Fulfilling my dreams of France at Lilypond. Wearing an altered Flora Dress by ByHandLondon as inspired by Elisalex. The bodice has the bust and the back darts sewn with the front waist dart left free and is lined in pale blue silk. Then two tiers of gathered skirts are attached. This was sewn in beautiful vintage cotton fabric from France sourced by Lilypond and will be a staple over summer.

Curtsey

Photo’s by Bruce. Location: Lilypond Warehouse in Newtown Geelong. Flora dress pattern by ByHandLondon. Fabric sourced by Lilypond. Top by Wolford. Tights by Woldford. Shoes by Chloe. Memorial Bracelets by JeanJean Vintage.

I found it really challenging this year to find a good coat pattern for this winter. I’ve grown out of my last Vogue pattern (thanks post menopausal squish, yet again). I can do up the buttons if I’m wearing just a tshirt underneath but anything else looks as though I’m straining the buttons which is not a good look. It’s been a great coat with a lovely full skirt attached but it’s always bugged me that the sleeves were too short (even when I had added 3 cm to the pattern) and the split at the cuff left me feeling that my elbows were exposed to the elements.#tallgirlproblems

So I’ve been on the look out for a good pattern that I could size up in but still be fairly femme as I do like a good skirt and top combination. I accidentally stumbled across the Melilot pattern company on Instagram and knew that it was the one. The lines of the bodice, the skirt, the asymmetrical buttons, and those darts completely sold me. It overlaps at the front, is fully lined and reversible and has the cute option of leaving the bodice half open to expose the underlying fabric to show a lovely contrast.

I’ve been known to be wary of European patterns in the past as instructions were often lost in translation and pattern pieces didn’t make sense but I can happily report that this was not the case for the Ingvlid. The only head scratching moments were what size to choose. They didn’t provide measurements, but English/American/French sizing. I toiled it with the 16/44 because that was my latest make in English and European but that ended up being way to big so I sized down to the 14/42  toile which I though was ok. But when I finished it the final coat I think I could have gone down one more size  as I moved the buttons across much further than the line drawing to cinch in the waist a bit more. That was moment number two. No markings for buttons that was easy to guess were they should sit. Head scratch number 3 was having to add 1cm seam allowance. I’m lucky I read that in the instructions as I don’t usually read ahead when I’m making something which is a terrible habit but for some reason on this occasion I did and was most grateful. I did do it in a rather lazy manner however by eyeballing 1cm as I cut around the drafted lines.

I chose my fabric from The Drapery in this divine Francis Japanese Wool Blend, so far away from being Melbourne black. And for the reverse I chose the Le Nani forest green and silver on off white as I thought it would be nice to have a bold contrast. Given that it is reversible and the Nani Iro is a cotton sateen I decided against using a silk to line the sleeves and that hasn’t been a problem.

I made the usual adjustment of lengthening the bodice by 2.5cm and not to be beaten by having short sleeves again I lengthened the arms by 5cm. Which turned out to be slightly ridiculous as they went past my finger tips but felt good not to have the opposite problem. Againg #tallgirlproblems I ended up shortening them by 3 cm and they are still too long and I love that. It means I can roll up the cuffs for contrast and still have the cuff sit at a reasonable length over my wrist.

The coat came together really well. The instructions were brief but very clear and I had no issue with notches lining up, seam lines or seam matching even through my 1cm seam allowance was pretty rough. It has instructions for inseam pockets which I added to the wool side and are the perfect size. I also added a snap to the overlap on the right hand side to secure the fabric when the buttons are undone showing the inner fabric to keep everything in place.

I’m so happy with this coat. I’d like to make another lighter version for spring. I wore my Camber Set Top by Merchant and Mills and Three Pleat Skirt by The Assembly Line underneath and was nice and cosy.

The only thing to note is that as it doesn’t have a collar the neck can experience a little chill so I’m off to the wool shop to find a nice green wool to knit a scarf to keep myself toasty warm.

This is a great indie pattern and I highly recommend giving it a try.

Curtsey.

Photos by Bruce. Location, Geelong Art Gallery. Coat pattern Ingvild by Melilot, Fabric for coat by The Drapery, Camber Set Top by Merchant and Mills with fabric from Lily Pond. Three Pleat Skirt by The Assembly Line with fabric from The Drapery. Shoes by Chloe.

I made my first Ute dress by Schnittchen Patterns  some time ago (circa 2016) and was asked by several people for a how to. The pattern is drafted beautifully however the instructions are a little lost in translation. I’ve written up a sketchy step-by-step tutorial for those of the English speaking persuasion with some pictures of a toile I made last week.

Be sure to read through first as the photo’s don’t exactly match the text. It was a bit of test and learn along the way.

And for more of the original pictures see here.

First, prep your pattern pieces and cut your fabric. I went with a straight 40 without any adjustments and cut straight into the PDF. For reference I’m an Australian 12 – 14 but was more of a 12 when the above pictures were taken. If working directly from the PDF I highly recommend highlighting the markings for your darts and pleats. I used Merchant and Mills linen for in OxBlood for my first Ute. The toile is made up in a combination of linen (cut terribly off grain to my eternal shame) and cotton.Iron on fusible interfacing onto one set of the shoulder straps (front and back), and one of the front and back waistband in a light to medium interfacing.

Transfer all markings for the pleats/darts and their direction onto your fabric. I used a frixon pen which comes off using heat to show the pleat marks, direction and length. Make sure you test on a scrap first because it disappears of some fabrics better than others. On a side note the frixon pen marks can also come back should you choose to put your fabric in the freezer or be exposed to cold weather.Fold the top edge of the front bodice over 1cm and press. Fold it over a second time at 1cm and press again. Top stitch just shy  (close to the fold line) of the 1cm to catch the fabric. Repeat for the back bodice piece.

