Colette

Good things happen to those who….*

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

05-img_0720For Christmas this year, amongst the things I bought for the boy was a copy of the Walden shirt pattern Negroni, the thinking being that it could either be something that we made together (if he had any interest in learning to sew) or something that I could make for him as a delayed gratification gift.

Possibly unsurprisingly, he had absolutely no interest in learning to sew, so I made up my mind that I would make him a shirt. We found some fabric he liked, I traced off the pattern and everything was ready.

And then some time passed. And a bit more time. And suddenly it was September, nine months after Christmas, eight months since the fabric arrived, and as part of this year’s #sewphotohop I discovered that the fabric was still sat in my stash box, waiting to be used.

The time for waiting was over.

03-img_0717

Perfecting blue steel….

What is it?

A long sleeved men’s shirt with flat felled seams and a left hand pocket.

Is it blue?

Yes (because he’s a boy after my own heart!)

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

The fabric is a lovely shirting cotton with tiny purple pansies and blue steering wheels (best description I can think of!) bought from Fabworks Mill.

04-img_0718Super shirt for a super man…

What’s the pattern?

Negroni by Walden, the menswear arm of Colette in version 1 (but with only one pocket).

What was good about making this?

Seeing him wear it. That’s basically the best thing. Once the sappiness is out of the way though, there were a couple of things I enjoyed with this:

  • Pattern matching was an absolute dream, mainly due to the tiny repeat. I’m really pleased with the way that the final shirt has matched up.
  • Although a bit of a nightmare, the self finishing yoke and the placket pieces were really nice visually.
  • I got to use my own labels! These were a birthday present from the boy, so it seemed fitting that the first thing I used them on was something for him.
  • Learning how to do flat felled seams; they’ve got a really neat look to them.
  • The buttonholes came out neat as, well, a button, which is always an added bonus.

01-img_0684

Someone’s been taking hints from my posing…

What was bad about making this?

Apart from the guilt about how long it took to get moving with this, I had a bit of a mare doing the flat felled seams on the armhole and the cuffs did not want to behave, although it was nothing that a bit of rigorous pressing and topstitching couldn’t hide.

Would you make it again?

I would. Maybe not often, but I am pleased with it, and I also see it being quite a useful last minute (ok, last several days) gift in the future!

x

*wait.

One dress to Rue them all

~ Rhiannon ~ 5 Comments

img_0545

A while ago, Colette Patterns put a call out for pattern testers. I signed up, assuming that they’d get hundreds of responses and that I didn’t stand a chance. To my surprise, they asked me to take part in testing their newest pattern, the Rue dress.

I was pretty excited if I’m honest, and, when they revealed that it would be released on my birthday I knew what had to be done; it was time to make my birthday dress.

What is it?

A capped sleeved dress, with curved style lines on the bodice and a pleated knee length skirt.

Is it blue?

Yup yup!

1-img_0479

Just out of shot: a champagne saucer filled with prosecco.
Well it was my birthday!

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

The fabric is an African wax cotton print that I found in the rag market (at the man who sells Liberty’s stall to be precise). The lining material was Monaco anti-static lining from Guthrie and Ghani in a lovely silvery grey.

What’s the pattern?

Why the Colette Rue of course!

4-img_0501

What was good about making this?

Aside from the excitement of getting a sneaky peek at a brand new design, there were a couple of good things about this.

I love the style lines on the bodice and was pleased with the way that I was able to rotate my pieces to make the most of demonstrating this with such a bold print. It felt like it really highlighted the centre point.

I don’t often do full lining, and even when I do a bodice lining I usually use fabrics that are fairly cotton-like (even when they are polyester…). For this dress I used a more traditional shiny lining material and it does give a more professional look to the inside (although that’s not to say I’m a total convert…).

Generally the instructions were really clear, and that made this all the easier; Colette describe the dress as being intermediate level, but it certainly didn’t feel like it!

What was bad about making this?

There was only one bad thing, and that was sewing down the lining on the bodice. My days it was a nightmare.

3-img_0487

Lining nightmare face

The instructions for this step were pretty confusing as I’d not done something like that before, and, although they provided a link to a video that explained the technique, the video showed a sleeveless dress. Which mean it just didn’t work (to my brain at least) when trying to also deal with cap sleeves.

