Roksanda Ilincic Inspired Dress

I have long admired the fabulous 'inspired' designer dresses made by the lovely Carolyn, amongst others, and have finally dipped my toes in the water.  Here is my inspiration:

 

Now, I know that you probably think that I am a little late to the colour-blocking party, but I am here now, so see me through!

This lovely dress was designed by Roksanda Ilinic, and boy, don't those colors pop?  So, after the success (in my mind) of my Pointer Sisters dress, I thought that I would jump in with some short lengths of linen that I had recently purchased.  After all - what other fabric would you be thinking of using in the middle of Autumn and the threat of snow storms at the weekend?!  Whilst I really like the look of the white, I was concerned that I may have some seams showing through, so I decided upon black, fushia and tan, with a soft dusky rose Bemberg Lining (for my Canadian sewing sisters, check out the 'bargain fabrics' wall in Fabricland - they move the old stock there quite frequently, rip the label off the bolt and sell it for $5/metre.  Bargain!)

I chopped up my pattern, trying to ensure that any vertical seams did not interfere with the darts, and that the horizontal seam on the back was as flattering as a vertical seam near your butt can be, and I was off.

I chose to overlock (serge) most of my seams, and then top stitched them down so that they looked like felled seams.  I should mention that this was done after basting the seams together and checking for fit (thank-you Mr. SDSC for being such a dab hand with the pins!) - I had to take out A LOT of fabric on the side seams of the fashion fabric, but not so much of the lining.  I used an invisible zip - I find them so quick and easy to set in, and left off the vent at the back.  The dress is hemmed rather short (for me) and did not need any extra walking ease.  I hand stitched the hem so that I could change thread color as I went round, and used self binding for the neckline and armholes.  Holy cow, doesn't linen bias binding fray?  So much for the 'bias' bit preventing that occurring!

Have you noticed how scandalously short this dress is?  You can almost see my knees . . . . !

Hmmm.  The back is a bit wrinkly in some of these pics.  I think some of it is due to my modelling (??!) posture, but I did make a bit of a pigs ear on the right shoulder (see below).  I may have to revisit the pattern and double check the back to smooth it out a bit.

I am really quite pleased with this, and have been busily pinning inspiration for more clothes.  I like that for color blocking it can be a great way to use up scraps (as long as I can work out grainlines!)  I did have a bit of issue with one of the shoulders where the lining does not quite hang properly - but not enough of an issue for me to remove the lining, re-cut it and attach again!!

Next up will be a dress with sleeves and a different neckline finish - but for now, I am rather pleased with my first designer inspired dress!

Ikat Winter Collection - the reveal!

I am happy to say that I have now completed my 6PAC Winter Collection for the Stitchers Guild sew-a-long - and here is the proof!  Just a quick warning before you start - this is a monster post . . . !

I made two skirts - a straight one and a 4-gored one, two tops - one with a polo neck, one with a round neck and two cardigan/jackets.  So without further ado. . . I give you my

Ikat Winter Collection:

The first two items are a top and skirt that make a two piece dress.  The top is my franken Kwik Sew 3752 and the skirt is from Simplicity 4221.  The fabric is an Ikat Hiatchi Sweater Print from Fabric.com.  The skirt is lined with black Bemberg and has a lace border.  I blogged about these two items here.
 

The next item, which I actually completed last of all is a jacket cardigan from McCalls 4466.  I changed the neckline from being a round neck to a more 'V' line as this is a casual cardigan.  The fabric is an orange ponte knit from Fabricland and I LOVE the fabric.  The cardigan had been tissue fitted during my fitting class.  There are some changes that I could have made - I have a feeling that I messed up the centre front and have more fabric in the front that I should have. Ho hum - I can fix that next time!  I am happy with how the back fits, and if I had stood up straight during the photo session you would have been able to see how it fits my round upper shoulder and swayback.  A nice casual (and yet fitted) cardigan!  It picks out the orange in the dress very well.

A little peek inside - I did not touch my serger with this!  All the seams were sewn then the edges zigzagged and pressed open.  The shoulder and centre back seams were also top-stitched open.  I hand-stitched down the seams of the sleeve near the cuffs so that they looked more professional.  It took a lot longer to sew, but I really liked the process here.

Ah yes.  My black corduroy skirt.  This is the second one that I made.  The first was blogged about here, but I really did not like how it looked so I made another!  (I will do something with the first one to make it wearable - probably by cutting off about 10" in length!)

This straight skirt is from Butterick 4877 and I first blogged about the pattern here.  This time I just lengthened the yoke to make a straight skirt, pegging the hem 1" on the side seams.  I inserted an invisible zip - I really have not master a lapped zip, and have managed without one so far!  The skirt is, of course, lined and I have to say that I feel great in it.  I love the silhouette and have cut out another two - one in brown jumbo corduroy and one in a tartan fabric (or it may be plaid - I will need to see if I can ID it!)

