Out With the Old - a (Long-Overdue) Photo Dump!

Hello again, it's been a while! Once again, I've disappeared completely from the blogosphere for a couple months. One of these days, I will figure out how to juggle writing a blog while I have midterms and labs and assignments and applications and dance and life... maybe.

In the meantime, I keep my Instagram a little more up-to-date with a mix of sewing, knitting, food, and pictures of Montreal when it's not slushy and gross like it has been the past few weeks.

I'm currently enjoying some well-deserved time off over my reading break after a really crazy midterm schedule. I've had a chance to catch up on life a little bit, including finally setting up a dedicated sewing space in my apartment. No more sewing on the kitchen table anymore!

I hadn't checked on my blog in close to a month, so I was a little surprised when I signed on the other day to see a lot of new traffic, since I've been voted one of the best sewing blogs of 2016 on Madalynne, in the 'Up and Coming' category! Thank you SO much to everyone who voted for me - I'm really flattered!

This post has been a long time coming. After my winter break, I realized that part of what's holding me back from blogging is my "blogging queue". With lots of old projects photographed and unblogged, whenever I feel like doing a blog post, I feel like it has to be about one of those old projects. But, when I go to write about them, it just seems like I made them too long ago to even bother! I can't remember the little details specific to each project, and some of them I unfortunately don't even wear anymore.

So, before I move onto posting about some newer, more exciting things (like my brand new sewing machines, my homemade Christmas gifts, and some recent pattern testing), I'm going to sum up all those projects that I haven't blogged about yet in one big photo dump.

This feels like some sort of confession - I'm getting all this off my chest before I can move on!

I'll start off with my favourite of the bunch - yet another Moneta dress! This is my third - I've already blogged about my first, second and fourth. I made this in the summer of 2014 (yikes!) and it's one of my favourite dresses to wear (along with all my other Monetas!).

I used an organic cotton and hemp blend jersey, and lined the bodice with cream bamboo jersey. I added the peter pan collar, which looks a little ripply in these photos because it stretched as I sewed it, but it flattened out with a couple washings. I included the pockets, and they worked really well in the more substantial jersey.

Keeping with the knit theme, I made a couple Bronte tops that summer as well.

I made the red one from some rayon jersey (you might recognize it from my Natalie dress that I made last summer!). I cut a size 6, but sized up at the waist because I don't like my T-shirts skin tight, and I found the fit to be pretty good, but the armholes were a little tight.

For the purple one, I just sized up to a size 8 everywhere, and I prefer the fit that way. I made it from a remnant of the most amazing bamboo jersey, and my favourite part is the buttons - they were from my grandma's stash and they have polka-dot bow ties on them! The buttons on the red one were also from my grandma's stash.

Next up is a skirt I made from handprinted cotton voile from Maiwa on Granville Island in Vancouver. I followed Tilly's guide to make a Picnic Blanket Skirt, which is simply a gathered button-down skirt, to which I added pockets and a lining.

It ended up looking really clean on the inside - in fact it's almost reversible and could have been with a little more planning. Too bad! I'll keep that in mind for a future project...

These buttons were also from my Grandma's stash - they were hand-carved ones she bought when travelling in Africa.

I love the print of this skirt, but it's almost a little too gathered to feel practical. I love it when I wear it, but I don't find myself reaching for it! I might shorten it and see if that helps - I've done that with a couple full skirts and I find it makes them more wearable.

This next skirt is the Chardon skirt by Deer and Doe, a pattern company that I've wanted to try for ages. My mom gave me this pattern for Christmas in 2014, and I made it when I was in Vancouver briefly before going to Canmore last summer.

I made a size 36, which was for a waist measurement a little bigger than mine, but it's snug! The pattern isn't kidding when it says it has very little ease. I put in a hand-picked lapped zipper, and I omitted the topstitching on the pleats, simply stitching in the ditch to secure them instead.

The fabric is some polyester crepe that was in my aunt's stash that she passed on to me. I normally don't like poly much, but it was the perfect weight to hold the pleats and yet still drape, but I found that I never wore the colour since it only matched with this one shirt. So, I dyed it! I haven't taken pictures since, but it's now a gorgeous purple-blue colour. Admittedly, it still doesn't match with very much, although I do like the colour a lot more now.

Since learning to sew with knits, I've also made a TON of underwear from jersey scraps. Here are my first four (experimental) pairs!

