She Who Sews

I just love a lot of the Duchess and Hare patterns. They have such a sweet vintage vibe, which is what drew me back to sewing when Layla was a toddler.



This new dress, the Sugar and Spice was first advertised for testing way back in October. At the time I saw it and loved it, but just couldn't commit to the testing process because of life getting in the way.



So I actually did a double take when it was put back up this month. I had a strange sense of Deja vu, that I'd seen the dress before, but couldn't put my finger on it. It was only when I was accepted into the testing group that I realised it was the dress I'd loved before.... Sometimes I'm such a twit ;)



I threw myself wholeheartedly into the test, and tried to get my dress finished quickly. I went off piste, and asked if I could use horsehair braid in the skirt hem which was agreed. But then it became clear that simply machine sewing it into the hem of the satin would look odd. So I spent two days, yes, you read that right, two days handsewing the horsehair braid into the skirt hem, approximately 4 metres of it (did I mention this is almost a double circle skirt?!).



But the dress just didn't hang right. I sat it on my dummy, and photographed it, and primped and preened it. I put Layla in it, and photographed her, and tried to make it sit right. But it was just wrong. The braid was fighting the satin and the pleats in the skirt too badly. On a very low day, of tears (building work in my house is now bringing me to tears), and general miserableness, I unpicked the entire hem. It only took about 10 minutes to do. I ironed the whole thing out again and made up my own satin bias to hem the skirt that way (who knew that the designer would be right.... oh yeah, everyone except me!).



So I did machine stitch the bias into the skirt hem this time. Yes, it would have looked better to be handsewn again, but I simply didn't have an extra two days time to do it. My handsewing is slow!



I made my dress with a silk satin bodice, and a poly duchess satin skirt and collar. The lining was a cotton lawn. I made my own bias binding for the skirt from the silk satin as a contrast colour. The dress is closed in the back with an invisible zip which is enclosed in the bodice within the lining. The skirt is a very full almost double circle, which is pieced and pleated into the bodice. It's a fabric hungry pattern because of the skirt, but if you use a non-nap, non-directional print, tessellates nicely onto the fabric.



I love the collar that rolls round from the front into two points at the dropped back. And the included petticoat pattern adds that extra oompf (if you don't use super heavy duchess satin!).



This Sugar and Spice dress, along with several others will be in the Black Friday sale, with 40% off storewide, running until midnight, Monday 26th (PST).



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*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*

As I was laying in bed one morning, scrolling through Instagram instead of getting up and on with the day, as you do, my daughter saw a picture of a black and white spotty dress in the feed. She was snuggled in next to me, so I stopped to show her the dress a bit better and for us to read the text. She told me she really liked the dress, but could she have it 'not in black and white, I don't like that.' 'Let me guess Layla, you'd like it in...' 'PINK' she shouted next to me!



I explained to her that it was just a picture at the moment, and that a testing call would go up soon, and that if I applied I might not get accepted and for her not to be upset. So a few weeks later she kind of shrugged her shoulders and said 'yeah, OK, whatever, I might wear it' when I told her I'd been accepted onto the pattern test for the Spelen Dress. You'd think she was a teenager the way she talks sometimes, not a sweet little 5 year old!



I had been hoarding some super special fabric for about a year, and I dug it out to show Layla. Some bright, bright pink dupioni silk paired with blue and silver lace. Both were bought as off-cuts from a bridal wear designer who had closed up shop. The lace was only a small piece, with a tiny amount of the scalloped edge left attached. She loved it the instant she saw it, and actually hugged the fabric! This had to be a good sign.



Testing of the new Spelen Dress by The Eli Monster began. So I duly made up a couple of muslin bodices to test the pattern out for size, and make any adjustments necessary before cutting into the silk. Just like in the Latona dress test, I had to take in the waist and also make a round shoulder adjustment for her. This dress isn't as fitted as the Latona dress, so I didn't take it in anywhere near as much. From the straight age 5, I reduced the top centre front by 1cm, and from the back bodice pieces at the waist, I also took 1cm from each side. I didn't alter the length (although this may be a bit longer than the final pattern release). The round shoulder adjustment took out 1/4" from each back shoulder, and added a small amount to the top centre back seam to make this straight again.



When it came to cutting into the lace and silk, I took my time to make sure I had enough of each to make the dress work. I had to fiddle about a bit with the lace as it came up about 3" short for the centre front panel. This was OK though as the hem on the dress was supposed to be 2.5" so the short lace length didn't matter so much. I made sure that I lined up the small section of scalloped edge with the correct seam height. I would have loved to get the scalloped edge exactly symmetrical, but the piece I had was literally 0.5cm too narrow and was all I had to play with.



Once I'd cut the centre panel out of lace and silk, I then went on to cut the remaining pieces of the dress out. When I laid them out flat to see what they'd look like, I felt the back was a bit too plain, and after seeking advice from my Mum (got to love my Mum and her advice, after all, I learnt to sew by watching her, and she has a far more creative mind than me!), I chose to overlay the lace on the back bodice pieces too.




