Today’s video is about what I made in December including clothes, gifts and Christmas decorations I put together for the house.
I love getting into the festive spirit and making gifts for my friends and family as well as decorations for the house is a great way for me to do this.
I’m pleased with the range of crafts I managed to squeeze in during December so I hope you enjoy watching this video.
This is the second part of my December makes series, so I’d love it if you wanted to watch part one on my You Tube channel too.
If you do enjoy watching my sewing / craft video please press the ‘like’ button, leave me a comment and subscribe to see all of my latest content.
Today’s video is about what I made in December. I have split my vlog into two parts as I have lots of sewing and craft projects to share with you.
Christmas is my favourite time of year so I love to make gifts for my friends and family if possible.
In this video I’m sharing clothes, Christmas gifts and craft projects / Christmas decorations I made for the house.
I hope you enjoy learning about some of my homemade projects. I’d love to know what you made for Christmas this year, feel free to comment on my video if you would like to.
This month I was delighted to be asked to write a blog for Simple Sew Patterns, so I decided to join three of my favourite patterns together to create one new dress!
Having made a number of Simple Sew dresses before, I decided that to create a dress that I will really love and want to wear a lot of – so I joined three of my favourite patterns together to make one party dress (not that I’m going anywhere at the moment).
I joined two Simple Sew Patterns – the skater dress and the grace dress on to the bodice of the betty dress by Sew Over It.
Why did I choose to hack the patterns?
I decided to join the three different patterns to create my perfect dress. I have made each of the dress patterns before so I used my favourite parts of each to make a completely new outfit.
I used the bodice from the betty dress which is very similar to the Simple Sew skater dress bodice, although it has a slightly lower neckline which works better for me. I also prefer the fit of the bodice overall, even though the two patterns appear to look similar on paper with the same darts and back shaping.
I like the three-quarter length arm patterns pieces from the skater dress and think they are ideal for this time of year.
I chose to use the pleated skirt pattern pieces from the Simple Sew grace skirt as I love the shaping of the box pleats. Box pleats are really flattering and remind me of 1950s fashion designs.
How did I join the patterns?
In order to join the betty bodice onto the sleeve pieces I had to change the shaping of the arm sockets on both the front and back pattern pieces.
I used tracing paper to firstly copy the betty dress bodice (front and back pieces) and then placed the skater dress bodice pieces on top of my new drawings. I then copied the shaping of the arm sockets on the skater dress on to my new traced pieces so I knew the arm pattern pieces would fit into the sockets comfortably.
I also re-drew the arm pieces to have a little extra volume at the top (I added around 2cm onto the centre / top curve), as I wanted to create a small, gathered area when I sewed it onto my bodice. This worked well and allowed the sleeves to have a more on-trend look for 2020!
The final change I made to sleeves was to add an extra 1cm to each long side of the sleeve pattern pieces as I previously found that although the size 10 arms from the skater pattern fitted me okay, I thought I would be more comfortable with slightly more space to move around.
The grace skirt is a dream to sew-up and fitted onto the betty bodice nicely. I didn’t make any changes to the skirt apart from adding one inch onto the length as I’m tall and didn’t want my finished dress to be too short.
The fabric
I used a berry-coloured triple crepe from Guthrie and Gharni to make my dress that I bought ages ago. I used two metres of fabric to make my new outfit and found that the material had a beautiful drape as well as enough structure to show-off the best bits of my dress including the bodice darts and skirt pleats.
Overall
I’m sure I will get lots of wear out of this project so I would recommend joining the different patterns together and using a similar fabric to the one I chose.
I used the size 10 betty bodice, the size 10 grace skirt and the size 10 skater sleeves (with a minor change) to make my dress and I’m really pleased with the overall final fit. I have plenty of room inside my dress to move around and eat a large Christmas lunch, so that works well for me!
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Have you seen the new Minerva website yet? There are loads of good pattern and fabrics on there from bloggers around the world. You can find all of my latest reviews on Minerva.com by searching ‘Notes From the Sewing Room’.
I love Sew Over It patterns and one of my favourites is the Emma Dress, so as soon as I received this fabric I knew the two would work brilliantly together.
The Emma Dress is designed to be made in a medium to heavy weight jersey fabric so ponte roma works really well. The dress has a bodice with princess seams, a tulip skirt including pleat detail and the arms are finished with a small cuff.
The dress is fairly straight forward to make if you are a confident sewist, although Sew Over It do have an introduction to jersey class in which you can follow along with an online tutorial to make the outfit too.
Unusually for a jersey dress, the Emma Dress has a zip running down the centre back. I did add in the zip to my project but depending on the stretch of your fabric you could may be skip this step and just sew up the back seam with no zipper (I probably didn’t need to add one).
I recorded a video about my dress if you would like to learn more about how I found the project and see me wearing my new outfit too. You can find my video here.
The pattern
The pattern can be bought as a PDF or printed pattern on the Sew Over It website. The Emma Dress has a round neckline, set-in ¾ length sleeves and the bodice is designed to fit into your waist.
The dress is really comfortable to wear and is a great project to try if you are looking for a stylish jersey outfit for the colder weather. I have made three of these dresses so far and I’m sure I will make a few more in the future.
