Hello there! How is everyone?
I've been working on some unselfish sewing, which means slower than usual progress as I don't have that urge to put the garment on speeding me to its conclusion! Having said that however, this is quite a sweet little set and I have been thinking about bringing some peter pan collars into my life...
Anyway this is the Baby Dress and Knickers from 'Sew Your Own Wardrobe' – the Great British Sewing Bee's second book. It's down as an easy make and is supposed to be pretty quick, but I did run into a couple of snags... as I've come to expect from this book by now. On a side note I saw that the Fold Line were giving away the full batch of Sewing Bee books to celebrate the start of the new series (coming this week, and I can't deny that I'm looking forward to it!) and to be honest after my experiences with this book I was not tempted to enter, and felt that maybe I should share a warning!
As an example, here are the basic instructions to draft a one-size-fits all simple skirt which I thought might be an easy project to start with for a friend that's keen to get into sewing. If you squint closely at the measurements given in Step One's diagram, do you notice how the smaller edge at the top of the wedge has a bigger measurement than the long edge at the bottom? There's no other info anywhere in the instructions to cross-reference what the measurements should be, so it's basically a goner from the start. NOT a good way to kick off when it's supposed to be one of the easiest patterns and aimed at complete beginners. This book could really have benefitted from a proofreader, and judging by the way the patterns I've used so far have been drafted I'm not sure if they've been through a pattern testing process....
Despite this I did
go ahead with the Baby Dress and Knickers. I had three issues with
this pattern, which I'll sum up as quickly as I'm able:
1. The instructions
on how to attach and finish the collar are incomplete. Luckily I
caught this in time and instead of leaving the short straight edge
open as closed it up just after the curved edges and before basting
to the neckline. I did this with a 3/8” seam allowance though as
with a 5/8” (which I'd done for the rest of the collar) it wouldn't
have reached the shoulder seam. I then topstitched the short straight
edge to the shoulder seam. If I'd seen that this step was missing
earlier I might have basted in the collar before attaching the dress
front and back together and caught the raw edge of the collar in the
shoulders for a neater finish – or even better, redrafted the
collar for it to go all the way to the back closure.
2. The knickers look
simple enough – until they ask you to turn up the legs and waist
seam 3cm to make the elastic channel. The waist, as a straight line,
is fine, but trying to turn up the legs 3cm neatly was a nightmare. I
decided to do 2cm instead for the legs and although this still meant
a bit of puckering along the seam, once it's gathered with elastic it
doesn't show too much. There isn't even a warning about puckering and
how to avoid it. Again, a bit of a pain for me and would be extremely
offputting for a total beginner. Also, turning the waist 3cm looks
like a much deeper waist channel that on the sample they have
pictured.
3. There's no
guidance on how much elastic to actually use on the knickers! I was
making this for a gift, for a baby that's not yet born, so casually
measuring the baby's leg circumference wasn't going to be an option.
I really think there should have been suggested lengths – people
can always adjust to preference if they do have the required baby at
their disposal, but having no info given at all leaves you a bit
stuck!
Luckily the internet
is a wonderful and powerful tool, and there are several charts out
there that do give you average baby sizes. In fact, there are also
plenty of free patterns and tutorials for baby knickers just like
these that give you exact guidance on how much elastic to cut.
Although I can't remember which free pattern I gleaned this info from
I was kind of kicking myself that I didn't use it as it seemed better
drafted so that the finish on the leg elastic channels was a lot
neater. Oh well!
Other than these
small grievances slowly me down a little this came together quite
quickly and I think has turned out well, all things considered. I
decided not to add the heart patches as I didn't want to cover up the
cute safari print, and I left off the decorative buttons that are
supposed to cover the poppers at the back because it seemed like an
unnecessary choking hazard (and I was very careful to sew those
poppers on super securely!). My bias binding is a fair bit narrower
than what's suggested- that's purely because I only have a 12mm bias
binding maker and it was my first time using it. It looks fine but in
terms of functionality is a little scant at the back, and there is a
tiny bit of edge-of-popper showage and a tiny bit of pulling.
The safari print is
from Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road (so glad the fabric shops are still open there!) and the contrast blue is quite a nice hefty
cotton from Ray Stitch. I have a fair bit left over from both so made
a matching bag to put the set in using a basic tutorial from my
Overlocker Manual and am kind of tempted to use the rest of the blue
cotton to make myself a shirt if I have enough...
I've been admiring the Me Made May pledges popping up. I've still not dipped my toe in yet, May is a bit tricky for me to think about my wardrobe as I'm usually busy making something for my boyfriend whose birthday is this month. I do pretty much wear my me-mades every day too, and finding another angle for MMM without making it too challenging has stumped me a little. To be honest while I love the sense of community these pledges bring – I've taken part in the Vintage Pattern Pledge two years in a row but haven't committed to anything this year either. I think it's because I'm still a relatively new sewist with a lot of things on my to-make list, and adding to that and putting deadlines on it actually makes sewing less fun for me. I'd much rather go at my own pace and make things in a more considered way – but equally with some room for the odd impulse make when inspiration grabs me!
Hope your projects
are going well! I'll have another unselfish sew to share soon.
NorseOtter xxx
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