Dress Archives

Introducing the Jo Dress + Jumpsuit

21 June 2023 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

While we've been very busy with Crew this year, behind the scenes we've also been occupied working on one of our all-time favourite standalone patterns for Closet Core – the Jo Dress + Jumpsuit! A true statement piece, Jo features a V-necked bodice with a sculptural “croissant” sleeve and can be mixed and matched with your choice of pants or skirt to create a bold dress or jumpsuit. Featuring a beautiful and innovative bias-bound slot seam finish to add structure and dimension, Jo is an engaging sew with a big impact. To make the whole process even easier, we've created our first free sewalong video series where I walk you through sewing it from start to finish! You can get Jo in both print (sizes 0-20) and PDF (sizes 14-32) formats.

We're all VERY excited about this design. It's cool and glamorous and tends to get a lot of attention; every time I wear Jo people harass me about it because the shape is so beautiful and unusual. While it can definitely feel more casual and every day depending on your fabric choice, the design is elevated and fashion-forward and is an excellent choice for any special events on your horizon. It even makes a gorgeous wedding dress in white linen for a more informal wedding - I hope to see some Jo brides this year!

Jo Dress and Jumpsuit | Closet Core Crew

SHOP JO

About the Pattern

The star of the Jo show is a unique rounded sleeve we've taken to calling a "croissant". An extension of the bodice, it is a cut-on sleeve with shaping darts at the underarm that creates a gorgeous croissant shape while you're wearing it, draping over the shoulders and narrowing at the wrist. It also comes in two options - go big and bold with the large rounded sculptural sleeve, or choose our less dramatic smaller sleeve. The bodice is further shaped with darts at the front waist and a beautiful V neckline.

What makes Jo special in terms of construction is the use of pre-made or handmade 1/2" double-fold bias tape along all the main structural seams. It finishes the neckline, gives a strong vertical design element along the center front seams, and adds structure and dimension to our croissant sleeve. To create this special finish, we are using a variation on a traditional slot seam where an insert is added in between pattern pieces to create structure and dimension – we spent a lot of time developing this detail and think you'll enjoy the process of sewing it, especially given the beautiful final result, which looks, unlike anything you've sewn before!

We love giving you a big bang for your buck with these singular Closet Core designs, so Jo is designed to work as both a dress AND a jumpsuit - the bodice is interchangeable so you can choose your own adventure. View A adds a midi-length straight-cut skirt with curved pockets, waist darts, and the same bias-bound slot seam finish along the center front seam. View B adds a tapered leg pant with curved pockets and waist darts.

Jo is finished with a topstitched waistband that is elasticized at the back, for an exceptionally comfortable garment that moves with you. Rather than closing it with an invisible zipper, we went with a traditional zipper with a handy fabric zipper pull that makes it super easy to slide up and down. There is nothing worse than desperately needing the bathroom while struggling with an invisible zipper (we've been there, no thank you!)

SHOP JO

Jo Difficulty + Sewalong

In terms of sewing difficulty, Jo is rated as an intermediate/advanced level pattern. While I am firmly in the camp that anyone can sew anything with a bit of patience, if you are a very new sewist you may find this pattern challenging since it requires accuracy and care while sewing the bias tape and slot seam finish. With that said, I think most folks will really enjoy sewing Jo. It uses a few unconventional sewing methods that I think are fun and engaging to sew, and you cannot argue with the finished result! Of course, if you need a little extra help or just want to hang out with me while you're making it, we created a complete video sewalong that walks you through every single step, so if you're feeling at all nervous, don't worry – we got you!

Fabric + Supplies for Jo

To create stability and structure for this design, we suggest stable midweight wovens such as linen, cotton broadcloth, poplin, sateen, ikat, and chambray. You may also use lightweight denim and twill provided it has some degree of drape.

This pattern also calls for 1/2" wide bias tape, and no, you cannot substitute with a narrower size. Pre-made and handmade work equally well – we have soft, high-quality 100% cotton bias tape in a range of colours at Core Fabrics, or you can make your own to match your fabric (just be sure you have at least an extra 1/2 yard of fabric!) You'll also need a 22" long traditional zipper, a single hook and eye, and 1" wide elastic for the back waistband.

If you're looking to get everything you need in one place, we've created custom Jo kits over at Core Fabrics, Get everything you need, including fabric, a recycled plastic zipper, bias tape and even a cute label to sew into your outfit from our pattern muse's brand Inside Voices!

SHOP SUPPLIES

Our Pattern Muse

We like to name our standalone patterns after inspiring members from the sewing community, and few people inspire us (or make us laugh) as much as Jo (@fivespicepower). Master of bold silhouettes with a wicked sense of humour and major Big Sleeve Energy, she's a must-follow on Instagram, both for her adventurous and madcap makes, and her non-stop jokes. She also makes hilarious sewing labels we carry at Core Fabrics.

The Design Story for Jo

We are so extremely excited about this pattern and hope you are too!

Meet the Periwinkle Shirtdress, our April Pattern for Crew!

3 April 2023 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

Spring is FINALLY here and we're celebrating with our latest pattern for Crew (our monthly pattern + sewing membership). The Periwinkle Shirt + Shirtdress is the perfect way to celebrate a new season. An approachable shirt-making project (no need to worry about tricky collars or plackets) with lots of pretty details, we think it's destined for TNT status. Join Crew starting at $10 USD a month to get it!

Periwinkle Shirtdress | Closet Core Crew

The Design

Periwinkle is breezy and sleeveless with a loose, unstructured fit and dropped shoulder. It features a softly rounded band collar, gentle gathers around the neckline, and a classic button placket. In the back, delicate gathers are sewn into the yoke using the burrito method for a clean finish.

To give you options, Periwinkle can be made as a top or dress. The top ends at high hip, and we love it in crisper fabrics like poplin, voile, batiste and other shirtings. It's the perfect "half-tuck" top.

The shirtdress is midi-length (though can it be easily lengthened or shortened for different looks) and features slits along the side seams for both ease of movement and a flash of skin; inseam pockets are optional for those of you who are #teampockets. It's also accompanied by an optional tie belt if you prefer a more fitted look - we're kind of obsessed with how different this pattern looks with and without the belt!

Speaking from personal experience, I brought the dress and belt on a recent vacation and wore it almost every day. On super hot days when I didn't want anything touching me, I wore it loose and free with sandals. I belted it at night with a pair of wedges for a dinner-appropriate look. I also threw it in my bag whenever we went to the beach in case I started getting too much sun. It's my favourite kind of "simple" pattern - deceptively multi-functional!

Periwinkle is available as a PDF pattern in both our 0-20 and 14-32 size ranges - you get both with your monthly download!

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Suggested Fabrics

Periwinkle works with a wide variety of light to midweight fabrics. For something crisp and breezy, choose shirtings like poplin and broadcloth, or lightweight cottons like voile and batiste. Linen is ideal - we love it in the midweight linen from Core Fabrics, but it would also be fabulous in a linen gauze or handkerchief weight. For a slinkier, swishier look, go for drapey wovens like viscose crepe, rayon de challis, and silk crepe de chine. Since the silhouette is simple, it's a gorgeous canvas for overscale prints, and we've got loads in stock.

If you're eyeing any of the samples we made, just like each month with Crew, Core Fabrics has created fabric kits to recreate them yourself! We've also curated a collection of additional fabrics and supplies that work with this pattern to make it easy to find what you'll need.

SHOP THE COLLECTION

How to Get Periwinkle

Like all Crew patterns, Periwinkle is only available when you sign up for Crew! Subscribe at the monthly level with Essential or Plus to get it (you can cancel at any time), or sign up for our annual Unlimited plan and get Perwinkle along with the other 3 Crew patterns we've released this year so far, plus 11 more months of patterns!

(Please note that if you are signing up after April 2023, you'll only be able to access Periwinkle at the Unlimited level).

This Month in Crew

With a Crew membership, you get access to so much more than just a pattern. Each month, we curate a theme page with an inspiration board and curated resources to help you assemble your pattern. You also get access to our private forum, whether you're looking for fitting or sewing help, or just want to chat about sewing with like-minded folks.