I had three goes at it and not one worked (in fact, one of them ended up sewing the lining to the outside of the dress. I’ve no idea how but it did). The boy had a look and he couldn’t figure it. I ended up saying “sod it” (but in slightly more…fruity… language) and leaving the raw edge sewn but exposed as no-one is going to see up my sleeve anyway!

Would you make it again?

I would. I’d consider not doing a full lining – or indeed any lining – as based on other dresses I’ve made I think this one would get away with it. I’d also like to try a sleeveless variation; I tried this on at the stage where the zipper was in and the sleeves were off and thought “this would work”. The final design idea that I’d like to try would be to add piping to the bodice, something I very nearly did this time but decided against as I thought multi-direction arrows were detail enough!

How about you? Have you had a go at Rue yet? What did you think?

x

Disclaimer: although Colette sent me the pattern for Rue for free, I received no other payment and all the views expressed here are my own. 

The green dress of doom….

~ Rhiannon ~ 1 Comment

img_9992

Well it had to happen. Sometimes you have an idea in your head and it’s wonderful and amazing and however hard you try it just doesn’t happen. This is that dress.

The tears.

The anguish.

The general nightmare.

Maybe I’m being over the top. Or maybe I’m not. You decide….

What is it?

A hellish nightmare. Or, if you want to be precise, theoretically a wrap dress with a scooped neck and capped sleeves.

Is it blue?

No.

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

The most gorgeous, soft green viscose bought from somewhere in the depths of ebay.img_9968

Drowning in viscose. Might have gone mad by this point…

What’s the pattern?

The Colette Crepe wrap dress, something I’ve had my eye on for ages and that I tested out with the fastest wearable toile ever.

What was good about making this?

I liked the colour. And that’s it.

What was bad about making this?

Oh god. Where to begin? There’s a lot of things that were less than fun, so, for ease for everyone I’ll use that old favourite, a bullet point list:

  • Viscose is a lovely fabric. It’s also really slippery making cutting out a pain in the arse.
  • I’d had a few excusable fitting issues with the toile, so figured the best approach would be to take the bodice down a size. It did not help. If anything, the fitting was worse and somehow bigger than the first one? The front had a weird hang, the back, which should be taut against my back was sloppy and loose, and I felt like a sack of potatoes.
  • The facing. Oh god the facing. Flappy and horrible, no amount of anything would make the facing work. Especially not on…
  • The cap sleeves. Which were basically hideous and wrong. I don’t know how they went from “kinda cute” on the toile to “why would you ever do that?” on this version.

img_0565I think my face says it all

Would you make it again?

HELL NO.

I was really gutted with this. It’s something I’d wanted to make for ages, I’d planned to make it for a friend’s wedding, and when it went to pieces, I lost all confidence in it. As much as some people might look at it and think “oh it’s not that bad”, the point was that it felt bad, and I think we can all agree that a fancy dress is not one that you’re meant to feel bad in.

I’ve got some ideas of ways I can salvage it (cut those sleeves off for a start…) which I’d like to do, especially as the fabric is so lovely. But right now, the idea makes me want to cry, so I think I’ll just leave it in my fabric box until I can face it (read: some point in the far future).

THAT SAID: this was, despite the frustration, a good experience as it was a reminder that it doesn’t always go right and that doesn’t matter. I ended up wearing the Nani Iro dress of dreams to the wedding and felt absolutely great in it (and had some lovely compliments to boot). Plus, the next thing I made was about a million times better and made up for all the hurt. Result.

So, was I being over dramatic?

x

 

Spot the new Moneta….

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

img_0195 How can you not jump for joy in a former Italian abbey?

It’s no secret that I love Moneta, and it’s quickly become a regular sew, especially since I discovered that I can get a dress out of just one metre of fabric with a bit of wiggling. So it was no surprise that when I spotted some polka dot fabric on a trip to the rag market hosted by Rach that I quickly snapped some up ready for a light and breezy summer dress.

What is it?

A sleeveless jersey dress with a fitted bodice and gathered skirt

Is it blue?

Yup yup yup!

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

A thin lightweight jersey from an outdoor stall at the rag market; it was a bargain too, costing only £1.50!

What’s the pattern?

The Colette Moneta (again!)

img_0181

Seriously, the view from this place was amazing!

