New Hair + My Linen Granville Shirt

You know that feeling when you make something, and it actually turns out exactly how you pictured it and then you're convinced that you have the perfect piece of clothing that you would wear every single day if you could get away with it??

Well, meet my Granville Shirt! I made this a couple weeks ago and I'm so incredibly happy with it that I want to make hundreds more of these and completely would if I had the time.

Also, you might have noticed that I dyed my hair! If you follow me on Instagram or if you saw my Me-Made-May round-up, you probably know that I've actually had red hair for a few months now. When I first dyed it I used a kit (and a friend!), and it was right after my exams when I felt like I really needed a big change.

It was a little impulsive (not really like me!) and I was happy with how it turned out, but I realized that I maybe had a little too much hair to dye with a drugstore kit. Just last weekend, I had it done by a hairstyling student for a great price (less than I spent on drugstore dye!) and I'm SO happy with it. I love my natural colour but I'm ready to have fun with some different colours!

Anyways, back to the shirt!

It seems like a classic shirt has been on my sewing bucket list foreeever, and when Sewaholic released their Granville Shirt pattern last year, it seemed like it really was the perfect shirt! It has the perfect amount of ease and all the right details. Sewaholic patterns usually fit me pretty well, too, so it seemed like a great starting point.

When I made the muslin, though, it really needed some work. I don't have pictures, but the dart was completely in the wrong place for me, and the armholes were gaping like crazy, even after making the same alterations that Tasia made to make it sleeveless! It was also way too long, almost a tunic length, and big at the hips (although I expected that based on the sizing). I shortened it 4", but I ignored the shorten/lengthen lines because I needed the shaping at the waist to be higher. I cut two separate lines, one above the waist and one below, and shortened it 2" at each of them. To take it in at the hips, I just marked 1" in and drew a smooth curve to that point from the waist.

To make it sleeveless, you have to shave a little off the armholes and the shirt back where it attaches to the yoke - this tutorial explains it well. Tasia says she took the armholes in 1" and took 3/8" out of the back, but this wasn't nearly enough for me. I haven't made the shirt with sleeves, so I think I probably would have had to take in the shoulder and the back anyways - that's a pretty standard adjustment for me. In the end I took 1 3/4" out of the shoulder and 7/8" out of the back pieces.

For the dart, I started by raising it 1", but I needed to do something to fix the armhole gape. One of these days, I should probably learn to do a proper FBA, but I don't like how every tutorial I've seen ends up making the rest of the top wider at the bottom. Instead, I followed this tutorial on how to stop armhole gape - you basically pin a dart in the armhole where you would need it, and then transfer it to the bust dart. It basically doubled the size of the dart, and it worked really well to fix the gaping!

I made a second muslin with all these adjustments, and it was a lot closer, but there was still a little gaping in the back of the armhole. I considered doing the same thing with pinning a dart and somehow transferring it to the princess seams in the back, but this article said to just take a little out of the side seam for the back piece only so I did that for my final version. This also worked really well, although it made it just a tiny bit too small at the bust so I might try to add that back in somewhere for my next version. I didn't notice it at first, but after a little wear, the button band pulls ever so slightly at the bust.

Other than that, though, can we just admire the fit? I think I pretty much nailed it! There's a couple small things I'll change next time, but it's probably the best fitting shirt I've ever owned. It's a little wrinkled in these photos because I'd been wearing it all day, but that's just the nature of linen.

The fabric is a linen blend herringbone chambray that I bought on St. Hubert at the beginning of the summer. It was only $10 a metre and I got the whole top out of only a metre! Now I just need to figure out what to do with the metre I have left...

I've never made a classic shirt before, but it wasn't as difficult as I was expecting. I was mostly nervous for the collar stand but I followed Andrea's famous tutorial for sewing one and it went quite well! The only problem was that something must have stretched (or I just didn't cut it accurately enough in the first place), because I found the collar to be a little too long for the collar stand. I noticed it early on but somehow thought it would work itself out, so I didn't trim it down. It's mostly fine, but if I ever want to button it up all the way (which I never do), the collar overlaps slightly.

