Delving right down to the very bottom of my fabric stash (still on my self-imposed ‘diet’), I found this very pretty John Kaldore, knit fabric, that I do believe was one of the first pieces I ever bought. I’m amazed at my beginners’ naivety! I purchased it on my first ever visit to Leon’s in Chorlton and to be honest, I think I was a bit bewildered at the choice and just grabbed a couple of bolts and ran. Although one of the assistants (I did remember to pay before I bolted 😉 ), obviously sensing my bewilderment, did enquire as to whether I knew I needed to treat it differently than I would a woven fabric. And it’s sat at the bottom of a drawer ever since…
I thought it would be perfect for another Megan Dress, from Tilly and the Buttons’ ‘Love at First Stitch’. This time, however, I was determined to make a version that fitted, and was therefore more flattering. My first version is a really comfy ‘staying at home’ size, see here, and this fabric was far too pretty not to be worn out. So, firstly I trimmed down my pattern pieces to a size 2 (last time I tried a size 3). However it still looked a bit big. Tilly’s instructions helpfully included ‘finished garment measurements’ which appeared pretty generous, although if I made this in a woven fabric, I’d stick to the size 2. So I took a deep breath and trimmed them again down to a size 1, gulp! And I’m glad I did.
Again, as I was using a knit, I didn’t bother with a zip, which made this a much quicker make. And again, my darts didn’t quite match up, though they were closer than last time, so there’s that. I probably need to actually match them up like for like, before I sew them. There’s always a next time…
This was a pretty quick make, well by my standards at any rate. And it’s by far the most neatly ‘finished’. I’m really very pleased with myself 🙂 It’s a bit of a change from my normal colour choices too: it’s a mid green with darker green leaves/petals/leopard spots (my daughter contributed the last suggestion). It reminds me of a few of the prints Boden tend to use for their wrap dresses.
This certainly wasn’t a cheap fabric, hence it’s languished at the bottom of my stash for so long as I was too scared to use it, but there does seem to be pattern forming that my favourite me-makes are the ones where I’ve spent a little more on the fabric, such as my Miette skirt, see here, my Galloping Horses dress, see here, and my Spring-time Charlotte, see here. There are, of course, a few exceptions to this rule: despite the torture of sewing it, my 70s Clemence skirt, see here, has been worn again and again; my favourite Burda top, see here, made up from left over fabric which didn’t cost a whole lot to start with, and of course my navy, linen Ginger, see here, which cost very little. Maybe it’s because I tend to take my time more with more expensive fabrics? Or maybe they behave a little better whilst sewing and hang a little better when worn? Maybe a mixture of all of the above? But I really want to not only wear, but enjoy wearing my me-made items, so it’s an interesting point to note going forwards.
There’s been a definite nip in the air of late, and as you can see our garden is awash with leaves, although at least they came down in one fell swoop thanks to the tail wind of Hurricane Gonzalo hitting us here last week. Although of course, I could layer thus up with a cardigan on top, or long-sleeved t-shirt underneath, I’m thinking it would be great to lengthen the sleeves on this pattern to 3/4 length. I’m thinking this would be simply a process of lengthening, or would I have to narrow the width at the end too? Any advice, as always, would be greatly appreciated 🙂
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navybluethreads 