When it came to sewing the pieces together, I chose to overlock the lace pieces around the edges to the main silk pieces. I didn't want the lace shifting as I tried to sew the seams together. This gave me just one piece to sew instead of two. At this point, I also overlocked around the skirt pieces too, to get all the overlocking out of the way at the start.





Sewing the dress together was simple and relatively easy. The only difficult bit was turning the back bodice pieces out through the shoulders. The pattern has a very narrow shoulder piece and this leads to difficulty with the volume of fabric being turned out. I managed it through sheer force, but in the process I did pop some of the stitches connecting the shoulders to the front square seam. I went back and re-did these to strengthen the seams. I suspect that having two layers of fabric on the back bodices didn't help the turning efforts. I wonder whether I had such problems because I did have two layers of fabric? I have been researching the 'burrito' method as a slight alternative.



One last tweak to the pattern that didn't show up until I'd cut and made my dress was to the centre panel length. My skirt and centre panel pieces didn't quite meet up, the centre panel was longer. So my finished hem allowance was very small, nowhere near the 2.5" that the pattern suggested. This isn't so much of a problem, it's just a slightly longer skirt than it should be. It'll be useful for growing room!



I used the same buttons that I put on the Latona dress as they seemed like a perfect match! I only realised though, putting in the buttonholes that I had managed to sew the bodice pieces with the button and buttonhole sides swapped. This has left me with an overlap of the skirt piece and the bodice folding to the wrong side. Thankfully, the fullness of the skirt has hidden the flap in the back skirt piece, and no-one I've spoken to has realised that the buttons are on the wrong side, phew!!




The finished dress is a bit of an eye-catcher. I love the long centre panel covered in lace, but it could work equally well in two different but coordinating cotton prints. I'm rather taken with the Sea Holly collection by Micheal Miller Fabrics. I can see the dress being made with one of the pretty florals for the main part, and one of the more solid colour prints for the centre panel. Or maybe that should be the other way round? The possibilities for this dress are endless with all the fabric collections out there!



When we went out for our photoshoot, a lot of people were staring. Layla got a bit self-conscious for the first time ever. The pink dress did stand out like a sore thumb amongst all the greenery. It would be amazing as a bridesmaid dress in this silk and lace combo. Or just for a posh party amongst friends. I used strips of silk to make the bows on the side front of the dress. But ribbon can easily be substituted.



The pattern comes with an option to add a zip instead of doing a button back. I think if I make this again in a cotton fabric, I'll add an invisible zip to the back. This will mean that Layla could get herself dressed without needing help with buttons. It would be perfect for pattern matching the back bodice pieces too if your fabric had a big enough print.





You see the birds in the last picture? They're called Raul Raul Partridges. They're a pretty, colourful, ground dwelling bird with a very sweet quiet peeping call. They suddenly came running out of the undergrowth when they spotted this fallen cocoa seed (I think that's what it is) and gave us all an up close personal visit!

I am very tempted to splash out and buy some of this Nani Iro double gauze for the main dress, and match it to this for a light and breezy summer version. This of course assumes that we'll get weather warm enough in the next 6 months or so to wear a light breezy dress!

Do you like this fabric combination or would you choose something different? You can buy the pattern here or how about you let me do the hard work and I make the dress up for you! Let me know in the comments below.

*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*

When I first laid eyes on this dress on instagram I was immediately struck by it. The sneak peek of the diagonal lines of buttons down the back was striking and I couldn't wait to see the whole thing.


Steph's version that she entered into the #rijksstudio International Awards 2017 was absolutely stunning using bespoke printed fabric. You can see her pictures here. I had the perfect fabric in mind for my own version. Same pattern, but with a very different look using a different fabric.


I didn't ask the question, someone else did, but the answer made me happy, that the pattern would soon go into testing to be released. After asking my picky daughter if she liked the dress, I thought I'd try my luck and applied to test. She assured me that she loved it, and even loved Steph's version in her darker fabrics. This was a bit of a turn up for the books from my pink loving daughter. I even showed her my intended fabric, a deep, bright blue and she agreed to that too!


Layla is not the best proportions for a pattern test. She is very skinny, and seems to be getting skinnier the taller she gets. She also does a lot of hours of gymnastics every week - as an aside, she loves it and is getting pretty good - but all the gymnastics is leaving her looking quite triangular. She has very strong shoulders and a tiny waist. How I wished I had her figure 😏. I know that a fair few pattern designers will only pick children who fall very closely into size categories, and as I hadn't tested for The Eli Monster before, I didn't know what her criteria would be for testers. But again, lo and behold, in the morning was an email waiting for me, inviting me to the testing group.


