Keep yourself decent....

My experience with wrap around dresses is that they fly open in the wind.  Not good, they always fly open at the wrong moment. You may recall I made two of these dresses from Ottobre Design in a previous post, I also needed to make one because my Japanese voile dress was quite see through:

Also, in a recent post I made my go to pattern Simplicity 2371, which also was made of voile, so a half slip was necessary.

I had purchased some stretch silk some time ago for this very purpose from Rathdowne Fabrics. 

Making a half slip is very easy, and no pattern is required.  I have purposely made this slip to sit around 5 cm (2") above my knee.  I don't usually wear my dresses or skirts above my knees, so this suits me.

To make this half slip, I did the following:

1     I measured my hip measurement and added 3 cm ease plus 2 cm seam allowance
2     I decided what my length should be and added 5 cm to this length (2.5 cm for the hem and 2.5            cm for casing for elastic (just remember that the finished length needs to be shorter than your              finished dress)
3     I used the french seam technique to finish the side seams

       (a)   Place right sides of the fabric together (at the seam)
       (b)   Sew a 2/8" seam, trim to 1/8"
       (c)   Press seam
       (d)   Fold the fabric (right sides together)
       (e)   Sew a 3/8" seam
       (f)   Press
5     On the top end, turn over and press 2.5 cm, sew into place and leave an opening to insert elastic,          secure elastic and sew up the opening
6     Turn in side seams and hem and sew around this edge
7     Attach lace (since my fabric was a stretch silk I used a stretch lace) around the hem of the slip.

If my instructions don't make sense to you, here's a visual one from Craftsy.

Had I made the slip at a length below my knee I would have had to leave the side seam open at either one or both side seams.  This opening would give you room to move freely.

Happy sewing everyone.

Sandra



  

Ottobre Autumn/Winter 2013. Style 4 Raglan Sleeve Friday Evening

I'm not a big fan of stretch fabric. I find it a bit uncontrollable when cutting.

However, I am very pleased with this dress. With only three pieces to cut to put together and a fabric I bought at a sale at Rathdowne Remnants, this dress cost me $14.50. As I said I am pleased with the result. Fit is good to.  The only adjustment I made to the pattern was to add length in the bodice to suit my measurements.

So, here it is:

Happy sewing everyone.

Sandra

Ottobre Design again

I finished the top to the heart quilt this week and now have moved back to dressmaking.  Some ten weeks ago I cut out a dress, sewed the sleeves and stopped. Just stopped.  I have no reason for this sudden stop in sewing.

So after finishing the Heart Quilt quilt top, which started out as a baby quilt top, will now be a 21st present for a special young woman next year.

"What to do next?; I asked myself. "Finish that Ottobre Design dress", my inner voice replied.

I had purchased this stretch fabric from Rathdowne Remants in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia.  I don't normally fall in love with stretch fabrics; my preference is for natural fibres. This one however, I walked away when I first saw it.  Two days later I returned to purchase this fabric (I knew that if I was still thinking about it in a few days, that I would absolutely have to buy it). And buy it I did.

So, +Ottobre Design Woman Autumn/Winter 5/2013 arrived (sometime ago) and I knew that style 17 Transition wrap around dress would be used with this fabric.

It's not quite finished, but you get the general idea.  I have not added the ties and finished the neckline, hem nor hemmed the sleeves. So it's pinned onto the mannequin.

Below is a close up of the fabric:

I love Ottobre magazine, the fit  of the patterns is impressive and so are the many techniques.  Down side, I've become lazy and don't feel a need to pattern draft dress patterns.

I'd love for Ottobre to release an issue that includes some evening wear.

Give this magazine a try, if you haven't already done so.

Happy sewing everyone.

Sandra