Polka dot wrap dress

Initially I had not planned to write about this dress – it was only the third dress that I had made at a time, and there were many better makes afterwards. However, have just thought, that in fact this dress was quite important – having completed it I finally started to believe that I was capable of making neat and tidy garments – it was in a way my breakthrough.

Interestingly enough, the fabric for this dress was sitting in my drawer for few years. It sat there from the time, when I initially had contemplated starting sewing, however at that time this did not quite materialize. I had bought few cheap fabrics in my local fabric store, however did not quite harness enough courage to actually start. Naturally, for my first proper dress I chose simple and cheap fabric – in case I would end up ruining it after all. No ruining happened, instead, I learnt quite a few important techniques with this make and ended up having a proper dress!

The pattern I used was McCall’s M7892. For the first time ever I had bought a pdf pattern – it was the very apogee of the quarantine, online shopping was difficult, waiting times long, so buying pdf pattern seemed like a good idea. It took quite a bit of time to assemble the sheet and make actual pattern pieces. After that, I have been using pdf patterns occasionally, but do not enjoy using them all that much – I prefer opening traditional pattern envelope and just cutting what I find there.

With this dress I very quickly understood that it is not that great an idea to apply medium weight interfacing to light weight fabric. The waist part of this dress ended up being rather sturdy due to the interfacing I chose. Making the belt and the waist part was rather tricky – had to unpick some of the seems and try once again. After all I managed to achieve a tidy and neat look and was pleased with the result!

The only alteration I made was installing elastic into the hem of the sleeves – open style as designated in the pattern did not quite appeal to me. The skirt of this dress is full circle skirt. On windy days I have to hold it somewhat in order not to reveal too much.

This was McCall’s pattern M7892 and I chose to make view D. The fabric is 100% cotton in beautiful medium sized polka dots, I bought it from my local fabric store. It took 3 meters of the fabric to make this dress, mostly because of full circle skirt. Other notions were thread, one fastener and elastic. The dress cost me 15 EUR. It was made in April, 2020.

I really like this dress. It is certainly not the best of all that I’ve made. But it was the best of all at the time of completion. The fabric is really nice and feels soft while wearing it. In a way I should probably be proud of this dress as it launched me into the world of more complex, more interesting and high quality sewing!

Let’s all stay healthy! 🤍

~Giedre~

Cotton chambray shirt dress

I bought this gorgeous blue cotton chambray from The Fabric Store online without yet having decided on the pattern for it. For some inexplicable reason I had only 1.5 meters of the fabric, that is why, if I wanted to make a dress, my choices were rather limited. Eventually, after a bit of contemplating and planning I set off for this neat and flattering shirt dress pattern from Simplicity.

Sewing this dress was a real pleasure. I love cotton chambray very much, would buy it in every color! Had a bit of fuss with the narrow collar, ended up nailing it, the end result looks really neat and nice. Curved hem presented another challenge. At first I made a narrow hem using my 6 mm rolled hem foot, however ended up rolling it once again and sewed once more for a neat and stable finish.

I had to cut size 6 for the upper part of the dress and then merged into size 10 for the waist. And also I lengthened the dress by 4 or 5 cm. It was a clever decision after all, as otherwise the dress would have probably been too short.

The pattern used was Simplicity S8546, I chose to make view E. The fabric is cotton chambray (Heathered blue) from The Fabric Store online, I managed to make this dress of only 1.5 meters of the fabric. Other notions were thread and 10 buttons. The dress cost me 22 EUR. It was made in July, 2020.

Absolutely love this dress! Love gathered sleeves and curved hem. Have worn the dress multiple times – to work and on vacation. Would certainly make this pattern again.

Let’s all stay healthy! 🤍

~Giedre~

Tartan check shirt dress

This vibrant tartan check cotton came to me back in spring from Minerva crafts online store. Whilst ordering it, I had not yet planned the pattern for it. In spring I was still actively collecting patterns, and only into the summer I chose the pattern for this fabric. It was fairly tricky McCall’s pattern M7682. Tricky for me, not in general – at that time I had not yet tried to sew a proper collar, nor had I tried to make button holes. So this make was supposed to feature few first times for me, and I bravely accepted the challenge!

My shoulders are narrow, so normally I have to cut the smallest size (6-8) for the upper part of the garment and then merge into size 10-12 at the waist. And even then I need to carefully try and check the sleeves placement before actually installing them. With this dress I learnt the drill which I am repeating ever since.

The collar was relatively easy to make, it ended up being an uneventful segment of work. Instructions did not prompt for the interfacing of the opening where the buttons and buttonholes were supposed to go. I went ahead and interfaced that part and also the waist, using a piece of heavy interfacing for the center section where the metal eyelets for the cord were supposed to go. Later it became clear that interfacing had been an absolutely necessary step in the process.

This dress has all kinds of things going on – eyelets, pockets, cord gathered sleeves, buttoned front, uneven skirt, check pattern of the fabric that had to be matched while cutting. Had to deal with all of that one after another, and honestly it was a lot of fun! Finally, I used 4mm rolled hem foot to finish the hem. Loved that bit too – it is very easy and fast way to create a neat and very narrow hem, no fuss at all. Am using both of my rolled hem feet (4mm and 6mm) often.

