This pattern immediately appealed to me. Stripes! On diagonals! On intersecting diagonals on the back! And it’s a shirtdress. Or a shirt. With long and short sleeves. Plus it has pockets.
I’ve not made a Chalk and Notch Pattern before but I was undeterred. Purchased almost as soon as it was released. I never do that!
And, then the dilemma. Which of my striped cottons in stash was I going to use? I really wanted one with wider stripes than anything in my stash. But, sewing from stash is my thing so I settled on hot pink and white stripes.
The instructions are great. Particularly about how to do french seams. I didn’t want to do french seams though – overlocking is so much quicker.
No shame in that, except for where the yoke joins the front button band. If anything more than the collar button is unbuttoned the overlocked seam may show. Fortunately, my fabric is crisp enough that it doesn’t fold over and show the overlocking and expose my slapdashery!
I don’t usually like dropped shoulders but these ones sit nicely – clever drafting I say! It also has lovely roomy pockets. More clever drafting.
I sewed a size 16 in cotton poplin from the Fabric Store, purchased in 2023.
This is a great pattern and I have a fun hot pink striped shirt dress. Just what I needed after summer has ended…
I was away from the sewing machines for two short holidays – we went to Hobart for a long weekend at the beginning of March and Byron Bay for 5 days at the end. It was glorious! The sewing machines went away from me for a restorative spa break (they were serviced) in between my holidays. Not such good planning.
This meant there was only a small window of opportunity for sewing, but I did manage to squeeze a tiny amount in.
Another Zelda skirt in souvenir fabric!
I cut out another Zelda skirt using souvenir fabric from a holiday in Bali 2023.
I’d like to wear this Zelda in winter, so I am lining it with stashed lining so it feels better when I wear it with tights.
My overlocker spent more time on break than the sewing machine so I had to think of different ways to finish the seams. I know I could’ve simply zigzagged them. Instead I decided to underline the skirt panels with the raw edges sandwiched between the outer and inner layers.
Here’s an in progress photo of the back panels and yoke – looking good so far!
There was a remnant left of the fabric that was almost enough for a Cielo top – so I have also cut out a Ceilo top with plain navy sleeves and back yokes. No fabric scraps left! Good outcome!
The only other sewing I did this month was to finish my Chalk and Notch patterns Rivi shirt dress – it needed buttons and button holes.
I love how this design works with stripes. I acknowledge that hot pink ones are not the most subtle choice! Fun though.
The numbers
The Zelda skirt and Cielo top took 6.5 metres out of the stash.
3.9 metres of the outer fabric
1 metre of navy poplin for the skirt yoke lining and back yoke and sleeves do the top
1.6 metres of lining
Not bad for an almost-not-sewing-at-all month!
Importantly for stash reduction goals, no fabric was purchased. Not even on holiday. Who even am I?!
I’m very late to the Deer and Doe Myosotis party but I’ve fallen hard. One dress and three tops in the space of a few months.
It’s a bit much with the Zelda skirt. Perhaps with a big sun hat, a glass of bubbles and an invitation to a garden party I might like this outfit more?
The first two were to make a matching set with the Closet Core Zelda skirt. As you can tell from the above, I’m not convinced this top is a good match for Zelda. But the top is excellent with other things.
The first two tops
Not with Zelda! A navy straight skirt instead
I added 15 cm to the length of the bodice, curving out slightly at the side seams and taking the dart back in to end about 3 cm from the bottom.
The photo above shows the adjustments I made to the back bodice pattern piece. You can see how the original dart is not quite vertical. I straightened it up.
Work bathroom selfie! Also not with Zelda. This time with a black skirt
The rest was exactly the same as the dress except I reduced the above bust petite-ing to 1.5 cm from the 2 cm I applied to the dress. It’s still a touch too much.
I then made a version for Felicity.
Not with Zelda!
For her version I traced off a smaller size (42, mine is a 46), did a 2cm FBA and then lengthened the bodice as above.
Not with Zelda! It looks good with wide legged cropped pants too
I added an extra button for Felicity. Just the three on mine seemed a little sparse.
