One of the things that challenges me when I’m sewing is my constantly fluctuating weight. For the past year (or a bit longer), I’ve been making an effort to lose some of my excess weight, and for the most part, I’ve been successful – to the tune of 40lbs (18kg), actually! It’s not such a mighty achievement as it might seem, given that I’m 5’1″ and need to lose the same amount again, but I’m still proud of it.

As you can imagine, though, having constantly changing weight is a seamstress’ nightmare. In addition to have a (generally) downward trending number on the scales, I also tend to hold a lot of water weight at certain times of the month – particularly in my bust, which can go up a whole cup size! I’m sure I’m not the only one dealing with these kind of problems, and I wanted to chat about some of the things I do to try and make sewing garments that fit as smoothly as possible.

1. Measure, measure, measure. I measure myself before every sewing project. I used to not be as vigilant with this and just use vague memories of the last time I measured, but after a few ill-fitting garments, my tape measure is my best friend. I just take bust, waist and hip measurements, but note down whichever ones work for you! And no fudging the numbers – that’s not going to help you when you’ve finished a pretty dress and you can’t squeeze into it. Trust me, I’m speaking from experience.

2. Sew for the size you are now, not the size you want to be. For a while, I was sewing clothes that were so tight I could barely zip them up, figuring that once I lost a few more pounds, they’d fit nicely. And in theory, yes, this could work, but in practice, chocolate emergencies happen and said small dresses are pushed to the back of the closet as a sad reminder of too many yummy cakes. You’ll feel much happier in the clothes you make if they fit well, and if they get too big, well, it’s a lot easier to take clothes in than it is to let them out!

3. Muslins, toiles, or whatever you want to call them – for me, they’re not just a good idea, they’re a necessity. I always stock up on old sheets from Goodwill or really cheap fabric so I can mock up bodices and the like before cutting into my fancy fabric. Sometimes I’ve had to make two or three before I’m satisfied with the fit – but it’s the only way that you’ll know how your garment will fit before you actually make it. I’m a big fan of wearable muslins, if possible – sometimes you don’t know that a dress will slip off your shoulders all the time until you’ve worn it outside for a day, or a skirt worn on the hips will gradually wiggle its way up to your waist.

4. Learn what styles work for you. I have an hourglass figure, so closely-fitted garments (particularly through the waist) flatter my figure much moreso than loose, shapeless clothing. I envy those that can wear a shift dress, or a empire waist, but if I don’t have something defining my waist, I might as well be wearing a sack. There are plenty of resources online to help you determine your body shape and what kind of clothes might flatter you, but trial and error is good too – for instance, a lot of books say to wear high-waisted skirts for an hourglass figure, but I find I don’t like how they emphasise my hips. Try out different styles and see what you like!

No matter what size you are, or what size you want to be, though, I think it’s very important to try and appreciate your body and to love how you look. Nothing makes an outfit look better than confidence, after all!

I’m too lazy to even think of a good title for this post, guys. I’m sorry. I’ve failed you. But in better news – I have a new dress to show you!

So sorry for the break in transmission, all! I wish I had something new to show you, but I’ve had a crazy-busy April, and am only now settling back into my (boring) daily routine.

For the last two weeks of April, my Dad came a’visiting from Australia! I was SO thrilled to see him (it had been almost a year and a half!) and we spent two weeks checking out Vegas, Yosemite, and other lovely places in Northern California. Despite living here for almost 2 years (how has it been that long already, I don’t even) we haven’t really had a chance to play tourist, because, well, we have jobs and other shit to take care of. So it was really, really nice to have a break from everything and see some of the sights America has to offer.

And as happy as I was to see my Dad, I was just as sad to see him leave, so I’ve spent this week in a bit of a homesick funk. I’m not sure if homesick is the right word, really – I don’t miss Australia that much, truth be told. But I do miss my family, very much, and they’re in Australia, so homesick will do. So I’ve been moping about and not doing much of anything, really, except work.

