Frocks

I am going to show you a couple of frocks, but before I do in case you've been following my shirtmaking journey here's a picture of my headless husband wearing his finished shirt.  I would wholeheartedly recommend the classic tailored shirt class to anyone who wants to learn how to professionally construct a shirt, it's so well taught by Pam Howard that even a slapdash sewer like me managed to produce something wearable.  I really hope that Craftsy will offer some more Pam in the future.

Now onto the frocks.  A while ago I pinned this Brora dress onto my Pinterest page.  I particularly like the neckline with the collar, at the time I looked online and in my own stash of patterns but couldn't find anything similar.

Then a couple of months ago I spotted this dress in the February edition of BurdaStyle magazine

                                                             BurdaStyle Boucle Dress Pattern

I prefer the shape of the skirt on this pattern to the Brora dress as full skirts never look good on me, so I decided to give it a go.  As I was under the misapprehension that spring was on it's way I decided not to use a boucle like the photograph (although I do think it looks fab) and opted to use up some fabric I had in my 'not sure what I'll use this for' pile.  So here I am in my frock.

Now I hadn't done my shirt class at this point and I couldn't get my head around the collar instructions at all, so I drafted a flat peter pan collar and went with that.  I think it came out ok, but the neckline is way too low to wear alone and it's a bit baggy around the waist.  Anyway I've worn it and that's probably the biggest test.

So then I decided to make another - it really is a very easy dress to make (did I mention no dreaded zip?)  This time I added a waist dart at the front (there is one already in the back) and opted not to include a collar.  I dug out some fine needlecord fabric in black and came up with this.

I did reduce the length of the neckline, but still not enough to wear without flashing.  It's a shame because it's a bit spoilt by having a cami underneath although it probably would look better with a black  one rather than blue - hey ho.

I'm pleased with the overall outcome, the fabric in particular.  It looks a bit like velvet from a distance, but being needlecord is a lot more wearable.  Whilst the new front darts have given it a bit of shape, I don't think I got them right and should have given them a longer taper.  Well I think that's what the problem is.

I'd love to know what you think about these two frocks, I'm tempted to make a third to try and get the neckline right and use my new collar knowledge to make a 'proper' collar.  I'll add it onto the to do list.  In the meantime I'm off before I change my mind about posting photographs of myself - I hate having my photo taken (gulp).

Elvis has left the building

I've spent today warm and snuggly indoors - can you believe it's been snowing in England today?  It's supposed to be spring!  I've been immersed in changing the collar on the shirt I made my husband following his comment yesterday that it was 'a tad Elvis'.  Using one of his many linen shirts as a guide for size I redrafted the collar piece and set about remaking the collar, although I wouldn't have chosen to remake the collar the new one has accidently turned out better.  When I started on this project I bought some light woven interfacing specifically for the shirt as I thought it would give a little more body to my linen which has a fairly open weave.  However after interfacing my collar stand this (third!) time I realised there just wasn't enough left for the collar piece, so I looked to see if I had any more in my stash to find that I did.  However this wasn't a woven interfacing and was much more lightweight, being that I didn't want to leave the house I used it and it has given a much better finish for this particular fabric.  The woven interfacing had been used on the 'Elvis' collar and it did look a little stiff considering that a linen shirt is inevitably casual in style, this lighterweight interfacing is more appropriate and has given a more relaxed finish.  What great about this is not only that it's a better finish, but also I never really got the point of different types of interfacing and now I do.

The second happy accident with the collar is that when my husband tried it on yesterday we found that it was too tight to ever be buttoned at the top, now neither of us were too bothered by this as again the shirt is casual and will always be worn with the top button open.  However, it's nice to get it right.  As I had already trimmed the seam down to 1cm where the shirt joins the collar stand I decided that rather than doing the same to the collar stand piece I would continue as usual with a 1.5cm seam allowance.  This way the collar is a tiny bit looser, but just enough so that it can be button comfortably.  They say that you learn best from your mistakes and today has been one of those days.

I have now finished the shirt except for the buttons, our local town has a small fabric shop with a limited selection of button but Tuesday is market day and there is a regular stall with a larger selection of buttons so I thought I'd wait until tomorrow.

In the meantime have a look at the work in progress, I'd love to know what you think.

This is the 'Elvis' collar version, not particularly massive, but I want this shirt to be worn and it wasn't going to be.

Redrafted collar piece, I chose not to bother with separate upper and under collar pieces and just used the iron to ensure that the seam fell to the under collar.

Elvis has left the building - the new smaller collar

                      Just the buttons left to do, I might make the sleeves a bit narrower next time.

I'm pleased with how the cuffs turned out, I made a bit of a mistake with the placket and made it too  long but I think I can get away with it.

Can I Call Myself A Shirtmaker?