The pattern is McCall’s M7682, I chose to make view C. The fabric was tartan check cotton that I bought from Minerva Crafts UK. I needed 2.5 m of the fabric, other notions were 5 buttons, cord of 2 different thicknesses, eyelets, thread. The dress cost me 43 EUR. It was made in July, 2020.

Absolutely love this dress! Wore it many times during the summer. Might actually make this design again.

Let’s all stay healthy! 🤍

~Giedre~

Light summer jumpsuit

My start with proper sewing was slow – first I made few tops, then few simple dresses. Quality was average and at the time I was not super excited about my performance. Trousers at that time seemed as something probably too complex. Then I saw an absolutely gorgeous jumpsuit featured in Burda 2020/06 magazine, and luckily, the pattern was accompanied with the tutorial section, which absolutely invited to try. Jumpsuit was flowy, light and very much summery, and I just went ahead with it.

I bought somewhat similar viscose fabric as was showcased in the magazine. The jumpsuit had only few pattern pieces which was quite a relief. After all, I decided to make the upper part lined so that the belt pieces would not show an exposed wrong side of the fabric. Had to figure out how to nicely assemble the bodice as, in fact, it was my first attempt in lining anything. Youtube helped, and I was very much pleased with the result.

I ended up having to make few adjustments. Waist elastic was too long for me as per description, had to shorten it. Had to redo the hem of the pants few times – was difficult to decide on the appropriate length of the jumpsuit. After all, I ended up making a narrow hem and leaving the pants as long as I possibly could.

The fabric is flowy viscose, I used 2.25 m of the fabric, including the lining which was not included in the meterage indicated in the instructions. The pattern is from Burda 2020/06 magazine #101. This garment cost me 29 EUR, which includes the fabric, thread and elastic. It was made in July, 2020.

I was very much happy with the end result. Maybe that is even too fancy a garment to wear often. I wore it to the summer opera event which was taking place outside, and also to the Sunday brunch. Am sure that I will happily wear it next summer as well!

Let’s all stay healthy! 🤍

~Giedre~

My first post!

I have just created my new blog, have registered my own domain, which is absolutely new experience for me, and am very excited about all of my future creations that I will be sharing with the readers! Surely, it is somewhat humbling to start a new blog – there is no content yet on it, there is no traffic, and, most importantly, readers have not yet discovered my piece of land on the internet. I have high hopes, though, that the content that I will be sharing on my new beautiful site, will become useful to the large and growing sewers community! So – very warm welcome to those of you who are my guests!

As I am writing this post in the autumn of 2020, I already have quite a bit of portfolio. During last 6 months, since March, when I started actively sewing, I have made 17 garments – tops, dresses, jumpsuits and a coat. I will now be writing few blog posts about my projects from this summer, so that there is certain content on my site, when it is going to be finally launched.

For this first post, I would like to share a bit of a background as to why I am here.

I am from Lithuania, was born here and our family of four lives in the capital city of Vilnius. We have two sons who keep us occupied most of the time. My husband and I have full time jobs, thus our life is usually very busy and at times also hectic. The rest of my family is very much into tennis – our older son is by now among the best tennis players in the country. Whereas myself am not too much into sports. Instead, I love cooking, am amateur semi-serious photographer, love all sorts of crafts, gardening, and lately – I sew, a lot!

My sewing journey started in school years, back in eighties and early nineties. Grandma was a seamstress and my mom also sewed quite a bit, which is why it was rather natural for me to learn the basic sewing skills. I do not quite recall any particular learning activity happening, instead it came naturally, through my sincere interest. Back then patterns were scarce, my grandma and mom would be happy if they could get hold of Burda magazines, which were already available in stores back in eighties. Later on, as grandma became older, I started helping her with basic garment construction tasks.

When our children were little, I sewed mostly straight line kind of pieces – blankets, quilts, pillowcases or duvet covers. In order to be able to do that, I had bought rather basic sewing machine – did not want to invest into something that might not last.

When the quarantine hit us in the spring of 2020, it became apparent that in order to stay sane I had to engage in something creative. Sewing clothes had always seemed a bit intimidating to me, so first of all I watched loads of Youtube videos and only then accumulated enough courage to actually start. First makes were, well, modest. And not too neat. But I went on. Bought myself a better, more advanced sewing machine, an overlocker, a dress form, loads of haberdashery and step by step became better at what I was doing.

I am still mostly using commercial patterns or Burda magazine patterns – have not yet reached the point of self-drafting clothes. However, I am on my way towards that, I think. By now I am rather comfortable with amending patterns, changing sleeves styles, adding different types of pockets or the lining without particular instructions. So all is good, I’ll get there! Will probably need to read more or take some online courses, which is fine. Meanwhile, am having loads of fun with all the nice high quality fabrics that I am buying from all over the world online and all these patterns that I have collected by now.

This year I have bought fewer clothes than I’ve sewed. That’s quite an achievement, I think. Let’s see what tomorrow is gonna bring!

Let’s all stay healthy! 🤍

~Giedre~

%d bloggers like this: