Quilted Infinity Dots Coat: Easy Cute Straight Sewing

The quilted square coat I made in 2015 from Yoshiko Tsukiori's Easy Cute Straight Stitch Sewing book is one of my most worn and loved homemade items. Three years on and the book still isn't available in English translation - I really think publishers are missing an opportunity here! It is as essential as the Stylish Dress Book to Japanese inspired dressmaking and a book I wouldn't want to be without.

With spring in the air, I decided my recently culled wardrobe could accommodate another...

I used a pinky red cotton fabric which is covered in zillions of tiny lime-green infinity dots (material originally bought for a dress). The lining is an off-register (market bargain) Dutch wax print fabric in ivory with a wavy print in shades of pink and yellow. I quilted the outer fabric with the last of the thin wadding left over from my quilted ukulele bag making days, then made up the lining separately and bagged out the lining and coat together. 

The quilted layer is thin but substantial enough for the coat to retain a cocoon shape. The cotton lining adds another layer of warmth and comfort making this the perfect coat for our cool spring (so far) and has plenty of room for layering on colder evenings and autumn days. 

Bauhaus Self-Draft Kimono

The extraordinary colourful fabric I used to make this self-draft kimono was found in my local fabric shop. It's lawn cotton and I think is by Peter Horton Fabrics, however I there is no imprint on the selvedge and I can't find it on the Peter Horton Fabrics website. The pattern looks very much like Liberty's iconic Bauhaus furnishing fabric designed in 1972 by Collier Campbell. 

Both this and Collier Campbell's fabric are undoubtedly influenced by Gunta Stölzl's complex tapestry Schlitzgobelin Rot-Grün (Red-Green Slit Tapestry). Stölzl was a German textile artist who played a fundamental role in the development of the Bauhaus school’s weaving workshop. She was head of the faculty from 1925-1931 and developed it to become one of the school’s most successful facilities. Stölzl applied ideas from modern art and mathematics to her practice and set a precedent for industrial weaving and dyeing in the late 1920s. 

Bauhaus Women by Ulrike Müller

Gunta Stölzl 1897-1983

Stölzl drafted a great many sketches in preparation for
her weaving, tapestries and wall hangings

My simple kimono pattern is self-drafted by measuring and tracing around a favourite well worn and washed H&M kimono. 

Pinterest has dozens of simple self-draft kimono pins (some of which claim to take 30 minutes to make) which are useful as a guide, but I found this Madebyaya video most instructive.

The border panel is cut from patched together pieces of Japanese indigo cotton fabric, left over from making this Gather One-Piece dress.

My finished kimono cover-up is simple, colourful and a perfectly clashes with all my printed dresses.

Floral Circle Grainline Farrow

Since sewing my first Grainline Farrow dress I have made three more, two in novelty print cotton fabrics (glimpse them here and here) and this one in Sevenberry's Floral Circles - my favourite so far.

The material is a lightweight canvas cotton and I have found it hardly creases, even after being worn all day at work. Any minor crinkling drops out if I hang it up over night, ready for another day's wear. It looks smart and is a statement of cheerful intent.

I bought the fabric at Worthing's More Sewing who currently have a super range of bright and interesting dressmaking materials, so many Farrow dress possibilities...

Grainline Farrow Dress made from a Storchenwiege

Seeing Lempo Bee's version of Grainline Studio's Farrow Dress on Instagram made me want to make one too.  I downloaded the sewing pattern but then dithered awhile and allowed other projects to overtake priority for making this lovely looking dress. I even bought fabric to make the dress with, then lost confidence to cut into new material for an untried pattern so turned to my stash to see if there was something else I could test the pattern out on first.

Inside one of my fabric stash boxes I found the long woven organic cotton material which was a baby-carrier wrap I used to carry my baby daughter in, some 11 years ago!
   This Storchenweige wrap had been an expensive purchase in cash-strapped days. Having had a difficult time in childbirth and a slow recovery, I was very weak in the months afterwards and found I couldn't bear the weight of her easily using other slings. (I'd tried a back-breaking Baby Bjorn and an utterly useless wring sling thing). The Storchenweige proved to be wonderful. It was wholly supportive and comfortable and I loved every minute of carrying her. As my strength increased I could walk fair distances while she slept cradled in the wrap. Sweet happy memories, and for this reason I have kept it for all these years.
  Noticing the wrap folded up in my dressmaking fabric box it reminded me of Ace and Jig's clothing and suddenly seemed to be perfect fabric for a test-run Farrow dress.

There wasn't quite enough fabric to perfectly match the stripes, so I decide to go with the flow and have gone for a match and mis-match effect. I altered the neckline of the Farrow sewing pattern as I wanted it to fit easily over my head without a button fastening. Other than that I followed the sewing instructions.

The sleeves are a dream to wear with ease of arm movement (just as Grainline Studio promised in their blog). I love the front pockets, diagonal seams, and the lack of bust darts. Wearing the fabric that once wrapped my baby feels like I am being hugged!