The third top
One of the elements of the Myosotis dress that I love is the neckline. I also love the deep frills on the sleeves but this is a distinctive feature. One top in the wardrobe like this was enough for me for this season!
So, for this third version, made in precious Nani iro double gauze cotton, I kept the neckline but toned down the sleeves.
I added a very small frill to both the sleeves and the neck band.
I also reduced the about bust petite-ing to 1 cm and omitted the vertical darts. I think I may have the petite-ing adjustment almost right now, but also question if it’s needed at all. Leaving off the vertical darts has made this much more blousy. I like it!
I really like the little frill. It’s about 3 cm tall and lovely and squishy because it’s doubled double gauze.
I cut out a strip 5 cm wide and the width of the fabric (106 cm) for both the neck band and each of the sleeves, folded it in half length wise, basted the long edge and then gathered it.
For the neckband it was inserted in and for the sleeves I stitched it on, overlocked and the top stitched
Let me tell you more about this fabric. It came from the Drapery, a local fabric store in Adelaide that is now sadly closed, and I ‘purchased’ it with a voucher. The voucher was generously provided as a prize from the previous iteration of the Adelaide Sewcial Club.
Image from Nunoya which I have visited on holiday, bought fabric from and loved but am not affiliated with.
This is Mizusumu by Anu Tuominen and Naomi Ito in white double gauze cotton and it’s a delight.
It’s been one of those precious fabrics in the stash that I have been too afraid to use. The large scale of the print and the narrow width of the fabric haven’t helped my indecision! Anyway, this year I put my big girl panties on and cut it out. So much better in the wardrobe than in the stash!
I’m pleased with the pattern placement – it wasn’t as difficult as I thought. I wonder why I let this put me off for so long.
And finally- how many buttons? 3 or 4?
With lovely little pearl buttons like these, it was 5!
Sometimes I plan what to sew and sometimes it just happens organically. This was a mixture of both.
This is what happened.
I decided I needed another dress I could wear to work so I perused the Burda website for suitable patterns. I found at least 15 of them. Step 2 was pulling out the physical magazines and discarding some of patterns. Then I went through my fabric stash to match fabrics to patterns. That took the list down to 8. I took photos so I’d remember what my plans were. This was a first for me.
I matched 4 fabrics from stash for this pattern
Another pattern had 4 different possible stash fabric selections.
And so on for the other 6 patterns.
The final step was picking which one I felt like sewing. That’s where it got more organic.
It was not the sensible navy corporate fabrics or the patterns that would be very suitable for work!
I picked a small floral print batiste in hot pink for a pattern with a slit showing my collarbone. Not classic corporate wear. And the fabric needed under lining. Not even making it easy for myself.
And did the fact I already had a hot pink fascinator in my possession and could recreate Burda’s photo shoot have anything to do with this?
Posing like Burda’s model posed
What is the point of sewing your own clothes if you can’t make your own bad choices sometimes because it might be fun?
More how I will probably wear it. Sans fascinator. Hair pulled back. Not leaning elegantly against a wall…and showing this pattern in all its sack dress glory
I made a size 44 drafted out to a 46 at the hips and extended the sleeves a little, like the top version of this pattern in the same issue.
My underlining choice was a Nattjasmin IKEA sheet in ivory. It’s a lyocell cotton blend with a sateen weave so it’s both light weight and with subtle sheen and smoothness. Perfect lining fabric. This particular king size flat sheet has now been used as lining for multiple garments. Time for another trip to IKEA to replenish my lining stash!
I didn’t interface the neck facings but I did add a strip of interfacing to the stitching line of the front to stabilise it, shown below after attaching the lining and trimming the seam with pinking shears.
The twist is the fun feature
Burda suggests you might like to stitch some of the slit closed at the top. After I tried it on it did seem to be too loose through the shoulder so I did hand stitch it closed just a bit.
This pattern is in the March 2023 issue as both a dress and a top. The top has slightly longer sleeves. As I said above, I went for the longer sleeves. I thought it might balance out the hip width better on me.
I did not use the width of elastic recommended by Burda for the dress (2 cm) or the top (1 cm) but used what I had in stash (2.2 cm). Not really a major difference!
