Things I've Sewn Lately: Navy Blue Circle Skirt (With Bonus Previously Unblogged Blouse!)

In my quest to make more work-appropriate separates, I realized fairly quickly that in addition to blouses, I definitely needed some plain, solid-colored bottoms. 

I bought this fabric, a very slightly stretchy twill, when cottons were on sale at Fabric.com recently. I don't have a large stash, and I definitely don't have very much in terms of bottomweight fabric. Or actually anything for that matter. I have lots of blouse fabric and dress fabric (though in terms of stashing, I don't have very much in general, by sewing blog standards!)

This material was right up my alley! Thin enough for summer, but thick enough to have some body. 

I used Mettler thread (purchased from Sun Sew Vac when I bought my new sewing machine!) This was my first time with Mettler thread, which everyone says is fantastic, but I didn't notice too much difference. The color of the thread was an absolute dead-on match though, so there's that.

 See?

I serged the insides with white thread. I don't stock any serger thread besides white or black unless I have a special project. But white and navy look nice together and the contrast seam finish adds a little something to the inside of the garment in this case, I think!

I used a black invisible zipper in the center back. One of my friends gave me a stash of black and red invisible zippers, and the navy is so dark you can't really tell that the zipper doesn't match, can you? 

In terms of pattern, I used the Cake Patterns Pavlova circle skirt pieces (why draft your own when you have a pattern that already did it for you?) and made my own waistband.

The last time I made the Pavlova skirt, I was unhappy with the waistband. This time, I slightly more than doubled the waistband and I cut it much larger than recommended. I don't know why, but for some reason, the 30-inch waist piece on my pattern in no way matches the skirt (the skirt is several inches wider at the top than the waistband is!) I don't know if I got a misprint or what.

The Pavlova top was perfect (I wore it yesterday!) but the skirt just didn't do it for me, so I doubled the height of the band and then added a few inches to get to 30 inches with seam allowance so that I could enclose the zipper at the top, a la Colette Ginger.

I wore this skirt to work today and I must say, it's very comfortable. I love a circle skirt for wearing ease! And in this outfit, I feel very Ulyana Sergeenko. 

In addition to the skirt, I should probably mention this blouse. It's a New Look 6808 that I made last year soon after I started sewing (and somehow I never blogged it!) The fabric is from G Street and they had only a yard, but I was in love, so a blouse it was!

I eliminated the back darts so that I could leave out the side zipper. Hilariously, the seams are all pinked and therefore beginning to unravel. Every time I wear this blouse, I swear I'm going to remake it before I wear it again, but I never seem to get there. One day!

Miss Celie wrote today about adjusting to "work appropriate" in her new job and her post rang so true to me. I have worked in D.C. for the past several years, but my new job seems much fancier in terms of dress than my old job. Both had the same stated dress code for the most part, but everyone at my new job always looks very corporate. (Not to mention the fact that I spent the entirety of last year working from home in my leggings!)

It probably doesn't help that all I see on the Metro and on my walks into the office are pencil skirts and silk tops and I just don't have much of that. I'm just not a pencil skirt kind of girl. So I've been struggling to define "work appropriate" in terms of my personal style and comfort.

It's a process!

How to you handle the intersection of home-sewn and work-appropriate? I'd love to know what you think!

Things I've Sewn Lately: Groomsperson Dress

As promised, I put together a short post on the dress I made for myself for Andrew and Caren's wedding. 

I used Butterick B 5748 again, which is a reproduction pattern from 1959. It's super simple -- just a scoop neck with a low scoop back and a circle skirt with a full lining.

The directions we got for picking dresses were pretty simple: knee-length, sleeveless dresses in the wedding color. Rather than buy one, I made my dress (and I also made one for a friend.)

I loved my first version of B 5748 and I knew it would be great for dancing and comfortable for an all-day event, so it was an easy choice.

For the reception, I wore my off-white Cake Patterns Pavlova top. During the ceremony, I wore a little bow belt I made up, but I took it off when I put on the sweater and it didn't make it into these pictures -- woops! 

I also put on flats for the reception. I had super cute Michael Kors nude pumps for the ceremony, and I thought I'd wear them for more of the reception, but the lawn where we took pictures was pretty wet and muddy and I ended up standing on my toes for the entirety of pre-wedding picture time so that I didn't sink into the lawn, so flats were definitely in order by the time the ceremony was over. 

I'm also wearing my paternal step-grandmother's pearl necklace and absolutely gorgeous pearl earrings given to the ladies in the bridal party by the bride and groom. 

The only change I made from the last time I made this dress was to put the zipper in the center back, rather than the side. I enclosed the zipper in the lining, a la Sewaholic Cambie.

I also got to use my chalk hem marker for the first time. That thing is fun! I snagged it from JoAnn's with a 50 percent off coupon a couple weeks ago and it definitely made marking the hem on a circle skirt much much simpler!

I don't know how much wear I'll get out of this dress since it's a shiny cotton sateen, but it was a great fit for the wedding and I had a lot of fun making both groomsperson dresses!

Things I've Sewn Lately: Tiramisu

I've loved the Tiramisu pattern since I started seeing versions of the dress all over the Internet. The second Pattern Review started selling Cake Patterns, I ordered Tiramisu and Pavlova. 