Our Plus and Unlimited members also get access to an in-depth video sewing lesson with me. This month I'm teaching you how to sew a *perfect* band collar. The fiddliest element to sew on this pattern, band collars can be tricky to get right, so I'll walk you through all the tricks we use to get it laying flat and even with the prettiest topstitching - it's the kind of attention to detail that takes it from hand-made to holy-cow.

You'll also be able to join (or watch at a later time) our monthly live event. This month we're discussing body-positive sewing with our very own body-posi education coordinator Monserratt. We're excited to talk about how we can use our sewing practice to build a better relationship with our bodies, regardless of your size.

We're so excited to see what you do with #ClosetCorePerwinkle! Join today to get sewing!

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Ice Dyeing Magic: the Ariana Dress from Style Arc

9 July 2020 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

You know how sometimes you hoard a special fabric for years and years and years while waiting for the right pattern and the right moment, and every time you see it in your stash cabinet you feel guilty, like the fabric is angry about being neglected, and maybe you stroke it to calm it and whisper reassuring things like "Soon beautiful, be patient, your time is coming"? Just me then?

This beautiful indigo ice dyed fabric was one such fabric I stroked and promised the world to. The lovely Nicole and I became penpals a few years ago and this miraculous yardage showed up in my mailbox one day (along with a bottle of broken hot sauce that somehow did not deface the fabric, although trust me, I mourned the loss of that hot sauce). The fabric was silky and beautiful and too pretty to use on just any project. So it waited a few years until I finally knew just want to do with it. Enter: the Arianna Dress by Style Arc patterns.

Weirdly. I've never sewn a Style Arc pattern before. They have tons of designs, but I had heard their instructions were incredibly sparse and I never bothered to make one up until now. The rumors are true - the instructions are basically just bullet points of texts with no construction illustrations, so maybe not the most beginner-friendly patterns around, although a fun challenge if you're like me and enjoy figuring out the best way to put a garment together. I was glad to read this blog post from Sewing Like Mad, since she gives a better order of construction for the bodice, and reminded me I wanted to widen the straps enough to hide my bra.

I was a cheeky little monkey and didn't make a muslin for this, which is evident by the gaping buttons at the boob area. I made a straight size 12 and the finished garment measurement *should* have given me more than enough ease through the bust, so I'm not entirely sure what happened there. That said, the princess seams fit perfectly out of the package, and I love the comfort of the elastic shirred back, even if it wasn't quite as helpful for getting this to fit through the bust as I had hoped.

With two and a half yards I had just enough fabric to squeeze this out, and I'm so so happy I finally found the right use for this beauty, boob gappage be damned. It's so silky and soft and flowy, perfect as a summer dress on a hot day. I was also happy to work with some ice dyed fabric up close - we have an upcoming blog series focused on dyeing (coming to your screens August 2020) and just last week I did my first experiments with this cool technique. Nicole ice dyed this with a deep indigo dye (I believe the fabric is a silk/rayon mix) and it's so fun to see how the dye "breaks" and morphs to create these pretty patterns.

This was also the first time I played around with elastic shirring, and I was inspired to start this project after admiring all of the shirring goodness Elisalex was up to recently. Basically, you thread your bobbin with elastic thread and stitch in straight lines - the elastic snugs up the fabric and after multiple rows it creates this lovely textured shrinky texture. Definitely a technique I'd like to experiment more with, so I am working on a hack of our Amy Jumpsuit to be shirred and strapless. More to come on that soon.

I sewed this at home on our new Pfaff Creative Icon, which is similar to the Performance Icon we've been using with the addition of a pretty serious embroidery module. Pfaff sent this machine to us a few months ago and while I haven't had a chance to dig into the embroidery capabilities yet, I was super grateful I had a powerhouse to sew with at home because I was about to throw my vintage machine out the window in an absolute rage. These machines make the prettiest buttonholes ever, but I screwed up a bit here. Note to self, note to you: whenever you are adding buttons to a closely fitting dress along center front, always butt your buttons up together near the waist seam. I placed the button on my skirt a but too low and so it gapes more than it would if I had placed it an inch or so higher. Live and learn!

Thus ends my story of this dress, which has been in my weekly rotation with the crazy heat waves we've been getting in Montreal. What's been your go-to dress pattern this summer?

Couture Sewing: 1930s Silk Evening Gown

21 January 2020 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

Our focus this year is on quality, so I guess it's appropriate that I share some of my own projects exploring this theme. Discovering couture sewing was a big part of my process last year, which started when I flew to New Orlean last March for a couture sewing workshop with Susan Khalje (read our interview with her here!) This has been a bucket list dream for many years, and I can't tell you how excited I was when I finally committed to going. The workshop I chose was 6 full days, with the option to sew any garment except her French jacket (this has a unique workshop I hope to take in the future). I knew going in I wanted to make a gown since I had a possible wedding to attend and had never tackled eveningwear before. The wedding never happened but it's oddly reassuring to know I have a black-tie gown in my back pocket if I ever need to pull out alllll the stops.

The 1930s are hands all the way down my favorite era for evening wear, so it made sense to start there. Perhaps it's due to my love of 30s Hollywood movies, but there is something about the modern glamour of those fluid, elegant dresses that really gets my heart racing. In a death match between the structured New Look silhouettes of the 50s and the sleek, body-skimming columns of the 30s, the 30s will win every time. Thankfully there are a lot of pattern options out there and I spent a lot of time researching options. Etsy is a gold mine; there are lots of pattern reproductions out there (I'm assuming because copyrights have run out?) and I spent hours digging around trying to find something that hit my wishlist: floor-length, form-skimming without being too tight, with interesting design details that would be challenging to sew. In the end, I went with McCalls 7154, a reissued vintage pattern. I decided I wanted the comfort of modern sizing and decent instructions so I wouldn't waste too much time trying to modify the pattern or puzzling through construction. The design itself is lovely: a blouson style bodice with intricate cutouts and curved neck bands, with a sweeping godet skirt with curved panels inserted at the waist, along with a pleated section at the back.

This is not a perfect garment by any stretch of the imagination. My instinct is to focus on each flaw rather than enjoying the sum until I remind myself, "Damn girl! You made a freaking 30s evening gown!" That said, I learned a tremendous amount working on it (silk charmeuse you slippery devil) and would happily tackle another project like this knowing what I do now.

Before the workshop starts, you're required to assemble a full muslin so you can jump into fitting as soon as you arrive. This muslin making process is very specific and quite a bit different than what you're probably used to. Before you stitch anything together, you must sew along all the stitch lines first. This takes quite a bit of time, but the benefit is that it makes it much easier to make adjustments since you have a concrete line to measure from, and it helps stabilize the muslin fabric so you can use it as your final pattern piece (we have a blog post coming about this process in more depth if you're interested to learn more!) I made a size 14 graded to a 16 at the hip, and modified it by removing the ruching at the lower back. The dress had so much going on I thought it felt like overkill, so I figured out how to remove the excess through center back.

I had no idea what fabric I was going to use, but thankfully I met up with the group at Promenade Fabrics as soon as I got off the plane. This is one of my favourite fabric stores ever, and I highly suggest making a pit stop if you ever find yourself in New Orleans. They specialize in fine couture fabrics, and have an amazing selection of silk to choose from. I've never sewn with charmeuse before, but figured if I was going to go for it I might as well go all the way and chose this breathtaking coral 4 ply charmeuse. It is much heavier than a traditional charmeuse, giving it a lovely weight and heft that is a bit easier to work with since it's more stable.

In my fit session with Susan we didn't change much. If memory serves, we added some width through the hip and narrowed the shoulders since the muslin was a bit wide on me. In hindsight, I wish I had spent more time fiddling with the shoulder width. Since we only moved the bands in, I find the back doesn't lie as flat as it should.

Most couture garments are underlined with silk organza or something similar to beef up the structure and stability of the fabric, but this wasn't an option with such a drapey design, and while the bodice was lined the skirt was not. In hindsight, I wish I had drafted a skirt lining since I think the interior of the dress would be much prettier. I had my heart set on bias bound seams, but after doing some tests, Susan convinced me to skip it since it would make the seams too visible on the right side. As you can tell in these images, charmeuse shows EVERYTHING so Susan compelled me to hand overcast each seam instead. This is basically the couture version of serging; it wraps the raw ends to prevent fraying, but it is much softer and less obvious from the right side. I'm sure if I had I serged the edges you would see the profile along the seams. I learned that a lot of couture sewing is detective work, experimenting to find the best solution for the specific fabric and garment you are sewing. There is rarely a one size fits all solution, and each time you approach a project you have to figure out what your particular solution is. Sometimes the answer is to leave seams raw! Someone commented on Instagram that Susan convinced them to leave the seam allowances on their wedding dress unfinished since they would only wear it once. That sort of logical thinking is really at the crux of couture sewing.

