Just Patterns Linda Wrap Dress worn as a jacket

I've had my eye on Just Patterns for a while and the Linda Wrap Dress was the main reason I put myself forward to be in the Pattern Development Group. I particularly loved the angled collar and wrap-style/belt fastening and was really keen to make it. It's worth noting that whilst I was sent a copy for free to test, the feedback I provided and this blog post are both pretty honest about some of the difficulties I had!

Linda Wrap Dress line drawings

I used a mid-weight khaki peachskin-type which was only £4p/m from Lucky Fashions in Dewsbury. It has a really nice drape but is still weighty enough for the quite 'tailored' details of the dress. I cut a size 42 based on my bust and waist measurements in the size chart. The dress is intended to be fairly loose fitting and as it has a wrap fastening, I thought I'd have a bit of flexibility with sizing, but in hindsight, I should've probably worked more from the finished garment measurements.

My Linda Wrap COAT

When it came to making, I was initially intimidated by how minimal the instructions are - there are no illustrations, just an order of construction - but this turned out to be good in a way and really pushed me to think for myself and put my skills into practice. Luckily there's a resource page on the Just Patterns website, which signposts useful tutorials for parts of the construction. I relied heavily on some of these tutorials, particularly for instructions like 'construct the sleeve plackets' (which I would've found absolutely terrifying otherwise)! It was actually a really good way to learn new techniques and discover new blogs and tutorials in the process!

Super proud of these sleeve plackets!

I loved adding the little details to my Linda Dress. There is A LOT of topstitching to do and I used some bright buttons from Textile Garden (the same as the ones on my Ready to Sew Jane) to add a pop of colour and draw the eye to the sleeve detailing too - I'm so unbelievably proud of those sleeve plackets! The overall finish is really professional, particularly if you follow the instructions to French seam pretty much any visible seam - I skipped this as an overlocked edge is fine by me.

A flash of the bias bound inside bodice edge

Attaching the skirt and bodice to the belt requires a little bit of concentration to make sure you match the right notches, but everything else was fairly straight forward. By the time it came to adding the belt fastening I'd tried it on and realised that it wouldn't be wearable as a dress (I had planned to add a D ring fastening). Unfortunately the dress turned out pretty huge all over, but particularly in the bodice and I could pinch a good 4-5" out of the waist. It's worth noting that a few of the testers had problems with sizing and this is something that Just Patterns are addressing.

Worn as a dress...

It's a little hard to tell from pictures alone (sorry for the clutter!) but the shoulders are off and the front gapes with any movement. There's a limit to how far over you can tie the belt because of the gathered detail around the waistband and the pocket on the side, so the fit wasn't as flexible as I had first thought. It was just starting to look like a real shame to waste all the hard work I'd put into the make, when my boyfriend commented that he thought it was meant to be a coat all along.

Ready to Sew Jazz Jumpsuit

When worn open it totally worked in an over-sized, COS-like, over-coat fashion. With 2 more days until the wedding, I didn't have many options other than to run with it anyway! So what to wear it with?! I made this Ready to Sew Jazz Jumpsuit in black crepe straight after making my first version and it has yet to appear on the blog. I have nothing but praise for this pattern and it works so perfectly in a slightly heavier, drapey fabric. I probably wouldn't have worn either garment without the other as they're both quite plain, but paired together I totally felt like it was leaning towards the minimal/cool look. I also wore my go-to snakeskin heels from M&S with a Whistles clutch for a bit of colour.

Jazz Jumpsuit

I didn't have to make any changes to the dress-turned-jacket other than omitting the fastening. I kept the belt tie, though I'm wondering whether I should cut it off and stitch the edge up so it's level or add another sort of fastening. I'm still undecided so suggestions are very much welcome!

Back view

Behind the scenes assistance from my friend Alex!

So all in all everything turned out great! And the whole thing (jacket and jumpsuit) cost no more than £25. I have to say that I'm soooo so pleased with the Linda Wrap Dress (jacket), even if my testing did go slightly off piste. I'll absolutely be making up another version in the future, but will be sure to double check the finished garment measurements and down size first. If you're feeling like a fun challenge and maybe learning some new techniques along the way then I'd definitely recommend giving it a go! You can get a copy of the pattern here.

Thank you Chris for taking pictures xx

A lot of the testers made some perfect Linda Wrap Dresses (that they actually wore as dresses) so be sure to check out #lindawrapdress for the real deal!

Wedding gang!

I still can't quite believe I pulled it off (well I think I just about did...). It really does feel like the ultimate sewing save. Has anyone else got a great sewing salvage story?

1992 Prima Magazine blouse and B6178 culottes

The pattern I chose to work from was from a 1992 edition of Prima Magazine. It's a bit new romantic, a bit Shakespeare in Love, and definitely more feminine than I'd usually go, but there's something about the oversized shaping that seemed to offset the girlishness of the ruffles. The fabric requirements were pretty large, particularly as a lot of the ruffles and ties have to be cut on the bias - 4m in total! - so I went for a bargain mauve poly crepe from Minerva. It was lovely to work with - light and drapey without being slippy - and only cost £16 for the lot!