I added extra length and then removed it once I had tried the dress on. It turned out about 3 cm longer than Burda drafted.
The extra length I added meant it has a lovely deep hem. That’s a win in my books!
I am delighted to report a month without fabric purchases..
#ProjectStashReduction is progressing well because, of course, there has still been sewing this month.
Myosotis dress as a top
I’ve continued my love affair with this pattern and made Felicity a top from the IKEA donna cover fabric – now she has a matching set possibility with her Zelda skirt.
It has not yet been worn so I can only show you a photo I took in the sewing room. And I haven’t even got a full length complete photo of it. It’s the same as the one I made for myself and shared in the January stats post (and reproduced below), just in different fabric and Felicity sized.
I then used this pattern again for another top for me, but with some changes.
I eliminated the waist darts to make it more boxy and blousy when tucked in, I shrunk the massive sleeve ruffle to very small one, and then added the same size ruffle to the neck band. I almost have the blog post written about all of this!
I really like how this turned out. The beautiful nani iro double gauze cotton I used for this makes it a delight to wear too.
Burda dress 03/2023 #110
This was an experiment that turned out well. The twist at the neckline spoke to me and I had pretty fabric in the stash that was similar to what Burda used. And a matching fascinator, so I could recreate the model shot!
Image on the right from Burda
I am very unlikely to actually wear it with a fascinator, but nice to know that I could!
A full blog post on this pattern is coming soon too.
Josephine top for Felicity
More of that IKEA donna cover fabric! This one is more likely to actually be worn with the matching skirt, but that hasn’t happened yet. Again I have only the sewing room photo to share.
The best part is of course the buttons on the back. Such a great design!
Chalk & Notch Rivi shirtdress
The Rivi blouse and dress was newly released this month and I fell for its clever use of stripes.
Magenta, purple, mauve, cranberry, plum. What is this colour? I’ve settled on plum.
I’d really prefer a colour name starting with C for alliteration purposes but, alas, it is not red enough for cranberry so it seems not possible to be both alliterative and correct.
This is an awesome pattern.
I love this style but I was reasonably sure I wouldn’t feel good wearing it now I have much less waist definition post menopause. But I was curious whether the almost empire waist and deep V might help it work on me, so I gave it a go.
Yes it works. No, I don’t have a small waist. But still. It works!
I’m delighted to have used vintage fabric from someone’s else stash to try it out. I had more than 5 metres of 110 cm and I needed it! This pattern is a fabric hog.
The fabric was ideal for the pattern. It’s a polyester with a crepe like texture and nice weight to the drape.
So swishy when I walk! I know I look grumpy, I really am not.
Next time I’ll add a back neck and yoke facing to tidy up that neck band seam and add a bit more structure to the yoke.
I made a size 16 with the bodice petited 2 cm at the lengthen/shorten line. This is my usual adjustment for my short waist, but I normally do it above the bust. The lengthen shorten line was below the bust point, which preserved the neckline shape. I turned out fine.
There’s not a lot of ease through the waist (I’m a size bigger through the waist) but enough that it’s comfortable to wear and the belt gathers it in further for the full pattern style experience.
Lots of compliments when I wore it. This dress appeals to many!
I was invited to a state dinner with a black tie dress code. Of course I needed to make a new dress!
It was to celebrate the formation of Adelaide University through a merger of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. Yes they were not very innovative with the new name. And yes there is some controversary and unhappiness about the merger.
An invite from the South Australian Governor and the State Premier to a State Dinner does not come my way every day, however, and it was appropriate for me to attend as part of my job.
The dinner was held in a marquee in the grounds of Government House (fancy!) at the end of January (hot!).
Marquee before sunsetInside the marquee once it got dark. Those long tubes on the roof are air conditioning ducts. They were needed!
The recorded maximum temperature that day was over 39oC, with the temperature still at 35oC when the event began at 6:30pm. I was glad I anticipated this and made a hot weather appropriate black tie outfit.
This is Burda 03/2011 #106. This loose design was perfect.
