Sew Merry May, Tunic Dress

Hello,
I finished MAGAM sew along May dress with theme "Sew Merry May" in the middle of the month and so glad that I recovered the dress and it turned out so good. You can see how happy I was, wearing me-made dress for mmmay day 17. The print truly made me happy and the black piping match perfectly with yellow 😊

Pattern: I used Burdastyle Tunic Dress 04/2017 size 36. I omitted the sleeves and finished the armholes with black piping the same as for the front and back panels but I didn't use cord as I did for the two plackets.

For the fabric, I used 2 yards of printed cotton that I bought in Seoul, South Korea last year. Other materials I need for this dress were same colour of yarns, fusible interfacing, me-made black bias tape and cord for piping.

The sewing process was taking longer than I expected because I have to remove the finished dress again because the neckline was too high for my liking and so glad I managed to remove all the stitches without ruin the dress.

After that, I lowered the neckline 1.5 cm and drew new line of front and back neckline but the slit remain the same.

I also decided to choose sleeveless because summer in my place is really hot and humid. So, easy and airy garments are a must 😊

The rest of the process was enjoyable, except sewing and attaching the cord piping in between panel and dress body. But glad that I survived, here is the look of the plackets and piping, right and wrong side.

The front slit is lovely and fits nicely on me. I fused the fusible interfacing in the wrong side of panels as Burda suggested, sew the two pieces right sides together, carefully trim the curve areas and then turned inside out. I did that for both front and back panels. Then sew the front and back panels together.
After that, I sew the front and back dress at the shoulder right sides together then sew the piping with cord in the seam allowances ( I did the opposite of Burda suggested, it said attach the piping and cord on the panel but it doesn't work for me). So, I pin the panel onto the bodice right sides together, the piping cord should be in between, and carefully sew them using piping foot. Clip both front and back corner, turned inside out and trimmed the excess fabric using an overlocker machine.
The armholes finished with black piping as well but I didn't use cord.

That's all the process, the hem finished with blind hem stitch. The only thing I'd love to add if one day I make this dress again is inseam pockets.
And here is the last picture of the back side of the dress, I couldn't have straight picture because it was windy.

Besides, I posted this dress on MAGAM sew along - facebook I also posted on Instagram with hashtag #magamsewalong

Thank you for reading, wishing you all a lovely day/evening and happy sewing!
Love,

Hana @velvetribbon_sew

Refashioned T-shirt

Hello, 

I refashioned my dear stepson brand new t-shirt that didn't fit him to my active wear 😀

Actually the t-shirt fit me as it is but I didn't like the style. It looks too manly for my preference and I like more loose style t-shirt, so I decided to add colour block in both sides. I used left over black knit cotton from stash and I think black and grey are matching nicely.

The process was fast and easy. I started with cut both sides of the t-shirt from the end of the armhole to the hem.

Also cut two pieces of long stripes as shown in the picture below from black knit cotton. The smaller shape (8 cm wide) is for armhole and bigger shape (15 cm wide) for the hem. 

I attached the black stripe onto front and back t-shirt. And sew them with an overlocker machine. I did for both sides.

After I did the colour block and trimmed the sleeves, I sew the sleeve hems with twin needle. And then shaped the hemline with U-shape. I measured 10 cm from the bottom t-shirt, marked the shape and cut it. 

Here is the look of it after the cut and then I sew the hemline 1.5 cm with twin needle. Done! 😁

 And here is the result, I like it. Looks a little bit flare at the bottom.

Today is the third day of Me Made May 2017 and it is holiday in Macau - Buddha Day. So, I decided to walk around Taipa hill with my dear son and husband. And took some pictures to publish here in the blog 😊 I am wearing the t-shirt with old favourite Burdastyle black skirt and refashioned tote bag from old denim pants that I will blog about in the end of next week. Actually I made two totes and one in progress 😀

Far away in my back is Macau, I think you can see Macau Tower and MGM building with orange, blue and yellow colours. Too bad that we have hazy day with high humidity, otherwise you can see beautiful Macau from here.

And last picture taken in last month, two days after I refashioned this t-shirt. I wore it with my latest active wear Simplicity pants.

That's it for today post everyone, I am joining MMMay'17 through Instagram this year and will be making weekly recap to show here in the blog. 

Happy Sewing and thank you for reading. 

💗

Hana @velvetribbon_sew

V-neck Shift Dress with Ruffled Cuffs

Hello,
Time flies so fast and can not believe that we are in May. I am participating Me-Made-May 2017 and this is my fifth year. And especially for day 1, I am wearing my brand new shift dress that I made last month for MAGAM April with the theme "Sew Anything".
Picture below taken this morning in the Garden of Flower City, I like to visit this garden from time to time to enjoy some flowers and fishes. Sorry for the wrinkle at the front dress, cotton fabric is so easy to wrinkle, especially after sitting a while inside the car. Anyway, nobody cares 😁

For the fabric, I used floral Korean cotton that I bought during my visit to Seoul last year. I had four meters and the leftover fabric is enough to make one more dress.
And for the pattern, I used Japanese sewing book "Casual Sweet Clothes" by Noriko Sasahara. Pattern H "V-neck Shift Dress with Ruffle Cuffs" size S.

