Pattern Testing: The Betty Dress from Sew Over It (and a giveaway!)

I was lucky enough to be asked a few weeks ago by Lisa from Sew Over It to test their latest pattern release; the Betty Dress. I jumped at the chance as it's a gorgeous classic design with the potential to be made up numerous times, each completely different from the next as Lisa herself has been proving by instagraming pics of her own 'Bettys' every day for the past week! Sew Over It is a beautiful sewing cafe and shop in Clapham South London that strangely enough I lived literally around the corner from when it first opened quite a few years ago now. Betty was one of the first patterns Lisa designed for her classes in the cafe and as the name suggests is based on the early style of Betty Draper from the ever popular Mad Men. As you may therefore expect the design features a full circle skirt and fitted bodice reminiscent of the 1950s.

I made mine up in a lovely lightweight cotton sateen which I came across in Simply Fabrics in Brixton. It's such great quality I knew it was perfect for this dress the second I saw it. It's that perfect weight that's drapey enough for a dress of this style yet completely opaque even in bright sunlight. This dress would be gorgeous in a floral but I was concerned about how much wear I'd get out out of such a feminine dress. This print on the other hand gives it a more modern twist (or at least I hope!). It's exactly the kind of print that I like, slightly random with no obvious motifs.

I cut the skirt on crosswise grain as I thought the directional pattern would look best this way. I really like how the lines of the pattern meet to form a different kind of pattern around the waist.

If you're thinking of making this up it's worth bearing in mind that that beautiful skirt is a real fabric eater! You will need around 3m of 140cm wide fabric (although to be honest I managed to squeeze mine out of less than 2.5) or 4.5m of 115cm wide. Totally worth it though, I love a circle skirt!

My favourite part of the design is definitely the neckline, skimming under the collar bone at the front and plunging into a deep v at the back it's so elegant. Mine unfortunately gapes slightly at both the back and front which I think is due to it stretching out slightly. Naughty me, should have stay stitched my neckline! I don't think this is helped by the fact that my fabric has a bit of crosswise stretch to it but I would recommend to anyone making this pattern to use twill tape to reinforce the whole neckline to give it a bit of stability. That deep v means the neckline edge is on the bias so very prone to stretching.

I finished all the inside edges on my overlocker so I just love how neat and professional it looks inside. The hem is, I'm not going to lie, pretty gargantuan so as this is quite a busy print I cheated for once and hemmed by machine. I used a trick which I picked up from the girls at By Hand London and Jen at Grainline Studio for dealing with the curved edge. I machine stitch around the hem 1/2" away from the edge first and then use this line of stitching as a guide for pressing up the first turn of the fabric. Not only does this save you the pain of measuring all the way around the hem but the tight row of stitches really helps to ease that slightly longer edge of fabric into the slightly smaller circumference you are turning it into.

The pattern is not lined but includes 'all-in-one' neckline facings. The method for attaching the facings caused a little head scratching to start with but a brief bit of fiddling about later and I was super impressed with the result. The facings also finish off your straps and there's a bit of pulling through to the right side to be done which reminded me very much of a scene in the most recent series of Great British Sewing Bee! Following Lisa's instructions for the construction will ensure that you get a lovely finish all round to be honest. It's all very simple techniques but is well thought out and ordered to come together as smoothly as possible. The instructions also include a great simple tip for helping to insert your invisible zip evenly and thanks to it my waistband matched up perfectly first time!

I cut a size 8 (the smallest size) and the fit came up pretty much ok but a teeny bit large all over. I think it's definitely worth tweaking to get it right though as I love this flattering style so much. It's slightly longer in length than I'd wear a skirt this full usually and perhaps a little long in the bodice but that's purely down to my lack of height at 5ft3! This picture below is a little odd but you can see the excess fabric under the bust quite well. Maybe I need to try Roisin's trick of sticking it in a fairly hot wash to shrink it a little! 