What was good about making this?

As ever just the speed at which I could get it sewn up was a delight

What was bad about making this?

The fabric was printed ever so slightly squiffy which meant cutting out pieces so that they would line up was a bit of a nightmare. Luckily it’s nothing that couldn’t be sorted with a quick application of some scissors!

Would you make it again?

I wouldn’t say never, although now that we’re moving into autumn I might look to make a few more sleeved versions of the dress. That said, I have a freaking huge list of to-be-mades at the moment so unless it’s a truly truly fabulous print I think it’ll be a while before I make another.

x

Blue flowers? Must be acidic soil…

~ Rhiannon ~ 1 Comment

01-IMG_9759Sometimes you just get a bee in your bonnet, or at least you do if you’re as stubborn as me… 

In this case I decided that I wanted to get my wearable toile of the Colette Crepe ready in time to wear on a weekend trip to my parents. Even though I hadn’t cut out all of the pieces on the Friday evening and didn’t finish work and dinner until gone 8…

Yet amazingly, remarkably, I actually managed to do it (and ok, staying up until 1am probably helped).

10-IMG_9770

What is it?

A wrap dress with a rounded neckline and back wrap

Is it blue?

The flowers are!

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

The fabric is a cheapy viscose I picked up in Barry’s fabrics purposely for making a toile with.

What’s the pattern?

The Colette Crepe pattern.

08-IMG_9774(Not the best photo but my usual photographer was a bit …delicate)

What was good about making this?

The speed! I admit I cute a couple of corners, but given this was a toile I didn’t mind too much, and the result was a four hour sew.

What was bad about making this?

The viscose was pretty horrendous to work with. At the time of sewing I’d hoped it was because it was cheap (more on that in a future post…).

The fit wasn’t ideal, it feels far too big around the bodice despite being pulled pretty darned tight. However I cut a straight six so figured I could make alterations on the actual version.

Would you make it again?

This was a wearable toile for a version I wanted to wear to a wedding so in theory yes.

But….

….to be continued….

The £1.50 Moneta

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

IMG_7493

There are a couple of different things you can take from my expression here; the fact that I managed to get a(nother) Moneta out of a metre of fabric, amazement at how swooshy it is, delight with the mix of colours. I think the main thing though is the appreciation that despite having what can only be described as a horrendous hangover (may have had a sherbet too many…) I managed to not only navigate the rag market but I scored this fab jersey for the princely sum of £1.50.

What is it?

A(nother) Moneta with a Peter Pan collar and slightly longer than usual skirt.

Is it blue?

Some of the flowers are. But some of them are copper coloured. And some of it is white. Let’s go with multicoloured?

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

A ponte roma that I got from a stall in the outside section of the rag market. I nearly fell over when they told me the price.

What’s the pattern?

That old favourite I know so well

What was good about making this?

Pattern placement for the collar was really satisfying, and there’s something very smugness inducing about getting a dress out of a metre of fabric.

What was bad about making this?

I don’t know why but for some reason my sewing machine and overlocker weren’t enamoured with this fabric and both had weird puckering. It wasn’t too much of a hardship but it was a bit annoying.

Would you make it again?

Another awesome Astoria

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

1-14-IMG_7183

There’s something incredibly snuggly about sweatshirt material. I think it’s probably something to do with the way that it looks like it’s been constructed from hundreds of teddy bears to give it the ultimate comf factor. When you get that comfiness and put it into something that can be worn for work as a cover up for smart dresses without looking slobby, well then you’re on to a winner!

I’ve had this for about two months now [let’s not look at my making to blogging time lag in too much detail….] and I can confirm that it is fab and gets worn with pretty much everything. In fact, I’m wearing it right now as I type this (and I have the picture to prove it!).

IMG_7905

What is it?

A cropped sweater

Is it blue?

You betcha!

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

A super comfy sweatshirt jersey from Guthrie & Ghani. I had my eye on it for ages and then found a metre in the remnants bin; just enough for an Astoria. It’s like it was meant to be!

What’s the pattern?

The Seamwork Astoria

What was good about making this?

It continues to be a super swift make, which is a definite bonus

What was bad about making this?

I’m not entirely sure I had the fabric rotated the right way… Which isn’t exactly a bad thing per se, it’s more just that I found myself getting confused!

