Friday 11 July 2014

carried away

It was so easy to make the peasant dress that I made a top too. Another upcyled job from a pillow case and scraps from my stash. The pillow case wasn't quite wide enough so I cut the front and back pieces and added a panel. I had fun going through my stash for the right combination of fabrics.

To make it look a bit different from the dress I made puffed sleeves rather than gathered. Grace found some buttons in my bag of spares and wanted them on the dress, in fact she wanted them on the front and sleeves but it looked a bit over the top. 

I used my favourite flat fell seam to add the panels in the front and back and for the side seams. So far no pics of her in it yet, I may have to add those extra buttons.

getting my monies worth

There is something very satisfying about being able to make a whole item of clothing in an evening. This is probably why Grace has an overflowing wardrobe and I have only made my self one dress in the past half dozen years.

My latest favourite pattern is Sew Much Ado's Polly Peasant dress. I've free formed peasant dresses in the past, but sometimes it is just less work to use a pattern. It is such an easy pattern and came together so quickly I just had to add a large pocket.

The other satisfying thing about this dress is that it's completely up-cycled out of a sheet and the remains of 50p worth of pillow cases that I had fun making a top and trousers out of a couple of years ago. Looking back at the photos I can't believe how much she has grown.

I used a flat fell seam for the side seams, it's my new favourite seam. Supper easy and a much nicer finish than zigzagging raw edges. A double row of top stitching along the bottom hem just finished it off.

Grace likes it because she can put it on herself, and because it has a big pocket