Hi everyone!
Happy International Women's Day!
I've made quite a nice dent in my Spring Sewing Plan, with four out of the five garments made! I have two in the pipeline yet to be photographed and blogged, but today I'm sharing my latest make which I cranked out the day before heading on holiday to Rome. I ended up packing a nearly all handmade wardrobe for that trip (including garments made last year that I need to blog still) and I think only a couple of ready-to-wear items. It's nice to have reached the point that the balance is starting to tip the other way! Anyway, settle in for some awkward poses and what I think is a rather lovely handmade dress - may I present - The Solina!
The Solina dress is from the very popular Named Breaking the Pattern book. I've actually made three versions of the Ruska dress last year (but haven't yet got around to blogging them), so I'm pleased that I've got good use out of this book. I love this dress and I was desperate to finish it before going on holiday as for me it's the kind of style you can wear for sightseeing in the day that will take you through to dinner if you don't have time to go back to your hotel. I managed to wear it for a lovely dinner in Trastevere where we were staying, and for a day out in the Vatican Museum and St Peter's church where I think it gave off a certain air of ecclesiastical chic!
For this Solina I combined three sizes (sizing is specific to the book, I think I ranged between UK 12-16), starting with the 4 at the neck and shoulders, increasing to a 6 at the bust and tapering down to a 5 at the waist. I made size 5 sleeves and was careful to try and match the shape of the sleeve head to any changes I'd made the armsyce as a result of blending sizes.
Blending sizes was pretty easy to do and meant I didn't have to do an FBA, which would have been more of an ordeal given this is a dress with no waist seam or bust darts. It's worked out OK but I think I didn't end up needing to go all the way to the 6 as I have a bit of room at centre front and under the arms - however the waist ties sit a little high so perhaps for next time I'll add 0.5cm of length to the bodice portion of the pattern piece and take the sides from the bust down back to a size 5. I could probably do the opposite adjustment at the back and take out a little length to account for my swayback too, if I'm being picky.
Sizing aside, I find the sleeves a little short which is weird as I'm 2" shorter than the height this pattern is drafted for (I'm 5'6" compared to Named drafting for 5'8"). I think my arms are pretty proportionate to my height, but next time I'd add a couple of centimetres to the sleeve length as I'd prefer to have a little extra drape here rather than not have them reach my wrist! The dress length is pretty good for me too. None of these are major issues but little tweaks for next time.
This fabric is chestnut peachskin which I bought in a little splurge at Fabric Godmother literally days before last year's Black Friday. I'd forgotten all about sales! So I don't know if this would have gone on sale or whether I'd have gone down the rabbit hole of buying loads of extra stuff I don't need in order to snag a bargain, but I'm sort of kicking myself! Anyway, it's lovely stuff and so silky to the touch. I didn't do the best job with pattern matching - I was so focused on not having floral boobs that I didn't pay much attention to how the centre front was coming together, so there are some odd chunks of cut-off design that it would look better without. Oh well!
It was a bit of a slippery beast to work with and didn't like being overhandled - the points where I've turned through my corners are looking a bit chewed up and my band collar isn't the neatest on the inside! I still have a way to go with getting my finishing neat at the top of a zip at the back of the neck - mine always come out looking a bit mangled and my hooks and eyes are always floating oddly!
I'd make this again with the sizing tweaks but think next time I'd use a fabric that was ever so slightly sturdier to hold the ties and collar and bit better. This fabric just wants to slip any knots undone! I think a grey linen might be cool, if it didn't look too overly modest?
Until next time sewing friends, happy making!
PS I'll leave you with an explanation of why the cat is sitting in shreds of paper! They're offcuts from my Zadie jumpsuit pattern A0 printout, my paper bin was full so I put them all on the chair ready to take down for recycling but the cat decided they'd make a perfect nest. She'd never sat in that chair before! I like her company, so I've let the paper nest stay.
Happy International Women's Day!