Would you make it again?

It does make a great throw over for dresses due to the crop of the sweater… I think if I could find a comfy grey I probably would (I truly love a grey jumper) but otherwise as much as I love it I might be exhausting the number of Astoria’s I can get away with!

x

Tiny elephants top

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

IMG_7071

One of the very first patterns that I found when I started sewing was the Colette Sorbetto. It’s a free to download top and I thought “well that’ll come in handy”.

Two years later, I was looking for something quick and easy to sew up for a weekend during Me Made May. Turns out, the Sorbetto was very handy!

What is it?

A simple sleeveless top with exposed bias binding

Is it blue?

Yup

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

The fabric is the remnants of the super lovely elephant fabric that the boy bought me back when I started sewing and some bias binding I had that by complete fluke was exactly the right shade of blue.

What’s the pattern?

The Sorbetto, but hacked to remove the central pleat. I found a tutorial for this on the Colette blog which was really straightforward

What was good about making this?

It was so quick and easy to sew and a great way to use up a bit of fabric that I really didn’t want to get rid of.

What was bad about making this?

Ummm…… honestly? Pretty much nothing.

Would you make it again?

Yup, I’ve got a couple of leftovers that would make great tops and, as if they knew, Colette have just run a week of different hacks on the pattern. They’ve got a knit one, a dress one (although I probably will keep the neckline on the original) and a modernised one. I’m going to end up with one for every day of the week at this rate!

x

Aztec geometric print dress

~ Rhiannon ~ 2 Comments

IMG_5852It’s no secret that I have a love affair with a particular jersey dress pattern and this is the next in a long and continuing line of dress.

What is it?

A sleeveless jersey shift dress with a gathered skirt

Is it blue?

Yes, in a teal / turquoise kind of way

What’s the fabric and where is it from?

The fabric is a fabulous ponte that originally came from Girl Charlee fabrics, although I was gifted it by the lovely Caroline at SewBrum

What’s the pattern?

Colette’s Moneta dress, this time the sleeveless version. I also altered the skirt as the pattern pieces wouldn’t fit on the fabric I had.

What was good about making this?

I got the dress out of a metre of fabric! A bit of clever folding and the aforementioned skirt adaption fixed meant I could stretch fabric as I’d never stretched it before (but not literally!). It also has a really bold print which meant pattern matching was a piece of cake.

What was bad about making this?

I don’t really like the gathering method used in the pattern instructions, so thought I’d try something different. Which didn’t then work. So I had to use the usually method after all. On the plus side thought, following a conversation with Elle at Laura Loves Pugs I discovered that if you make more markings on the elastic than required it’s about 60 times easier and makes for far neater gathers. Hurrah!

Would you make it again?

Just try and stop me!

x

Super shiny Peter Pan Moneta dress

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

Sparkly moneta

It’s taken a while. but finally, with this post, I’m up to date on my pre-Christmas sewing, and it will come as no surprise that when I decided I wanted to sew a dress for New Year’s Eve I decided to combine two of my favourite things; shiny things and swooshy dresses!

What is it?
A Moneta jersey dress with three quarter sleeves and the peter pan collar hack

Is it blue?
No

What’s the pattern?
Moneta by Colette (definitely becoming a favourite, especially now I’ve got a peter pan hack!)

Where’s the fabric from?
One of the shops in Walthamstow. The man who sold it to me was a fabulous geezer and as I said in the Astoria post, everything in there was £5 a metre or less!

What was good about making this?

As ever with Moneta, it came together quickly and easily, and it was good to try out a collar hack. I was still pleased with the gold topstitching I trialled on the Astoria, but, most importantly I got to use my overlocker!

IMG_4312What was bad about making this?

Having to wait so long to use the overlocker. Seriously, it arrived here mid December, but due to Christmas rules, I wasn’t allowed to get it out of the box until I came back from my parents’ house. Pretty testing times. I mean, look how excited I was when it arrived:

IMG_3983Would you make it again?

I have a feeling that yes, this won’t be the last time a Moneta appears on this blog!

One final photo for you all; I got the boy to take a couple to try and get the dress in its best light, but my absolute favourite photo (bar the one of the two of us being silly) was the out take!

IMG_4399

x