The sewing process was enjoyable, especially after almost three weeks without touching my sewing machine. We were busy with moving house and glad that we finally settled in.

Well, about the dress. I chose size S and started to work with it by trace the pattern and cut directly to the fashion fabric. I was brave enough not to make muslin as I always did in my previous garments.
After I sew all pieces together except the ruffles and tried the dress, I found out that the neckline was too big, the sides were too loose, the sleeves and the dress length was too long.
So I did a very easy solution on the neckline, I just pin and sew the CF 1.5 cm in a shape like dart until 5 cm on top of my navel.
I reduced both sides of the dress 1.5 cm, started under the armhole down to the hem.
Also, reduced the sleeves length 7 cm before I sew the ruffle cuffs and reduced the dress length 10 cm. Finished with blind hem 2.5 cm

The only tricky part was to attach the ruffle cuffs. I gathered them with hand sewing first then sew cuffs to the sleeves.
And also, almost forget to mention that I changed the exposed zipper to invisible zipper. I prefer invisible zipper more for this type of fabric. The fabric texture is soft and drape nicely, I fear that exposed zipper will be to heavy.

Here is some of the process, hope you can spot the front dart. And I don't think people notice the mistake 😁 It looks like design addition on the dress.

As usual, more pictures on me. Front, side, back views and closer look of the ruffle cuffs.

I really love the final sleeves, the ruffle cuffs are so cute and girly 💗

And here is last picture of the dress on Ellie. I think one dress based on this pattern is not enough so I want to make one more with round neckline and short sleeves. I will see...

Happy Sewing everyone! Hope to see you in Me Made May 2017. I am off to reading your blog and looking forward to see your MAGAM May garments.

Love,

Hana @velvetribbon_sew

Polka dot Dress with Ruffle Shoulder

Hello,
We are having crazy weather lately, from hot humid, foggy to cold. And not enough dealing with that, I got sick with cough allergies for some weeks 😢
But luckily I still sew some small garments for my son and finished this polka dot dress. This dress is my first based on Casual Sweet Clothes - Favourite Pieces For Everyday sewing book by Noriko Sasahara that I bought during my visit to Singapore in October last year. I also bought some fabrics, patterns and Burdastyle magazine, you can find them in my old IG post, here.

Material needed :
2 yards of polka dot cotton in light green colour, invisible zipper, fusible interfacing and thread.
Pattern:
Dress A with ruffle shoulder detail size S with following adjustment,

• I reduced the middle center front and back 1 cm because the dress is a little bit too loose.
• Lowered the CF neckline 5.5 cm and drew a new line of the front neckline.
• Raised the ruffle placement 2 cm and trimmed the ruffle at the shoulder 3 cm down to the end 1/2 cm (hope this explanation makes sense).
• I used 1.5 cm seam allowances in all edges and 3 cm hem allowance.

I actually like the instructions from this book, it is well explained with easy step by step to follow. Firstly I sew the middle front and back pieces right sides together and then gather the ruffles before attached to the bodice. I decided to raised the ruffle placement because it looks to me it doesn't gather enough. Also, I trimmed the ruffle at the shoulder 3 cm down to end 1/2 cm finished with rolled hemmed stitch. I did that because the original ruffles are too big for my liking.

After that, I sewn the front and back sides right sides together and attached it to the middle bodice.
As shown below, the neckline was too high for my usual style. So, I reduced 5.5 cm at the CF and drew a new line of the neckline. I carefully cut it and make a new facings. Fused the fusible interfacing on both front and back neckline facings and also fused on both armhole facings.

Before I attached the neckline and armhole facings, I fused fusible tape on the wrong side of CB and sewn the invisible zipper.
Then, sewn the front and back neckline facings right sides together and attached it to the bodice, clipped the curve areas and did the same for armholes facings. Turned all the facing inside and hand sewn some parts for the facings to stayed in place.
Here is the final look of the back side. Well, I am happy with it 😊

And the last work was sew the hem allowance 3 cm, the original pattern suggested for 2.5 cm but I used 3 cm and I did that for almost all me-made dresses.
Picture below shows the different look on the original neckline and my version. I know that some people look good on high neckline but not me.

I liked the final dress, lovely fit and it will be perfect to wear in summer without feeling too tight or too loose. For sure I will be making another one later but without ruffle and will make little tweak at the back. You can see in the last picture below that the back has little crumple, I am going to make better fitting in the future.

The ruffle shoulder looks so lovely and girly, isn't it ?

And here are more pictures of the dress and detail, front - side - back and hemline.

Thank you for reading, wishing you a happy weekend and happy sewing!
Love,

Hana, @velvetribbon_sew