FINISHED! Ciara Marthe Blouse

The new Republique du Chiffon pattern, the Marthe Blouse was released last week and it quickly sky rocketed to the top of my sewing list. I adore the lose peplum style and while it is not dissimilar to the top I made from Liberty Wildflowers a few months ago, which had turned into one of my most worn tops, I thought the raglan sleeves might add interest and I was interested in making a top that had a higher neck. I was taken in with the line drawing and the fabulous photos.

 

I chose a Liberty that I had in the stash, which I bought on a bit of a whim when the latest collection was released called Ciara C.  The Ciara design was originally for a scarf in 1969 and has been recently redesigned for the Classic collection.   

The pattern only comes in pdf, which is fine by me and the pattern is in French, but don't let that stop you as there are plenty of pictures and this is a very simple pattern, so I didn't always use the instructions.  Like all the RdC patterns, it is necessary to add seam allowance. 

The pattern back is cut in two pieces and the pattern calls for either an invisible zip or a button at the neck. Given the closure requirement (and the line drawing), I was expecting that the neckline would be much higher, thus requiring a button, but on trying it on I realised that the neck was wide and definitely did not require any fussing around with closures. I simply sewed up the back seam. Unfortunately while I didn't need the closure this meant that the neck was not at all what I was hoping for.  I really wanted it to be a smaller round neck which would act as a contrast to the volume. Oh well, it's not bad how it is, just not what I had wanted.   

I sewed the arm seams up a little smaller to try and take some width out of neckline. I also took an inch and a half out of the length of the bodice, bringing the skirt seam up. I really like where that sits. I took about 2 inches off the length of the sleeves but I find myself wanting to push my sleeves up even more so perhaps I should have made them just a tad shorter.  

Rather than gather the 'skirt' traditionally using 2 or threads, I used my overlocker. This worked ok, but I think I'll be going back to the gathering method next time.While I hate pulling those threads I feel as if the gathers look a bit pleated on this make. 

Have you been participating in Amanda's #bpSewvember on instagram? It has been so much fun and there is still more than half of November to go! I  The other day we had to do our #favouritefinish and Jillian said her favourite finish is a Woo Hoo finish. What a great interpretation. Sadly, while this is a fun make, the fabric is fab and  I'll wear this during summer with my Iris shorts, it isn't exactly the woo hoo finish I was hoping for. C'est la vie! 

FINISHED! Victor Chambray

This pattern is the latest of the PDF offerings from Republique du Chiffon, the Top Victor.  Roobeedoo just posted her finished Victor which looks great on her.  She added 5cms to the length which seems to be a common adjustment.

It is a very cropped style with optional detailing (using fabric paint). It caught my eye straight away for the fun boxy shape and before I knew it I was racing ahead, sewing it up with some left over chambray.  It looks like a simple make doesn't it? It is and it isn't.

Unfortunately I don't really enjoy attaching pieces (like bias binding), you know sewing one side then turning over and top stitch (like a waistband). Which is a problem when it comes to sewing as this is a pretty fundamental technique! It just has the potential to be a bit messy for me.  The sewing level of difficulty on this particular make was increased further due to the extremely visible yellow top stitching I decided to attempt.

The sleeves went in well (only unpicking the top stitching once or twice) and I was loving how it was looking.  I stumbled however at the collar, which I installed twice then unpicked not liking the results.  I worried then that it was probably too short and wondered whether I should put a band on it.  The top then sat in the cupboard while I pondered it's future.

Saturday we had social sewing, and I decided to look at finishing it and I unpicked the collar again. Sage advice from Jen suggested that I leave the bottom alone and so I hemmed it with bias binding (cut lengthwise in half) and attached at a scant 3- 4mm from the edge.  The collar went on much better the 3rd time, but again I laboured over the top stitching. It's sounding painful isn't it! (I also have another make waiting to be blogged that has an enormous amount of topstitching.  I must get a dose of prints soon to bring the levels back to normal.)

Now that it's finished, it's ok but I don't love it. I'm not really not sure how to style it  to get the right shape and silhouette (I'm not up for showing lots of skin).  These trousers are very old RTW but it struck me that they might be fun together and I like the slight bagginess of the trousers (except for when I've got my hands in my pockets !!) although the odd way that this style cross at the front is marginally annoying so it's not perfect.

I do love chambray on chambray and denim on denim which may account for the silly photos. If I grow to love this top I might need to make a matching pair of papercut pleated pants.