I used So, Zo's free pattern as a starting point, but modified it for a lot more coverage and more of a boy-short cut. It took quite a few tries to figure out the right length of elastic to use - you might notice the bottom left pair have waaay too much elastic. Now I can whip up a pair from leftover jersey in under an hour, and they turn out well every time!

And lastly, a knitting project!

I used a hand-dyed and hand-spun BFL yarn for this set, which is some of the softest wool I've ever worked with - it's gorgeous! The pattern for the hat was a free pattern I picked up from a local yarn store, but I think the wool wasn't quite bulky enough for it. I used the same cable pattern for the cowl, and skipped the ribbing at the bottom edge to make it roll.

I'm not really sure how I feel about these - they're nice, but neither are quite warm enough for the Montreal winter. The hat is a little small and the cowl is a little big, so they don't really keep my neck and ears that warm! It seems a shame to save these for the fall and spring, so I'm considering re-knitting them into a cozier scarf.

So, that's everything for my photo dump! I'll be back soon with my latest handknit sweater, my tester version of the brand-new Sarah Shirt from BHL, and some handknit Christmas gifts.... promise!

Now to find myself a photographer so I can actually keep that promise...

Completed: Maroon Colette Moneta Dress

Finally, a finished project! I hope you’re not getting sick of seeing Moneta dresses, because I’m certainly not sick of making them! This is the first thing (besides underwear) that I sewed once reunited with my sewing machine in Vancouver. It felt very strange to be sewing again after such a long break, so I wanted to make something quick and easy that I’d made before. This is actually my fourth - I made a third one during the summer and never got around to blogging about it.

I made this dress out of the maroon cotton jersey that I bought from a by-the-pound bin at Stretch-Tex in Montreal. It’s lightweight but not sheer, and it has some spandex, so it’s perfect for the Moneta. I bought this and some printed sweater knit for only $5, so this dress cost about $2.50 to make!

I wasn’t sure I would have enough fabric for a collar or pockets since I only had 1.5 metres, but with a creative cutting layout, I managed to get both. I’m really glad, because the collar is my favourite part, and I do like to have pockets, even though knit pockets aren’t the most practical. I don’t use them much in my other knit dresses, but they’re nice to have when I just need to carry my phone or some lip balm around!

I shortened the bodice another ¼” from my last version, and I think the waist finally hits at the right spot! In total, I raised it 1½”I also raised the pockets 1”, same as with my last version, which puts them at a better spot for me.

This went together very quickly, since I sewed the entire thing except for the hems on my serger. This was my first time making the ¾ sleeve variation (although they’re really more like ½” sleeves), and I found that the sleeves were a little big, so I took the in ¾”. I really like the length, though! I find it very flattering to have them hit around the waist when the waist is defined like in this dress.

I also shortened this 1” when I hemmed it, because it’s more of a wintery colour and I’ll be wearing it with boots. A longer dress doesn’t look bad with these boots, but once I’m back in Montreal, I’ll be wearing winter boots, which I find look better with a slightly shorter skirt.

For the hems, I used my usual technique of serging the edge, pressing up the hem with Stitch Witchery, and using a twin ballpoint needle with a walking foot. The Stitch Witchery takes more time, but I find that it makes such a big difference!

The only part of constructing this dress that still gives me a bit of trouble is gathering the skirt. I find that I need to cut my elastic a little (usually 10 cm) shorter than the waistline, because it stretches as you sew it, as I discovered in my first version. The instructions have you use ¼” clear elastic, but I found that quite a bit of it got cut off when I attached the skirt. I tried 3/8” elastic, which worked better, but still got cut off in places, since the zigzag stitch that I attach it with pulls the edges in and makes it narrower. I tried using a straight stich in my last version, but it didn’t lie flat. This time, I used ½” elastic, but I had the same problem with the zigzag stitch pulling in the edges quite a bit, and it made a bit of a ridge. Next time, I might try the 3/8” elastic again, but attach it with my serger instead, and just not cut anything off – I think this might help the elastic lay flat.

Anyways, I really love this dress! It was enough to really get me back into sewing, and I made plenty more when I was home. I like it with a belt, but it looks good without as well. I'll probably wear it more often without, since it's easier to wear a sweater over. I’ve already worn it lots, and I think I might have a new favourite dress!

