End of summer sewing... Geneva blouse, Bondi dress...

Oof. As my year off draws to a close, I am in a bit of a sewing ... frenzy.

Kind of frenzy, anyway. Not a lot of production, but I have been focusing on fitting . 

in the sun

Finished a second Bondi dress for Ottawa daughter. She liked the first one so much that she immediately asked for a second one. I hesitated... I did have a lot in my queue, but when daughter as client asks for another of whatever I have made her, you don't hesitate too long.

the intended colours!

I had this length of white linen-like rayon in my stash, possibly purchased at an estate sale. She wanted "sage". In fact, she pointed at the jetson buttonholer attachment case and said just like that. 

side view

So I purchased some Rit dye (sage), and dyed the fabric. Two things: I should only have used half the bottle, and I should have used the minimum time. Because the resulting colour is NOT the colour I was hoping for. It is pretty, and she okayed it, but still!

back view

Making up a simple dress for the second time is easy going - no fitting muslin to make, and all the steps were known. However, as usual, I stalled at the button! I hate sewing buttons on. And I am tried to do another covered button, but could not get it to work, so abandoned that.

And here is another thing. Apparently I had installed the pocket UPSIDE DOWN on Bond.1.  What, you say? An experienced sewist like you? 

Yep. I blame the instructions, and a brief episode of geo-spatial confusion. The notches for the pocket placement (top and bottom) are both labelled 'A'. What is the point? If they were labelled A and B it would be clear how to place the pocket! And although I inspected the line drawings I still got it wrong. The weird thing is that I find the Tessuti instructions are far too 'hand-holding' for the most part - so why did they not get this important thing right?

Oh - and she noticed right away, but I said - well I guess it is just a strange pattern. And then when she put her hands in the pockets of Bondi.2 she said... these pockets are better.

🙄

looks different indoors!

 

At the suggestion of my local frock-friends, I decided to give the Liesl & Co. Geneva blouse another go. My first one had been a fitting disaster, and a terrible fabric. So I re-read my notes, and made a muslin a size and cup-size up. (So instead of 10B I made a 12C). The fit seemed excellent - the bust dart was even at the right place. 

  

It still needed some adjustments. I had taken the Pattern Review online class on fitting the armhole. As a result I decided to raise the armhole (under the arm) by 1 cm. I added back neck darts to relieve the gaping at the armhole back. I also added 1 cm across the back, and removed 1 cm vertically from each front piece. (I think this messed with the front hem curve a bit too much, though!).

I am very pleased with the fit!

The suggestion to remake this was for one of my Hanoi probably-not-silk purchases. I gelatined it to make it stiffer and easier to handle. I used these instructions from Threads... or rather adapted them. They had such a small sample! 

 

As part of the August pop-up sew along at Pattern Review ("he wonder of what is under!") I tried my hand at Jalie 3131 - a simple bra (bralette?), using lycra scraps. It was fun to sew, but is a bit saggy. No photos, sorry! Am still working on it, though.

I also sewed up a pair of skin-toned shorts to wear under my shorter dresses. I used my tried 'n true Clara leggings pattern (from Jalie). I used the swim lining that I did not use in my swim-suit. They look pretty ordinary, but they will do the job! Pleased to get that done.

It is my goal to finish the kilt upcycle before I go back to school. I finally got up the nerve to cut into it. I had also decided to use silk organza to underline most of it (but not the pleated panel because that wouldn't work - the idea is that the pleated panel allows for freer movement...). Those bias cut front pieces were very challenging. I could not cut the silk organza properly. I was "flatlining", which means I needed to cut the piece 5/8 inch bigger than the main piece. Well, because it is on the bias, I could not get it right.... so in the end the underlining is a bit looser than the main pieces. (And, full disclosure, I had to patch a piece near the top...).

 

BUT, I think I also stretched the front pieces. The skirt was too big. She could pull it off without unzipping. So... I put it aside for a few days. I finally decided to cut out a waistband at the estimated smaller size, get her to try that on, and if it fits better, to bring in the side seams to fit the waistband. But somehow, the waistband pieces don't match the skirt front and back. So that will be the facing.

 

By the way, the instructions for the skirt appear to be missing a few steps. So don't try this unless you are willing to go your own way. Frankly, I suspect that this is true of most Lekala patterns. (See below!)

Also started to work on a blazer from some of the Montreal fabric (to match the Mitchells). I chose the Lekala 4183 pattern. This is a bit of a struggle, and I think I will do a separate post outlining the entire process.

For now, let's just say that although it is a pattern drafted to my personal measurements, it still needs some work. There is not enough ease for a blazer, and the sleeve cap and armhole are a bit tight. But I am committed to getting this done.

And the instructions are Russian. Literally. Okay - only two words are in Russian, but the rest of the translations are hard to follow. So I have taken out a book from the library on Couture sewing a woman's jacket (by Claire Shaeffer). However, I won't be following all of those steps! I will need to dig out instructions from another jacket to be sure I get the order right, as well as from the book to get a nice structure.

Here is how it looks on the dressform.

 

 

And a final detour project that I worked on this weekend is my scrappy squares! I finally got a serger cover made up. I have been cutting scraps into squares of various sizes, then making 4-patch squares, then rows with them. The objective being

a) a serger cover

b) a drop cloth for my rag-rug loom.

For the inside of the serger cover I rescued off-cuts from my Amazing technicolour dreamcoat. I also just patched the batting.

So I made two rectangles, sandwiched the batting, and stitched in a few ditches.

I bound the bottom edges with some of the Yukata scraps, then sewed up the sides, then sewed up those little triangles in the corners to make a box shape.

I was careless with the size, so this fits the much larger Juki better than the serger.... It will do for now!

the inside

little triangle

fits the Juki

a bit big on the serger!

So what's next?

Well, my productin will certainly diminish as I return to school.

But I want to:

a) finish the Kilt upcycle

b) continue working on my blazer

c) make a fall jacket (another Arare with a wool plaid from Montreal)

d) another not-silk top from the Hanoi haul.