the first dress although I did find sewing the collar a tad tricky as I've never actually sewn a garment which has a fold over collar. I did however manage to work it out by looking at an existing shirt I had which had a similar collar.

I made a few alterations to the pattern which I thought would give it a slightly more feminine touch to it. I noticed on the original pattern the shape of the shoulder is quite straight and was of a dropped nature so I raised the shoulder line and added gathers. I also added gathers to the cuff. Below is how I did these alterations.

For this dress I chose a lovely soft cotton plaid fabric (about 1.7 metres). Matching up the lines wasn't too bad with this pattern, it just took a little extra time to make sure they were in line.

The alterations

Raising the shoulder
Trace your sleeve pattern onto tracing paper. To give the shoulder a raised look you'll need to increase the head by about 2cm. Mark 2cm above the very top of the sleeve and then draw a gentle slope, starting from the back balance point mark. This line will continue over the top of the sleeve head and to finish at the front balance point mark.



This is your new sleeve head. Now you've altered the sleeve you'll need to take 2cm off of the front and back bodice piece. This is to ensure that the sleeve will comfortably fit the sleeve hole.
Mark 2cm in from the end of the shoulder on the front bodice piece. Start from that mark and draw a gentle curve sloping inwards until you reach the sleeve line where the balance point is. Then cut off the area you've just marked.




Do the same with the back bodice piece and you're done.

This technique of raising the shoulder is really useful when you require a gathered shoulder head. Raising the shoulder allows the gather to sit slightly in of the end of the shoulder which aesthetically looks better.

Gathers
So onto creating those gathers. At the bottom of your sleeve measure the desired height of the cuff you want, I think I made mine 5cm. Mark across and cut this amount off. This is your cuff- remember to add seam allowance to the top edge of your cuff after pinning it to your fabric.

Starting from the top centre line on your new sleeve piece draw 5 lines, 2cm apart. Cut down along these lines.


Number your strips and then spread them out leaving spaces of the desired amount (I did 2cm). Stick these all down on top of a new sheet of tissue paper, tidy the top sleeve curve by re-drawing the line. Go onto cut around the whole sleeve shape.


This will be your new sleeve. Your gather line will be from where the first strip starts to where the last cut strip ends. Now you're ready to sew the rest of the dress.

Step 3. Sew pocket

Take your pocket and fold in and press the seam allowances according to the image in step 3. remember that the top edge folds over twice, once by 1cm and again by 1.5cm making a total of 2.5cm. Sew down your top edge, 2mm from the edge.


At this point I actually sewed all the edges down as shown in the main image on page 76 and then sewed the pocket to the dress front. However the proper way would probably be to just go straight ahead and sew the pocket onto the dress without sewing the edges down first. by the sewing the edges down first it did help me to neatly sew the pocket to the dress more easily, especially as the pocket it cut on the bias but it's up to you which way you do it!




There are quite a few steps to this tunic so I'll be posting them up in stages! Stage two coming soon...

Featured Interview with Trina Holden

I just wanted to say a big thank you to friend and fellow seamstress Trina Holden over the pond for featuring me on her lovely blog All that is Good as part of her Fabulous Fridays item. I'm looking forward to following the other interviews in the series as it's great to get to know about other like minded seamstresses who love to sew!

Mouret dress: Work in progress 1

Just a quick post to show how the dress is coming along. Here are photos of the poly satin fabric and of the lining I have nearly finished sewing.

Because we couldn't locate lining which matched the self fabric perfectly I've made facing pieces from the self fabric for the neckline and I'm wondering whether to do the same for the edge of the sleeve too.

Once this part is finished it'll be onto the main part of the dress and interfacing the parts of the dress which come under a lot of strain and are prone to stretching. Lots to do and only 4 weeks to go till the wedding event!

Mouret dress: Fitting number 3

Today we had the last fitting for the Mouret inspired dress. I forgot to take photos of the final dress fitting and to mention how the second fitting went but there were only a few minor alterations to be made which I think I've got in hand. These included altering the toile to accommodate swayback, widening the hip area and curving in the princess seam at the neckline. I've really learnt a lot about the numerous subtle alterations which have to be made in order to achieve a really great fitting dress and it makes me have even more of an appreciation for couture fashion designers who create perfectly fitting garments for their clients and do it all by by hand!

We also bought the fabric (a lovely turquoise poly satin) and notions we need for the final dress so I'm just about ready to get going! The last thing I need to do is create extra pattern pieces for the lining pieces and the areas of the dress which are interfaced. I'll document the process of the final make up of this dress -I'm looking forward to seeing the final result! I don't regularly sew with satin fabrics so if anyone has any tips about working with this type of slippery satin fabric I'll be happy to hear them. Off to work I go!

Stylish Dress Book Vol 1- How to make a tunic

I bought this amazing Japanese pattern book The Stylish Dress Book Vol 1 awhile ago but I've never made time to make any of the lovely garments which feature inside. The Stylish Dress Book has been described as the 'The mother of all Japanese dress books' on other blogs and indeed it is!.