October 1992 Prima pattern

I really enjoyed the process of making and gathering all the ruffles for the shirt. The neckline is probably too ruffled if anything - particularly for my bust - so I might tone it down a bit if I ever made the shirt again.

Distributing my ruffles!

The gathers at the neckline are encased with a neck binding, which was particularly tricky to topstitch neatly! Considering the bulk there - two layers of ruffles, one layer of shirt and the neck binding - it's not turned out too badly.

Topstitched neck binding

The sleeves were similarly tricky to topstitch, but it was turning the ties that caused me the biggest headache! I'd always been adamant that I didn't need a loop turner as I'd never make a garment with spaghetti straps, but I've never considered ties as embellishments/fastenings until now. I turned the first one with a pencil and a lot of patience, but I couldn't keep it up for the other 5 (2 for the neck and 2 for each sleeve). Luckily my friend Erin loaned me her loop turner, which worked like magic!

1 tie turned, 5 to go.

I was just starting to feel pretty optimistic about the blouse, and then I attached the sleeves... I knew the blouse was intended to be oversized, but the overhang on the shoulder was way too much and the heavy gathers at the sleeve head just drew attention to the poor fit. It looked totally clown-like and completely unwearable, so there was no other option but to attack it. Nothing fills me with more fear than armscye adjustments, particularly mid-make, but hacking a few inches off of the shoulder and re-distributing the previously heavy gathers on the sleeve to fit the new arm hole definitely saved the day in this case!

Before

After! :)

I love the blouse loose and it would look great with a pair of skinny jeans - if I owned a pair, must work towards making some! - but as a wedding look, it really needed to be cinched in at the waist, so I made these culottes using one of my favourite patterns, the Butterick B6178 (view D). The pattern is free with this month's Love Sewing mag too, so definitely worth picking up a copy!

By Hand London Flora bodice hack

I'd already tackled the fit adjustments for the the Flora bodice for a culotte/jumpsuit hack, so that made it an obvious choice for experimenting with shoulder inserts. I hung onto my muslin - it's a pretty rare occasion that I'd even make one, so this was lucky - and made use of some scraps to do a bit of testing. I ended up with what's essentially a gathered arm band insert that I was pretty happy with - I'm thinking of putting this together in a more detailed fashion in the near future as a bit of a how-to if anyone's interested!

Sketches and plans

Scraps and muslin practice

Side view

The only thing I would do differently if I made something similar would to be line up the neckline with the shoulder inserts a little better, and lower the back neckline 1" to match the front. I'm just slightly out with these, which makes the neckline look a little disjointed rather than creating a clean line across, but oh well, practice makes perfect!

From the back!

I made the bodice without too much consideration of what the skirt would look like. I think I'd sort of envisaged a straight, just-below-the-knee-length darted style, but to be perfectly honest, I got lazy, and couldn't be bothered to draft, adjust, or find a pattern to match. My gathered skirt wasn't on a complete whim though - I tried the bodice on with an old self drafted gathered skirt to get an idea of the shape, and it just sort of worked. I used all the fabric I had left so I could make it as long as possible, and I think the gathers hang really nicely in the fabric. There's no visible stitching on the outside of the dress so I decided to go all out and finish the hem by hand too.

A long gathered skirt to off set a slim bodice

I'm really pleased with the results, and massively proud that I managed to translate what I saw in the shops, into something that's much more wearable for me. It's actually turned out quite a lot posher than I imagined, and I'm wearing it at a wedding in these pictures - who says you can't wear black to a wedding eh? I think I'd like to try it again in a print fabric, or maybe as just a top version eventually, but I do have quite a lot on my list at the moment - imminent Autumn sewing is calling! - so we'll see!

A Polaroid of me and Chris at the wedding :)

As a side note, and speaking of the Flora bodice, my culotte/Flora hybrid made it in print! Thanks Megan of Pigeon Wishes for recommending my project as her favourite pattern hack. Check out Megan's own (amazing) pattern hack and article in the latest Sew Style mag.

I'm in Sew Style!

Can anyone think of or recommend any other Flora hacks for me to try?! I've definitely got the bug now!

:)

Tilly and the Buttons Martha in John Kaldor Cassandra fabric from Sew Essential

They stock a huge range of beautifully patterned and drape-y fabrics (my favourite types - see them all here!) so it was difficult to choose just one, but this lush John Kaldor Cassandra crepe de chine definitely doesn't disappoint. 

Martha and John Kaldor fabric - best combination!

Just some of my pattern pieces ready for cutting!