The loose shape and high walking slit in action
I drafted this out to a size 46 or so by adding extra width to the size 44 collar pieces and the front and back gathered dress panels.
I omitted the seaming on the collar because I wanted to highlight one of the Greek figures without seams getting in the way.
I used a soft cotton batiste in white to line the dress and also used this as underlining for the outer collar. A fusible woven cotton interfacing went on the inner collar pice. It’s also white.
Attaching the collar – interfacing on the inner piece (most of the photo) and underlining on the outer (at the bottom of the photo)
I’m a bit on the fence about the cotton lining – it made it very hot weather appropriate but it does dull the print down a bit. Not so much the colour but more the lack of shine. On balance though, it was the right choice both for the event and for future versatility.
The lining at the walking slit
I stabilised the armscyes with Vilene bias tape. I only had this in dark grey – you can see it in the photo below easily in the white parts of the print but this is not noticeable when worn.
It was a narrow width and I only had 3 metres so there was some unavoidable mirroring on the back and unfortunate placement of upside down heads!
Am I showing you French seams or a statue with a strategically placed fig leaf?
I used French seams, considered adding pockets and then chickened out – worried the lightness of the fabric wouldn’t be able to support putting anything in the pockets.
All up this was a success. I felt good on the night, and it worked for the weather.
Upon leaving I could not resist a selfie with the fabulous statue of the last Queen Elizabeth
A second yearly series on monthly stash management escapades. Strap yourself in!
Yes. I’m intending to continue with monthly updates on stash management for another year. Not necessarily by popular request. But because it keeps me honest.
The headline for this post is that January 2026 was very productive. I had a sewcation at the beginning of the month and then sewed again over the long weekend at the end of January because it was very hot – an air conditioned sewing room was the very best way to spend it.
Fabric purchases
Just like January 2025, we went to IKEA because we needed napkins and wooden coat hangers.
Felicity came with us. Of course we bought more than just napkins and coat hangers.
As usual, Felicity and I browsed in the bed linen section – it’s been a good source of fabric for garments in the past. I talked her out of Cymbalblomma – a 100% polyester duvet cover, but caved in on Sorgmantel – a cotton poly blend one.
Amount: the equivalent of 2 pieces, each 2 m long by 2m wide (it’s a double bed duvet). Plus whatever extra is in the two pillowcases
Composition: 65% cotton 25% polyester
Price: $29 for the duvet cover ($7.25 per metre)
Plans: a Zelda skirt and matching top – still contemplating styles for the top
What came out of stash
Half of the IKEA duvet cover has been turned into a Zelda skirt for Felicity
I made the black tie event outfit.
I took the easy route and used a simple pattern I’d previously made. I expected it to be hot (an outside event in summer) so decided that this loose design would be perfect.
I tidied my sewing room during my sewcation this January. Tidying and organising sewing supplies is sewing adjacent activity isn’t it? The same for buying fabric and patterns, which I didn’t do on my sewcation. Well, perhaps a tiny amount.
Newly organised fabric and pattern storage doing double duty as backdrop for my new dress
Anyway, back on topic. The Tidying Up revealed a printed and assembled pdf pattern of Deer & Doe’s Myosotis Dress hiding in plain sight under wrapping paper, gift bags and an extra extension cord on top of a chest of drawers under my cutting table. You see why Tidying Up was required!
The pattern itself came out years ago, could even be close to ten. I’d printed it on pink paper and the sticky tape was now a bit yellow, so that dated it to at least two years before I even considered making it.
It was time to change all that! Many excellent Myosotis dresses have been made by the global sewing community. Could I repeat their success?
First question was what size I am in Deer & Doe? Possibly a 46 or 48? I settled on 48. I’m usually a 44 or 46 for Burda patterns. And then, do I need to petite above the bust? I do for most other pattern companies. I held up the paper pattern to myself and decided I should.
#spoileralert- could have gone for a 46 and probably didn’t need the petite-ing.
Obligatory back view
Next question was what fabric from stash to use? A souvenir cotton from Singapore that was very close to Singapore Airlines batik was keen to be a Myosotis Dress. It’s border could be put to good use on the ruffles. Easy decision!