Crazily enough, the only sewing I got done during Me-Made May was to make two Tiramisus, a Pavlova top and a Pavlova skirt. May was definitely Cake Patterns month! 

Knit sundresses are one of my favorite summertime work-at-home outfits. Easy to throw on and super comfy!

The fist Pavlova I did was some bright coral cotton knit from Mood. It's pretty heavy and swishy, so I eliminated the pockets -- I love me some pockets, but I couldn't think what I'd put inside pockets of a knit dress that wouldn't just drag the dress down. I also took out the underbust ruching and just gathered my fabric a bit -- no real reason, I just like the look of it.

I originally intended this fabric for a long-sleeved Renfrew, so I had barely enough to squeeze out this dress. I had a tiny handful of confetti after I was done cutting.

I sewed just about the entire dress on my serger. Some of the seams came out a little wavy on this one. Just could not find a tension setting I liked! Plus, I'm allergic to making muslins for knits patterns -- it just seems pointless. How would you even try it on? No thanks!

The wavy seams are pretty easy to press out, but, after a washing (as seen in this picture), they're back to wavy. I actually pulled this right out of the dryer for this photoshoot. 

I also had a little drama attaching the skirt to the bodice. The fabric is just really heavy in general, I guess. I sewed the seam like four times to get it flat.

But overall I love it and I think it'll get a ton of wear. Look how swishy!

On version two, I got the serger tension right. This is a vintage floral Gucci print that I got in Elliott Berman's 50 percent off sale. When it came it was much more sheer than I expected, so I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. But after I made my first Tiramisu, I realized it would be perfect. And, when it came down to it, the fabric wasn't really that sheer. I didn't feel like I could see through it. The lightness of the fabric was a huge boon in terms of weight. If you make one of these, I'd suggest very very lightweight fabric.

This version just came out a lot cleaner in general. It's always so much easier to make a pattern the second time! 

I'm in love love love with the sleeve and neck binding method on these dresses. It's a very thin binding and it's done without stretching the binding (like on some t-shirts). I just love the look of it. 

I did a better job reading this pattern than I did with the Pavlova -- even though this one came with two correction sheets. The correction I needed was super simple, luckily.

The construction is kind of fun, too. You make the entire dress flat and connected by the shoulders, skirt and all, and then just zip up the side seams.

This fabric was much less stretchy, so there's a whole lot less ease to it (I sewed it right to my size.) The sizing on this is pretty unique. You pick a size for the top by inches and then it's customized by cup size. I didn't really need several different sizes, but I could see it being awesome for someone who's a little more gifted in the boob area.

Originally, I wanted to make a striped version, since the pattern comes with instructions for stripes, but, true to form, a floral and a solid were what I ended up with.

What can I say? At least I'm reliable, right?

Things I've Sewn Lately: Cake Patterns Pavlova

I was so excited the day Pattern Review announced that it would be selling Cake Patterns -- I ordered Pavlova and Tiramisu that very day! 

I love wrap and faux wrap tops and the whole aesthetic of the patterns really appealed to me. 

My Tiramisu took a reallllly long time to arrive (something with the U.S. supplier running out), so I started with Pavlova. Originally I intended to make only the top. The fabric I used is some GORGEOUS off-white bamboo knit from Mood, purchased on my New York trip.

This stuff was an absolute dream to work with. I should completely swear off cheapo knits, because working with this fabric made me realize what crap I'd been working with before. This was easy to sew and perfectly drapey. I can't say enough good things about it.

After I finished the top, with the pattern pieces still strewn about my ironing board, I ended up with a queen-sized sheet with a big rip in the middle. So I decided to make a bedsheet circle skirt a la Cation Designs.

I couldn't be bothered to find matching thread, so I did rows of embroidery on the waistband in the same off-white I'd used to topstitch the top. (The embroidery did not come out awesomely, so I didn't show it here -- it's a little uneven -- I'm still learning to use all the features on my fancy machine!)

Now. The pattern. The instructions/markings on the pattern are a little bit wonky. I don't know if all Australian patterns are this way? Or if Cake does its own variety of sizing? But I was a little confused at the outset. The markings on the pattern correspond to the steps in the directions. Which, if you don't read the directions as well as you should, can be bewildering. And the pattern doesn't have sizes marked, it has inches. I'm probably a little slow on the uptake, but I had to check and recheck to see if the inch markings were for finished garments or not.

I also did not like the waistband on the skirt. It's realllllly narrow for a circle skirt. I think maybe next time I might steal the waistband piece from a Colette Ginger... I really appreciate a thicker waistband on such a voluminous skirt.

Once you get the hang of it, the pattern is really very nicely drafted and the garment, in my opinion is super flattering. And I loved the method the pattern used for doing the sleeve bindings -- genius and impossible to screw up. Absolute perfection.

I do wish I'd heeded the Internet warnings about how short the top is -- that's another reason I made the skirt as well. I didn't have much that was high-waisted enough to be wearable with the top.

All in all, this was a pretty good pattern and I loved the results -- though maybe next time I'll make a few modifications of my own.

Have you made a Cake pattern? How did you feel about it?