There are plenty of photos and reviews about this great book online but I too would love to share my experience of making up a tunic from this book - and post some how-to instructions.

All the instructions in this book are in Japanese however there are clear illustrations which explain the process of making up each garment. Saying that, I wouldn't recommend this book to beginners as it assumes that you already have knowledge of various sewing techniques e.g. button holes, attaching bias binding and hemming. I'll try and create as many links to sites which explain these techniques if extra help is needed.

So I decided to make Dress G (below), also I've not seen an example of this tunic elsewhere on the web so all the more reason to try it out.
The instructions below are just my own account of how I've made this tunic, I hope they will be of help to those who have this book but haven't yet made something from it. Let me know if I've left anything out or a particular point needs more clarification! If you don't have the book and you like the style of the clothing I can recommend it to you. I bought mine from pomadour a lovely etsy shop for a good price.

Firstly you'll need to trace pattern G onto pattern paper or tissue paper. The pattern sheet will look a bit daunting at first but just have look for all the lines which are marked G. There are five pattern pieces altogether. (Note: I personally couldn't find the second longer bias pattern piece which is for the neckline so I doubled the length of the bias pattern piece which is used for the sleeve. There might have been a note about this in the book but since it's all in Japanese I couldn't tell!)

Lay your pattern pieces on your fabric and mark your 1cm (or 1.5cm) seam allowance (Remember none of the patterns in the book have seam allowance included!!)
I chose to use a lightweight spotted cotton lawn with embroidered flowers, not very wintery but I really love it.

Also remember to copy all markings that are on the pattern to the fabric. I like to thread mark (sewing a loop through one layer of fabric) these marks instead of using tailors chalk- it takes slightly more time but it's well worth it when you come to matching up the pieces. I marked the front placket area which chalk.

Cut out your pieces. Then give them a quick iron and lay all aside accept for the front bodice piece. On your front bodice piece you are going to cut down the centre front line, and across both left and right until the specified markers. So your cut line will look like an upside down T. Now you will make your front button placket.

Step 1- As shown in the first illustration in your book you'll need to fold in twice (by 2cm), either side of the centre front line you've just cut along as shown below.

And then sew along the edges like so...

Step 2- Now you are going to create the gather below the button placket.
Sew a basting stitch (the longest stitch on your machine) 0.2 cm from the line you cut along the bottom (when cutting the thread at the end of stitching this line make sure it's long enough for you to hold). The red lines indicate the line you will sew along. The white marks indicate the chalk marks I've made which stand for the outer lines you will follow when sewing up the hole.

To create the gather pull the threads sticking out at each end until the button plackets overlap as shown in the illustration. It should look something like the photo below.

Overlap the plackets and pin in place. Now you are going to sew to close up the space in between the gather and placket. Pin (and baste stitch if easier) the top edge of the gather and the bottom edge of the placket like so.

Now sew long the marks you previously made starting from one end until you have completely closed the space.

And there you have your basic gathered placket front!

Topstitch 0.2cm above the front seam line making sure your seam allowance is neatened and facing upwards.

Then sew a reinforcing stitch 0.5 cm above the front seam line on top of the placket opening. Remember to remove your thread marks!

Now you can sew your bodice front piece to you bodice back piece. Serge/neaten and press all your seams. Top stitch your shoulder seams.

Step 4- Create the gathers at the neckline and back bodice piece. Create these gathers in the same way you did the front seam gather but stitch a second basting stitch very close to the first. this will help you to control the gathering when you pull the threads.

Prepare your bias binding pieces and pin the binding onto the neckline leaving 1cm protruding out after the placket line at each end of neckline.

Sew your binding down. Carefully press the bias bound neckline to give it a nice finish.

Step 5- Sleeves
Sew your sleeve ends together, press and neaten your seams.

Step 6- Sew the side seams of the main bodice together. Pin and sew your sleeve onto the main bodice piece and top stitch the seam (on the bodice side)

Step 7- Gather the sleeve ends and sew on the bias binding in the same manner as the neckline.

To finish the sleeve cuffs make sure you fold one end back by 1cm and place the fold line in right next to the seam line of the sleeve. Look at illustration 7 for clarification and the photo below. then place the other end on top of the other and sew down your binding. Then proceed to fold over and finish your binding.

You're nearly done!!

Step 8- Sew your hem. I serged the edge of the fabric and then turned it up (and pressed) by about 1cm. Then I sewed the hem down from the right side.

The last step is to sew your buttons and buttonholes. I forgot to take picture of this but if you need help visit here.

And there you go! A wonderful tunic! I wanted to add a bit of shape to the waist area as the tunic itself is on the baggy side. I simply sewed on two long narrow pieces of tape made from the same fabric and then added a little button detail and voila!

I'm really happy with the result and I want to try the same pattern but in a warmer fabric, perhaps a lightweight wool. I also want to try Dress V which is a shirt dress. It has the same placket front but is a little longer and also seems to be slightly more fitted than dress G. It also has a collar which I prefer as a neckline.

If any one has any questions about making up this tunic, if I can help I'll be happy to do so!
Happy sewing!