I've made quite a nice dent in my Spring Sewing Plan, with four out of the five garments made! I have two in the pipeline yet to be photographed and blogged, but today I'm sharing my latest make which I cranked out the day before heading on holiday to Rome. I ended up packing a nearly all handmade wardrobe for that trip (including garments made last year that I need to blog still) and I think only a couple of ready-to-wear items. It's nice to have reached the point that the balance is starting to tip the other way! Anyway, settle in for some awkward poses and what I think is a rather lovely handmade dress - may I present - The Solina!
 |
| Posing in the B&B in Rome |
The Solina dress is from the very popular Named Breaking the Pattern book. I've actually made three versions of the Ruska dress last year (but haven't yet got around to blogging them), so I'm pleased that I've got good use out of this book. I love this dress and I was desperate to finish it before going on holiday as for me it's the kind of style you can wear for sightseeing in the day that will take you through to dinner if you don't have time to go back to your hotel. I managed to wear it for a lovely dinner in Trastevere where we were staying, and for a day out in the Vatican Museum and St Peter's church where I think it gave off a certain air of ecclesiastical chic!
For this Solina I combined three sizes (sizing is specific to the book, I think I ranged between UK 12-16), starting with the 4 at the neck and shoulders, increasing to a 6 at the bust and tapering down to a 5 at the waist. I made size 5 sleeves and was careful to try and match the shape of the sleeve head to any changes I'd made the armsyce as a result of blending sizes.
 |
| It looks like we're not getting on. We do, I promise! |
Blending sizes was pretty easy to do and meant I didn't have to do an FBA, which would have been more of an ordeal given this is a dress with no waist seam or bust darts. It's worked out OK but I think I didn't end up needing to go all the way to the 6 as I have a bit of room at centre front and under the arms - however the waist ties sit a little high so perhaps for next time I'll add 0.5cm of length to the bodice portion of the pattern piece and take the sides from the bust down back to a size 5. I could probably do the opposite adjustment at the back and take out a little length to account for my swayback too, if I'm being picky.
Sizing aside, I find the sleeves a little short which is weird as I'm 2" shorter than the height this pattern is drafted for (I'm 5'6" compared to Named drafting for 5'8"). I think my arms are pretty proportionate to my height, but next time I'd add a couple of centimetres to the sleeve length as I'd prefer to have a little extra drape here rather than not have them reach my wrist! The dress length is pretty good for me too. None of these are major issues but little tweaks for next time.
This fabric is chestnut peachskin which I bought in a little splurge at Fabric Godmother literally days before last year's Black Friday. I'd forgotten all about sales! So I don't know if this would have gone on sale or whether I'd have gone down the rabbit hole of buying loads of extra stuff I don't need in order to snag a bargain, but I'm sort of kicking myself! Anyway, it's lovely stuff and so silky to the touch. I didn't do the best job with pattern matching - I was so focused on not having floral boobs that I didn't pay much attention to how the centre front was coming together, so there are some odd chunks of cut-off design that it would look better without. Oh well!
It was a bit of a slippery beast to work with and didn't like being overhandled - the points where I've turned through my corners are looking a bit chewed up and my band collar isn't the neatest on the inside! I still have a way to go with getting my finishing neat at the top of a zip at the back of the neck - mine always come out looking a bit mangled and my hooks and eyes are always floating oddly!
I'd make this again with the sizing tweaks but think next time I'd use a fabric that was ever so slightly sturdier to hold the ties and collar and bit better. This fabric just wants to slip any knots undone! I think a grey linen might be cool, if it didn't look too overly modest?
Until next time sewing friends, happy making!
PS I'll leave you with an explanation of why the cat is sitting in shreds of paper! They're offcuts from my Zadie jumpsuit pattern A0 printout, my paper bin was full so I put them all on the chair ready to take down for recycling but the cat decided they'd make a perfect nest. She'd never sat in that chair before! I like her company, so I've let the paper nest stay.
I love linen, I say go for it. If you feel too novice-nun you can always change the sleeves or hem or crank up the slit. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one struggling with attractive invisible zip finishes. You can't tell from here though - it looks like a perfectly lovely dress!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You'd think practice makes perfect with the invisible zip (I've done countless by now) but getting a lovely finish is still *just* out of my reach!
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