Thursday, March 2, 2017

Experiments with garment sewing

Lately completing a quilt has become a challenge for me. It is something I need to deal with, but with reduced sewing time I find myself distracted by smaller projects. One of them being garment sewing. I am no expert by any measure. I had purchased the 'Tova Tunic' pattern by Wiksten a while back and gingerly made my first top years ago, something I have never worn to this day.

I decided to give this another try, this time, a dress. I used this lovely Ikat woven fabric I picked up from Drygoods Design. I love how it turned out and it has been well worn.

This fabric is great for summer but a bit too breathable for winter so I got some Robert Kaufman Mammoth flannel that still needs to be made into a second dress. While making the dress I considered a sleeveless version of it. I pulled out this long hoarded print by Denyse Schmidt and made it sans sleeves and collar. I gave it contrast piping for a little embellishment. Cannot wait for warmer weather to wear this.



Sewing two of these dresses gave me the confidence to tackle yet one more project. I have been meaning to sew some pajamas for myself, so I got adventurous and ordered 'The Carolyn' pattern by Closet Case Patterns. I decided to grab the bull by the horns and go for the most complex option with piping.

It took me 3 long weekends to get this done. One to study the pattern and understand what needs to be done and the other two to cut and sew up the outfit. I used my serger for this one. The fabric is Manuscript from Papiere by Amy Sinibaldi for Art Gallery Fabrics




I love how they fit but I do find quilting fabric a little coarse for sleepwear. I purchased some soft double gauze to make another one. A project that still requires completion.

Just a short write up on my adventures with garment sewing. If you plan to tackle either of these patterns and are looking for tips feel free to contact me. I learnt a great deal along the way and would be happy to share.

6 comments:

  1. Good for you! Double gauze sounds dreamy for pjs!

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  2. Love the pjs, what kind of dressmaking fabrics did you use for it? as well for the dress in the first picture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since you are no reply blogger, posting the response here.

      For the pjs I used a quilting cotton fabric. I would say it is a bit rough for my liking. Next time I would go with a cotton lawn.

      For the dress I used a cotton woven fabric with an Ikat pattern. I absolutely love the feel if that fabric.

      It has a feel similar to homespun fabric.

      Delete
    2. Since you are no reply blogger, posting the response here.

      For the pjs I used a quilting cotton fabric. I would say it is a bit rough for my liking. Next time I would go with a cotton lawn.

      For the dress I used a cotton woven fabric with an Ikat pattern. I absolutely love the feel if that fabric.

      It has a feel similar to homespun fabric.

      Delete
  3. i like quilting cotton fabric.
    click on this http://www.weaveron.com/.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful quilt. I love it. I found another fabric store which is Broadway Fabrics.

    ReplyDelete

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