Six full days seems like a long time, but I didn't finish this gown while I was in New Orleans. I cannot tell you how much frustration the bodice gave me. The construction was incredibly complicated; not only do you have the pointed cutouts to deal with, but sewing those curved bands and attaching them to the top at front and back was very, very tricky. At one point I was basically in tears after ripping a section out for the third time, terrified I was ruining the silk, and Susan calmly took over and showed me how to use a fell stitch to attach the ends of the bands. The skirt was another exercise in humility; inserting those curved panels required a ton of hand basting and hand stitching, and I spent hours trying to get everything properly lined up. The silk was surprisingly bulky so it was difficult to get perfectly mitered corners and seams. My biggest regret was not bringing my own iron. We were mainly using irons with crappy steam from the hotel and I didn't feel like they gave me the best press. One trick I discovered from one of my fellow students was a new wood pressing tool. It's essentially a dowel cut in half, allowing you to press seams on it without the seam showing up on the right side. I need to find a carpenter to make one for me, but for now we're using the wood handle from a (new!) plunger when I need to be very, very precise pressing seams.

During the workshop, I managed to get most of the garment assembled (I spent many nights in my hotel bed watching reality TV and hand overcasting my seams) but it took a few months before I finally finished it with an invisible zipper and tiny baby hem (not easy to do on such beefy silk!) It ended up a touch on the short side, so I can't wear it with super high heels. I am also not happy with how it looks at the top of the zipper, but I think this is because I didn't properly adjust the back bodice after we took in the shoulders.

Want a peek of the inside? You can see the waist stay (which I managed to finish with a hong kong seam) and the hand overcasting along all the exposed seams.

It's funny because I think it looks pretty messy on the insides, but believe it or not, this is probably how it would be finished in a professional couture setting, although I would hope their hand overcasting would be tidier than mine. I really wish I had taken the time to properly line the skirt so I could hide all this messy construction. Ah well, live and learn!

One of the best parts of this experience was getting to spend so much time working and learning with people as obsessed with sewing as I am. We spent so much time comparing notes, sharing resources and tips, and I loved getting to watch everyone's projects take shape over the week (while silently hovering around Susan every time she gave fit feedback, a skill I can never learn enough about). The scope of projects was huge, from mother of the bride gowns to a smart, wool shift and it was fascinating to see the variety of fabrics and techniques everyone was working with. If you can swing it, I highly recommend taking a workshop with Susan if you ever have the opportunity - I came back filled with SO many ideas and plans for elevating my sewing practice. In fact, I started my next couture project almost immediately after I got home using fabric I had picked up at Promenade. This time I got to use a lot of the techniques I had observed in class, and while it turned out to be not quite right for my style, I learned a lot I can use going forward (more on that later!)

As for the gown, it has been worn once, thank god. I ended up wearing it to the ballet while I was in Paris with Susan on her couture tour, something I'll be talking about later this week. I was absolutely the most overdressed person there (also: picture me taking the bus with this bad boy on) but it felt so good to have an opportunity to wear something I had laboured so heavily over. Now it hangs in my closet, waiting for the right occasion when I need to make a swooshy, charmeusey entrance. Send me your gala and black-tie wedding invites please!

Have you ever made an evening gown? What was your experience like?!

The Most Innocent Dress Ever: The Flora Dress in White Eyelet

28 August 2019 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

I think I've mentioned this before, but I am trying not to buy new fabric this year unless we need it for upcoming patterns. We have a mammoth stash closet that is literally overflowing so I'm trying to make a dent it when I can, finding use for a lot of those pieces I've hung on to for years with no clear plan. Such was the case with the lovely cotton floral eyelet I used to make this Flora Dress from By Hand London. I got it at a sewing meetup in Montreal and it's been collecting dust for years, waiting for the right project.

Turns out the right project was one I've made before! I tested Flora many moons ago, and fell in love with it again this summer after seeing the pretty versions my friends were making in London (Elisalex has been hacking it into pure magic, and Hannah made a lovely blue linen one I couldn't help but try on). It's a classic two dart bodice with a square, high neckline and bra covering straps, perfect for a more fitted summer dress. Due to yardage restraints, I couldn't make the flared skirt, so subbed in a simple gathered one. I had only the tiniest of scraps left over, so I felt quite chuffed to know I had gotten the most out of this narrow yardage.

Since I had made Flora before, I had a size reference (this is why blogging all your makes is the best - you can always go back into the archives to see what size you made!) That dress is a bit too small on me now (although has somehow escaped my many closet purges) so I sized up to a 12 for this version. I then used my custom Beatrice form to finetune the fit, adjusting the armscye and shifting the darts as needed. I cannot tell you how much I love that form; it makes the constant mirror fitting I used to do seem like a bad dream.

The bodice was fitting perfectly but I think I ended up stretching out the waist seam when I attached the gathered skirt despite my staystitching since I had a helluva time getting the lining to match up on the inside. As a result, the waist is a bit wider than intended, but it is very comfortable so maybe it was for the best.

I left the skirt unlined and added a very lightweight cotton voile lining to the bodice, so it's a light, breezy dress perfect for hot summer days when I feel like getting a bit dressed up. Even if I do feel a little not myself wearing it; I've shied away from more overtly feminine looks in the last few years and it felt a bit weird to get back into a fit and flare dress after so much time in loose linen. I really feel a personality shift when I wear this; more ladylike, better behaved, less likely to swear like a trucker. Clothing has power! I couldn't help but laugh when our studio neighbour Paul jokingly asked if I was headed to my first communion when he saw me in this. Something about white eyelet just seems to scream "innocent flower".

So yes, more white frosting for me. I'm not sure if this will end up entering the pantheon of beloved, overworn dresses but it was fun to make and nice to have as an option when I feel like posing as a fine, upstanding young lady in the prime of her youth.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a first communion/wedding to get to.

Double gauzey: A Nani Iro Myosotis Dress

21 August 2018 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

Most of my sewing this year has been from our own patterns, but one release did catch my eye in a "must purchase and make at all costs" sort of way. Like many of you, I was romanced by the Myositis Dress when it was released by Deer & Doe this year, in particular, that lovely white ruffled sample. While I wouldn't necessarily put myself in the feminine ruffle camp, something about the simplicity of their white sample caught my eye.

Initially, I planned on making one for myself in white linen, but I already have quite a few white linen dresses in my closet. In an attempt to tackle my stash, I decided to whip one up with a white and gold Nani Iro double gauze I bought at Stitch Sew Shop a few years ago. It feels so good to finally find the right pattern for it.

I juuuust barely managed to get this cut out from the narrow three yards I had purchased and had to do some extremely creative placement, including cutting quite a few pieces on the opposite grain. I wasn't too concerned with print matching, but I did try to utilize the grey floral bit running along the selvage in an intentional way along the sleeve and hem. The instructions were great, but boy oh boy, I'm not sure I've ever done so much gathering in my life on one project. To speed things up, I gathered using a new-to-me technique, where you zig zag stitch over a cord or piece of dental floss to create a simple gathering channel. If you're interested in seeing how this works, I filmed a mini tutorial for our Instagram stories, and it's now permanently saved to our profile.

The fit on this is really great (I made a straight size 42). The bodice fit perfectly out of the package, and I adore the neckline and proportion of the skirt. What I didn't love was those ruffled sleeves. I felt a bit like Marie Antoinette, and not in a dreamy Sofia Coppola sort of way; all the gathers just felt too fussy and girly for my style. I tried wearing it a few times but never left the house wearing it since I felt too much like a really overgrown doll.