I hemmed the border print on the skirt ruffle with a 1 cm double fold and the sleeve ruffles by simply turning up the selvedge.
I worried about whether the line of stitching might detract from the print, but not worried enough to consider hand stitching. Of course the stitching turned out to be of no consequence.
I really love the neckline. A stand collar with a V neck. Swoon.
My buttonholes turned out slightly unevenly placed – pretty sure this was operator error of inattentiveness. Even though I’ve used lovely purple buttons, the busy print makes them almost blend in and hides the unevenness. It also hides the almost pattern mirroring. Ask me how much I care! Refer to happy photos for the answer.
I love this style – reminds me of my late teens and early twenties.
The instructions are excellent, as expected of Closet Core, and the order of construction is very clever. The gathered skirt panels are sewn to the yoke pieces first, not sewn to each other first. This makes it easy to get the gathering right up to the seams and to line up the seams between the yoke and the skirt.
I made a size 16 with the waist graded out to a size “17”.
My fabric is a cotton poplin purchased last April in Singapore. It is crisp and has good body so works well with this style.
Deeper hem
I overlocked and then turned the hem up 5 cm rather than the narrow hem recommended in the instructions.
With Josephine AND Peggy! Plus the added bonus of coordinating perfectly with my favourite boots
I like this skirt a lot!
My only disappointment is the lack of pockets. The lovely deep V of the yoke at the side seams means that pockets would be placed a bit low and I don’t like the idea of patch pockets on this style
Closet Core Crew Josephine set top
I made a top from the same fabric so I would have a matching set.
This is the top part of the Josephine set.
It is also a size 16 with the only modification being 8 cm removed from the straps. Yes 8 cm! That’s seemed a lot but it was what I needed for the top to sit where I wanted it to without the straps pulling off my shoulders. I know I am short waisted but it still surprised me.
It’s cropped but, with the high waist of Zelda, there is little opportunity to see anything, except with extreme movements like taking off my Peggy jacket.
Tiniest bit of midriff briefly on show. The late afternoon sun shining through my lined Peggy jacket also shows how light weight it is. Love this jacket.
I added black buttons to the back tab and sewed them on with yellow thread for some extra contrast.
The “black” lines in the print are actually deep inky navy but I didn’t have 3 appropriately sized buttons in that colour in the stash so black it was. Not that it matters, just interesting that the colours in the print were not simple.
I like the set with chunky black sandals too
And, continuing in the black accessory theme, I added a black label.
Sewing – how much do I love it?! So much joy! Starting with the fabric to choosing the pattern through to the actual sewing and then pulling it together into an outfit.
It doesn’t always happen but it is SO good when it all works out.
A small part of a fabulous fabric store in Milan, responsible for some of my fabric acquisitions this year
I’m pleased with my focus on stash reduction. A monthly blog post keeping me accountable has helped.
More went out of the stash (157 m) than came in (90 m). That’s almost 70 m less in the stash than at the beginning of the year.
More below the line than above!
Almost 70 m out of the stash makes me happy! I probably have at least half a kilometer in fabric meterage so as much as 10% reduction is to be celebrated.
The other good thing is that half of the new pieces of fabric I purchased or were gifted this year have already been sewn. That’s means I’m making more intentional purchases. Another good result.
I still have a lot of fabric in stash. My stash is generally sorted and stored by colour and there are several drawers (navy, yellow, perhaps also red – I’m looking at you!) that are still too full to easily see what’s in them.
My stash is spread across at least 9 more drawers like these ones…and some of them almost stuffed as full as these
I need another year of considered purchase – no more navy, or yellow – and lots of sewing of navy and yellow.
Selfless sewing
I did a lot of sewing this year – 49 items. Lucky I love it.
I feel a bit guilty about sewing so much – it seems like fast fashion on another level – but I have had some changes in weight so previous sewn garments no longer fit. And it was not all for me.
A third of my sewing this year was for others. Or, only two thirds of my sewing was garments for me. That’s a stat that surprised me. It is usually higher.