Speaking of Roisin, once I'd made this up I realised it was perfect to enter in the Sew Dolly Clackett challenge! Roisin is getting married at the end of may and as a little wedding gift some of my favourite blogging ladies have arranged an amazing surprise for her. There's a contest running in the sewing blogosphere to make up a dress inspired by Roisin's unmistakeable handmade style. She's a big fan of printed cottons, a fitted bodice and a full skirt and was even one of the other Betty Dress pattern testers! There's some brilliant prizes up for grabs which the bride herself will be judging the winners of. If you'd like to get involved you've got until April 23rd to get a pic of your make uploaded to the Flickr group. Roisin and Nic, I hope you have the most amazing day and wish you all the happiness in the world for the future!

Now to what you've all been waiting for! I have one copy of the Betty Dress pattern to giveaway to a lucky winner. The dress comes in a range of sizes, comes complete with instruction booklet and is printed on some rather lovely (which may be an odd thing to comment on!) pattern paper. It's perfect timing too as I know Lisa has a sew-along planned for this pattern on the Sew Over It blog soon. All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post saying you'd like to be in with a shot. You have until 6pm (GMT) on Saturday 19th April to enter and I'll announce the winner on Sunday. Good luck!

EDIT: I should have said the giveaway is open internationally so feel free to enter from wherever inthe world you may be!

Mad Men Challenge - Joan Blouse

I have a confession to make. This isn't what I had planned to submit for Julia Bobbin's Mad Men Challenge. That lovely dress is still not finished, well pretty much only just about cut out. It's taken quite a lot of planning as I'm attempting to incorporate elements from a few of her looks into something that suits what I can wear every day.  I initially pinned a lot of images to my Pinterest board devoted to the challenge but couldn't see any one dress I wanted to exactly copy which I knew I would then get wear out of afterwards. So I decided to go down the 'Joan inspired' route. I want to get it just right and not rush it so I went with a much simpler idea and am very pleased with the result!

Joanie is by far my favourite Mad Men character so I stuck with basing my garment on her style. I still wanted to make something I would get some wear out of as a lot of my sewing projects err on the side of evening or special occasion wear. I went back through my pins and settled on her coral pink pussy bow blouse in the top picture.

I used the La Sylphide Blouse pattern from Papercut Patterns; I thought design wise straight out of the envelope it was pretty perfect to imitate Joan's look. Sleeve length, neckline and fit, spot on! This was my first time using a Papercut Pattern and I'm very pleased to report they are a big hit with me! The packaging is gorgeous and the pattern pieces are printed on a couple of robust brown paper sheets, meaning you have to be a lot less gentle with them than the usual tissue versions. You also get to make up the instructions into a lovely little booklet which I thought was great as it's a good size to keep next to your machine and very satisfying to keep turning the pages as you move through.

I cut a size XS based on my measurements and am pretty happy with the fit. It skims the waist and has a nice amount of ease elsewhere to help it sit and hang well. I've always liked the idea of the peplum look but when I've tried any peplum tops on in the high street found it to be a very unflattering style on me! I guess it was therefore a bit silly of my to choose a peplum top to sew up but there's something about this which works for me. I think it's a combination of the bow and loose three quarter length sleeves balancing the amount of fabric around the hips and just plain good drafting!

Even though I don't think I would have been drawn to this 'smart blouse' style of top in the shops (it's too 'office wear' for my purposes) I really love it! Paired with my brocade Charlotte skirt I think it makes a great Joan outfit, particularly when tucked in and this is a great top for tucking in to high waisted skirts as it's already shaped to fit closer at that point before flaring out into the peplum.

I used some type of imitation sand-washed silk I bought for about £2 a metre in Walthamstow market a while back. The fabric is very lightweight and drapey but didn't cause too many problems as the slightly sand-washed texture stops it from slipping and sliding about to much against itself or the machine. Even though I love the coral pink of Joan's blouse it's a colour that doesn't suit me in that solid a block close to my face. This soft green is much more my colour and I stuck to a solid rather than a print as Joan very rarely does prints or patterns.

Sewing wise this was definitely my most challenging make to date. I didn't really think about it when I set out but there's quite a lot of fiddly aspects to making this blouse; and quite a few of the techniques I had never tried before! To start with there are darts and sleeves to set in which are both things to be careful with but I've done at least a few times before. Then there there's the neck tie which I was sort of dreading but actually really enjoyed putting together. I am very proud of my lovely even topstitching around the back of the neckline!