Just this week I decided to take action, and cut off the ruffled sleeves, so it looks more like View B. It still feels sweet and romantic, but in a way that feels more appropriate for my more minimalistic style. I wore it to work yesterday and was quite happy flouncing around wearing it; the shape of the skirt is perfect for twirling. The fabric has a great body and texture, much crisper than other double gauzes I've sewn with, and I like how it creates a more structured shape. I can't find this prnt anywhere but this shop has loads of Nani Iro double gauzes. Here it is post-sleeve chop:

Have you made the Myositis dress yet? How do you feel about lots of gathers?

Details: Myosotis Dress from Deer & Doe, Nani Iro fabric, Lucia block heels from Nisolo.

My Green Linen Fiona Sundress

7 August 2018 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

I think I've officially become a linen monster. I sleep in linen sheets, I spend hours obsessing over linen colours at The Fabric Store, there are increasingly growing stacks of it in our stash, and almost everything I want to sew the moment the snow melts is you know, linen. Yes, it wrinkles like crazy. Yes, there is a breaking in period while you wait for it to turn from crisp and slightly stiff to soft and faded and cozy. But there is something so viscerally appealing and analog about the texture and feel of it that I have officially become linen's unofficial spokeswoman (last night we were watching the finale of the Bachelorette (*snore*yawn*boo#teamBlake) and my friends were joking that I should apply for the next casting call. I laughed that I would be the worst contestant ever because all I would ever want to wear was faded, camera-hostile rumpled linen sacks for the entire duration of the show. And also because I would dig a hole under the mansion to hide from the cameras and all the dumb, manscaped contestants. And also I don't think they make linen evening gowns).

This Fiona Sundress is the closest I will come to a linen evening gown. And I am perfectly okay with that.

The sun was darting in and out of the clouds while we were shooting this, so forgive the fact that it looks like about 18 shades of green. In reality, it's a sprucey-olive-y green beauty I picked up at the Fabric Store in LA before they closed. It's a pretty lightweight linen so I wasn't sure how it would stand up to the structure of Fiona, but it's actually a match made in fabric/pattern heaven. It has enough body for all those seams and straps, but is so light and breathy it makes me feel like the physical manifestation of Jane Birkin singing on that Serge Gainsborough song. Je t'aime.

I've worn this tons and tons (it's been a great first date dress, of which I have had many lately, of which I can only make the sound of a long, drawn out and exasperated siiiiigh) but unfortunately never on its own. I made the total rookie mistake of fitting it with a bra on (I learned my lesson and warn against this in the pattern instructions) only to discover that gravity is as real and indisputable as the fact that most first dates are as painful as dental surgery without anesthesia. Braless and backless, the curve of the bust is a little too high for my free-as-a-bird ladies, so I'm resigned to layering it over t-shirts with a bra firmly on. I actually really like styling it this way, so I suggest it as an option for those of you who see a backless dress and shudder in gravity-averse horror.

I didn't have enough of these particular buttons to do the recommended 21 for the midi-length version (yes, I know that is a lot of buttons for all you buttonhole haters out there but hear me out....) so I tried to cheat and space out what I had at hand, resulting in only four along the bodice instead of five. This means there was no button placed at the widest part of the bust, resulting in gaping since the bodice is so fitted. My solution was to hand sew in a little snap at the widest point of the bust, and you can hardly notice it all. It's worth it to take the time and sew all those buttons, although for the midi you don't need to go all the way to the bottom; I left it unbuttoned a little in these pictures.

I'm looking forward to making another linen Fiona next summer, but I'll take the time and do a proper bra-less fitting so the bodice fits better for my free birds. I actually just picked up a few new colours at the Fabric Store since they're having a 20% off sale, and I have an addiction.

Are you as much of a linen maniac as I am? And can all you buttonhole haters chime in and tell me exactly why you hide under the bed whenever you hear the word? My machine makes lovely buttonholes so I'm not sure if you're having technical issues or something else. I'm all ears!

Details: Fiona Sundress in green linen (I think it might be this one?), Nisolo wedges, navy bandana, Nettie cropped tee, Firmoo shades)

My First Fiona Sundress (in Stonewashed Denim!)

31 July 2018 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

Boy oh boy do I have some projects backed up! Sometimes I feel like I can never find time to sew for myself, but I've been on a relative tear this summer, sewing up a pretty great summer wardrobe. As always the problem is finding time to take photos, which was challenging up until a few weeks ago. It was as sweaty as a 70s discotheque up in here, not exactly conducive for taking some "Oh look how breezy I am!" snaps while red-faced and visibly perspiring. One day Amy and I actually resorted to working in our sports bras until I realized I needed to take some drastic action lest we scandalize our UPS delivery person (drastic action being caving for an air conditioner and UV blocking blinds, which has unsurprisingly been a heaven-sent miracle).

We ventured outside our air-conditioned haven last week to finally document my first Fiona Sundress. I made this number just before we sent it out for testing, and while there were quite a few subtle changes to the pattern, I've worn this quite a lot this summer, issues notwithstanding.

The fabric is a lovely midweight stonewashed/bleached Kaufman denim. It's a colour that is surprisingly hard to find when you're denim shopping, but they have lots in stock here. At about 10oz, it creates a nice, structured silhouette, although I probably should have cut the facings from a lighter weight cotton since it added a lot of bulk.

After I made this dress we raised the waist seam slightly and fixed the darts since they weren't matching at the seam lines. Later on we ended up dropping the apex of the bust as well; nothing major, but it was a good reminder for me to carve out time to make myself samples in my size even before we get to testing; I always change a lot of things after test driving.

My main beef with this dress is the snaps. I used the same spring snaps we include in our Kelly Anorak kit, but because there isn't a ton of wearing ease they have a tendency to pop open when I bend over too suddenly. This isn't an issue with something looser fitting like a jacket, but this dress requires a stronger grip if you go the snap route. As a result of my wearing experiment, we decided to offer a special Fiona kit with heavy-duty snaps; we're just waiting for everything to arrive from our supplier and it should be in our shop within a few weeks. In the meantime, I'm going to sew a few hook and eyes at the tension points to help keep everything in place.

I have one more Fiona to share with you, which I might like even more - it's a gorgeous olive green linen and is so perfect for the summer heat. I'm also working on a hacked version with no button band but I've had it to put it aside to work on our next pattern; I'm hoping I can finish it this week.

Are you into this stonewashed denim or does it give you Guess Jeans 80s flashbacks?

The Little Black Dress of My Dreams // Rachel Comey Vogue 1501

29 March 2018 by Heather Lou Leave a Comment

So, here we are well into spring and I am finally bringing you one of my favorite makes from 2017 (one I made nearly a year ago; I have no idea why it took me this long to get it up here on the blog, considering my ardent love for it). It is the chic-est of chic little black dresses, in one of my favourite fabrics, by one of my favourite designers. It's sculptural and a little weird, which makes it the perfect thing when you need something to wear something dressed up and "appropriate" but don't want to fall asleep while doing so.

Designed by Rachel Comey for Vogue (1501, still in print!), this beauty first came to my attention after seeing Katie's take on it (I may love this version even more; I adore the length and how she converted the pleats to gathers). This is where Big Four patterns shine; I wish they did even more designer collaborations since it's the only way most of us can experience designer luxury and detailing. I remember reading an article somewhere where Rachel Comey said that they licensed designs less for the money, and more for the celebration of sewing as an artform, which made me love her even more. I've made a few of her designs; this is still my all-time favourite skirt pattern.

It's definitely an odd one, construction wise. It's a dress that looks like two pieces, with the upper half sewn to the front waistband so it resembles that stylist's favorite, the half-tuck (its biggest flaw is that it is nearly impossible to properly hang since the skirt is only attached for a few inches in the front). If *flattering* is your thing, you might be taking a hard pass, but I don't need waist definition to feel great. I love how this design messes with convention, and it looks pretty rad from every angle.

It needed a little tweaking to get right. I *think* I made the size 14 (I'm sorry, it's been a dog's age). Like most Vogue/McCalls patterns, I had to take a wedge out of the center back; I always find their bodices a bit too wide for my shoulders. I also shortened it quite a bit, since I don't always wear heels and find below the knee is a tricky length with flats. The pattern has this funky little shoulder pad thing, but I skipped it even if I've never met a power shoulder I didn't love.

