A Very Summery Dress!

Warning: Sunglasses may be required!

Since I made my last dress I have wanted to make one with sleeves and this fabric has been calling me from the stash for about a year now so it was time to set it free.

My Mum bought the fabric to make curtains (!) for her kitchen then decided parrots and butterflies on dress making fabric was possibly not the wisest choice. It does mean there are 7 meters of it in my stash now (my Mum is very good at passing things to me that she does not have room for...).

I had to make a few more adjustments to my bodice block, deepening the darts and lifting the shoulders, but apart from that it was a quick make. I didn't line this as it was supposed to go on holiday with me..... I forgot to pack it so it is still unworn and summer has disappeared - wahhhhhh!!

I love the look of the gathered skirt on the hanger but not so much in real life, it just adds so much bulk at the waist. I have a narrow tan belt that breaks it up a bit but will need to sew some belt holders if I am going to wear it as the belt rides up at the back.

The next dress using my bodice block will have a half circle skirt which will hopefully make my waist look a bit less huge...

This fabric is going to get another outing as a dress for Mum once he has decided on a pattern, then we can be dress twins!

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Lots of shorts!

Frenzied summer holiday sewing has been happening in these parts, shorts, shorts and more shorts! I have resisted the temptation to make lots of summer dresses after the one I made little e was rejected outright...

 For the kids shorts I used the Made kids shorts pattern. Simple and perfect for quick summer shorts.

I made the shorter length boys and regular length girls first then made a longer pair of boys in Star Wars fabric.They look very odd on the hanger but good on!

I made myself the shorts version of the Jocole Wideleg trousers. I made no adjustments, cut a straight size M. The fit was ok but the pockets did not sit right at all so I sewed them up and cut the inners out (I was far too lazy to fully deconstruct them...) and now they look fine.

They look pretty awful hanging like this :)

Next time I will do a bit of a large bottom adjustment as I feel them pulling  bit over my bum!

I think that is our holiday clothes sorted, although I am suppressing an urge to sew lots of summery things are realistically Scottish summers don't really need a full wardrobe of summer wear...

Now to focus on my sewing plans for when I return, I am determined to make a woven / part woven top that does not look like a tent on me, not sure if that is possible but we will see!

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My Top 10 Free Summer Sewing Patterns

1. Kids Oliver + S Shorts
2. Kitschy Coo Kids Tennis Skirt  
3. MADE Kids Basic Tee (no photo)
4. icandy handmade Everyday skirt
5. icandy handmade Maxi Skirt
6. By Hand London Circle Skirt App
7. Kirsten Kimono top by Maria Denmark
8. Blank Canvas Tee by Cake Patterns
9. Colette Sorbetto 
10. By Hand London Polly Top (this is just a muslin - odd fabric choice I know :) )

I have made all these patterns this summer except the MADE basic tee which I made years ago, before I had this blog, hence no photo. I am planning on some separate posts for some of these but knowing me by the time I have done them summer will be over so thought I should share the patterns now before we are sewing for summer 2015...

Details of the kids shorts and skirt are here , Kimono top here, circle skirt here and the Sorbetto here (I have another one to show you soon - it is brilliant!).

It really is amazing what you can find for free from such generous talented people on the Internet. I have managed to fill almost all the gaps in my summer wardrobe without buying any patterns using only fabric that had been in my stash for too long. Basically it feels like I have a free summer wardrobe which can only be a good thing.

Now to try and address the glaring holes in my Autumn/Winter wardrobe!

Linking to some of these linky parties.

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