Tent Dress

Hello all! I hope your weekends are all going swimmingly. This dress is my too-hot-to-function outfit of the year. Some great memories have been made whilst wearing this dress, such as falling bottom first onto a straw and dung covered floor and visiting a waterfall. All good stuff.

According to Instagram I started this project a whole 60 weeks ago last summer. I cut all the pieces out using the vintage pattern Style 2401 omitting the ruffle, sewed a single seam and then it got thrown to the wayside for some more pressing makes.

I dug it up again at Easter when I was looking for some summer projects to take back to uni and thought it would be great for hot weather, should we have any. I then had one of those argh I have nothing to wear tomorrow moments sometime in May and made a huge amount of progress. Late into the night I decided that enough was enough. I did have something to wear really, and so the dress lay to be completed another day. And then when I was looking for a dress to wear to visit my dear friend Rachel in Derby last month I pounced upon this dress and finally got it finished.

There wasn't much to the sewing really. There are only 4 pattern pieces. I wasn't that impressed with the amount of gathering that goes into the yoke though. It's rather pitiful. The volume of the dress as a whole is fantastic though, I have no quarrel with that!

After trying it on I ended up taking a few cm off the shoulders and the side seams to tighten the armholes up a bit. I bias bound the neckline and armholes, handsewn into place as always. I also cut a bit off the hem to make it a bit more fun than frumpy. I then pinned up the hem various amounts, sewed it once, then decided that it was rather too short so I unpicked that and did a baby machine hem instead. It is a bit dodgy, but not hugely noticeable so I decided to go with it.

The fabric is a beautifully patterned silk that you may remember from one of last years vintage pledge makes, the culotte jumpsuit. This is a really breezy and cool dress to wear, perfect for the occasional really hot days we've had this summer.

Thanks very much for reading and to Ed for interrupting his rocky ramblings to take pictures. As always, much obliged.

Lauren xx

August Minerva Make: Floral strappy back dress and linen top

Hello all! For this months Minerva Make I picked out this gorgeous floral print for a skirt and some pink linen for a co-ordinating top. The plan was to have 2 pieces that would be great to mix and match.

You can read more about the making of the outfit here.

Lauren xx

City gym shorts and an off the shoulder tee

 Hello all! Today I have another holiday make to share with you. I wanted some comfier shorts for travel and beach days, had a quick google for patterns and this one by Purl Soho came up. I love binding and curved side seams. The extra detail just makes them that bit more special.

The fabric was a cotton remnant from a skirt that my Mum made once upon a time. There wasn't very much of it at all and I've been hoarding it for quite some time, waiting for the perfect project. It's finally got its time to shine. I think the colours in it are fantastic, and it's such a fun print.

The shorts were pretty quick to sew up, even with the binding. I used a pink linen which was a left over from one of my Minerva makes. It was very satisfying to press into place and topstitch and I'm very proud of the results. The waistband is narrower than specified in the pattern, only because I had a narrower width of elastic to hand which works perfectly fine. There isn't an awful lot of ease in the hips, so I'd probably add a bit more next time but the shorts are still perfectly comfortable to wear.

The top was whipped up from another jersey remnant using the raglan tee pattern from sew you home stretch yet again. See it used for completely different looks here and here. I just folded down the neckline on each pattern piece an inch or two to get the off the shoulder look.

All the seams are zigzagged using my sewing machine. I stretched the elastic slightly when sewing it onto the neckline, turned it over and topstitched. All the hems are raw because I liked the length of everything where it was at. I'm really happy with both the pieces in this outfit and I hope there's still enough summer left in the UK to enjoy wearing them!

Thanks very much for reading and to Edward for taking photos,

Lauren xx

Spotty Noelle bikini top

Hello all! Today I have to show you my version of Madalynne's Noelle bralette in swimsuit form. This seemingly straightforward swimsuit fought me every step of the way but I got there in the end, just like George did with his dragon.

The fabric I bought two summers ago in Sydney with the wonderful Susan. The store we went to had a wonderful selection of swimsuit fabrics and I thought I'd better stock up because the swimsuit fabric selection in the UK is not so good. I used the blue floral for my Closet Case Files Sophie Swimsuit, and this spotty spandex was a remnant perfect for a bikini.

After seeing Madalynne releasing the Noelle bralette as another free pattern I thought it would be perfect for these polka dots. I decided that it would be perfectly doable to cut out and sew the entire thing at 11pm the night before I was due to leave for a bit of a tour around the UK because I wanted to take blog pics on my Welsh friend MK's beach. 

It may not come as a surprise to you that this was not even remotely doable. I managed to cut out both the lining and the outer, and to sew them both together at the bottom with some elastic. It was at this point that I discovered that the bottom was far too loose because I hadn't stretched it far enough. I decided that it was time to call it a night.

I decided to take the pieces with me, along with my fabric scissors and thread, just in case. After all, several of my friends study costume with me and do have sewing machines at home. I got to Amy's and managed to down the armholes with a lot of swearing and snapped thread and skipped stitches. I got to Millies and managed to sew down the neckline, again with a lot of swearing and snapped thread and skipped stitches. It was at this point that I decided that it was not to be, and put it aside to finish it another time.

Not having learnt my lesson, I decided the night before leaving for France that I could finish my swimsuit in time for this trip instead. I only had the straps to do and to take out a chunk at each side seam to sort out the gaping elastic. I did get it finished just in time, although matching bottoms didn't happen. I think that if I had brought a ballpoint needle with me, the whole sewing process would have been much smoother.

After all of that drama I was able to wear my new swimsuit to the cutest little waterfall that we found near to where we are staying and got some cracking photos. Alls well that ends well! 

Thanks for reading, to Amy and Millie for letting me use their machines in my time of need and to Ed for taking photos!

Lauren xx

Jersey Named Inari Tee

Hello from France! Today I have quite a simple make to share with you. This is the top version of the Named Inari tee dress pattern.  

 I made it up in a really comfy khaki cotton jersey knit for part of my holiday wardrobe. The cutting out and sewing processes were both quite speedy and the top only took an hour or two from start to finish. I didn't make any adjustments to the fit which always speeds the process along.

The hem has just the right amount of swing in it to make it perfect for warmer weather, allowing a gentle breeze through. I think a fitted bottom helps keep it flattering. In retrospect, I'm not quite sure about the fit of the armhole and sleeve. Next time I'd like to superimpose an armhole from a different pattern and see how that works out.

 I used a fusible tape to stabilize the hem before sewing it down. I usually zigzag everything on knits but this time, I top-stitched the hem with a straight stitch, which I think looks a tad more professional. Next time I would probably add another row of stitching to give the coverstitch effect.

 I really do like the silhouette of this top and I've already made another one, with another on the to do list. It's a winner!

 Thanks very much for reading, and to Edward for taking photos,
Lauren xx