I thought I'd have to do an FBA, but my measurements weren't wildly out of proportion - particularly when you take the finished garment measurements into account too. I went with a size 5 for the muslin, and the proportions sat really nicely everywhere, but just slightly too big, so for the final version, I cut my pattern pieces down to a straight size 4.  
The construction of the Martha dress is fun, and straightforward. It's a bit more of a meaty project - there's quite a bit of stay stitching and lots of seams to tidy up - but it's worth investing the extra time for the lovely finish. I think it would also be a great project for building confidence with certain techniques if you're fairly new to sewing. I still lack a certain amount of confidence in my fitting skills - I had 'the fear' it would be too small - so made a few fit adjustments during the make to give me a bit more leeway:

- Used a 1cm seam allowance at the side seams
- Sewed the zip in with the zip tapes lining right up with the edge of the CB 
- And the 'post adjustments' adjustment: Took a chunk out at the waist side seam for a slightly closer fit

A beautiful flowing bias-cut skirt

One really nice design feature of the Martha pattern is the bias-cut skirt, something I've never done before, but a welcome challenge - particularly challenging in the sense that I was cutting out in fairly compromised space! It really does make for an amazing flowing skirt, which particularly in this fabric, has the best drape! I'm also keen to highlight that Martha totally works for those of us who are a bit fuller in the bust too. I was scared I'd look 'all boob' as there's quite a lot going on up top, but the paneling is so delicate and seems less severe than a traditional princess seam or heavily darted garment.

One minor slip up with the iron...

The fabric is slightly lighter in weight than I'd anticipated, and the right side has a slight shine to it which has the potential to be slippy, but luckily it isn't! It was lovely to work with, and sewed up great using regular machine settings and a fine needle - the print is a dream too! A word of caution though... watch your iron settings. I forgot I'd been ironing denim on a really high heat earlier in the day, and accidentally frazzled one of the panels of my very delicate skirt. After a bit of swearing and lots of unpicking, I replaced the whole panel and learnt my lesson - cool iron all the way!

Thanks, as ever, go to Chris for taking lovely photos

Word got around the wedding that I'd made my own dress and I was the recipient of some lovely comments, as well as some looks of shock and near disbelief (I still find it funny people are so surprised that someone could make their own clothes!). I'm so so proud of it, and it felt fab to wear - plus it's always good to know that you won't accidentally turn up in the same thing as someone else! Thanks again to Sew Essential for the supplies!

In other news, I'm in the market for my first ever overlocker! I'll be starting the hunt at Sew Essential (they stock a range of machines and overlockers too) but if anyone has a model they could recommend please let me know!

It's my birthday! I saw in the early hours of the day at a wedding, wearing what I think may be my finest ever sew - a culotte jumpsuit - and luckily managed to get some pictures of it too. This has been in the pipeline for a little while now, so I'm thrilled that it a) worked out, b) I had an occassion to wear it, and c) I get to share it with you guys!

B6178 meets Flora!

Clearly ecstatic about the freedom for weird dance moves!

I made it using a mash up of two patterns - the By Hand London Flora bodice, and the B6178 Culottes, which I've been singing the praises of for the last couple of months (and blogged about here). I've had the Flora pattern for nearly 2 years now, but I've always put off making it for the fear of having an ordeal with the fit adjustments. After making a couple of pairs of B6178s and absolutely loving them, I realised that they'd look amazing together if I could make it work. This, coupled with the slight pressure of an impending wedding - one of my resolutions was to sew my own dress for wedding attire - was the push I needed to get fitting. It's not quite a dress I know, but I wanted something a bit different, and in my head, in this totally fitted the bill.

Working out the fit adjustments on the bust

Gigantic darts on my muslin!

First up was the - dreaded - fitting. I needn't fear the FBA, but there's just something about committing to it that makes me nervous. Anyway, the BHL site has the best FBA tutorial for version B of the Flora bodice. I made up the adjusted version and it was nearly spot on. I just had to take a centimetre out of the centre front as everything was all a bit too far out. I made up one other muslin  - a big deal for me considering it's usually very rare that I even make one - just to be sure I had the fit right, and then cut straight into my final fabric.

A pretty good fit for the first muslin

I used this lovely black and white polka dot crepe that I made the Nita Wrap Skirt in. I bought 4metres ages ago for a project that never saw the light of day, and I'm finally glad to have found the perfect use for it - a bold silhouette calls for a bold fabric right? I even had enough to fully line the bodice in it too - the stuff of luxury! The only thing I should've given a bit more consideration to was the placement of the spots. There was no way I was going to attempt pattern matching, but although I matched the selveedges, I seem to have cut the fabric with the spots running at a twisty angle. I'm hoping the spot placement looks fairly random despite the definite squiffy angles.

Used making my own outfit as an excuse to buy sparkly new shoes!

Back view

Happier than I look!

I'm not saying it's quite my finest technical sew, but I couldn't be prouder of the ideas, the pattern mash up and how it came together, and getting the fit just right - I love it, and it's a dream to wear. It's even more of a dream to wear with these sparkly shoes I got in Zara - making your own wedding attire totally justifies a new shoe purchase right? I've since seen a pattern that's probably a quicker way to make a similar one (the New Look 6446 - Erica Bunker made a fab version) but I'm glad I pushed myself with this one, and finally made up the Flora bodice! I think there'll be many more of these (Floras and Flora/culotte jumpsuits) to come :)

Here are a couple more pictures from the beautiful wedding we went to (congratulations Helen and Shaun!)

I have another 3 weddings to go before the season's out, and I'm really excited about making my dress for the next one after being sent a parcel of beautiful fabric from Sew Essential. Updates on that one very soon!

Is anyone else planning to sew their wedding outfits this year?