You know I have a short attention span right? And I'm easily distracted?
We've had a lot of visitors over the last few weeks, so work has been rather stop:start this makes my mind wander......and a wandering mind leads to work avoidance, and procrastination.....which leads to random new projects!
Yesterday I started something very unusual for me, a dress for myself. I used to make a lot of clothes when I was a teenager, but then I discovered doll making. I'm so used to sewing in miniature, that the long seams on real life clothes seem to go on forever!!!
I had my eye on the Bettine dress from Tillly and the Buttons, it looks so casual, and comfy, especially in jersey
A quick trip to Franklins, my local sewing shop (just a 5 minute walk!), and it was all systems go......
I selected a viscose print, and a printed cotton jersey to get me started.
I had to adjust the pattern a little, to accommodate my large bust, and still wasn't sure if it would fit well, so I decided to make up the jersey first, even though I've never sewn jersey. I figured that the stretch would help, if I hadn't made the new pattern quite big enough....
I found some tips for sewing jersey here, even though I don't have a walking foot, the stretch stitch on my machine seemed to work really well.
The top stitching around the neck band is neat and even, I love the sleeves, the length is good, and the cuffs are a nice touch. I managed to get a neat finish on all the seams, and the neck casing. The adjustments that I made to the width of the pattern worked out well, but the bodice, and the skirt come up rather short, so I will be lengthening both of these before working on the viscose version.
I think this colour is great for Autumn, but it works well with my navy Birkenstocks too, so if we get some more sunny days, it'll still be good to go.....
With a little more adjusting to do, this won't be the last thing that I sew for myself this weekend.
Whatever you're up to this Bank Holiday weekend, enjoy yourself!!