I was assigned an age 5 due to height, with age 4 for chest width. I jumped on the invitation, and had printed off the first version of the pattern before breakfast that day. This is the first test that I have been nervous about the pattern fitting. The Latona Dress has a very slim fitting bodice and I knew that Layla fell into a much smaller waist size, 18 months-2 years in fact, but she is 5. So, for the first time ever for a dress for her, I made up the bodice in some calico fabric to check the size.

 

I'm glad I did, because not only did the pattern need tweaking slightly, but it totally highlighted a fitting issue with Layla that I didn't overly know about beforehand. The first version bodice had gaping shoulders and the back pieces were coming up a little narrow whilst there was an excess of fabric at her waist. I knew the waist would be big, but the gaping shoulders and slight tightness across her chest surprised me.



Version 2 had wider back pieces, which took away the strain across the top of her chest, but I still had the issue of gaping back shoulders and a big waist. So I took the waist in to a size 2 at the back only, maintaining an age 4 at the top. This turned out to be a touch too much of a narrowing, and I ended up taking this out a bit on the final version.



Version 3 had lower front armscyes to alleviate a slight tightness that was noted by quite a few of the testers and myself. Steph kindly pointed me towards an online article in fixing bodice shoulders problems, one of which was gaping back shoulders. It turns out that Layla has slightly rounded shoulders, and consequently very prominent shoulder blades. I don't know if this is the way she stands, or because of the gymnastics, or both? Anyway, using the article, I managed to take in the pattern, and alter it accordingly to remove the shoulder gape. This final version 3 also had a relaxing of the waist for the smaller sizes to take into account that cute sticky out baby belly!



So I finally took the plunge after making up 3 test versions in calico, and cut into my lovely fabric. I bought this 18 months ago with the intention of making something for myself. It has sat folded in it's postal envelope on my fabric shelves ever since. Making clothing for me is a daunting task as I know I have many fitting issues that need addressing every single time, which really puts me off. It is this stunning Timeless Treasures Tiffany fabric by Chong-a Hwang.


I made the bodice up one evening, and pressed it to perfection. I left off sewing the buttonholes because I wanted to be sure that the buttons I'd chosen were indeed going to be ok. Oh, and I was still nervous, and needed to make sure the bodice would actually fit after all my alterations to the paper pattern.



I shouldn't doubt myself, as the bodice fitted perfectly the next morning when I pinned it on to Layla. The shoulder adjustment worked wonderfully well. It now moulds to her rounded shoulders instead of gaping out.


Buttonholes don't worry me, I don't mind sewing them, however, the buttonholes on this dress needed to be exactly precise otherwise the diagonal lines on the back piece wouldn't look so good. I had to read the manual on my new machine, it's my first experience of a computerised sewing machine, and was rather happy to discover that it will automatically, at the push of a button, create as many identical buttonholes as I want. This certainly made life a lot easier, so all I had to concentrate on was lining up the buttonholes exactly straight and level with each other. This step actually took a lot of concentration and slow, steady stitching.



So, once my busy weekday schedule allowed, I got round to finishing off the dress. The skirt is a simple gathered, very long rectangle. This gives the dress it's fullness. Steph photographed her original Latona dress over a petticoat to give the skirt it's fabulous volume. My attempt to make a petticoat to go under this dress didn't go so well, so I slightly adapted a previous tutu that I'd made for Layla, by adding an extra length of dark blue netting to give it a slightly longer length. This was the finishing touch for the dress to give it the desired volume.



Layla was over the moon when she saw the dress fully finished the following morning. She wanted to try it on immediately, and only then did I realise that the skirt was a bit too long. So I quickly ran back out to the sewing room and turned the hem up again with a quick blind stitch. Now it is perfect!

 

She was delighted to find that not only has she got a pretty party dress, but the dress has pockets too. Yes, hidden inseam pockets. They are invisible in the photos, except for the one where she has found them and put her hands inside. But what little girl wouldn't be happy to be able to hide her treasured finds?!


To make this dress, you may need to have pattern grading skills if your daughter covers more than one size according to the measurements. This is simply because the bodice is designed to be slim fitting. Steph has included a section in the instructions on adjusting the bodice to make this easy for you. You'll need to be proficient at buttonholes, there are 16 in this age 5 dress. You don't need an overlocker, but it does make for quick seam finishing, the same effect could be done with a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine. The skirt is hemmed with a blind hem stitch. My machine has this stitch built in and is surprisingly simple to use with the correct machine foot. It gives the cleanest, neatest, most invisible hem ever. In fact, I may be converted to use the type of hem finish for all the dresses I make in the future.


I adore the lines of this dress, and I think the fabric works wonderfully for Layla, even if it isn't pink. Steph has done a brilliant job in designing and pattern drafting this dress and I look forwards to making up the patterns I've previously bought from her, and any patterns in the future!

You can get your own version of the pattern on offer until Friday for $7 Latona Dress Pattern.

What colour fabric would you chose for this dress? A deep blue like the one I made, or a custom print like the one Steph made, or even a bright pink with contrasting buttons? Let me know in the comments.

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (same price for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!