I also made a mistake and interfaced both the upper and lower collar by accident, because I wrote "Cut 2 interfacing" on the collar piece when I traced it. I keep meaning to check if this was my mistake or something on the pattern itself. It's not a big deal because the interfacing I used was pretty lightweight, but it would probably sit a little more nicely with slightly less.

As for the rest of the construction, I used flat-felled seams for everything so the insides are nice and neat.

To finish the armholes, I used store-bought bias binding because I was lazy and just sewed it with a 1/4" seam allowance, folded it over the raw edge, pressed it to the inside, and edgestitched. Easy peasy! I think the bias binding I used was maybe a little too stiff for the fabric (I think it's mostly poly), because it didn't stretch to the curve as nicely as a softer one would, and the edges don't quite lay flat. I don't think it's that noticeable, but next time I'll make my own. In fact I think I may just buy some black and white cotton and make a bunch of my own so I have a stock for times like this! The homemade stuff is so much nicer, even if it's not in matching fabric.

I used my machine's automatic buttonhole foot to make the buttonholes, and I can't get over how beautiful they are. This is probably one of my favorite features of this machine, because I've always struggled with making nice buttonholes. The only one that was a little wonky was the one at the very top because I don't think I trimmed down the seam allowance enough when I attached the collar, so there was a little too much bulk to make a smooth buttonhole. In the end, I just didn't cut it open because I'm never going to button up that button anyways!

I'm so, so happy with how this shirt turned out. It's a great summer style for throwing on over jeans or these rayon Value Village pants that I've been living in. It's so cool and comfortable for the Montreal heat, too! I've already worn it so much and I want to make more. In the fall I might try a version with sleeves, although sleeveless versions are almost more practical for layering cardigans over!

Next up, I'd love to make a shirtdress version! Stay tuned...

Completed: Sewaholic Davie Dress - the Perfect LBD

If you've been following my Me-Made-May posts, you've probably noticed that I wear knit dresses quite a bit! In fact, I probably wear them more than I did during May... I just tried to vary my outfits as much as I could!

I was excited when I heard that Tasia from Sewaholic had released a knit dress pattern, the Davie dress, but to be honest, I can't say that I was immediately drawn to it. I could tell that it was well designed, as all Sewaholic patterns are, but I just wasn't sure if the style was for me.

It was pretty much because of this fabric that I decided to give the pattern a try. During my last day in Montreal, I went out fabric shopping and bought some solid black cotton knit from Stretch Tex, and some heathered charcoal gray as well, though I didn't have room in my suitcase for that one! I was very impressed with the fabric from there that I used for my maroon Moneta dress, so I was happy to pick up some more. This was a little bit thicker and less drapey than the maroon stuff though, so I decided that my plan to make yet another Moneta dress wouldn't work.

I knew that I wanted to make a dress from it though, because I didn't actually have a little black dress! It was a serious wardrobe gap, but I'm always drawn to coloured fabric so much more than black.

It was then that I remembered the Davie dress, and the samples made up in black. The more I thought about it, the more the pattern grew on me, and I decided to buy it.

I'm so glad I changed my mind, because this dress turned out so well, and it will be super versatile. Although it's a different style than I'm used to, it's very flattering!

I cut out view A (with cap sleeves, knee length) in a size 0, which is my standard size in Sewaholic patterns (even though my measurements don't fit exactly, I've found that a 0 usually fits). I knew that I would want to widen the neckline a little, just out of personal preference, so I started by taking out 1/2" of each side before cutting it out.

Since I have quite a short upper torso, I made the keyhole 1" smaller so it wouldn't be too low on me. Raising necklines is a pretty standard alteration for me, so this was nothing unusual.

Once the front and back were sewn together, the instructions suggest basting the side seams to check the fit, which I'm glad I did. The princess seams were sitting a little low on me (again, due to my short torso) and the armholes were a little big. I took an extra 1/2" out of the shoulder seams, and took in the side seams under the arms 1/4" to fix this. There's a little extra fabric above the princess seam that I'll deal with if I make it again, but it's perfectly wearable like this.

I also decided that I wanted the neckline to be a little wider still, especially since it was now higher after adjusting the shoulders. In the end, I took out 2" on either side, and I also needed to lower the back neckline a little to make it rounded - otherwise, it looked really strange with the wider neckline! I really like it now - I think the wider neckline suits me better than the original one.