It's made with a beautiful black tencel twill I got from one of my local wholesalers, and I love how the light bounces off the stone-washed texture with all the drape-y and pleat-y things happening. It has become my number one "Boss Lady" dress, the ideal thing to wear if I need to look professional but stylish. I actually made it specifically to wear at an entrepreneur conference I spoke at here in Montreal; feeling so put together helped with my nerves.

Would you make this pattern? What's your go-to look when you need to feel boss af?

Lady in Red: My Silk Kielo Wrap Dress

24 January 2018 by Heather Lou 30 Comments

I'm super embarrassed about how long it has taken me to document some of my favourite sewing projects from last year. I made a few incredible things that I hung in our sample closet intending to photograph, and then just got busy and forgot about. When I finally got my act together this month, it was like discovering a whole new wardrobe.

This red silk Kielo wrap dress from Named is one of those "oh man I forgot how much I love this!" makes. I love the idea of a red dress (maybe it's nostalgia for this song?) but I've always been nervous to pull the trigger since it's such a huge colour statement. I dipped my toes in the game with this very soft, coral-ish red textured silk I got in San Francisco last year (I scored the last few precious yards from the bolt!) It's got a sand-washed finish, so it doesn't read as bold and bright as say, that bananas plunging gown Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman. Which is to say, much more my speed.

One of the best things about this pattern is that you can wear it tied in the front or back for two pretty different looks. Here it is tied in the back:

Tied this way, it's much more of a straight column, with all the volume happening in the back.

For more of a party, you can also tie it in the front. This creates serious drama, in addition to a lot of tulip-shaped volume at the hips. I'm into exaggerated silhouettes so I love the shape, but it might not be for everyone.

And of course, the silhouette when unwrapped is practically iconic at this point. Here is my Kielo flying squirrel:

This pattern really exemplifies why I love so many of Named's designs. It's such a simple concept with minimal pattern pieces but the wow factor is very high. I made this to wear to a friend's summer wedding, and I had fun switching how it was tied all night long. I may have done some tipsy champagne dancing in full flying squirrel mode.

I was so happy to rediscover this dress I brought it to California with me last week and wore it on our one fancy night out to the Dresden (which incidentally is a MUST VISIT in LA. They have this amazingly kitschy-great jazz duo named Marty and Elayne who play there every night, made famous by a scene in the movie Swingers. We ate in the gloriously old-school Hollywood restaurant first; the food was fine but the setting was worth every penny). After wearing it for a few hours I remembered its fatal flaw; it's just a little too tight across the bust. This is 100% my fault. The pattern needs fabric with a bit of stretch, and this silk is stretch-less. I should have gone up a size or two, especially since I sewed the armholes higher than intended. I didn't like how low they sat on me when I tried on a Kielo one of my students made during a past workshop. By sewing a smaller armhole I gave myself less width across the chest, so the fabric wants to pull up and sit on top of my bust. It's not a major thing and I still love and plan to wear this a lot, but if I make another I will make sure I give my girls more room. I'd also raise the location of the ties; I find they sit just an inch or two lower than my natural waist when tied.

In terms of construction, I skipped the neck facing and finished the neckline and armholes with matching bias tape. It was a relatively quick and simple make and I plan on treating it casually. I've started washing and drying all my silk like normal clothing; not treating it preciously means I'm more likely to wear it day to day. And this dress looks great dressed up or down with my white converse high tops, so I'm hoping she sees a lot of daylight once the seasons change. I think I also have a few yards of the same silk in navy, so I'm brainstorming ways to use it. It photographs so beautifully.

Have you tried sewing Kielo yet? And would you ever consider wearing a red dress?

Details: Kielo dress by Named in red silk remnant, Lipstick: Glossier Generation G in Zip, Shoes: very old Aldo, Glasses: Firmoo

A Kalle Shirtdress pattern in Blue Tencel

19 October 2017 by Heather Lou 36 Comments

I just realized this week I totally failed to post about this Kalle shirtdress I made in the spring. I've had photos edited and waiting to go, but just plum forgot. Which is weird because this was easily one of my most worn items this summer; it got packed on every trip and was generally the garment I reached for most when it was so hot and sticky I just wanted to live inside my freezer drawer.

I don't have nearly enough Kalles in my life, odd considering it's one of my favourite patterns and in the end, we've sewn god knows how many. Most are unwearable/half finished muslins, and the rest we shoot and then keep in pristine condition in our sample closet (which we occasionally lend out to magazines, and also just for prosperity). After the frenzy of sample making that happens before we launch a pattern, sometimes it takes some time to feel like sewing that particular garment again, even if I really love the design. I decided I definitely needed a new dress, since the white linen one I originally made is starting to look a little worse for wear.

For this version, I finally used this gorgeous blue tencel that had been needlessly languishing in my stash. I opted for the hidden placket since I wanted something more on the minimalist spectrum. Otherwise, it's basically a size 10 straight of the packet. I'd normally grade to a 12 or 14 through the hip but since the Kalle is so loose I don't find it necessary.

I really did wear this dress all.the.time, but had to just accept the fact that tencel wrinkles like the skin on rice pudding no matter what you do (can you tell I'm doing the Whole 30 right now and am utterly fixated on sugar and dairy products 24/7?) With my love of linen has come a tolerance of wrinkles of all kinds, so it doesn't bother me much. Kinda adds to that whole easy breezy summer dress vibe anyway, am I right?

*** Now cannot stop thinking about rice pudding.

I could probably get away with wearing this for a while longer layered with tights, but I wore it so much this summer I'm kind of happy to give it a break and come back to it in the spring. However, we are working on a sleeve expansion for Kalle, so I'm planning on making another shirt and dress in cozy flannel.

What did you wear to death this summer? And would you wear Kalle all year long if it had longer sleeves?

The Farrow Dress by Grainline Studio in Kaufman Metallic Linen

22 March 2017 by Heather Lou 23 Comments

Heavens alive I love a shift dress, especially when they boast cool details or an interesting architectural silhouette. The latest pattern from Grainline boasts both, of course. A snappy a-line shape with deep, slanted pockets? Sign me up!

While I had a few plans for the Farrow dress, everything flew out the window when I was at Needlework in Hamilton for a Ginger Jeans workshop. The ladies had made up the pattern in this delightful black and gold metallic Kaufman Essex linen and after squeezing myself into their size 6 sample I decided to make the exact same thing, this time in a size 10.

Essex linen is a little on the stiff side, but I like how it emphasizes the structure of the dress. I also wanted something easy to wear to holiday parties, and nothing beats gold sparkles, plus no waist definition so you can eat and drink as much as you want, right?

I went sleeveless since it felt more "evening"; I think the high-low hem helps here too since it frames the legs nicely.

This was a fun, satisfying make. The pocket construction is unusual, and I love the simple but graphic impact of the diagonal seam lines. The biggest change I made was to the facings. I almost always prefer an all in one facing, so I quickly drafted one. Nothing worse than a flippy neck facing, I tell ya.

I think this dress is a great addition to my more minimalist wardrobe; its simple and chic and understated, and I've worn it a few times when I needed something dressy this winter. I'll probably try making one up with sleeves in the wintertime, since I have a real lack of warm dresses (I just pile sweaters on top of everything).

Have you made the Farrow yet? Anyone else seduced by metallic linen too?

My Favourite Ebony Tee Dress in Floral Scuba

1 February 2017 by Heather Lou 42 Comments

This here is my personal favourite Ebony Tee. I have about 5 or 6 I've been wearing in constant rotation (and two more waiting to get sewn up) but this one is super special. It's just the perfect mix of fabric and pattern for me, and I am so happy I talked myself in to buying this beautiful digital print scuba when I found it. I've been really paring down the crazy prints in my wardrobe, but the scale of the floral and black background of this fabric is just so sophisticated. I couldn't resist.

I brought it home and it sat in my stash for a few weeks while I thought about what to do with it. I love how sculptural scuba knits are in more voluminous silhouettes, so I briefly considered using it to make the new Grainline dress, until I literally sat up in bed one morning with the duh, stupid realization that it would make a fab Ebony.

I decided that short sleeves and the raglan seaming would be the best choice for the fabric and print, so I merged the Ebony tunic body to the dress (a tutorial is coming later this week on how you can do the same). I left all the seams unfinished since there is no need to hem such a sturdy knit; I like how sharp and clean it looks simply raw.