But after catching up on all of my favourite sewing blogs, and seeing all the amazing entries in the Mad Men Sewing Challenge, I’m ready to dive back into sewing. The warmer weather is here, and I’m discovering severe holes in my wardrobe! I’ve decided to begin with my Reglisse dress, since the lovely Eleanore at Deer&Doe is hosting a sewalong! Yes, it’s in French, but trust me, this lady is MORE than worth busting out the good ol’ Google Translate. She’s already addressed the issue of not being able to find wide enough fabric, a problem I had right from the start. I kept finding all these delightful prints, and then being disappointed because they were only 45″ wide. Eventually, I got fed up and bought 5 yards (!!) of a gorgeous Cloud 9 fabric, figuring that it would be enough for me to try and work out a new cutting layout. Turns out (thank God) I was right! I cut the pattern pieces tonight, and I’m going to whip up my toile tomorrow and go from there.

What are you working on for the summer? I’m in the market for some simple, casual-yet-cute summer tops – any pattern recommendations for me?

This dress, you guys. I’ve never put so much effort into anything before. But I love how it turned out, so all worth it in the end 🙂

This is the dress I decided to use as inspiration. Anything Joan wears is fabulous, in my opinion, but I do love peter pan collars, and I thought that this dress in particular was very cute.

As you can see, my dress isn’t an exact clone of hers, by any means. Despite owning eleventy-billion vintage sewing patterns, I didn’t have one with princess seams to use, so I settled on this one instead with the darts. The dress pattern I used was Butterick 3015.

I think it turned out pretty well! Mine isn’t as wide as Joan’s – I thought I’d made it plenty large enough, but turns out I was wrong. Oh well.

(Please excuse my shoes, they are the only vintage ones I own, and I didn’t want to go barefoot!) I also drafted my own sleeve cuffs, which was very simple (just a rectangle, really).

Fitting this dress was a nightmare. Because I was a good girl, and didn’t leave the challenge to the last minute, I started drafting the dress a month ago. I made a muslin, and it actually fit really well (apart from being like 7 inches too long. Seriously, that’s how much I lopped off the bottom of this dress, and then there’s a 2″ hem as well.) Unfortunately, I lost some weight during March/April, so that when I tried the actual dress on, I was swimming in it. I took it in at the sides a little, but didn’t want to mess with it too much or else the darts wouldn’t sit right any more. I had also planned to draft my own self-fabric belt with one of those handy kits (and even ordered the kit), but after testing it out with a belt I already had, I realised it would bunch the fabric up around my waist WAY too much, and so I had to kiss the belt goodbye.

I made the dress from a cotton sateen I got from Fashion Fabrics Club, but it’s a lot heavier than sateens I’ve worked with before, and irritatingly, I can’t seem to press all the wrinkles from it no matter how hard I try. The cuffs and collar are also cotton sateen from the same place. The lining is polyester I bought from Ebay. I bound the hem seam with pale blue bias binding, which I’d never done before (and didn’t particularly enjoy doing) and catchstitched it to the lining. You can just see it peaking out in the photo of me on the dresser.

I apologise for the photos, by the way. I didn’t want to take them on the roof, but I struggled to find somewhere else to take them in our tiny apartment. We have this awesome old elevator, but the lighting was terrible in there and besides, I was terrified someone would call the elevator and I would be whisked away to face some stranger whilst dressed as Joan from Mad Men.

It was a fun challenge, though, which challenge being the operative word, and it definitely pushed me way outside my sewing comfort zone, and motivated me to try new things!

I’m a huge lover of Colette Patterns. So much so that this is the second time I’ve made the Pastille Dress, which is one of the 5 patterns included in the Colette Sewing Handbook. I wanted to make something quick and easy while I waited on extra supplies for my Mad Men dress, and I wanted something that would be good for spring.

So! Today I finally felt well enough to take some photos of my self-made swimsuit. Let me just say, though, that for years I have loathed trying on swimsuits, wearing swimsuits, and generally being near them at all. I’m sure many girls feel my pain, especially if they’re on the curvier end of the spectrum, as I am. But you know, an unexpected thing happened – I think I look good in this swimsuit.

After much searching for a suitable swimsuit pattern, I stumbled across a tutorial on how to make a swimsuit top out of an old bra. I was a little unsure at first – I’m not exactly rolling in bras, and wasn’t sure if I wanted to sacrifice one. But then I thought oh well, I have one I’m not super attached to, let’s give it a go.