Although it's a knit dress, it's constructed much more like a woven dress, since it was originally designed for heavier knits (though the jersey version looks great too!). It has a centre front and centre back seam as well as princess seams, and the instructions suggest sewing all seams on a regular machine, pressing, topstitching, and trimming the seam allowance. I tend to prefer less topstitching, though, so I experimented with some different finishes. As much as I was tempted to just serge all the seams, I wanted them to lay a little flatter, so I sewed them on my regular machine with a slight zigzag, pressed them open, and serged the seam allowances separately. At the keyhole, you need topstitching to keep the seam allowances down, but instead, I used some lightweight Stitch Witchery to keep them in place. Since they aren't really under any stress, I think that should hold them.

I also wanted to see if I could get away with using the same technique to avoid topstitching the neckline and hems. The neckline is finished with bias binding that's turned to the inside, and the hems are just pressed and topstitched. Instead of topstitching, I pressed them up with Stitch Witchery, and hand tacked them to the seam allowances. The neckline seems to be holding up quite well, but I'm not so sure about the hems after throwing this through the wash a couple times. I might have to topstitch them - there'd be no point sewing them by hand since it's quite visible in this fabric.

The last thing I did differently was to add pockets. In her Q&A post about the dress, Tasia suggests not adding pockets, because they would either be droopy and weigh down the dress, or be bulky if the fabric could support them. I've had mixed experiences with knit pockets - the ones in my second Moneta dress droop and bunch up quite badly (I ended up tacking them to the front of the skirt), but the ones in my third (unblogged) and fourth Monetas are quite functional, because the fabric is a little less drapey. Since this fabric was a little thicker than the fabric I used for my Monetas, though, I tried using a woven lining fabric. I had no idea if this would work out at all, but I really, really wanted this dress to have pockets, so I gave it a shot. When I volunteered at Our Social Fabric, I picked up a small cut of black lining fabric that was just enough for the pockets. I used the Cambie dress pieces, and sewed them in like regular inseam pockets.

And luckily, they turned out really well! The pockets don't gape, don't weight down the dress, and don't droop! I don't know how functional they would be for carrying anything very heavy or bulky, but for my phone, lip balm, and some money, they're perfect. In a fabric with more vertical stretch, adding some stabilizer to the side seams (like narrow twill tape) might stop them from weighing down the dress, although removing the vertical stretch in those seams might make it tricky to get on and off.

The instructions suggest letting it hang before hemming, which I didn't think would make a difference since the skirt is cut in panels, but it actually did! I also shortened it, so it's somewhere in between the length of view A and view B now. Depending on how much it had stretched, I shortened it 2-3", then hemmed it.

With those modifications (widening the neckline, tweaking the fit and adding pockets), I'm really happy with this dress! It's very classic and can be dressed up or down easily, plus it's comfortable and flattering. I thought that it would look good with my favourite red heels, but looking at these photos, I think they might be a little much. Oh well - I'll probably be wearing this with flats most of the time anyways.

I'll probably make another one of these in the fall - I'm not so sure I want to make it in a drapier jersey, so it lends itself more to fall dresses made from heavier-weight knits. I have some nice purple ponte knit that I think would be perfect!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to my brother for taking photos for me!

Dress: me-made (Sewaholic Davie)
Shoes: thrifted/vintage

Completed: Cowl Neck Renfrew Top

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to make Sewaholic’s Renfrew Top! I’ve seen countless versions of this top on various blogs, and I’ve been really happy with all the other Sewaholic patterns that I've tried! When I went to the Sewtionary launch party during the summer, there was 25% off all Sewaholic patterns if you were wearing something made from one. I wore my refashioned muumuu Pendrell blouse and my denim Hollyburn skirt, and picked up the Renfrew pattern!

The pattern calls for a medium-weight knit, so I chose this royal blue organic cotton and bamboo double knit that I bought at Dressew (of all places! It really wasn’t where I was expecting to find organic cotton). Compared to Montreal, it was a little pricey at $15 a metre, but I got this top out of under 1.5 metres, so I’m not complaining.