FINISHED! On the Line Veste Michelle

This project has been hanging around so long I wasn't sure I would ever do it. But I finally just knuckled down and did it. It is of course the Veste Michelle by Republique du Chiffon.  It is made using some denim stripe that I bought at Tessuti in January called 'It's on the Line'.  It's lined with some cheap yellow lining (the same as my Bomber). On the advice from my friend Jen (who has a great new blog btw!!), I turned the fabric around so that the stripes run sideways. I was worried that because there is a bit of stretch in the fabric that it might distort but so far so good. 

There are heaps of great versions out there of the Veste Michelle and if you ever decide to make a Republique du Chiffon pattern a great place to stop by is the RdC Made by You blog. It goes without saying that Julie has made one, well 4!! lovely versions in fact and Ginger Makes also made one.  

So, straight up, I'm not sure if I'm wearing the jacket or it's wearing me. It's a straight size 36 with no adjustments. It's supposed to be oversized and it is definitely that helped along by my height.  I debated making it smaller but on all the versions I saw they were reasonably oversized, just not as long perhaps as mine. I feel that it's ok when I'm accessorised up with my every day winter additions of beret and scarf, but without them, I'm not sure that it's balanced. I need to play around with some Spring styling. It's a bit of a different style for me, although despite that reservation I like it. I wore it as photographed this morning to a 6 yr old birthday party and I have to say those oversized pockets were fantastic for popping lolly pops and things in. 

I cheated a bit on the patch pockets.  The pattern calls for you to line them but I didn't.  I feel patch pockets are very 'home made' looking but I hope these look ok. I double stitched around them. There is no pocket placement on the pattern piece (that I could find) so I just winged their placement. I've noticed on other makes that their pockets are about the same place as mine. Phew. I omitted the tiny pocket on the top because I felt it didn't look right. 

The printed pattern is in French but there are detailed (French) instructions including photos on the RdC blog  These were both a hindrance and a help and some bits (like the collar) I should have worked through myself rather than trying to decipher the at times odd google translate description. Despite that it is a straightforward make and the lining comes together nicely.  The best I've ever done!

The only real problem I had was 'drooping' of the back facing once the lining was in.  There were some photos of this on the RdC blog but I couldn't understand what I was supposed to do to fix it. I ended up hand stitching the bottom facing to the back under the lining in places.  It solved the problem but I'd love to know what the real solution is! What do you do for the back of jackets to stop the bottom facing 'drooping' down?

So, it's good to have this one finished and wearable! It might even get quite a bit of wear as the weather moves from mid winter to very early spring.  I'm still fixated with Winter sewing at the moment, it might have something to do with the weather, but it's also because we'll be spending 6 weeks in France over Christmas - so double Winter for us this year!  

FINISHED! A Wintery Robe Monique

I'm on a Republic du Chiffon thing at the moment. Today it's my second pattern, Robe Monique. 

I have been thinking about this dress for a long time. The fabric that the dress is made up on the RdC website is so beautiful it's hard not be to taken by it and Julie from one of my favourite blogs (Jolies Bobines) also made up a gorgeous one in YSL fabric no less!   For me, I've been dreaming about a winter version made out of velvet. 

I found some 'velvet like' fabric at Addicted to Fabric which I thought would be perfect. It has a lovely feel to it. You know the sort where you just want to keep stroking it. It's quite like velvet, but sadly it hangs a bit stiff.  It's called Carbine and is 40% Polyester 60% Viscose (Style: 70021314). 

I clearly hadn't really thought this through. While this fabric is nice to run your hands up and down, it isn't that nice to sew and it definitely doesn't want to go anywhere near an iron!  I sewed most of this up with my walking foot.

The pattern is in French and when I bought the fabric thought this was going to be an easy pattern as it only has 3 pieces. I somehow didn't read that the top part is also lined (in a quite ingenious way by the way), so it was going to require a little bit more effort that I had originally planned.  The instructions are pretty clear even to a non French speaker. The diagrams are pretty self explanatory

I traced the pattern out at a social sewing afternoon (this is the best I can do at social sewing as I'm too busy chatting to actually sew anything).  Cut out the fabric, found some silk habotai in my stash that I thought would be ok for the lining and got underway. I then proceeded to do every single step at least twice, sometimes, like the damned hem 3 times (but we'll come back to the hem in a minute).

The pattern calls for 5 tabs on each arm but I ended up cutting 6 and extending the arm ever so slightly so that it ends just after my elbow. I also wanted the gaps to be slightly smaller. I measured out the gaps meticulously but they aren't perfect. I redid these a few times, but in the end I'm relying on the fact that I'm constantly moving and that my arms won't stay still long enough for anyone to get out their ruler and measure them up.  The gaps in the photos is also quite deceiving, the dress never sits perfectly.

I ended up taking an inch off the length off the tabs in order to bring the dress in a bit. It is still a bit big across the shoulders, which I'd fix next time. Sadly the drape (or lack thereof) of the fabric makes it quite bulky and probably not very flattering.  

The top is lined to hide the tabs and also to provide a nice hem to the sleeves.  I understitched everywhere I could to ensure that the lining doesn't roll out.  I haven't attached the bottom of the lining to the dress, I think I'll see how it goes.

The biggest annoyance with this dress is the hem.  Even looking at these photos it is driving me crazy. Last night I hand stitched the hem, folding 2 inches then another 2 inches (maybe a bit short). After taking the photos this morning though I was horrified at how ugly the hem looked.  Thinking maybe it was because there was 2 layers.  I cut off 2 inches, overlocked and then handstitched again.  I'm still not happy. I still think it looks a bit heavy. It's not the hand stitiching - which barely picks up a thread. Maybe it's the iron print of the hem?  I contemplated attaching some binding and hand sewing that on, but to say I'm over the dress right now is a bit of an understatement.  Do you ever make something that you like thinks looks ok, only to find the photos pick up a flaw you didn't realise was there?

There is so much of this dress that I like. The 'gladiator sandal' sleeves are so not me that I like them for it, it's a bit 60s-esque and of course any dress that I can wear with these ankle boots I love. I know it will get a run as a date night dress and well, we'll see what happens with the hem.

FINISHED! Lauren's Leaf Viviane

Tessuti has just received some of the Winter 2014 Liberty range so upon hearing this news last Wednesday I immediately went to the site and bought two pieces. This is one of them. Laurens Leaf in Blue. The fantastic thing about being in the Southern Hemisphere is that even though we are a season behind, with Liberty releases the fabric and colour palette are perfect for the current season in Australia. Thank you Liberty!

Here is the fabric story:

Lauren’s Leaf Liberty fabric was created from the leaf imprints of the world-changing indigo, upland cotton, hemp and white mulberry. Respectively, these plants have helped bring about Indian independence, fund an industrial revolution and produce the world’s first jeans. White Mulberry is the food of the silk worm.

My intention was to make another Burda wrap blouse with the fabric so only bought 1.5m but when I opened the package (a mere 24 hours later), I immediately changed my mind. The fabric was just so beautiful that I decided to try the Viviane dress by Republique du Chiffon.  I have been on a bit pattern buying binge with Republique du Chiffon. I have bought 4 from the new season release, with 2 still on their way from France. Fortnunately this one I was able to buy as an English PDF and get straight onto it. 

The pattern prints out overlapped, so you have to trace and add seam allowance. The pages printed out well and I had no problem assembling them. The pattern calls for 1.8m but I got lucky as I think I got a few bonus centimetres of fabric, so with an adjustment for my height and given the width of Liberty I was able to get the dress out of this meterage.  

I was nervous about the yoke. Not just because stylistically it is bold (and I was just a little bit worried about pulling it off), but also because of the quilting. Thank goodness for walking foot. The yoke is a wool batting with a voile (with interfacing underneath to help with the colour). I usually hide my stitching in busy patterned fabric, so I'm pretty proud of my efforts with this dress.  Especially with the sewing to attach it. But maybe not so much that I didn't clear off all the chalk before taking these pictures!  So now you will be subjected to close up photos!

Rue des Renards suggested after making her super cute Viviane that to get a good curve on the bottom that it would be good to make up a facing. So I did and it worked well.

The rest of the make is straight forward.  The instructions are brief but useful and even provide advice for when to overlock the seams.  I was amazed that the sleeves eased in as well as they did given the bodice had the quilted yoke, but it did. Afterwards I did consider overlocking the armscye seams together rather than separately (as per the instructions) but decided to leave well enough alone. Sadly, I had a brain freeze at one point where I didn't overlock the seams on the shoulders because I thought they would be concealed. Aaah, they aren't.

Other than an adjustment of about 8cms off the length of the bodice (using my other drop waist dresses as a guide,yes, I do love a drop waist: the Malvorosa and the Pattern Runway shirt dress) I didn't make any other changes to the 36.  It fits like it should (for someone who isn't overly obsessive about fit) and the little bit of extra width and flare at the bottom of the dress makes it fun to wear.

I admit, this dress style isn't for everyone. Ben said to me that it is 'special' which is his word for 'mmm, I'm not sure about it' and the boys said that they thought it was funny.  But I like it. I wore it to work today and it made me feel... well, happy and original. So that's a win in my book.