Pattern companies used
This year the combinations of regular Closet Core patterns and patterns from my Crew subscription just squeaked past Burda as the most used patterns. Then in third and fourth place was Vogue and Fibre mood. I’m quite taken with Fibre mood.
Most successful sewing
This one is tricky to nail. I’ve been happy which most of the items sewn this year.
A surprising success was Paco Peralta’s wide legged pants using Vogue 1619. I’ve worn these much more than I expected. Yes, they are ridiculously wide, but there is something deeply appealing about them.
A basic Burda magazine shirt pattern, BurdaStyle 04/2010 #128, made several excellent shirts fom Rory and Chris, with my favourite being this lemon one.
The doozies
There have been several.
Not even a scarf can save it
The worst was sewn at the beginning of the year. This is Butterick 6991. As sewn by me it has many issues.
The sizing is wrong
I swapped out a long centre front concealed zip to a short exposed one and unintentionally gave it rugby top vibes
I lost one of the appealing style features by combining the two skirt panels into one
I interfaced the bodice to stabilise the weave but not the skirt and then used a light purple lining for both of them instead of white like the interfacing. This made the skirt slightly darker in colour
The sleeves are correct for the era but either too long or not long enough to look good on me
Not worn and not blogged. I still have it though. I am thinking it could be repurposed into a skirt.
Another not worn and not blogged garment was a top made from BurdaStyle 02/2024 #104 for Felicity in a remnant as a trial.
She didn’t like how it sat on her even after adjusting the fit to work well and the fabric wasn’t right. Not a wearable toile. And not a pattern she wants repeated. It went directly to the donation pile.
Another dress that was not so much unsuccessful but more that I don’t love it was a trial of an old pattern, Vogue 1360, and a good use of fabric that had been in the stash too long. It might look okay in the photos but it’s not a dress I enjoy wearing – the colours and print no longer spark joy. Trumpet sleeves with fabric that is white on the wrong side are also irritating.
Plans for 2026
Keep using the stash.
I have lots of lovely fabrics. No need to buy more unless I really really need to. Or one of the other self imposed rules like being on holidays or having access to something very very special.
Keep trying Fibre mood patterns and different styles
Nothing to lose but fabric from the stash and some of my time. But it’s “me time” doing something I love so nothing really to lose.
Make an evening dress
I have a black tie event at the end of January. This one will need to happen soon.
It’s a State Dinner (fancy!) in the gardens of Government House (in a marquee perhaps? So could be hot). Bonus points if I use stash fabrics.
Happy New Year!
Thanks again for reading and commenting, and heres to a happy new year for all.
Immediately upon completing the dress I didn’t love it. I even included that view in my monthly statistics post about this project and suggested I would never wear it for Christmas, or ever.
Then it spent a few weeks in the magic wardrobe, I pulled it out and wore it on a hot day after Christmas Day and I changed my mind ….
It’s definitely wearable!
It’s probably not quite the right fabric for the style. The cotton gingham is lightweight but still seems to have a bit too much body and not quite enough drape for this design.
This is Fibre mood’s Suvi dress from issue 34 in a size L. It’s an interesting pattern but tracing it off almost broke me – huge pattern pieces and on multiple sheets!
The bodice of both the front and back pattern pieces are curved asymmetrically to add the extra fabric to fold into the tie. The gingham really shows this off.
The front bodice is almost on the bias.
The back not quite so much.
The back also has a centre back seam with some shaping. I decided the left and right backs were too different from each other to be able to pattern match when I cut them out. So I don’t even try.
I should have tried. It makes me sad that it’s almost but not quite right.
Next time, if there is a next time and if it’s with a patterned fabric, I’ll cut the back out without the CB seam and move the walking slit to one of the sides. I believe it would work – a bit more asymmetry wouldn’t go amiss with this style.
Front bodice gathering needed to fit back bodice
Either the fabric stretched out a lot on the bias or I traced it poorly but the neck was larger than the facing and one of the side seams need to have the front gathered to fit onto the back. Not that any of this matters once it done but sort of annoying.
The tie looks better as a tie when worn but so cute as a bow!
Lucky that this dress has some cute features or it would not even had made it to the magic wardrobe for its second chance!
