VFT London aka the twirly summer dress!

Hi! I made something for my daughter for a change so thought I’d pop on and show you! I made it with the intention to sell the style, so I was allowed. 😉

It’s the Violette Field Threads new pattern – the London dress. I made the most of the couple of days of sunshine we had!!

I made it in a gorgeous Liberty of London cotton lawn that’s adorned with sweeties! So cute! I realised how apt it was to be making a London dress out of Liberty fabric afterwards. 😀

The dress features a ruffly hem but I left that out (who’s got time for all that ruffling haha… I’m really not a ruffles and frills person) and just added 3″ to the length of the skirt.

It’s got the teeniest bodice, a really full skirt, and tie-up straps. A quick and simple sew, with just a few techniques required – gathering, bias binding, and the usual seams and hem!

In true matchy matchy Pink Bobbins style, I made a matching bow hairband, and it’s safe to say little A loves the outfit and wants to wear it ALL THE TIME!! 🙂

Can you blame her? Just look at the spin effect!

I totally recommend this pattern, it’s brilliantly written and the outcome is just so gorgeous.

Of course if you don’t want to make your own you can always by mine at Pink Bobbins. 😛

Beth x

Advertisement

Clothkits Skirt – Rob Ryan ‘Hold Me’

My lovely Stitching Santa gifter who I now know is the lovely Kate at Fabrickated gave me a clothkits skirt kit for Christmas. I really liked the idea, and seeing as it was Christmas/New Year and I didn’t have as much to do, I thought I’d sew it up sharpish. And to motivate me further, The Monthly Stitch’s first theme of the year is ‘Not Stashed’ (use up fabric before it reaches your stash) – challenge accepted!

If you’ve not heard of Clothkits, they basically print a pattern directly on to the fabric, so you just have to cut the pattern in your size from the fabric!

The kit was designed by Rob Ryan, and is called ‘Hold Me’.

So during Chrimbo Limbo (you know the bit between Christmas and New Year) I sewed it up!

I cut the size 10 and it fits perfectly.

The pieces included are: 2 x back panels, 1 x front panel, 2 x back facings, 1 x front facing.

I like how there’s not an extra waistband; you just sew the facing right sides together with the skirt pieces and flip it over. I just stitched in the ditch (at both sides seams) and that holds it in place.

I inserted a concealed zip in between the back panels of the skirt, sorry there’s no back view photo!

You can add a lining if you wish, but for time and laziness sake I didn’t bother. The fabric is a lovely corduroy, so it’s not see-through at all to warrant a lining for that reason. Perhaps it would have benefited from one to prevent it kind of sticking to my tights, but I’m happy enough without!

I decided I didn’t want a line of stitching around the hem so I took the extra time to slipstitch the hem in place, so that nothing is visible on the front. I’m really happy I did that!

All in all, I would recommend you all to get a Clothkits kit! It was lovely to be able to cut the pieces straight from the fabric, and it took no time at all to sew up!

Now back to old fashioned pattern pieces…

Beth x

Liberty Plantain

I made this aaaaages ago (like, 11 months ago) and have worn it a lot – it has remained unblogged til now for no apparent reason. It only needs a quick post!

I bought this gorgeous Liberty jersey for £8/m in Oxford Gloucester Green market back in the summer of 2015. (Unfortunately I’ve heard that the “Liberty man” hasn’t been there for ages! I hope he hasn’t disappeared altogether!) It sat for several months before I eventually cut it into a plain and simple Deer & Doe Plantain top. [By the way, it’s a free pattern!] I had 1m of the fabric and managed to get the short-sleeved top out of it no problem. Bargain!

I’ve made one other Plantain and really like the fit and style – so easy to wear, and not too low on the neck. So it was an easy sew for me.

However there was one difference – I made this with my overlocker; the first garment I sewed on it (besides finishing seams only). It was so fast! Fast forward 11 months to now and I LOVE my overlocker. I’ve sewn so much on it. And it’s even a breeze to thread! 😀

I also used a twin needle to sew the hems and keep the seam allowance down around the neckline. So neat!

Hmm, what else do I have in my stash for another Plantain… isn’t it great making the same pattern more than once? My least favourite part of dressmaking is probably tracing patterns so it’s nice to sew the same pattern when it’s all sorted fit-wise!

Hope you’re all well and getting ready for the big C. Including Stitching Santa if you’re involved like me! 😉

Beth x