I chose view C, the cowl neck variation, with the long sleeves from view A. I cut a straight size 0, which usually fits me pretty well in Sewaholic patterns.

From cutting to hemming, I finished this top in an evening! The instructions were well-written but brief, as is usual for Sewaholic patterns. I didn’t follow the instructions too closely, since I’m pretty familiar with how to put together a knit top, although I did noticed that the instructions say to sew the cowl with the wrong sides together. The picture, however, shows it with the right sides together, which is the correct way. It’s not a new pattern so I was a little surprised to find a mistake in the instructions, but I might have just bought an older version that hadn’t been corrected yet.

I wasn’t sure if I had any ¼” twill tape to reinforce the shoulders, so instead I used ¼” clear elastic, which I bought lots of for Moneta dresses but don’t use anymore since I prefer the 3/8” stuff.

I sewed all the seams on my serger, and my regular machine seems to have recovered and did a nice job on the topstitching around the cowl. I used a straight stitch rather than the recommended zigzag, because I find that it actually had enough stretch when it’s topstitching a seam that’s already been serged – I used a straight stitch for all the topstitching on my Bronte tops and haven’t had any problems with broken stitches.

Since I tuck in most of my tops, I wanted a less bulky finish at the bottom, so I hemmed it instead of using the band. I didn’t add any length; I simply omitted the band and the length was perfect. I finished the edge with my serger, turned up 1”, pressed with Stich Witchery, and hemmed with a twin needle. Unfortunately, I didn’t use a walking foot so my hem is a little ripply, but since this will usually be tucked in, I’m not too concerned.

I originally hemmed the sleeves this way as well, but I found that they were just a touch too short, and a little too wide, so I cut off the hem and added the cuffs a couple days later. I like them better, I think!

The fit on this is pretty good, but not perfect. I need to take in the shoulder seams about ½”, maybe more, and if I make a version without the cowl, I’ll need to take in the neckline a little since it’s pretty wide. I’ve seen some people recommend making it a size down since the fit is roomy, but I was already making the smallest size and I didn’t really want to size it down. I think I’m reasonably happy with the fit, though! It’s really comfortable and still looks good tucked it – I actually prefer my shirts to be a little blousy at the waist, otherwise they ride up and get wrinkly.

If I wear it untucked, though, there's some pooling of fabric at the lower back. I might look into doing a swayback adjustment for next time.

I will definitely be making this again! I can see why it's such a popular pattern - it goes together so quickly, and I think I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. I just wish I had enough of the wool I bought it Montreal to make a wool cowl neck version, but the cowl takes up a fair bit of fabric, so I don’t think I do. I’m also planning a Renfrew-Moneta hack to make a cowl neck dress - I just love the cowl neck!

Top: Me-made (Sewaholic Renfrew)
Skirt: Not sure of the brand, refashioned from a dress to a skirt
Belt: Bought at a craft market
Tights: Smartwool
Boots: Steve Madden

Completed: a Muumuu Refashioned into a Sewaholic Pendrell Blouse

I have a confession to make: I love muumuus.

Especially muumuus made out of lovely drapey rayon that are on sale for $5 at thrift stores, like this one, because they are so easy to refashion.

Flattering, no?

It was a homemade muumuu, so I almost felt guity unpicking it! After a while, though, I figured that whoever made it would probably be happier to see it unpicked and made into something else than thrown away. After I unpicked it, it was basically two big rectangles and the yoke. I straightened the edges, and then just used it like any other fabric, and cut Sewaholic's Pendrell Blouse from it.

Side note: I only just learned that muumuu is spelled that way... I always thought that it was spelled mumu. 

I've made this blouse a few times before, and I love it! It's quick to put together and fits me very well, so I figured that it would be a great blouse to compliment my denim Hollyburn skirt as my entry for the Monthly Stitch's Indie Fan-Girl contest.

As much as I love the sleeve options that come with the blouse, they're not very easy to layer over, so instead, I borrowed the cap sleeves from view A of the Alma Blouse. I'm really happy with how they turned out! It was a very easy switch, since the armhole of that view of the Alma is finished with bias binding, exactly like the Pendrell. I've done this before, when I made my knit Pendrell top.