I know I know. December isn’t over yet. But I’m unlikely to sew more before Christmas Day, so sewing December is probably done. Those days between Christmas and New Year are another time period all together.
So, what happened in the pre Christmas part of December?
There were modest additions to the stash and some sewing. It’s been a good end to the year! Not everything sewn was a winner though.
Fibre mood Suvi dress
This one is not a winner..
Might look okay on a hanger. Not so good on
At least this project removed gingham from the stash which was bought this year for a Christmas dress. Fabric being used in the year it was purchased and for the reason it was purchased is a plus! But there is still a problem.
I don’t love the dress. I may not wear it on Christmas day or any day … It’s not the pattern’s fault though. It was a poor choice of fabric for this style. The cotton gingham is lightweight but still has too much body and not enough drape for this design.
Gift aprons
These were more successful.
I made four aprons from Jocelyn Proust furnishing cotton twill purchased and sewn this month.
Three were made using Tessuti’s free wrap style apron pattern and one as a copy of a standard style apron we already have in the house and wear all the time.
They were gifts for the great people in my team at work.
They loved them! So much so they put them on at work!
The standard style apron was perfect to use to wrap a boxed panforte made by Chris which was the other part of the gift (Chris is the He Cooks part of the blog name). Love it when the blog name (and label in this case!) plays out in real life!
Closet Core Crew Celia dress
I’m hoping this is a winner. Early days yet.
This pattern is a fabric hog but luckily I have just the right amount of a drapy fabric in stash thanks to a friend’s sister’s mother-in-law’s destashing.
Another pleasing thing about this fabric is that it has 70’s vibes. It may even be from the 70’s. I’m predicting an excellent match of fabric to the pattern.
Other fabric bought
I went to Spotlight to buy thread and a zip for the Celia dress and …. of course I did …. came home with fabric.
The first piece has already been turned into a sundress. It’s sort of cheat sewing when the fabric is already shirred.
Amount: 1.2 m by 140 cm. I really only needed 80 cm, so now I have more remnants.
Composition:
Price: $18 per metre on sale. Less than $22 for a dress. Bargain!
The second piece was bought for a shirt for He who Cooks.
I could not resist. There was only enough left on the roll for a short sleeved shirt so we’ll see if he approves.
Radishes!
Amount: 2.4m by 112 cm
Composition: cotton poplin
Price: $11 per m. Also a bargain!
The numbers
4 m of gingham left the stash as a Fibre Mood dress
4.9 m of cotton twill entered and then exited as aprons
5.6 m of mystery silky fabric from stash cut out for a Closet Core Crew Celia dress
1.2 m of preshirred cotton entered and and then exited as a dress
2.4 m of a shirt weight cotton came to live in my stash.
Reflecting on my first year of stash management
How did I do?
Well I’m pleased – more was sewn than came into the stash. I’ll do a bit more analysis and perhaps include it in a year in review post. But the bottom line is that I did a lot of sewing this year. Lucky I love it!
This dress was truly the definition of frosting – fun sewing that was almost completely unnecessary and certainly indulgent!
I made a back up dress for Frocktails in case it was cold. Like, as if I don’t have any other party dresses to wear. It has been an unusually cool spring so this is not quite as silly as it sounds. Just indulgent!
Yes I added the label, even though it was the backup dress!
I didn’t end up wearing it for Frocktails but I did wear it to another event instead of the more summery frock I’d made for that second event. So my plan paid off! Although I am still waiting to wear the more summery frock…
My frock and I with some of the great people I work with
The pattern is Vogue 8630 and I made the long sleeved version of it
I used fabric from the stash (since January 2019 – pre COVID!). It’s a polyester spandex “famous designer” brocade from EOS and was a delight to sew. It pressed beautifully! Ever so faint aroma of rubber though, speaking to its fibre content.
I made a size 20 and the fit is quite good. The only thing I should’ve changed was to petite the bodice. The waist seam wants to sit lower than my actual waist and as a consequence there’s a bit of unnecessary blousing.
The waist seam with its perfectly centred medallion!