Do you remember I said I was impatient? The morning after my last post I decided that the only solution to my shirt making problems was to locate one of the Kwik Sew patterns recommended for the Craftsy Classic shirt class and to start again. This was somewhat frustrating as Kwik Sew patterns are not very popular in this neck of the woods although my search did lead me to find a couple of fabric shops that I didn't know of and that can only be a good thing. I found that one of my favourite fabric shops Abakhan in Manchester supplies Kwik Sew so I set off determined to be quick and not buy the entire shop as usual. Within an hour and a half I was back home with my new pattern and some new linen to be washed.

I've spent a lot of quality time with Pam over the last few days and have watched some parts of the class many times and I do now have an almost completed shirt. In theory I only have to hem the shirt find some buttons and tackle the much feared buttonholes. However, my lovely husband who I've made the shirt for has decided that the collar is "a bit Elvis" for him. As he's a creative type he rarely has to wear a formal shirt for work and favours a polo or more casual linen shirt. This pattern is to be fair a classic shirt so not really Elvis like by most standards, but by his it is so I think I'm going to have to either adapt the existing collar or more likely start it over again.

I plan to keep going tomorrow, hem it and redo the collar. In the meantime I need to search for some buttons. I may even have got my act together enough to post some photographs.

Why I should do as I'm told

I've already posted about how much I've been enjoying The Classic Tailored Shirt online class from Craftsy, but what I haven't told you is that I couldn't get hold of the suggested pattern.  When I say couldn't get hold of it, what I actually mean is that I was too impatient.  The lovely Pam gives a choice of three patterns for this class, they are Kwik Sew 3555,3586 and 3422 so why did I buy Vogue 8759?  Well I could tell you that it was because the patterns looked similar, but the real reason is I didn't want to wait for the pattern to be ordered in.

I was doing so well, my collar was looking great although I had trouble with the part of the collar band where you have to cover the raw seam at the edge of the shirt - (I may send Pam a message via Craftsy about this and let you know what she says).  Other than that I was progressing nicely and my shirt at that point looked very professional.

However the inevitable happened once I got to the placket, my pattern has a two piece sleeve and a sort of grown on placket as opposed to the Kwik Sew one piece sleeve and separate placket. I thought that I'd watch Pam's method and read the Vogue instructions and work it out.  Hmm, it wasn't so much worked out as cobbled together, the outcome wasn't great on the inside but the outside looked passable so I carried on to the second sleeve.  Only to find out that I'd cleverly made two left sleeves, don't you hate that?  Well fortunately I still had lots of the black linen left so I thought I'd finish off the one sleeve and then start over again with the second.  Soldiering on I got to cuffs and this is when I threw in the towel.

My cuffs are not like Pam's cuffs, mine are in two pieces and the Kwik Sew cuffs are one piece folded over.  However having read the questions on the Craftsy platform it transpires that one of the suggested Kwik Sew patterns are the same so Pam has addressed how to work with this type.  Hooray - I thought I can plough on through only to find that the width of my cuffs is shorter than my sleeve edges.  I had basted my pleats, so I don't know where I went wrong.  Now if I had bought one of the suggested patterns I could ask where I'd gone wrong, but as I'd gone off piste I'm done for.

I've packed away the ironing board, tidied up my sewing table and am writing this feeling very cross with myself.  I'm not sure that there's much point in continuing, cutting out and resewing a correct sleeve and attempting to stuff a sleeve that's about 2.5cm's too big into a cuff.  Even if I can get it to work it's not going to look good and the whole point is to learn how to sew well.  I think I should treat my work over the last few days as a lesson partly in how to make a classic tailored shirt and partly in being more patient and doing what I'm told first time.

Now, I wonder if there are any fabric shops in North West England that stock Kwik Sew patterns?

Time to tackle a big one - Collars and Cuffs

The day after my last post I received an email from Craftsy offering a discount on one of their online classes, so I thought I'd take a look. In fact there are a lot of classes that look good, but having decided to be brave I chose the Classic Tailored Shirt class taught by Pam Howard.  I have never managed to make anything with a collar and collar stand and I've never even attempted a cuff.

This will be my second Craftsy class, I completed the Couture Dress class (threw the dress away, but learnt a lot) and I have bought one of the trouser or should I say pant classes, but have yet to look at it.  I think the Craftsy platform has been well thought out, it has all the information you need and there's a fantastic feature that allows you to make video notes along the way which I've found to be extremely useful.

Yesterday I began watching the class on my i-pad and I have to say that I love it and I love Pam Howard.  She is like that teacher at school who made everything so clear and showed just enough personality to make you really want to do well just to please them.  The class is packed full of tricks and tips, her method of making a pocket was worth the class fee alone and that's before you see the magic yoke trick.

So I've decided to make a classic tailored shirt for my husband, I've dug out some black linen fabric that I already had in my stash and have cut it out ready to start work today and yes I did wash it first.  I have high hopes that with Pam's help I can overcome my collar fear as I adore shirt dresses, but have never been brave enough to make one.

I will keep you posted.