Pattern placement was important. I decided to highlight the raglan seam by contrasting the floral print with a mostly solid sleeve. I think it breaks up the volume in a pleasing way.

The most interesting part of this dress is the neck binding. I was aiming for something with some heft and three dimensionality. Rather than doing the typical t-shirt band called for in the pattern, I experimented with a few techniques before settling on wrapping a double layer of binding around the neckline. I'm working on a second version this week, so a tutorial will be forthcoming.

Also? So perfect for swirling, even if it means Athena can see up my dress, the little perv.

Harry wanted in on the action too, apparently.

I wore this dress on New Years pretty much just like I'm wearing it here, and haven't felt so "me" in a long time. I love getting dressed up, and this Ebony Tee is just everything I want when it's time to glam out; a bold silhouette in a dramatic fabric, that is comfortable enough to dance in all night long. Mission accomplished!

Would you consider making Ebony is a more substantial fabric? Anyone else made anything fabulous in scuba lately?

ps. Yes, I chopped off all my hair last month. It was a little impulsive and I proceeded to basically cry every time I looked in the mirror until I figured out how to style it. Basically my lazy half blow drying routine doesn't cut it anymore. I'm using a lot more product and a straightening iron to do "beach waves", but it's kind of fun to have a kicky new 'do and be forced to step outside of my comfort zone, styling wise. Sometimes you gotta mix it up.

Colette Myrtle Dress // Observer Fabric Tour

3 October 2016 by Heather Lou 6 Comments

You know how you have those patterns on your must make list, but then you keep adding things to said list until it becomes so long and overwhelming you end up feeling a huge amount of guilt and FOMO everytime you look at it? Tell me I'm not alone.

Well, the Myrtle dress from Colette has been on that list for a long, looong time. I loved it so much when it came out; not many knit dress patterns make me think "glamourous", but Myrtle is the exception; there is something about a draped cowl neckline that makes me feel like a real fancy lady. So, when April Rhodes asked me to participate in her new Observer Fabrics blog tour, I knew just what to make when this spectacular fabric arrived.

April Rhodes is one of my favorite fabric designers these days; she has a real knack for prints and this fabric is no exception. Paired with this pattern it kind of reminds me of the newsprint dress Carrie wore in Sex and the City, and I will take a SATC fashion reference any day of the week (I am embarrassed by how many times I have seen that show from start to finish, even though I would like to throw the second movie on the ashheap of history where it rightfully belongs).

I've said it before (here, to be more exact), but Art Gallery Fabrics makes the finest cotton spandex, ever. It's extremely soft with a nice amount of body and is an utter delight to sew with. If you're used to paying under $10 a yard for knits, the price may seem a little high but it's absolutely worth it (I actually just bought a few more yards in different colourways off Fabric.com because I can't get enough of it).

Normally I don't wear things until I've photographed them for the blog, but I have to admit I've worn this dress repeatedly before I finally had a chance to take some snaps, praying I wouldn't spill anything on it the whole time. The pattern itself is great, but I made a few changes. I tried on the bodice before sewing on the skirt and found it a little too wide for my narrow shoulders, so I ended up having to pinch out an inch through the center back to get it to fit. Thankfully it's a knit so I just eased the excess of the skirt in, but I'll re-draft the back the next time I make it. I am also quite happy with the flare of the skirt - this fabric has enough body to make it feel nice and full which is satisfying to swish around in. The bodice feels wide enough to easily slip on and off, so I would love to hack the bodice onto my Sallie Jumpsuit at some point or another.

The other change I made was to topstitch the pockets to the front of the dress - they felt a little loosey goosey without it. I might also raise the waist a half inch or so since it's blousing a little more than I prefer.

If you're as smitten with this fabric as I am, you can buy it here. I am also excited to dig into the shibori print voile April sent as well, but it will have to wait till spring since it would make the perfect warm weather dress.

Have you dipped into the Observer collection yet? I've loved everything everyone has been making with it; you can see the entire group on April's blog.

An Animal Print Wren Dress

21 September 2016 by Heather Lou 28 Comments

I managed to make quite a few things this summer despite my workload and travelling schedule. Most of them have been worn over and over and over again since I've essentially been living out of a suitcase for the past few months, and strangely, rather than getting tired of these repeats I've just grown more attached.

My Wren Dress is definitely on that list of attachments. I made it from an gorgeous animal print rayon knit I bought at Jospehine's Dry Goods in Portland last fall; it matches my skin tone, so it feels like a nude but is broken up with the splotches of black.

I have worn this dress at least once a week for the last two months. It was especially handy when we traveled to Europe this summer, since it didn't wrinkle much and made me feel put together even when I had just jumped out of the shower like I did in Spain when we took these photos.

Ah Barcelona. You have to love a city you can walk around in while drinking a beer.

I really like this pattern. It's a simple, classic silhouette with some nice details: I love the slightly lower curve at the back of the neck, the empire waist that drops as it wraps around the body and the light ruching at the shoulder. It's feminine and flattering and a little vintage feeling; classic Colette.

The wrap depth is perfect on me - enough to not show too much cleave without being overly modest, and I didn't have to adjust the skirt length at all (I generally find things too long or too short....)

It came together very quickly on my machine, and I even got to hem it using my new coverstitch (more on that to come). The only thing I'm not crazy about is the joint where the wrap portions meet at the clear elastic waistband. There are a few opposing forces at work there so it creates a weird little pulling above my belly button. It's also possible it's my sewing . I had to sew the elastic in several times - my serger was not enjoying all the layers and gathering and I think things got strangely stretched out down there. I'll have to make another version at some point so I can see - I think it would be delicious in a merino wool knit for fall.

Making Wren reminds me how much I love a good knit dress, so I've been making some hard decisions about what to do with the knits that survived the vicious stash purge of 2016.

Have you made Wren? What's your favourite knit dress pattern?

Details: Wren dress by Colette, handmade leather sandals from Etsy, vintage Coach purse (similar here)

Summer Staple // Self Drafted Linen Shirt Dress

10 August 2016 by Heather Lou 163 Comments

The nice thing about having a bunch of blocks and half drafted patterns sitting around (you have no idea how many things I have started playing with and then discarded like a baby with amnesia) is that when you have a vision of a very particular simple dress stuck in your head, it probably won't take that long to just draft it yourself.

pssst... As of April 2017, this dress is now a pattern! You can snag it in our shop here.

The original incarnation of this pattern was actually a shirt dress project from way back last year; I was inspired by the look of women in oversized men's oxford shirts (nothing sexier in my opinion... nothing). It's still an idea I love and may dust off one day, but my original drafts made the perfect base for this particular shirt dress. I wanted something super lightweight and loose fitting that would look great in linen, and be easy to wear during my travels this summer.

I couldn't be happier with it if it woke me up every morning with a cup of strong tea and a croissant. It's the absolute 100% perfect thing to wear when it's so hot you want to cry, I can dress sit it up or down, and because it's made from a beautiful creamy white linen, I feel like Meryl Streep in Out of Africa but minus all the problematic neo-colonial undertones.

It is also easily the most complimented thing I've ever made; I've been chased down the street to ask where I got it. "My Bernina" isn't the most helpful reply, sorry ladies.

The construction is pretty simple. It has a banded kimono sleeve with a classic shirt collar. What's unique is the deeply curved hem, an exaggerated version of a men's shirt hem. It's so curved that it had to be finished with matching bias tape rather than the typical fold press and stitch hem (if I change anything I might shorten the back by just a smidge). I also extended the back yoke into the sleeve and drafted an extra wide back pleat; I like how fluid and sculptural it feels from behind.

I was so happy to have it in Barcelona when it got uncomfortably hot and sticky, and even happier that I packed a pair of bike shorts to wear with it (I don't know when my inner thighs became allergic to humidity, but the chaffing is NO JOKE).

Heat rash aside, I'm looking forward to making a dozen more next summer, in every shade of linen available. Because.

What do you think of this dress/pattern? What's your secret summer weapon (besides bike shorts?)

Details: Self drafted linen shirt dress, handmade Greek sandals from Etsy

Hannah Dress by Victory Patterns

21 July 2016 by Heather Lou 28 Comments

Do you ever get so ridiculously jazzed by a new pattern that you basically push everything else off your sewing table in your excitement to get started? This was essentially my reaction when Kristiann at Victory Patterns released the Hannah Dress this spring. I got to see this feat of engineering live on Kristiann at Camp Workroom Social last year, and I was blown away by how innovative the construction is; this is a very special pattern.

