::Sewing::FO:: Spot the S2444 Dress

Hey there!

I attended a wedding mid April (What do you mean it's mid May!) and I made a dress, as I mentioned in my ambitions post. In true procrastinator style I didn't start making this dress until a couple of weeks before the wedding.

Of course on the day I forgot to take blog pictures of me in the dress but totally forgot so had to duck out into the garden the next day for a few quick pics.

This is another S2444, but instead of pleating the skirt (I just could not be bothered mucking around with it aaand I didn't have enough fabric anyway) I added a gathered skirt instead.

I've been wanting to make a dress with spots on a black background for some time. I don't know where the idea came from, maybe it's all the spotty goodness that happens on the sewing blogasphere.

The fabric is pretty great, it has a nice hand and I think the spots are a great way to break up the black. I think I could wear this dress to an event schmancy event. It's from the spots and stripes range from Spotlight. The lining fabric I used is some pure black cotton lawn also from spotlight. I bought 5 metres at $4.99 per metre but got a 20% discount by using a voucher (that they were handing out at the door :-O. So essentially I got a metre free. Woop woop!

After having made this dress before I made the bodice up just as I did before, lining and all. I was going to add sleeves, but I haven't fitted that pattern piece yet. I cut the sleeves out anyway in hope that they would fit (I totes knew they wouldn't, but I thought I'd try my luck). I cut them so they  ended at the shorten/lengthen line instead of at the 3/4 quarter line. I eased in one sleeve and basted up the bodice side and sleeve, but the sleeves where just slim for my biceps :( , but I liked the length :)  So that was a no go on the sleeves… this time.

Luckily though I was able to salvage the fabric but cutting out a pair of pocket pieces from the fabric. I was going to make the pocket linings out of the lining fabric, but when I went to sew them together I realised that the lining fabric would be too flimsy for pockets.

Putting the pockets in with a gathered skirt posed a challenge and I had to have a bit of a think before I did it. The skirt was made up of 3 skirt panels, 1 front and 2 back to allow for a centre zip. I sewed the pockets to the skirt side seams, leaving a 1 inch gap at the top. Then I sewed the skirt side seams and pocket together. Sewing the top 1 inch of the skirt side seams together meant that I could sew the 3 lines of gathering stitches along the top of all 3 skirt panels. Gathering the skirt was a pain in the arse and my gathers weren't perfect, but I just had to sigh and say "progress, not perfection" and keep going.

To finish off it was a matter of attaching the skirt to the bodice, inserting the zipper; hand stitching the bodice lining to the zipper and waist seam allowance; and hemming. The zipper puckered a bit, which probably could have been avoided if I had used some stabiliser. I would like to find some fusible web for puckering zips.

Once I finished my dress I wasn't sure about how I was going to accessorise. I was totally going to default to my usual black, but then I thought red might be a nice change. So, the day before I went out and bought red shoes, belt and bag.
I'm so glad that I went with red, they really pop against the black.

The front neckline on this dress gapes, I'm able to pinch about 2 inches out of the front neckline; but the back seems fine. The bodice lining makes it a bit of bitch to iron. I probably didn't need to line the bodice on this dress because it is a cotton and breathes ok. So next time I'll have to think about fibre content of the fashion fabric before I add a lining. The pockets being attached at the waistline make it hard to iron the skirt properly at the side seams, but I can live with that.

~Pattern~
Simplicity 2444 - Bodice
Self drafted (kinda) gathered skirt

~Changes I made this time~

• Lined bodice - like last dress
• Pockets extended to waist seam - like last dress
• Gathered skirt instead of pleated skirt

~What I Like~

• Fabric
• Gathered skirt
• Pockets!!!

~What I Don't Like~

• Neckline gapes a bit
• Zipper wrinkled when it went in

~Changes for Next Time~

• Pinch out about 2 inches from the neckline (1 inch on the pattern neckline and rotate it out to one of the bust darts) 
• Try fitting the sleeves on this dress

STATS

Pattern	Simplicity 2444 - I've used it before - Free	$0.00
Fabric	Spotlight Spots and Stripes100% cotton 2.5 m @ 9.99/m Black lawn 100% cotton 1.5 m @ about $4/m	~$25.00 ~$6.00
Notions	Thread had it on hand - Free	$0.00
Time	8 hours (* $16-ish Australian minimum wage)	$128.00
Total		~$159.00

~Final Comment~
I'm really happy with this dress. Even though gathering was a pain I really like the gathered skirt. I like how the red accessories I wore with this dress popped. This is a great dress that I can wear to any occasion. I've already worn it to a few other social gatherings and I'm really happy with it and want to make more. With a few tweaks this bodice would devinately be a great TNT (tried and true) pattern.

Do you  make things based on ideas you have first or do you make something based on the materials you have?
I'd really like to hear from you, leave a comment below :)

Until next time,

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::Sewing:: Navy S2444 - Behind the Seams Part 2 Pattern adjustments

In this behind the seams I'm going to go over the pattern adjustments I made to S2444.
Here is S2444 Behind the Seams Part 1.

BODICE ADJUSTMENT
I couldn't find anything on the interwebs about it so I thought I would write this post so hopefully someone will stumble up on it in their time of need.

I traced the front bodice pattern on some paper (I use a giant roll of kitchen grease proof paper and tape strips together). I then marked in the seam allowances - the blue outline. I drew in the cutting lines for the adjustment in pencil.

To make my life easier I drew the 3/4" guide the FBA on some spare paper.

Next it was cutting time!
I slashed the pattern from the inner waist dart to the shoulder seam line.
Upon reflection I should have cut from the bust point to the armscye.

To fix that, I drew a line from the armscye to the bust point and tapped the top of the waist-shoulder slash.
Then I slashed from the side seam to the bust point. Remembering to make a little hinge.
Using the 3/4" guide that drew I lined up the waist-bust point slash along the lines.

I scratched my head for awhile here because I thought I would have to make a side dart because of the adjustment. But then I had an 'Aha!' moment and just rotated the side dart closed.

Now I slashed from bust point to centre front fold line and moved it down 3/4", using my cutting ruler as a guide.

I put some paper behind all the gaps and stuck it all together. I redrew the inner waist dart-in black.

I wasn't happy with the uneven waist darts so I redrew the darts-in red below (sorry about the bad photo).
To calculate how to change the darts I measured between the dart legs of both darts at the seam line.
Added them together and then divided by 2.
In the picture below I also have drawn in the change in the side seam/waist seam with the side seam pivoting out to add 1" to the waistline.

Then I retraced the whole pattern including the FBA and the side seam adjustment.
I drew the dart legs in light blue so I put a bit of paper behind so you could see them in the photo.

SKIRT ADJUSTMENT
I needed to adjust the skirt pieces so they would match up with the bodice, because I had adjusted the bodice side seam by moving it out 1" at the waistline.

I kept this adjustment simple. I slashed both the front and back pattern pieces from the waist to the hem and added 1" stripes to match the 1" adjustment made on the bodice.

POCKET ADJUSTMENT
The pocket that is provided in S2444 is just a basic side seam pocket. I haven't much experience with them, but I just know that having a pocket flapping around in the skirt would annoy me.
So I decided to adjust the skirt so that It attached at the waist seam to stop 'pocket-flap'.

I laid the original pocket pattern on the front skirt, with the pocket facing inwards and the sides seam notches matching.
Initially I laid the pocket piece so that the pocket was facing out, but soon realised my mistake. You can see that I started to trace the side seam in faint red below. 

I drew a line from the 'outer-most' part of the pocket straight up to the waistband.

Then I laid the pocket pattern under the skirt pattern and drew a notch where the pocket cutting line would match up with the skirt waistline.

Then I drew in the seam lines and cutting lines on the right side of the pocket pattern.

I hope all of that made sense. Holla at me if you need some help - just pop a comment below.

Have you been puzzled about how to make a pattern adjustment? What did you do?
Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you :)

Until next time,

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::Sewing:: Navy S2444 - Behind the Seams Part 1

I showed my Navy S2444, but I didn't tell you about the journey from pattern to a finished dress. I thought it would be interesting for people who don't sew much.

There was a lot involved in the making of this dress. I want to make some notes about the process mainly for my own reference, but if other people get some value out of it that's awesome!

I'm going to have to break this up into a few posts, because there is just so much involved. I'm not going to go over every step in detail, but there are some things I will expand on.

Simplicity 2444 Construction Steps This is a quick and dirty list of steps I took to make S2444 Traced size 20 to paper Transferred seam lines on toile using a tracing will and wax paper Sewed toile; inserted a zipper in the centre back of the muslin with the stopper at the neck  Increased bottom of bodice side seam at waist by 1 inch on both front and back FBA - 3/4 inch increase adjustment for a D cup (as per The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting, p130). I was completely baffled by how to do this over 2 darts. Google searches came up with nothing. Rotated side waist seam increase from FBA to waist dart closer to the front Raised both dart apexes 1 inch. Split dart uptake between the two darts (both darts are now 2.5 inches)  Added 1 inch to side of skirt patterns Adjusted pocket pattern piece so they attached at the waist Wrote a quick construction checklist Cut dress fabric Cut bodice lining fabric Staystitched bodice necklines - outter and lining, front and back Sewed outter and lining bodices at shoulder seams, pressed, finished seams Sewed bodice to lining at neckline, pressed, clipped and finished seams Sewed bodice to lining at armholes, pressed, clipped and finished seams Turned the bodice right side out - had to pull the back pieces to the front through the shoulder channel Sewed the bodice side seams - 1 continuous seam for outter and lining Sewed skirt centre front seam, pressed and finished seams Basted front and back skirt pleats (the centre front pleats where a nightmare!) Basted pleats at the skirt waist seam Sewed pockets to skirt front and backs side seams, pressed, finished seams Sewed the skirt front and back together at side seams (going around pockets), pressed, finished seams Basted pocket tops to skirt waist seam Attached bodice outter to skirt waist, pressed, finished seams Basted the back seam where the zipper would go, sewed the lower seam Hand basted the zipper in place Machine sewed the zipper Hand sewed the bodice lining to the waist seam and zipper tape Finished the hem edges (or tried to before my overlocker tried to eat the fabric) Hemmed the dress

I used some of the techniques from The Couture Dress Craftsy class to make this dress.

I made a toile (a.k.a. Muslin - which is a test garment) using some muslin.

I traced the seam lines onto my toile.
I actually accidentally traced and thread traced the seam lines onto the toile.
To fix this I just used the quilting guide on my sewing machine set to 5/8" and traced the seam lines.

I started by fitting the bodice. I thought this would be the hardest part to fit, but once it was done the rest would go smoother. I picked a size 20 on the pattern and compared my measurements with the pattern. They were pretty close so I thought I'd sew the straight size to see how it was.

I inserted an upside down zipper to make trying it on easy. I nearly sewed it in with the stopper at the waist - lucky I dodged that bullet.

When I sewed it up the waist was too tight. So the first adjustment I made was to increase the waist seam.

From there I made an FBA (full bust adjustment)

The original front bodice pattern

The front bodice pattern with the FBA adjustments

I did a final muslin and was happy with the fit so I moved on to my fashion fabric and lining fabric.

That's enough for now I think.

Until next time,

Do you like to remember the nitty gritty of something you make? 
If so, How do you make notes about it?
Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you :)

Until next time,

::Sewing::FO::Navy S2444

Did I meet my first sewing ambition for 2014!
I sure did! But only just...

I wore a handmade dress to the first wedding I attended in 2014; but I was sewing on the day of the wedding. Luckily the wedding was in the afternoon/evening.

The construction was going smoothly enough but there were a few hiccups.
I had basted the back seam shut to insert the zipper and hand basted the zipper in ready for machine sewing the next day.
The next day I decided that I was going to undo the seam basting before I machine stitched the zipper in. What?! Why!?
So as I was machine stitching the centered zipper the waist seam shifted a bit. Could have been easily avoided. Grrr.
Note to self: Morning brain, you do not know better than evening brain!

As I was hemming my dress my overlocker decided it was a really good time to chuck a sh*tfit. So I just overlocked what I could and just hemmed the damn thing.
Note to self: don't leave making a dress to the last minute in case you have a hiccup like this!

My hemming and zipper hiccups

Anyway, even after all that blah stuff happening. I'm pretty happy with my first ever dress. Here is a quick snap of the insides.

I hand sewed the bodice lining at the waist and to the zipper

I would have posted this sooner but I forgot to pictures on the day. 

Doh!
When I got home I realised I somehow got a massive grease stain on the front so I had to wash it before I took photos. I had a lot of trouble getting the stain out, but I got there in the end.
Note to self: Stop eating like a caveman!

On Sunday afternoon I thought I'd better get on and post this dress. So, I quickly recreated how I styled my dress at the wedding. The sun was right the time was right, but my hair was very wrong. I tried to wrangle my locks into something barely respectable, but there was not cooperation. So, I just slapped on a hat.

I somehow coaxed Mr S into taking pictures. He was a very reluctant photographer. So here is an outtake action shot of me giving some 'constructive feedback' ;P

"Back up! You don't have to be so close, I'll crop it later"

So I'm still kinda on track with my sewing ambitions for 2014. I have to admit my exercise ambition isn't going so great, but hey I'm doing better than I was before :)

How are you travelling with your 2014 ambitions so far?
Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you :)

Until next time,