I am absolutely desperate for some white wax tracing paper. Yellow would also do at a push. You only seem to be able to buy it in the US... the most reasonable shipping cost to the UK I have found is the $27 from American Sewing Supply but they aren't shipping orders at the moment - I have an order pending with them because there is nothing to tell you this on their website, but I've been waiting since March. I really don't want to pay $50+ for shipping which is what it seems to be from other retailers. I thought $27 was steep enough! I will even accept it folded, which is not ideal but better than nothing.

This is the stuff I'm looking for.

Any ideas?

This has turned into one of those 'everything goes wrong' projects. But instead of running away and crying and chucking them in the bin, I have actually fixed my mistakes, so I am feeling proud of myself, if still a little frustrated.

Having successfully made up the TATB Cleo dungaree dress in a lovely cerise needlecord with a liberty lawn facing

...I decided I wanted some dungaree shorts.

I found an amazing neon Liberty print needlecord from Sewbox and used my trouser block to trace shorts onto the Cleo pattern (I measured where I wanted the crotch seam first, wearing my finished dress, but they're dungarees so it didn't need much fitting). I also redrafted the front to add cutaway pockets, which meant re-drafting the facing. Apparently this is where I made my first mistake. More on that later.

Interestingly, when my fabric arrived, I thought it was printed upside down, as the nap runs in the opposite direction to the print, but apparently corduroy is traditionally worn with the pile going up and it was just radical fashion designers in the 60s who started cutting it upside down. Every day is a school day.

I decided I needed to bind all the seams, so I measured them and drew out a 30cm square on my facing fabric to make a 3m+ continuous 2.5cm wide bias strip... and snipped straight through the middle of it. I'm still not entirely sure how or why this happened. I cut another one.

Sewing started off smoothly enough. I topstitched one inside leg seam pressed the wrong way and had to unpick, but that felt relatively minor. I also sewed the wrong end of the straps closed, so they have slanted edges at the front instead of perpendicular ones. Not really a problem. It was when I got to the side seams, feeling like I was on the home straight, that 'everything' collided.

1. I realised that my Cleo dress fits perfectly if it goes on over my head. You can't do that with shorts. Fine. I had sewn the right side seam but I could use the left seam allowance to add a button placket. I wanted buttons that match the dungaree ones (which I had already put on, so no chance of a whole new set of matching ones) so ended up having to order two more sets of dungaree buckles to get them as I could only find black buttons separately. I repurposed the snipped bias tape square to cut a facing for the placket. I even found a scrap of interfacing the right size in the scraps bin!
2. One of my dungaree buckles seems to be faulty, as it will not 'click' shut to grip the fabric. I could solve this by turning the strap under and stitching (this is what the Cleo instructions say to do anyway, and what I did on my dress), but as I ordered the two extra sets for the buttons I have a working one on the way. Fine.
3. Somehow, I had removed a seam allowance I should not have from the back/cut out pocket facing. This was relatively simply solved by cutting away the top of the pocket. Except I had already bound it so had to unpick all the binding and resew that too. And then I had to do the other side to match, although this was not strictly necessary, due to re-doing the facing for this side anyway because of the new button placket.
4. I realised I needed about 1.5m more of binding. Not sure how I miscalculated that so badly. I think this was when I was closest to tears. Luckily I had enough facing fabric left to make more.
5. When matching up my makeshift button placket, it was about 0.75cm off at the top. I have no idea why. I unpicked the facing from the back and re-sewed it so that it matched the front. This meant unpicking topstitching and understitching as well. By now I just expected everything to need unpicking anyway.
6. My bobbin thread ran out. I looked at the spool and that was nearly empty too, so all that topstitching and unpicking and re-stitching has used two entire 100m spools of thread, which seems excessive some something with essentially five seams.

In the middle of all this I had tidied my seam ripper into not-its-usual-place and spent about 20 minutes wandering around the sewing room, holding the lid, until I eventually found it. I think this coincided with the almost crying.

So now I am waiting for more thread and my buttons to arrive, then I just need to do the buttonholes, apply the buttons and and bind and hem the raw edge. Until then these are joining my practice wedding dress in the 'almost finished, waiting for supplies' pile. I'll cut out something new this weekend.



The fabric is quite hard to photograph, but that is because the seams, pockets etc. all blend in quite nicely with the print. And the yellow is more neon than it looks in the picture!

Now that I have drafted the pattern and done my toile fitting for my wedding dress, I am embarking on a 'practice dress', using the same pattern, with a shorter, slightly less full, skirt, and a sheer yoke, rather than a full bodice overlay. The fabric is Liberty's Tana Lawn in "Eltham" (which I where I live, although unfortunately not in the actual palace the print is named after!) The yoke is a coordinating silk organza, which I will also use as an overlay on the waistband. I am just finishing off the bodice, so I thought I would share some progress shots.