At first glance it's a chic little shirt dress with a tunic placket and a deeply curved hem. What really sets it apart is the crossover back panel that wraps around the front and dies into the front pockets. It's sculpturally interesting enough on its own to be made in a solid colour (how fabulous in linen!) but I decided to dive into my immense stash of shirt making fabric instead. I pulled out this lovely blue oxford, and waited for the right contrast fabric to sing my name.

It happened at Fabrications in Ottawa; I knew as soon as I saw this huge floral print quilting cotton that I had found my match. Of course I failed to save the selvedge so I can't remember the company, but it's very soft with a much drapier hand than typical quilting cottons. I'm not normally a big floral print kind of lady, but I loved how modern and graphic this one was, and the blues matched my oxford perfectly.

It's a great pattern to experiment with dramatic prints since they only pop in as an accent and don't dominate the entire dress. I am utterly in love with the final result of this pairing; it feels modern and feminine and very very cool.

Other details to love? The super deep pockets (perfect for dog walking!), the slanted side seams and the wide hem facing. I LOVE HEM FACINGS! Full disclosure, I was working on a shirt dress last year that had some of the same design features of Hannah, and I was experimenting with a wide hem facing as well. It's such a nice alternative to a rolled hem. I forgot to snap picks of the guts, otherwise you'd see that the facing is also from the same floral cotton; a little special touch that only I can see. #secretsewing

The placket is drafted and explained well, which may be a relief to some of you since they can be a little frustrating to sew if the instructions aren't crystal clear. The button band is hidden, and while I liked the detail, I skipped the buttons because a) I would never do them up and b) I could probably use a little more room in the bust. I'm fine with how clean it looks sans buttons. You can see a little pulling around the placket but since I don't have to do it up I'm not sweating it.

This pattern is definitely on the more advanced side; the way it's assembled is a bit like origami and while the instructions are written well and Kristiann provides more than enough match points, you'll have to pay attention when it's time to put it all together. However, this is a pattern that is absolutely worth a little care and time; I get borderline harassed by people whenever I wear it.

Have you made Hannah yet? Have I sold you on this little miracle of a dress?

Details: Hananh dress in oxford and cotton, handmade leather sandals from Etsy, prescription sunnies from Firmoo

A McCalls Shirtdress in African Wax Print

2 June 2016 by Heather Lou 53 Comments

It's so funny how we as a community can collectively get obsessed with a pattern. It's basically how a virus spreads; one person catches it, sneezes on a few people, and before you know it we're all feverish and shaking, wearing Inari Dresses, Linden sweatshirts, or the blockbuster Big 4 hit of the last few years, McCalls 6696.

I caught the virus. Technically I caught it last year, and in a fit of shirtdress fever actually bought the digital download since I was too impatient for it to arrive by post. This was a mistake. While I've personally never worried too much about pattern piracy (both because it's completely out of my control and because I think most sewists are respectful of all the blood, sweat and tears I put into my patterns), the Big 4 clearly are, and as a result their digital download system is a little byzantine (if not downright annoying). You need to download a special program to print and view your pattern, and from what I can remember, there is no way to figure out what pages you need to print, which means that with a huge beast like this shirt dress with multiple cup sizes and options, you're printing well over a hundred pages. Thankfully Deepika being the kind soul that she is brought me a paper copy when she visited Montreal last summer, saving me from the ultimate PDF assembly purgatory.

For my first version (a wearable muslin), I decide to use up some of the psychedelic Vlisco African wax print cotton I had bought in a madness last spring. Why I thought I needed 4 yards of a bright orange Escher-esque 3D print is a mystery to me; I got the same print in 2 other colourways as well, but its so bold that I've mostly been using it as pocket linings in jeans these days (if you love wax prints, under no circumstance visit the Vlisco site. You'll basically lose your mind and sell your eggs for every single thing they make). Boldness aside, it's the perfect weight for a structured pattern like this; cotton loves waist pleats, trust me.

I had traced out the pattern last year but only got around to making it this spring, and you'll have to forgive me for totally forgetting what size I made. I think I did the C-up bodice grading from a size 12 at the bust to a 14 at the waist, but I ended up doing some additional side seam tomfoolery to get her to fit. Like many, I removed all the gathering from the back piece, basically by folding it out and redrafting the seams so they ended cleanly in the yoke and waistband. If you'd like to skip that pattern adjustment, you could probably try M7351 , which looks like the same block minus all that back fullness.

It fits beautifully through the front, but I am getting some pooling at the small of my back so I'll be making a slight sway back adjustment for my next version. Of course, there will be a next version... this is a lovely pattern with perfect proportions and I am very excited to make a sleeveless version using a breathtaking hand dyed rayon sent to me by my pen pal Nicole.

Even though it is loud as hell (not quite in line with the more monochromatic palette I've been fond of lately) it turns out it's the perfect dress for picnicking and bike rides. And it helps that if I got lost in the forest, they would be able to see me from space.

Have you made M6696? What's your favourite shirt dress pattern?

Named Inari Tee Dress In Soft Linen

10 July 2015 by Heather Lou 48 Comments

I haven't really had a thought out, wardrobe architectured plan for my summer sewing; it's been pretty improvisational around here these days. Flying by the seat of your pants doesn't generally yield consistent, unified results, but I've surprised myself by making a fairly cohesive summer capsule wardrobe this summer, something made clear when I started packing for a friends wedding this weekend and everything just worked together.

Here's what I am more or less wearing every day:

1. Various iterations of Sallie, in dress and jumpsuit form. I cropped one sample to wear with flats, and just picked up a navy linen knit and gorgeous watercolour floral rayon for yet another dress.

2. Slightly fancier summer dresses for picnics, cocktails and the like. My black linen Lonsdale has been worn at least once a week, and I just made a graphic Sophia dress for the wedding tomorrow, one I'm sure to be wearing again this summer.

3. Loose fitting tunic dresses for mega hot days and running errands in the neighborhood. Preferably in linen. With luck, made from the Inari Tee dress pattern by Named.

This is a brilliant pattern. It's the second time I've sewn a Named design, and while I continue to be mildly annoyed by their PDF layouts (only in two sizes, not properly nested) I'm becoming really impressed with their eye for silhouette, proportion and cool, original details. At first glance this pattern is incredibly simple; it's basically a sack dress with no darts to speak of. But the fit is spot on (loose fitting and slouchy without saying "I've given up") and I love the subtle cocoon shaping in the side seams, the angled slit at the thigh, the slightly high/low hem, and the cuffed sleeve. It is chic and modern and oh so easy to wear.

The clogaholics among you may have spotted my new/old beauts. They're vintage Italian guys from Italy. My heart stopped for one perfect minute when I saw them at the vintage store. The fact that they actually fit these size 9 dogs felt like a minor miracle, or clog kismet.

Back to the dress. I zipped this up in an evening using the same linen I used for my Lonsdale. I made a size 8, grading to a little larger than a 10 at the hip. All the seams are finished using my beloved Juki (which I just reviewed here), and I skipped the facing in favour of a bias bound neckline using self fabric. I was especially pleased with the fit through the shoulder - I often have issues with gaping since I'm a little narrow up there, but this was perfect from minute one. A super easy, satisfying make, well suited to my jazzy improv sewing style this summer. I've worn and washed it enough that's it already starting to get that slightly faded, well loved patina that linen gets over time. Also? Soft as hell.

I have plans to make a few more of these, maybe even with one of my new Vlisco wax print acquisitions if I'm feeling bold. Next time I'll be sure to reinforce the slit hem with a little bar tack, but otherwise, this pattern is going in the canon.

Has anyone else made Inari yet? Are you on the sack dress train too? Let's all be chic and lazy together.

Black Linen Love: Lonsdale Dress By Sewaholic

16 June 2015 by Heather Lou 87 Comments

I'm rather ashamed to admit this, but I used to have a linen hang-up. I associated it with sweaty oversized shirts worn by men on holiday vacations, and baggy wrinkled shapeless sacks worn by art teachers with statement necklaces. But something funny has happened over the last few years; linen (and wearing shapeless sack dresses with statement necklaces) has grown on me. Grown on me like an invasive ivy. Someone will have to come and hack off its tendrils in September or else its just going to take over the entire building.

