FINISHED! CBR Frocktails Flutter Dress

Photo taken by Michelle, CBR Frocktails at Hotel Hotel

Last night we celebrated at Canberra Frocktails, an event that saw some glamorous sewers from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne join the CBR sewing crew for a night of fabric stroking, chatting and never ending (dangerously never ending) glasses of champagne.  Was lovely to get together with friends, meet some new sewists and finally meet in person those who feel like old friends.  For my frock I chose the relatively new dress from Papercut Patterns the Flutter Tunic.  

The fabric suggestion is light to medium weight but I chose a textured heavy weight fabric that was labelled silk (but silly didn't write the name down), bought at Tessuti in Melbourne last year with Nici when I was down for the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition. The underside is just a teensy bit scratchy so I underlined the bodice with a voile, which also meant that I didn't need to bind the neckline.

The fabric presses reasonably well, but I handstitched all the seams down to ensure there was no flapping about. I wish that I was the kind of person who does hong kong finishes because that would have looked lovely, but I'm not so the seams are all overlocked.  The sleeves and hem are simply turned over and hand stitched.

I made up the smallest size with no alterations.  I sort of wish that I had made mine a little shorter ...Lizzy also made a fabulous Flutter tunic - she is two inches taller than me so hers is a perfect length.

I really like this dress in the thicker fabric and how it makes it a bit more structured. I think it would look amazing in denim! I loved wearing it last night for such a fun fun night. Look out for others posting their amazing makes. Jillian has already posted her fabulous CBR Frocktails dress.

FINISHED! Denim Sorell Test Trousers

Pauline Alice has once again released some fantastic new patterns, a super cute shift dress, the Xerea dress that I will definitely be making up soon and a pair of wide leg pants, the Sorell.  Pauline asked me to test the Sorell trousers a couple of months ago, so I went all out and pushed myself with View A which has welt pockets and a cute little watch pocket.

The pattern description: The Sorell trousers feature a front zipper fly, wide legs with front pleats for more comfort, front slash pockets and a small watch pocket. The waistband sits at natural waist and has belt loops. View A has classical welt pockets, perfect for a chic pair of trousers.  View B is a more casual version with patch pockets.

You saw a sneak preview of these pants in my last post on my Caramel Sydney.  Originally I bought some wool, but while it was at the dry cleaners I realised that I probably didn't have enough time to wait for it to come back in time to meet the testing deadline, so cut into this denim from Addicted to Fabric that I had been saving for another pair of dungarees.

There are a lot of lovely little details on these pants that make them an interesting and slightly challenging sew.  I made up a straight 36 in the denim with no changes, except taking off a few inches initially for the length as the pattern is designed for heights of 5'5" (165cm).  The trousers look so great on Pauline long (and she is the same height as me I think) but for me I felt a bit swamped in them, and not my usual style, so no surprises I decided to chop them off to be more of culotte/gaucho length. 

I think the fit is pretty great around the waist and the bottom. I have a pretty 'flat ass' but these pants fit nicely.  I'm less happy with how I've got them sitting at the front - there's a bit of, well I'm not sure how you describe it, but it's not super flattering. I look at Pauline's version and they look just so great on her but not so super great on me. They seem to sit higher on me - I think my torso must be shorter. These are only a test version so I think I could get them better on the next version. I think partly my pleat isn't in the exact right place. 

Pauline is consistently putting out lovely patterns and this is definitely one of them! Are you thinking of making up any of the new Pauline Alice patterns? If you do there is a new blog for all the great Pauline Alice makes: Pauline Alice and You!

P.S. wearing Pattern W from Les Couleurs Francaise, in Liberty Wiltshire.