Burda Style - Faux Wrap Dress

 

When I received the February 2021 issue of Burda Style, I was immediately drawn to the pattern for this  faux wrap dress.  I have kept it in the back of my mind, until I found a suitable fabric.  When I saw this printed rayon from The Fabric Shop in Otara, I told the teens to buy it for me as an early birthday present, so I could get it sewn up whilst still in lockdown.

Based on my hip and bust measurements, I made my usual size 38.  I do feel I could have perhaps sized down for the skirt, because the there seemed to be an excess of fabric in the front.  Because the fabric frayed easily, I used French seams where I could, including on the waistline.  This was fortuitous, because it gave me a nice flat firm seam on the back, to sew a length of elastic onto, which helps pull the fabric to the back, instead of sliding around to the front.  It's not a dress for lifting ones arms up high in, but perfectly suitable for wining and dining.

I had a few dilemmas over hem length, and after posting a question to my Instagram story, the general consensus was shorter than the pattern suggested, which I have done.

Overall, I am pleased with the dress, I have possibly lost some of the wrap and tie detailing because of the patterned fabric, but I think that this is a dress I can wear casually or for  more dressy occasions.

Pattern details: Burda Style 101/022021

Fabric - rayon

More Lockdown Sewing

 

I'm almost 10 weeks into our lockdown, vaccination numbers are getting higher, but there is still away to go before we get back to a somewhat new normal type of life.

Along with walking, hiking and gardening, sewing is my other sanity saver, and I have been doing continuing to work on some projects.

I decided I did need another six hearts to make my  Heart Groove is in the Heart Quilt look more balanced. It was also a chance for me to add a few more colours that I felt was lacking in it.  I'm really pleased with it now.

After the success of my scrappy chair and sewing machine cover,  I decided to make a giant version, which I am going to use as the backing for my heart quilt.  This way I get a reversible quilt and use up a lot of my stash.  The fabrics were all cut into various lengths and are six inches wide.  I'm quite delighted with how it looks, though the only downside was all the seams I had to press.  Ironing is not my favourite activity connected with sewing, nore of a necessary evil.

Now, if you're wondering why you're seeeing two pictures of me wearing the same shirt, it's because I made myself another one.  When I made the shirt on the right last year, it was a little tight around the armscyes, so ended up being given to my Mum.  When I found some more of the same fabric, I had to get some so I could make a Bonn Shirt for me out of this wonderful dandelion print.  This version is a size 6 and has tiny little mother of pearl buttons.

Should our lockdown continue, I have another couple of garments planned, and I probably should look at finishing some smaller handsewing projects that have been in my WIP pile too.

Fingers crossed, I'll actually get to go back to work soon though.

Hopeful Hearts

 

One benefit of lockdowns, is the time one gets to sew, (I'm lucky cos my kids are now independent teens, so when I'm not doing work things, I get quite a lot of free time), and create and play with our quite substantial fabric stash.  Sometimes instead of starting a new project, old works in progress get finished.

This is the case, with  my Groove is in the Heart Quilt, which I started here almost a year ago.  I had the majority of these large blocks made, and stored in a box.  Over the past week I finshed off the last six blocks I had waiting to be sewn, then stitched them altogether.

The pattern itself had 49 blocks, however I made this up using 36 blocks.  It's quite a large quilt already, but after looking at the photos, I have decied to make another six blocks, so I have a slightly more symmetrically balanced quilt.

Now, that the top is finished, and I have stepped back and watched it flapping in the wind, I am quite pleased with how it has turned out.  I think this one will be a keeper.

Pattern available from Rachel Daisy here

A New Sewing Machine Cover

 

After finishing my chair cover, I still felt like playing with all my quilt fabric scraps.  I didn't want to make another quilt, but decided to make a new cover for my sewing machine, my old one here, was very faded and just didn't look nice anymore.

Using the vinyl cover that came with my machine as a template for measurements, I pieced together a few scrappy blocks from predominately Anna Maria Horner scraps, and quilted them with some batting and yardage from my stash.  This was the easy part,

Assembling the pieces and stitching them teogether involved quite a bit of finangling through my machine.  The top corners I actually ended up hand sewing in place,  All seams were left exposed, so that I could bind them, again using a beautiful Anna Maria Horer Fabric.

I'm really pleased with how this has turned out.  It definitely brightens up my sewing room, and protects my machine from dust and sunlight.

Please Be Seated

 

Earlier this week, while aimlessly browsing Instagram, I happened to come across a photo of an office chair, with a quilted seat cover.  This immediately struck a chord with me, I couldn't believe I had never thought to do that to my perfectly functional but plain sewing chair.   That afternoon, I pulled out my bag of Anna Maria Horner scraps ( I had a lot) and randomly started piecing strips, and squares together.  For a little bit of variety, I also added some Amy Butler and Tula Pink scraps.  All  the fabrics are bright vibrant colours with bold designs and meld together perfectly into what I call  a hot mess.

I ended up with two large scrappy quilt blocks, which I quilted with an organic (not perfectly even) diagonal cross hatch.  Batting and backing fabrics were all from my stash.

I rounded the corners on the seat cover, than added a casing for elastic to be pulled through. I was so pleased with how this cover turned out.  The chair back took a lot more work, a little cursing and a bit of unpicking, till I got the shape and fit right.  Again I added a casing for the elastic to pull the base of the back in.  Both seat cover and the back piece are fully removeable, though I don't think I ever want to take them off my chair now.

In a way it was mindless easy sewing, I certainly didn't need to be as precise with my sewing as I have needed to be with the clothes I've made lately, and I didn't really worry about what fabrics or colours were used where.

I am delighted with how it has turned out, and at how cheerful it looks, and am looking forward to more lockdown sewing in my sewing room.