Dress: Me-made (Colette Moneta)
Belt: bought at a craft market
Tights: Hue
Boots: Steve Madden

Completed: Colette Moneta Dress, 60's Style

It's pretty safe to say that the Moneta dress has shunted every other dress pattern I own out of the top spot as my favourite pattern. After finishing my first Moneta, I started right away on this one!

I bought this fabric from Fabricana - I loved it too much to pass up. I'm consistently wary of the quality of their fabric, but this was supposedly made in France and more expensive than you'd expect a viscose knit to be, so I hoped that it would be decent. I managed to get this dress out of less than 1.4 metres, which means that I have enough for a second Bronte Top! (I promise that I will blog about my first soon...)

I also bought some cream-coloured bamboo jersey, which I intended to make into a collar, but I decided that it would be too much. I wanted the focus to be on the gorgeous fabric!

I decided on version 1, the sleeveless, lined version, and used the bamboo jersey as lining instead. I lengthened it 2", because I wanted this version to be more elegant and classic, something that could work as a casual summer dress, but still be dressed up. With this 60's vintage dress in mind, I also raised the neckline 1 1/2" to a boatneck, which you can't actually see that well in any of these photos because my hair is in the way. Oops!

After the bodice of my first version was too long, I shortened it by 1 1/4", although for my third version (yes, I made a third...), I shortened it another 1/4", and will probably do the same if when I make a fourth. It looks fine in the front, even though the waistline is slightly below my natural waist, but in the back, the waistline rides up. It's actually not nearly as bad as these photos make it look, though! I think it was the way I was standing that made it bunch up that much.

This dress came together so quickly - most of it was done in an afternoon. The method of finishing the lined armholes took me a few minutes to wrap my head around, but once I figured it out, it was quite straightforward (and rather ingenious, actually).

At this stage, I realized that the armholes were too big. I didn't notice in my first version, because it had sleeves, but they gape just slightly, and show a bit of the side of my bra. I tried a couple ways of fixing it, including taking in the side seams, and sewing in some slightly gathered elastic, but nothing seemed to work, so I decided that I would live with it. I just have to make sure I wear a bra that is close in colour with it.

Once I got to the gathering the skirt, I copied my 60's dress once again, and gathered the skirt only at the sides. 

To do this, I measured the elastic the same as usual (although I made it a little smaller - I find that even after stretching it before using it, it stretches a little as you use it to gather the skirt). I then pinned the elastic for 3 inches on either side of the centre, both front and back, without stretching it. I stretched the rest evenly as I sewed, and then it just so happened that where the gathering started matched exactly with the notches on the bodice. I really like how it looks! It's more noticeable in real life than in these photos, and it would stand out even more in a solid colour.

The last thing that I changed for this version was that I hemmed using a stretch blind hem, rather than a twin needle. I usually prefer to hem by hand than use a machine blind hem, but I needed the stretch in this one so I thought that I would try it. It worked beautifully! I has a decent amount of stretch (although the stretch is limited by my serging, not the blind stitch, oddly enough), and is nearly invisible. My stitching is far from perfect (in fact, I had to go back and re-do a few sections), but the stitches where I caught too much of the fabric get lost in the print anyways. 

This dress has turned out to be really versatile. I've worn it lots as a casual dress, and dressed it up with heels to wear to my gradtuation ceremony (under that ridiculous gown you have to wear).

Only minutes before heading out the door for the ceremony, I decided that I really didn't like the pockets. In such a drapey fabric, they really bunched up and added bulk at the hips. As a quick fix, I tacked the pockets by hand to the front of the skirt. It doesn't show, and I keep meaning to go back and do a neater job, but it did the trick!

I'm still not entirely sure that pockets in knit dress work all that well, but I'll wear this one a few more times before I make up my mind.

I'm so happy with how this dress turned out! As much as I love full-on vintage dresses, I find that what I wear most of the time is classic, comfortable, feminine styles with a vintage vibe - and this fits the bill perfectly! 

Thanks for reading!

Dress: Me-made (Colette Moneta)
Shoes: Vintage

Completed: Colette Moneta Dress with a Tie Collar

I once said that I had a love-hate relationship with knits.

I lied. There was no love. 

Every time I sewed with them, I would end up so frustrated that I would swear to never sew with them again... but I never learned. 

And now? I decided to give knits another go with Colette's new Moneta Dress pattern, and I honestly can't get enough of them. They are so fast to sew, and so comfortable to wear!