Corduroy Contemplations: Ottobre Art Teacher Dress and another Esme

It's two years to the month that I made my first Ottobre Art Teacher dress and I can't fathom why it's taken me so long to reprise this super sewing pattern. The dress is a very quick sew and easy and comfortable to wear. It's perfect for the autumn and winter months and I think would work well in heavy linen, flannel and denim as well as corduroy.

This is my third Art Teacher dress (I made a second one in fleece) and I have to say it's pretty perfect in corduroy. The fabric is a Japanese cotton needlecord bought from Worthing's More Sewing last week.

It had been a while since I visited the More Sewing shop and the selection of colourful quality fabrics they now stock is a delight. On my recent visit the small shop was packed with women attending a dressmaking course and I'm sure the convivial atmosphere contributed to my carefree fabric splurge. I also bought some turquoise printed corduroy from which I made another Esme dress.

Rainbow Forest Fen Dress

I made this Fen dress back in May but wasn't entirely happy with it at the time so it hung unworn and unblogged at the back of my wardrobe. Sorting through clothes for autumn I tried it on again and felt entirely differently about it. This time round the thick linen/cotton mix fabric with it's bright print of rainbows, clouds and forests seemed to perfectly fit the season, and the cut and shape of the Fen dress felt comfortable and perfect for autumn layering.

The fabric is another purchase from Worthing's Eclectic Maker. It's by Momo for Moda Fabrics and is from her Rainbow Forest range.

The Fen's neckline and boxy fit had initially felt too wide and baggy across my small shoulders, but worn with a vest or t-shirt underneath feels comfortable. I love the dropped hemline and the gathered waist, and I adore the pockets.  

Fancy Tiger Crafts have made two gorgeous winter versions of their Fen pattern and I'm now tempted to make another, in cozy plaid flannel too.

Spanish Tile Esme Dress

Painter Laura Gunn's latest Valencia fabric collection for Michael Miller Fabrics features this amazing Spanish Tile design alongside other richly printed fabrics in her signature floral motifs.

I bought two and a half metres from Worthing's Eclectic Maker sewing shop – my go-to local destination for colourful, top quality fabrics. The material was almost too good to cut into! I decided to make another simple Esme dress to best show off the print and was mindful to carefully pattern match the patch pockets so as not to break up the tile pattern.

Laura Gunn's designs for Michael Miller are printed onto quilting weight cotton but I think they are ideal for dressmaking too. Last year I made a quilted coat using three different fabrics from her Garden Wall range so can testify to their wash and wearability – essential as I know this fabulous dress is going to get a lot of wear.

A Groovy Kaftan

The joy of sewing new dresses exceeds the routine of photographing and documenting them and so I have a small backlog of 3 new frocks which I shall endeavour to photograph and blog soon. Garments that don't make it to the blog usually still appear on my Dresses Made Pinterest page and often as a snapshot on Instagram, so do check in there if you want to see my latest concoctions.

This dress deserved more than a brief snapshot as I have used a most magnificent fabric! It's an Alexander Henry cotton print called La Strada. The internet tells me it's from their 2008 collection but it has just made its way to C&H fabrics in Chichester. With it I made my first Esme Kaftan - the long version of the Esme Dress and cover star of Lotta Jansdotter's Everyday Style sewing book.

The kaftan speaks loudly for itself. I intended to keep it to wear at a very special (and I think currently top secret) event at Sussex Ukulele Festival in September, but can't wait until then! Instead I shall enjoy wearing it this summer, thus creating another potential dressmaking opportunity for September's event.

Trapeze Tree Dress

Always on the look out for another novelty tree print fabric, this beauty called to me across the floor at Chichester's C&H Fabrics shop. It's a lightweight polycotton, not a fabric I'd usually chose as I've an aversion to the poly, however the print is simply stunning and the price was a steal at £4 a metre.

I modified the Esme dress pattern into a trapeze shape and made a simple sleeveless cotton slip petticoat to wear underneath. I decided to give the dress a rising/falling hem so that the petticoat is visible peeking out underneath.

Trial and error with a contrasting patch pocket resulted in my unpicking a bold first attempt before settling on this camouflaged diagonal pocket, matching the trees as closely as I could.

The dress goes perfectly with my new green tree brooch from Etsy's fab You Make Me Design shop, a present to celebrate my 47th birthday!

Spring House Dress: Marcy Tilton Vogue 8813

This is a light, spring edition of the Marcy Tilton French House Dress made from a fine-gauge bird print cotton fabric bought last summer. 

This is my third version of Tilton's Vogue 8813 and though the sewing pattern instructions recommend using lightweight jersey, I think the drape and architectural qualities of this design lend it well to all kinds of fabrics from filmy light cottons to heavier weight linens. 

For an idea of the versatility of this design, I heartily recommend visiting Project Minima's wonderful dressmaking blog, where she has made several Marcy Tilton House Dresses in repurposed vintage linen table cloths to beautiful effect.