Pin the front outer shoulder straps (those that are interfaced) to the front bodice piece, right sides facing. Make sure you leave 1cm at the top as shown as this will be caught later when enclosing the facing. Sew at 1cm seam allowance and press the seam allowance into the shoulder strap, leaving left side open at zip mark.Pin the back outer shoulder straps (those that are interfaced) to the back bodice piece, right sides facing. Make sure you leave 1cm SA at the top as this will be caught later when enclosing the facing. Sew at 1cm seam allowance and press the seam allowance into the shoulder strap.

Sew the a front shoulder strap to the back shoulder strap on both shoulders so that the front and back bodice pieces form one piece.

Sew the (seperate) inner front shoulder strap to the back shoulder strap and press open shoulder seam.

Pin the inner facing to the outside seam of the front bodice/shoulder straps/back bodice and stitch at 1cm SA. Trim back 2/3 and under-stitch.Press a 1cm SA for the inside front bodice/shoulder strap/back bodice and pin. Slip stitch the inner seam from front bodice, across the shoulder seam and down the back bodice. I’ve forgotten to leave the side seam open on the LHS for the zip here, so just imagine. You can see where I’ve unpicked in a later pic. 

You should now have a lovely bodice piece that looks something like this (with some SA on the LHS for the zip on the front bodice piece):

Mark the pleats and directions on both the front and back skirt pieces. Stitch down the length indicated on each knife pleat, and then make box pleat using fabric available at the centre front and centre back. You should end up with 6 knife pleats on either side of the box pleat (front and back). Press and baste pleats into place. Overlock side seams of skirt.

Attach the lower waistband edge to the upper skirt edge for both front and back. Stitch at 1cm SA.

Sandwich the lower edge front bodice between the upper waistband (attached to the skirt) and inner upper waistband. Stitch at 1cm, leaving 1cm at edge. This will be caught when sewing the side seam. Complete the same for back bodice.

Stitch the RHS of the dress from the hem line up to the top edge of the waistband. Hand stitch inner side seam of waistband. Fold over and hand stitch down back bodice side as pinned. Note that I had to unpick 1cm SA to allow me to fold the fabric down neatly. On LHS of dress, stitch from the hem line up to the zipper marker. I inserted the zipper by hand using the tutorial from Sewaholic. I found this the easiest way to get the side seams to match. Otherwise baste your zip in before setting it in permanently. (Note on the finished dress my zip is on the RHS….)

Finish the inside of the dress by pressing the lower waist seam allowance up 1 cm and slip stitching it to the upper skirt.Make 2 button loops on RHS front bodice. I used the tutorial by Tessuti to create these. Stitch on two buttons in corresponding markings on back RHS bodice piece.

I added 2 buttons to match on the LHS.

Turn the hem up and stitch.

Find you most lovely lingerie to provide side bewb coverage and you are ready to discover the streets of Berlin.

I hope you find this somewhat useful. If you have any questions, pop over to my instagram feed @magdalenesmuse and send me a message.

Hopefully this will give some guidance into making the Ute dress. After making a toile again, I think I’m ready to make another linen Ute for summer.

Curtsy

Photos by Pips and Bruce

Pattern by Schnittchen Patterns

Fabric is Oxblood linen from Merchant and Mills

Someone in G-Town had the inspirational idea to introduce street art to liven up some of the darker alleyways and spaces that detracted from what can only be described as a decrepit central area. This beautiful graffiti has been on my location list for some time and on a whim yesterday I hauled the family away from the couch to capture these images. 

Without too much hyperbole, this was the dress that almost didn’t make it. The fabric was so, so shifty. In a state of sleeplessness I thought that sewing a dress at 4am would be a good way to pass some time, but that came at the expense of the centre front seams being sewn to the side seams. And the unpicking! I haven’t made such a mistake for some time but just before it was dramatically thrown in the naughty corner, I tried it on, saw the potential and loved it. 

So perseverance saw 2 hours of unpicking, removal of pockets, and then another two hours of sewing to get everything as much into place as was possible. My darts and side seams are a mm or two out but the ribbon hides my sins. With this fabric I doubt I would ever have a got a perfect match so I’m accepting the minor faults to focus on the bigger picture which is my love (now, not earlier….) of this dress. 

The sleeves are dramatic, the neckline plunging and the fabric now swishes like silk and sits beautifully (it is actually a rayon that behaves like silk satin cut on the bias….). The motif used to secure the neckline was found at Lily Pond. I was looking for a piece of vintage lace to insert however this caught my eye and matched perfectly with the fabric. The ribbon also manages to sit with out moving. I did make the threaded loops to hold the belt in place but they popped as soon as I put the dress on. I don’t think I will redo them as the velvet held its place rather well. 

So the dress that nearly wasn’t, is. She will be coming overseas with me and I hope to sip wine while the sun sets, reading a book and soaking up the beauty of another country.

Another version is planned, however it’s likely to be something more like linen or tana lawn which will be a breeze to sew. 

Have you made up this pattern, and if yes what fabric did you use? There are so many beautiful versions on IG and I love seeing how daring people are with that neck line!

Curtsey.

• Photo’s by Bruce in Geelong City Central
• Fabric purchased from The Drapery
• Pattern size M in with no adjustments made Vogue 9253 
• Vintage habedashery including motif and velvet ribbon purchased from Lily Pond
• Tights purchased from Wolford
• Shoes purchased from Scarlett Jones
• Cuff bracelet purchased from JeanJean Vintage
• Hair by Rebecca at Neel Loves Curls
• Purse and handbag by Coach