There's a bit of a story behind this fabric, first of all. My friend, who is learning to sew, found an ad on Craigslist for a whole bunch of surplus fabric for sale by a fashion designer, so we went to check it out, and the prices were amazing! Her focus was on eco-friendly, ethical clothing, so nearly everything was natural and, from what I can tell, excellent quality. 

This particular fabric is a bamboo jersey knit that we bought 4 metres of for $3 or $4 a metre. It's super soft, and not too flimsy like a lot of the bamboo you can buy. I only used about 1.8 metres of it for this dress, so you'll be seeing it again! Possibly as a Bronte Top?

This fabric was so easy to work with... I don't know what went wrong in the past when I've sewed with knits, but this sewed up beautifully. I used my serger for everything except the shirring at the waist and the hemming, and it went very smoothly.

The pattern itself is great. I made version 2, with the short sleeves, and added the tie collar that's part of the Moneta extras that you can download for free. I love the collar! It stops a solid colour dress from being too boring.

I sized down the upper bodice, but left the waist as-is, because I didn't want to size down the skirt pieces. What I didn't realize is that it wouldn't have mattered if I had sized down the waist, because the skirt is gathered. Oops!

This would have been a super fast make, if it had fit. The shoulders, not surprisingly, were too wide (they are on nearly everything), so I took them in a bit, but that was simple enough. The problem was the waist... 

First of all, I attached the skirt, and realized that the waist was far too low. I cut off my serging, shortened the bodice by 1 1/4", and then tried again. By this point, though, the waist was huge! I ended up taking about 1 1/2" out of each side seam at the waist, tapering to the armhole and the bottom of the skirt. This meant that I lost the pockets, but I wasn't too worried about that. I thought that the pockets, in a knit, would be too stretchy to be useful, so I cut them in a woven instead. This might have worked, but the woven was an off-white, which looked pretty bad. I wasn't expecting them to be so visible! So, this version is without pockets, which is too bad, but not the end of the world.

Since I had to take so much out at the waist, the part right above the waist ended up being a little tighter than I might normally like it, but it's still comfortable and wearable.

I love the method of shirring with the clear elastic - it's so much faster than sewing gathering stitches and pulling! My machine, on the other hand, didn't like it. The thread kept breaking, and the tension would suddenly go way off. Then, when I serged the skirt to the bodice, most of the elastic came off anyways. I wanted the elastic there to stabilize the waistband, so I sewed some more on, although I'm not so sure that was a great idea. I don't like the clear elastic that I used very much... it's quite solid and makes the waistband a little scratchy. I used a different brand for my second dress (yes, I've already sewn a second), and I like it much better.

All in all, my gathering at the waist is pretty wonky (as is my seam matching under the arms) if you look closely enough, but I'm still really happy with how this dress turned out. I was particularly proud of my hems! I used Stitch Witchery to stabilize them, and sewed them on my mom's machine that has a walking foot, with a twin needle. 

I originally lengthened the skirt by 2", but ended up taking off the extra length when I hemmed it. I prefer my skirts below the knee most of the time, but this just seemed like a fun, summery dress that needed a higher hemline.

Oh, andI can still layer over it! I was a little worried that the collar might make that difficult, but I have a few sweaters and cardigans that go over it well.

The collar can be double-knotted or single-knotted, and although I thought I liked single-knotted better, looking at these photos, I really like both! What do you think?

I also had fun planning and making notes about this project in my new 110 Creations notebook! I won this when Colette had a giveaway, so I thought it was appropriate to have a Colette dress as the first project in it! This notebook isn't the kind of thing I would go out and buy for myself, but I'm having fun with it nonetheless! (Plus, it did actually get sent to me, unlike the last prize I won online. They never responded to my email about how to claim the prize, even after I sent a second one a couple months later.)

And a side note... how do you pronounce "Moneta"? In my head, I was saying it "mon-AY-ta", but when I started saying it out loud, that sounded weird, so now I'm saying "mon-EE-ta", but that sound odd too. Is there a right way to say it?

Anyways, regardless of how it's pronounced, I absolutely love this dress! I feel like it will get a lot of wear this summer, and even into fall, if I make a half slip so it doesn't stick to my tights. It's super comfortable, and I started my second before I even cleaned up the fabric scraps around my sewing room. And, I don't know what I disliked so much about sewing knits before. Now, I can't wait to sew with more of them!

Has anyone else recently discovered (or rediscovered) the wonders of knits?

Dress: Me-made (Colette Moneta)
Shoes: Vintage
Bolero: Thrifted