There's also a button placket to deal with down the centre front. I don't know why I didn't pick up on this until I basically got to this step but I've never sewn a button hole before. Let alone a row of them on a stabilised placket. I usually avoid patterns involving buttons like the plague; my brain must have just decided to ignore that this was a feature on this one until it could ignore no more! Anyway, I cheated. I did fully intend on doing it properly and sat down with some scraps of my fabric to practice machine buttonholes. Then I realised I have no idea where the manual for my machine is. I can't recall ever seeing it or using it even. And I don't have the faintest idea how to make my machine make them. I have what I think is a buttonhole foot and a quick bit of googling tells me my machine has the capability to do them but I don't know how. I really do intend to learn how to do them, and am requesting a new manual from Janome so I can but for this I just faked it by sewing the buttons on the front and using press studs behind to fasten. I'm still chuffed with my neat plackets!

The one technique that I wasn't fretting about was the rolled hem after I'd had such success with my new rolled hem foot on my Dip Hemmed Scout Tee. Guess which technique involved the most time and swearing! My fabric just did NOT want to roll. It was rolling too much, rolling too little; my hem was all kinds of uneven and wobbly when I got round. I've re worked it but am still not 100% happy. Think I'm going to need to spend a bit more time on that. I used french seams throughout with the exception of the armhole seams which I bound so it seems a shame to ruin such a neat inside finish with an awful hem.

I really like that the cuffs are interfaced by the way. It seems to help keep a bit of shape and body in the sleeves however you hold your arms.

I can't wait to see everyone else's Mad Men inspired makes in Julia's round up post! Here's one final attempt at a Joan pose to amuse you all on a Sunday evening:

Contenders for the Mad Men Dress Challenge!

Hmm so I may have been doing a bit too much research and planning and not enough sewing for this challenge! I think it's highly unlikely that I'm going to make the end of March deadline for this but I'm still ploughing on and think I finally have my plan! Kinda...

When I first heard about the challenge my immediate thoughts were drawn to the outfits of Betty as my tastes veer towards her feminine full skirted look and it is a shape which suits me. I particularly love the dress in the centre image below with the wide fitted waist section and one of may favourite styles of sleeve. However I could make a dress of this style and completely love it, wear it to a wedding or similar occasion and then never wear it! Or at least not wear it as much as I'd hope too because dresses of this style are completely impractical for my day to day life.

I am still tempted to make a summer shirtdress in a nice cotton or rayon in a similar style to the pictures either side above. They have a slightly less full skirt and do not need to be worn with a petticoat to still look nice thus making them much more suited to public transport in the British drizzle. The collar and buttons to waist are a lovely details to enhance any simple dress shape I think.

I love love love this butterfly blouse which Betty wears at the end of season 2. I think that's more to do with the print than the actual blouse though so maybe this image is just suited to some fabric inspiration!

Joanie, Joanie, Joanie. She's just such a fantastic lady I don't want to just dress like her I want to be her! But it's just dressing like her that I must be content with. There are so many brilliant choices within Joan's wardrobe I have spent hours scouring images. One thing I have picked up on is her use of colour which is quite apparent in the series of photos of her in this post. She must wear every colour of the rainbow throughout the course of the show and every single one of them looks utterly amazing with her red hair! I think I can be quite shy of colour in my wardrobe, veering towards safe neutrals or a splash of colour in an outfit of predominantly safe neutrals. For this challenge I'd really like to make a dress of entirely one vivd colour in the style of Joan.

Nearly every dress of Joan's begins with that fantastic shape and structure that makes the most of those womanly curves. She's clearly a woman who knows what suits her and sticks with it which is something to admire.

However it's the little details on each of her dresses (whether that be a matching belt, button back or length of sleeve) which truly make her stylish and her clothing choices never boring. One aspect I have picked up on is the design of the neckline of her dresses. Just look at the variety within this selection of images, a revere collar, a tie to the side, simple pleats and a pleated flounce.