I followed the tutorial fairly closely, but instead of covering the back band in swimsuit fabric, I traced them and then cut them off, and made a back band in one piece out of my swimsuit fabric, rather than two pieces with a clasp. I then traced a tank top of mine that fit to make a front and back pattern piece, and sewed those onto the bra. I left a gap between the cups so I could make a fabric tie to put between them. I used one long rectangle of fabric to make the halter neck tie.

It was hard to decide what size I wanted to make the swimsuit – I’m still losing weight fairly steadily, so I didn’t want to make it too loose, lest I become one of those women who lose their swimsuit after jumping into the pool, but I also didn’t want it to be too snug. I can see in the photos it does look a little tight, but it’s actually very comfortable to wear. By the time I go to Vegas in 3 and a half weeks, I think it should fit pretty much perfectly!

Incidentally, there are some HILARIOUS outtakes from this photo shoot. Up until recently, I generally avoided most photographs, so dressing myself up deliberately for photo-taking is kind of new to me. But hey, I’ve watched 18 cycles of America’s Next Top Model, surely I’ve learned something, right? Call me if you ever do a petite plus cycle, kthx Tyra. I can smize with the best of them!

I admit, I’m a bit of a bargain-hunter when it comes to my sewing supplies. I don’t mean that I buy cheap crap, because I don’t, but I buy almost 100% of my fabric on sale. And, occasionally, when I get bored, I do a search for fabric on Craigslist. Up until now, it’s never really yielded any results. I don’t have a car, so my search radius is pretty small, and I guess fabric isn’t the kind of thing people really bother putting ads on Craigslist for. As an aside, it cracks me up that you Americans pronounce “Craig” as “Creg”. People named Craig must be so confused when they come here!

Oops! It seems that time has flown just a little bit since my last post. My apologies to all, I’ve been ridiculously busy, and just a bit ill, too!

I have, actually, managed to get some sewing in though, and I do have a finished project just ready and waiting to be photographed, I promise! But, with a cold and sinus issues, I haven’t exactly been ready to have my photo taken. You understand. I’ll see what I can do this weekend – I have some ideas for a fun little photo shoot in my new bathing suit – but I’m not going to push myself.

One thing I have been able to do from the comfort of my couch is do a bit of online shopping. I’m always on the look-out for new patterns to try and fabric to buy, even though I should probably think about using some of the stuff I already have, first.

I got this vintage Butterick pattern from the Selvedge Shop on Etsy, and I think it’s going to be just right for my Mad Men Challenge dress. I did have another pattern in mind, but after making one muslin where the neck was WAY too big, and then another when it was comically small, I’ve decided to start again.

So those are my ideas, and I’m really hoping this cold will just disappear so I can actually muster up the energy to sew something, rather than lounging in my sweatpants and blowing my nose.

As I briefly mentioned in my last post, I had the bright idea to make myself a swimsuit for my upcoming trip to Las Vegas. I decided to use McCall’s 5400, with some black and red cherry swimsuit fabric from Girl Charlee.

Some of you may have noticed the lovely blue button now sitting on the righthand side of my blog. Let’s not talk about how long I took to get it there. That’s not important. What is important, is that this button signifies possibly the most difficult of my New Year’s resolutions – not to buy any new clothes this year. Actually, when I made this resolution, I didn’t know it was a “thing”. To me, it was a natural progression of my sewing ambitions, and also, a way to save money. But, it turns out a lot of people (at least, in the sewing blogosphere) are doing it, and it’s called the Seamless Pledge.

The pledge may mean different things to different people, and that’s fine, but I have my own little rules surrounding it. As mentioned, I’m not buying any new clothing – if I can make it myself. This means I’m allowed to buy bras, jeans, tights and shoes. Although let it be known I am totally up for making my own bras, once I’ve done some more reading up on it. Secondhand clothing is allowed, as it’s recycling, and recycling can never be bad, yes? That said, I am trying to cut back on thrift store purchases too, because I am trying to ask myself the big question, “Do I really need that?” before I buy things these days. Turns out, most of the time I don’t.

In other news, I’ve also been thinking about my next sewing projects, which include a certain Mad Men Challenge, and a swimsuit for my upcoming Vegas trip!

I also have to say a big thank you to all the lovely people who have told me that they saw my blog, and complimented me on my French dress. I’m accustomed to writing for an audience of no one, and it was so flattering to me that people had taken the time to look at my little piece of the internet. So thank you again, and I hope you keep following me on my sewing adventures! ^_^