I’m short waisted and I always petite the bodice so not sure what happened when I was cutting out the fabric. Possibly distracted by pattern matching. Which turned out so well. Too well to redo the waist seam and lose that beautiful matching!
Centre back. Also with pattern matching!
The pattern matching is good through the curved centre back seam too.
I love the asymmetrical collar. I didn’t interface my fabric because it felt like it had enough body without it.
The busy fabric doesn’t really show the collar to its full glory. But believe me – it’s glorious!
The collar is wide enough that the zip does not need to interrupt it through the centre back for the dress to still be easy to get into.
Which made for a near perfect invisible zip insertion – with the zip pull almost hidden by the collar, as you can see above.
The design is fully lined. Even the sleeves. Delightful to wear. I used a stretch lining
The more summery dress I made for this event and did not wear was the same pattern but without sleeves and with a fuller skirt.
I haven’t worn it yet. It does look better ironed, and on me than it does on the hanger!
It’s a mid weight woven cotton – probably for soft furnishing rather than garment sewing – that I acquired from a charity shop this year in Port Elliott, a seaside holiday town. I made a tulle petticoat to wear under it and “floof” out the skirt. But have not yet had the right occasion with the right weather to wear it.
I really like the blue dress but I’m in two minds about whether it’s a bit costumey. No doubt about the yellow one – it’s definitely vintage costumey!
With my lovely colleague, Jay, in his marvellous aubergine suit
Beautiful jacquard fabric though and my favourite colour!
November has been a slower sewing month than other months this year. Of the four garments I’ve cut out, only two have been fully completed.
No fabric acquisition though! That’s a win for stash reduction! Which is what this monthly series is all about.
What I sewed
Another Peggy jacket
Flush with the success of my first Peggy jacket I cut out another one exactly the same. This version is in ivory linen lurex blend – the same fabric I used for the skirt I made last month (yes I now have a suit!)
I lined it with an IKEA sheet. It’s a cotton lyocell blend with an excellent soft hand and the perfect off white colour.
Not much else to say – this is a great pattern with great instructions that leads to great results.
It’s incomplete because I haven’t yet decided on buttons. I think I need them but He who Cooks is very taken with its current simplicity.
We will see..
Christmas shirts
I’ve cut out and finished both Felicity’s and Rory’s shirts made from novelty fabric bought this September. Which is just in time, since Christmas is upon us!
Felicity’s 2025 Christmas shirt
Felicity’s was made with a pattern I used for her 9 years ago (!) for another novelty print cotton – Burda 06/2013 #120 in a size 40 with a FBA. She still has this shirt and wore it again recently so we both knew the fit was still good. The pattern is for a shirt dress but you all know how easy it it to turn that into a shirt!
I had fun with labels. Because why not?
I had fun with labels for Rory’s shirt too.
Rory’s shirt is also based on a TNT, but this time from last year – Burda 07/2010 #128 in a size 52 with the neck band height reduced by 5 mm, no pocket and short sleeves.
Novelty fabric and shirt sewing. Great combination! Satisfying details, including pattern matching across the front.
Rory’s 2025 Christmas shirt
Baby clothes
My dear friend M is some going to be Nana M so of course I am making a hand sewn gift for the new baby!
How old must that pattern be? Look how yellow the instructions are! It’s definitely out of print – that number brings up a current Gertie dress pattern and other OOP children’s patterns. But the Lincraft stamp dates it to less than 50 years ago.
I don’t recall a lot about it but I’ve previously used it – it’s partially cut out and the middle size traced out.
I’ve used an Indian cotton left over from another project (the baby and I will have matching outfits!). The fabric is beautifully soft and will be a lovely and cool garment for a baby to wear in the hot Adelaide summer.
The numbers
The ivory jacket used 2.0 m of linen and 1.5 m of lining.
Felicity’s shirt used 1.6 m of a novelty cotton woven.
Rory’s shirt used 2.4 m of novelty cotton. There is only a 40 cm remnant left so I’m calling that reduction of the fabric stash by the full 2.8 m purchased.
The baby garment used 1 m of a woven cotton.
All up this month another 8.9 m left the stash. Go me!
He Cooks... She Sews!