Here is the right side. You can see the edge of the waist stay and wrong side of the corselette peeking out underneath. I didn't need to use the fashion fabric for the boning channels, but I had a long selvage edge so I went for it. I am currently finishing off the bias binding by hand around the neck and armholes.


And here is the inside. I used self-fabric for the corselette, which makes it tricky to photograph, but I think you can just make out the hanging loops, foam lined cups and underwires. I machined the two layers together but on my wedding dress I will attach them by hand. I still need to understitch, which I will do by hand.


And here from the back. The back panels of the bodice are not joined to the corselette so that they can fasten independently. I sewed the hooks and eyes in individually, which I think was ultimately easier than using tape, after watching lingerie week of GBSB! The waist and bust stays are elastic and fasten together at the waist due to the low back. They are secured at the centre front of the corselette and threaded through gaps left in the boning channels to keep them in position. The bottom edge of the corselette is finished with bias binding.


Possibly the most exciting part: corded rouleau loops and buttons! I made the loops myself but the buttons I had covered.


Once I have completed all the hand finishing on the bodice, I just need to sew the skirt seams (and inseam pockets, obviously) then attach the skirt and bodice with the waistband and hem it! I think that will all come together quite quickly, but we will see!

I’m making a coat - V9040 View E with the length of View B.

I thought I would make it up “out the packet” with just a back waist adjustment, but already I am adding:
- an invisible zip Oyster card pocket in the sleeve
- a back neck facing with hanging chain
- a zipped welt pocket in the front facing
- a canvas back stay
- a petersham ribbon waist stay to the lining
- a pleat in the back lining
- shoulder pads made from quilt batting
- detachable faux fur collar and cuffs

I’ve also done a hem facing instead of the regular hem, changed the shape of the collar slightly so it has a blunter edge, used a thread-covered fur hook and eye instead of the snaps, done a narrow shoulder adjustment and lengthened the pockets. I underlined all the lining pieces with cotton lawn because my lining fabric was more ‘dress weight’ than ‘coat weight).

If you’re going to do something, you might as well do it properly... 

I'm looking to make a narrow shoulder adjustment on a princess seam coat, where the princess seam extends to the shoulder.

I can't decide whether it's better to make the adjustment on the front side piece, slashing and pivoting at the armscye seam (which seems to be the most common suggestion, looking at Google), or just take it in evenly at the princess seam so that the front and side front pieces remain in proportion.

Any suggestions? To me the princess seam option seems most logical, but online tutorials seem to suggest the side front adjustment is more common (e.g. here)

Looking to make a sheer dress to be worn over a shift/slip. Using the sleeves and neckline from Vogue 1558 but with an elasticated waist, so no pleats or waist seam. I have a cheap poly chiffon and a pricier embroidered one, so I am thinking overlocked seams for the cheap one as a wearable muslin, and then french seams for the fancier one. I would prefer to leave out the zip, so I am thinking a keyhole/open upper back and a button on the back collar.

Any tips for a keyhole back in sheer fabric? Haven't quite decided how I will do it yet: I could leave the back seam in and leave it open half-way, or cut out the keyhole and use bias binding, or use a facing, or add a split back yoke. Any other suggestions? If I use bias-binding can I use self-fabric or do I need something more opaque?

I am absolutely in love with this pattern! This has to be hands down the easiest thing I have ever made. The fabric/style has a lot to do with it - a lovely fulled loden boiled wool, which allowed me to leave the edges raw and forgo any seam finishes. I have also gone for a brooch fastening, rather than adding any closures so no wasting time with any buttonhole nonsense. Plus the sleeves went in like a dream. It's unlined so it doesn't look the absolute best inside. It would look better inside if the seams were top-stitched or flat felled but that wasn't the look I wanted. I could invisibly hand-stitch the seam allowances down... it's an option.

It also fitted almost perfectly out of the packet - it's just slightly wide on the shoulder so I just added a folded up bit of fabric as a sort of sleeve-head/shoulder pad as a last minute fix. I did the whole thing from start to finish in a very leisurely three hours.

I made View D, with a bit of added length and minus the buttonholes, which means it can be worn in a variety of ways.

This one is to wear to my cousin's wedding in October. I am already planning a more everyday version in a more practical colourway (petrol blue) and possibly one (in orange) for my mum for Christmas!

I am about to embark on a raincoat adventure using this pattern.

However, the more I look at it, the more unsure I am about the front placket. It's perhaps not immediately noticeable in the picture, but it is definitely offset. I am sure this is supposed to be a design feature, but I just can't understand why it is not centred between the pockets. Surely the centre front line should run down the centre front of the placket, rather than the right hand side? Or it should be even more obviously offset to emphasise it if it is a design feature. Am I missing something? Do raincoats usually have offset plackets? Also, surely the child's version should have the placket going the other way as its a unisex style?

Other than this, I am loving the pattern. I have made up a toile and it went together beautifully. It's just this placket thing that is confusing me.