I ended up doing a lot more hand sewing on this blouse than I anticipated, since I decided to slipstitch all the bias binding at the neck and armholes, rather than stitching it by machine. It took more time, but I'm glad I did - it gives such a clean look to the edges.

I also catchstitched the hem, after turning it up 3/4" twice (rather than 1 1/2" once). I think this is a neater finish than serging the edge, and the fabric is thin enough that it doesn't show through.

I love how neat the insides look with the bias binding! I usually prefer facings (yes, I'm one of few), but when done by hand, finishing with bias binding that matches looks really nice too. I only wish that I had also finished the seam allowances of the princess seams with bias binding! I'll make a note to do that next time - it would make the insides look so nice.

I really love this blouse! It pairs very nicely with this skirt, but it will be very versatile over the summer and into the fall with a cardigan over top, and it's flattering untucked with jeans as well, although I prefer it tucked in.

If you like this outfit as much as I do, I'd love it if you'd vote for me on the Monthly Stitch! Thanks!

Blouse: Me-made (Sewaholic Pendrell)
Skirt: Me-made (Sewaholic Hollyburn)
Belt: RTW (can't remember the brand)
Shoes: Vintage

Completed: Denim Hollyburn Skirt

What's a girl to do when she finds a cute blouse at a thrift store, but doesn't have anything to wear it with?

Make a skirt to match, of course!

Only joking. Sort of. I did come up with the idea to make this skirt because of this blouse, but mostly because I needed a casual summery skirt that I could wear with everything.

I don't usually buy tops at thrift stores unless they're silk or really well made, but I fell in love with this print - it's teacups! It feels like a cotton blend, and it was a few sizes too big, but I took in the sides, the darts and the straps quite easily, and it fits me pretty well now, considering that it's only a semi-fitted blouse. It'll be a nice casual piece for summer, and great for layering! Not bad for $2.50 and an hour's work.

Right after that trip to the thrift store, I went fabric shopping, and while I was there, I realized that I didn't have anything except jeans to wear it with, since all my skirts are either black (which I don't like wearing with navy, or with bare legs in the summer) or printed. I happened to be standing near the denim section at the time, and I had the idea - why not make a denim skirt? It would be casual but still my style, and it would go with just about everything.

That's how this skirt started, and it later turned into an idea for an outfit for The Monthly Stitch's Indie Fangirl Contest (I will post about the blouse that I made to go with it tomorrow).

The denim that I bought is a lightweight (I believe it was 5 oz) denim from Fabricana, which probably wasn't the best choice. It wasn't expensive, and I soon discovered why! It gives off a funny smell when it's ironed (even though it's 100% cotton), and it's quite loosely woven, so pulls a little at the seams. In retrospect, I could have chosen a slightly heavier weight denim, but I do love the drape of this one.

The pattern is the Sewaholic Hollyburn Skirt, which is a great simple skirt. I've made it once before (before this blog, but you can see it in my Me-Made-May posts and my 2013 Round-Up post), and I've worn it out completely. I made view C in size 0 since I had already traced that view, but lengthened it an inch, and added the belt loops from view A. 

I love how quick this skirt is to make! Even with all the hand sewing (which is optional), I finished this in probably about five hours? I didn't really keep track! 

Rather than the centered, machine-sewn zipper called for, I put in a hand-picked lapped zipper - my favourite kind!

I hand stitched the waistband down rather than topstitching it, which takes more time but looks really clean and polished. 

The hem was probably the hardest part - I still struggle with curved hems! I took a really narrow hem, but decided to use contrasting rayon seam binding, for fun. Next time, I'll try hemming it with bias binding, because I found the seam binding difficult to ease in. I catchstitched the hem, and I'm happy with how it looks from the outside, anyways! I really love the looks of hand-sewn hems.

I'm really happy with this skirt! It came together quickly, and I think it will get a lot of wear. I'm glad I tried out this pattern again, because I love it! I can see myself making many more this summer. 

Blouse: Thrifted and taken in (brand unknown)

Skirt: Me-made (Sewaholic Hollyburn)

Belt: Thrifted (brand unknown)

Shoes: Thrifted (Arnold Churgin)