Sizing
I made a size 10 and found that the pattern has a nice amount of ease, so it is comfy to wear in the house with my slippers or out and about with tights and a coat.
The fabric I used
The ponte I made my dress in is honestly one of the best fabrics of this type I have used. It has a nice weight to it as well as having a bit of drape too.
I finished my dress with a twin needle to hold the neckline facing in place and turned up the hem by one inch and used the same stitch to finish the bottom of my project too. I had to take my time with the twin needle as the fabric is quite thick and the twin needle function on my sewing machine is a bit temperamental!
Would I recommend this project?
Definitely, the dress is a lovely project. I have had lots of compliments on my outfit and really love the berry coloured fabric.
Keep up to date with my latest makes
I hope you enjoyed reading this review.
I have also recorded a YouTube video all about this project if you would like to watch this. You can find me by searching Notes From the Sewing Room or by visiting the link below.
If you would like to keep up to date with my latest sewing projects subscribe to my YouTube channel or follow me on Instagram.
Today’s video is all about what I made during October 2020. I surprised myself with how many projects I managed to complete including both jersey and woven projects.
The fabric for the maroon Emma Dress was given to me by Minerva for free in exchange for an honest blog review. This will be on the Minerva website soon.
The fabric for my Simple Sew shirt was given to me for free by Bobbins and Buttons in exchange for a review in my own words. You can find this on the Simple Sew blog.
The green Emma Dress was upcycled from a British Heart Foundation purchase.
This week I decided I wanted to sew a shirt dress with a difference, so hacked the popular Sew Over It Penny Dress.
I have seen the Penny Dress made in many different fabrics online and they each played a part in inspiring me to create my version.
I spent a lot of time browsing Instagram and looking for ideas before starting my project and decided that I would like to create a dress with no elastic waist channel as I sometimes find this feature a bit uncomfortable.
I’ve recorded a YouTube video all about my hack of the Sew Over It Penny Dress. I have made a couple of tie waist shirts using this pattern previously, but wanted to try out a different version of the shirt dress too.
The fabric in this video was gifted to me in exchange for a blog review in my own words by https://www.minervacrafts.com/
I have made a number of changes to the original Penny Dress pattern including adding in front and back darts to the bodice, extending the facing section and changing the skirt design. I describe all of this in more detail in the video.
Thank you for watching my video. My YouTube channel is all about my sewing, dressmaking and craft adventures and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
Hi everyone. I’ve uploaded my latest video to You Tube (link below) if you would like to watch. This week I’m chatting about what I made in April.
My video includes two Sew Over It Betty Dresses, a new button down skirt pattern I reviewed for Crafty Sew and So and a few other projects that have kept me busy over the last few weeks.
Hope you enjoy watching. To keep up to do with my latest You Tube content, don’t forget to subscribe to my channel 🙂 .
I was delighted to be asked to review a beautiful bright red viscose fabric from Material Girl Laura.
The fabric is really pretty and has a beautiful drape to it, so it was difficult to decide what to make with it.
What did I make?
Betty Dress by Sew Over It
I’m a big fan of Sew Over It patterns as they tend to fit me well and the vintage inspired style is normally right up my street in terms of design.
I used the viscose to sew myself a new dress that will be perfect to wear from Spring into the Summer months ahead.
The Sew Over Betty Dress pattern is one I have made a few times before, but this time my project has a few minor changes.
I used the Betty Dress bodice but reduced the seam allowance from 1.5cm to 1cm to make my dress have a slightly looser feel which works perfectly with the drapey fabric.
The bodice was then sewed on to a simple gathered skirt, which I decided would finish just below my knees.
I can’t wait to start wearing my new dress, the colour is really eye-catching – I love it.
The pattern
Gathered skirt
The pattern includes the usual easy to understand instructions you would expect in a Sew Over It pattern, but of course I only followed this guidance to sew my bodice and then cut three rectangular pieces of fabric to form my skirt (one for the front cut on the fold, and two for the back).
I downloaded the Sew Over It Betty Dress pattern for free on International Women’s Day last year, and I can honestly say it is now one of my favourite patterns I own.
The pattern is supposed to have a circle skirt, but you could also try a pleated skirt if you were to either draft your own pattern pieces or join the bodice on to another pattern you already have in your stash. I may try this next time I make this pattern!
Back of dress
Sizing
I decided to grade between two sizes to make my dress. I cut the size 8 bodice up the bust area and then graded down to a size 10 towards the hip.
The sizing for the Sew Over It pattern is clearly marked on the pattern pack. I recommend looking at the finished garment measurements so you can make a decision what size you will make based on how much ease is included.
The fabric I used
The viscose has a pretty flower design on it – the flowers are white, peach and black.
The fabric would be perfect to use for lots of different projects including tops, dresses, floaty trousers or pyjamas.
The viscose is 140cm wide, so this helps to reduce the amount of fabric needed for projects that are fabric hungry.
Would I recommend this project/fabric?
Yes, I am really pleased with my new dress. I’d recommend both the red viscose fabric and trying the Betty Dress pattern; both are wonderful to sew and wear.
Keep up to date with my latest makes
I hope you enjoyed reading this review.
If you would like to keep up to date with my latest sewing projects subscribe to my YouTube channel or follow me on Instagram .
Notes from the Sewing Room 