 

This top (same Kwik Sew pattern as above) feels great - it is a cotton/lycra mix and I really should have ironed it again before putting it on . . . . !  With the black skirt it looks OK - I probably would not wear it just like this, but with a cute scarf I think the outfit would really pop!  The only difference between this top one and the orange patterned one above is that I put a nice long polo neck to keep me snuggly warm!

Another headless shot - this means that I was pulling a face or it is out of focus!

This cardigan is my final piece, and I originally blogged about it here.  This cardigan is part of a two piece and is a Linda MacPhee pattern.  I thought that two layers of animal print was a little too much and made the plain brown top instead.

Yep, you are right - I need to adjust the lining of the black skirt as it is pulling slightly on the vent on the back of the skirt.

Here we have the brown top and orange Ikat skirt.  I really like this look as well . . .

And to finish it off - with the orange cardigan.  I think this color rather suits me and I shall have to get some more!

Here we have the begining of . . . .

Jazz hands.  Well, sort off!  It looks more like I am pushing the photographer (my father) away!  Sorry Dad - you did a grand job!

There are 9 looks here out of my 6 pieces and I already have the top that matches the brown cardigan for a couple more looks.  I am really happy with these garments - I think that I have moved on quite a lot from my K.I.S.S collection.  This is mostly down to feedback from yourselves and I really appreciate comments - so thank you!

I learned quite a few things during this collection, a lot of it from studying these photos.  I can't believe the difference between looking at photos and looking at myself in the mirror! 

1. Shorter skirts are OK
2. Longer gored skirts need to be made in very drapey fabrics
3. A shorter jacket/cardigan would probably look good too - worth trying that next time
4. I love a fitted skirt.  Elastic waistbands are great, but I really like the fitted one on the black skirt
5.  I love, love, love hand sewing.  There was not much in this - the cuffs on the orange cardigan and the lining of the black skirt, but I do like slowing down the pace and hand sewing.
6. Not everything needs to be serged!  I plan to use more couture techniques in future garments - where appropriate of course, such as french seams, Hong-Kong finishes, interlining etc. instead of whipping everything through the serger!
7. Yes, you are right.  Despite avidly watching America's Next Top Model, my posing is pretty poor - but there is a new season starting soon so I will see what I can do!!


I also think that my fitting class has helped a lot - I can't believe how fitted the orange cardigan is and how good it feels.  There will be many more of these garments - taking into account the alterations mentioned above.  I can't wait to start!

To finish off, here is my compilation photo:

PS - If you would like to see more photos, they are on Flickr, just make sure you are sitting comfortably as there are LOADS!  Apparently there is a monthly upload limit, and I exceeded it with this batch.  So soon in the month as well!

RTW Fast

The gauntlet has been thrown down and the challenge accepted . . . . oh yes . . . and it is all because of the lovely Sarah over at Goodbye Valentino.  Her challenge is to forgo buying RTW (ready to wear) clothing for a year . . . and make your own clothes.  What a fabulous idea!  Fortunately we will be able to purchase underwear - but I do plan to sew some as well!

image courtesy of Goodbye Valentino

Sarah has a marvelous sense of style and is a very accomplished dressmaker - I think that with her support and that of my fellow 'fasters' it will be a fun and challenging year!  In reality, I don't think that I spend much on clothes, but I am going to look back over the last year of bank statements and check!  I think it will then be interesting to see how much I spend on fabric, patterns etc.  I do not think that this will save me money - but that is not a bad thing at all.  I think that this challenge will focus my time and skills and at the end I am hoping to have a classy, well fitting wardrobe that makes the most of my body shape.  I dream of choosing a week's worth of garments as per Carolyn - I could probably write a whole blog on how fantastic her sewing/style/skills etc are - so feel free to take a look yourselves!  I love her idea of developing TNT (tried and true or tried and tested) patterns, and then being able to enjoy the process of sewing.

So, where do I go from here?  I am going to record all my sewing related expenses - starting with the lining, zips and seam binding that I bought today.  The lining is Bemberg (a rayon fabric that breathes and can be washed and dried by machine) lining that is three times the price of my usual nylon/polyester.  It does feel very silky though and I am going to use it to make a simple knee-ish length straight skirt out of some red woven poly/lycra fabric that I purchased last week.  The pattern is Simplicity 7740 and I have also cut out the dress - I should have enough red fabric to also make a jacket.

I thought it would be fun to have some labels made up for my new, sooper dooper garments, and so that I know when they were made, I plan to order two lots . . .

 and

Or something similar!

Could you manage a RTW fast?  Tell, me, I'd love to know!