This final image of Joan is one of my absolute favourite outfits. The contrast facing on the pleated flounce around the neckline makes this a real stand out detail. Plus just look at those lovely cuffs, also with contrast facing. They give a really ladylike, glamourous and soft edge to and otherwise very structured dress in a very solid navy. In saying this I don't think I can pick just one of Joan's dresses to replicate but instead would prefer to use all these little details and colours as inspiration for future self drafted projects or even  just as adaptions to patterns I already own to give them that little extra edge.

I also really like Jane's style, as much as I do NOT want to be her in contrast to Joan. This little number has made it onto the short list for two reasons. Firstly because I think it has style yet is very wearable and I think i could get a lot of wear out of a dress like this. Secondly because one of the vintage patterns my Nan gave me is for almost exactly this same dress! I'm not sure about the colour though and instead have a deep purple wool crepe which is much more of a Joan colour to use.

So I thought I was all set with making Jane's dress...until last week I watched the episode in season 2 when Don meets Joy and she emerges from the hotel in the dress above. I love dresses which show off the shoulders in summer and think this is a really flattering shape to boot. I fell in love with it on first sight and my mind was made up. However this change of plan comes with a couple of issues. I don't have a pattern anything like this dress and am not feeling confident enough to draft that neckline for myself plus I don't have any printed cotton which I'd deem suitable for it.

Perhaps I would be off better sticking with the Jane dress as I already have everything I need?

Have you Mad Men-ed Yourself Yet?

O this is what Sunday mornings are for! Pointless activities such as making a cartoon Mad Men version of yourself!

Make your own here. Enjoy!

Mad Men

So I know I’m a bit slow picking up on this one but I’ve recently discovered the fantastic American drama ‘Mad Men’. I’ve fallen instantly in love with it, perhaps slightly influenced by the gorgeous early 1960s costumes. On top of the joy of looking at all the beautiful dresses (I’ve lost track of what’s happening plot wise on a number of occasions because I was too busy studying an outfit) it’s just a fantastically well written, acted and put together series. I love the way the camera suddenly focuses on one tiny little action of a character often involving an intriguing 1950s/60s prop (such as Don’s odd spring contraption for exercise in the office down to the drinks cans) or sometimes the editing highlights a fascinating detail of the setting, such as a drawer in Don’s office filled with freshly washed and pressed shirts. Everything works together to conjure up the world of the 1960s ad men of Madison Avenue and their housewives.

But let’s get to my real interest in the series and probably what you all want to see most on here (it is a sewing blog after all) - the costumes! They are absolutely amazing, beautiful to look at and beautiful in their historical accuracy. A couple of bits of underwear in particular have been distinctly contemporary – yet only when the character is undressed as clothed the ladies all have brilliantly distinct 1950s/60s shaped bosoms!

I’m only half way through the first series so admittedly I’m not sure I can really comment too extensively on the costuming yet, but I’ve already seen some great examples – my particular favourites being Betty’s full skirted dresses:

And let’s not forget about the men while we’re at it. As dull as I can sometimes find suits to be the little details really make these outfits – the ties, the tie pins, cufflinks and never to forget the always immaculately groomed hair.

The ladies hair is definitely worth a special mention: Joan never has a hair out of place in her fiery red up dos and as for Betty’s doll face and carefully curled/flicked under/flicked out bob…it’s enough to make me want to cut all my long locks which I’ve only just grown again and weld in a hair band. It’s certainly got me reaching for the hairspray and matte lipstick again anyway.

(Plus just how amazing is that tennis inspired dress?!)

Wide scoop necklines and full skirts are also my new favourite thing. I’ve always favoured the mini skirts and shift dresses of the late 1960s, but it’s never quite sat right on my more hour glass than twiggy-esque body shape. Seeing Christina Hendricks highlighting her curves in such a flattering way in these period numbers has enticed me to start exploring a bit of an early 60s look. But I do think those big full dresses as gorgeous as they are, are really not so wearable on the wet London Bus in the middle of winter. I’ve got a couple of similar patterns my Nan gave me though, so it’s definitely my aim to work up to making a completely fantastic one to wear to my friend’s wedding next July.

New York, early 60’s glamour – what’s not to love?! I highly recommend it.