It started in bed, as so many things do. I became obsessed with linen bedding. Looking at sexily rumpled linen sheets made my eyes water with longing and I ended up acquiring a linen duvet cover from Ikea that after many, many washes is one of the softest, coziest, skin pleasing things I own. Last year I started dabbling in linen clothing, making a Flora dress and Katy and Laney Tap Shorts but it was still a very casual, low maintenance habit. It wasn't until my linen Holly Jumpsuit that it started getting more serious, although thankfully summer ended before I could start pawning my belongings for more yardage. This year things took a turn. I bought 10 yards of gorgeous medium weight white and black linen from one of my dealers on St. Hubert and have been steadily mainlining it ever since. Thank goodness linen doesn't leave track marks. This Lonsdale dress from Sewaholic Patterns is all about the arms.

I love the Lonsdale, and made it up a few summers ago in a vintage cotton print. I unfortunately got a little overzealous when I was fitting that one and took WAY too much off the side seams, resulting in something I can only refer to as Pancake Uniboob From Hell. I love that dress but I got depressed each time I looked down and saw a board where my ladies used to be. I decided I needed to rectify the situation with a new take. My linen habit needed a fix.

This time around I made a straight size 10 and left the side seams as is. The bodice of this pattern is unique because it's closely fitting without darts; the shaping comes from the knot, so you really need to do a full muslin to see how it's going to react with your chest. In my case it was totally fine, but Tasia wrote a post on doing an FBA to this pattern if you're worried about it. The only modification I made was to shorten the bodice by 1/2" since I found it a touch too long as drafted. I also deleted the bow at the back since I didn't have a lot of yardage and that super long strap is a fabric hog. I intended to attach the straps to the back with concealed buttons but I didn't leave quite enough length so they're sewn down for now. This may be a problem once it's washed and needs to be ironed around the bust knot, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. And by cross that bridge, I mean hit with a heavy dose of steam from my gravity feed iron.

I sewed in a little hook and eye but I couldn't reach it on my own when I was wearing it the day I took pictures, so forgive the little gap at the top of the zipper. Construction wise I used an invisible zipper and serged all my seams. I finished the hem with wine coloured lace tape I had in my stash; it's a funny little 90's goth detail. I also closed the waistband by stitching in the ditch from the outside rather than hand sewing it closed because #lazyseamstress. I whipped this baby up in an afternoon and basically just want to wear it to all the picnics now.

As for the rest of the black linen I scored, only scraps remain. I managed to squeeze out another dress AND an oversized 80's croptop I need to get around to documenting. I'll turn to the white linen next; I'm hoping it's thick enough that I'll be able to make at least one shapeless art teacher sack dress from it without having to wear a slip beneath. And I *may* have purchased even more linen, including a linen knit that I am VERY excited about this week, so you know, the addiction rages on.

And you? Are you as crazy for this stuff as I am? Or do all the wrinkles give your OCD a case of hives?

Details: Lonsdale dress by Sewaholic in black linen (similar here), Hasbeens Federica clogs, Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Mischevious

Hacking Nettie - Off the Shoulder Nettie Dress

19 May 2015 by Heather Lou 54 Comments

I love a good pattern hack; there are few things more satisfying in my sewing practice than taking a pattern I already know and love and turning it into something dramatically different with a few swipes of the Sharpie. Even better when the pattern in question is one of my own.

The inspiration for hacking this off-the-shoulder Nettie dress came from a weird source; a vintage 90's Kathy Ireland for Butterick pattern. I bought it a while back from a thrift store but discovered the pattern tissue was missing once I got it home. I never threw out the envelope (you know you're hoarding patterns when.....) and stumbled on it again a few weeks ago. Around this time someone asked for a tutorial on shoulder hacking Nettie so I finally got on it. And in so doing, discovered a body part I don't generally think very much about. Well hello clavicle! Meet the world!

I'm going to talk about the process in a tutorial later this week, but needless to say, chopping the shoulders off this pattern is a super easy modification (one more reason to love knits - it's so easy to get creative with a good base!) I used a beefy textured double knit in a - let's be honest - rather crazy print, and drafted the skirt to have more of an A-line shape. The result is a surprisingly structured cocktail dress that makes me feel like the walking x-ray of a cyborg skeleton. In a good way.

I think I knocked this out in under 2 hours, including goofing around with pattern placement which was HIGHLY enjoyable. Sometimes you just need to have a sense of humour about the location of your baby maker.

The guts are all serged and the hem was finished with a double needle. And to be honest? It was fun to play with this pattern again. Sometimes I get burned out by my own designs after testing and sample-making for months on end, so it was nice to return to this little lady and rediscover my love for her. And I forgot how much I love golden hour in this gorgeous, spring-drunk city..... No more white studio walls for the foreseeable future!

Back later this week with a tutorial for shoulder hacking Nettie yourself!

Details: Nettie dress pattern with modifications, MAC Ruby Woo lipstick, double pearl earrings (similar here), Aldo platforms

Summer Maxi Dress DIY With Art Gallery Fabric

12 May 2015 by Heather Lou 75 Comments

I have a new strategy for keeping cool this summer and it involves wearing a surprising amount of fabric. I like a voluminous, billowy maxi-dress because it lets the bod breathe and saves money on sunscreening the lower half. It's a little sexy and a little modest; I'm calling it the halftan.

This pattern is Butterick 3407, a vintage favourite from my stash, and one I've been meaning to sew again. I first made it way back in 2011 (one of my first blog posts!) when I was much less experienced sewing with knits. I remember cutting it out on my best friend's floor, using a serger for the first time, and then sewing the neckline by hand. While I LOVE that dress, these days I basically need to wear it with 3 pairs of Spanx on top of each other because the fabric is light coloured and super slinky and shows off every everything, and I have put on a little weight since that summer when I gave up sugar, wine and processed carbs for health reasons (aka the summer of WHY GOD WHY). I have a different body now so I was excited to make another version in a sturdier, less slinky fabric.

Enter Art Gallery Fabrics. They got in touch last month and asked me if I'd like to try something from their new solid knits collection. I've been curious about this company for a while since I think they're doing some truly original work (I love the April Rhodes collections) so I was curious to see what the quality was like. I wasn't disappointed; the navy cotton lycra they sent me is gorgeous. It's super soft with great recovery, a nice weight and good 4-way stretch. It's the perfect choice for leggings or a Nettie bodysuit (or a drapey summer halftan).

I'm super into blue these days so I'm not surprised I gravitated towards something called "Deep Dark Ocean". I looked at my stack of spring and summer fabric the other day and realized almost 80% of it was some shade of indigo. I'm not sure when this colour shift happened but I'm not complaining; navy is a softer alternative to black, and I love how it reads classic or modern depending on the context.

The best thing about this project? I think it took an hour and half, tops. The dress itself is only two pattern pieces, with one seam going up the center front and two along the sides. The back seam is folded and sewn over a piece of elastic, and the front is folded over and zigzagged to create a channel for the halter strap. I left the hem unfinished because the length was perfect as is and I like a raw knit hem every once a while. Most of the volume is happening in the front which creates these deep drapey folds, nicely highlighted by the weight and hand of the fabric.

I love the easy-breezy bohemian feeling of this dress so it felt natural to throw on a bunch of art teacher jewelry and my handmade Greek sandals. I expect I'll be wearing it pretty much non-stop all summer. Who else is riding the halftan train with me? Has anyone else sewn with Art Gallery Fabrics knits before?

Art Gallery Fabrics supplied me with 3 yards of fabric to review; all opinions are my own.

Made: Asaka Kimono DIY by Named

29 April 2015 by Heather Lou 63 Comments

Sometimes, you just need to drop whatever you're doing, like, immediately, and make a big, sweet, tropical bowl of icing for dinner. It's the sewing equivalent of shaking up an Etch-A-Sketch; it pulls you out of your routine, clears your brain and creates a blank, fresh slate that reminds you how much fun it is to simply make stuff for your own selfish pleasure.

The Asaka Kimono is my latest sewing etch-a-sketch. I've been working on a lot of boring admin stuff and new pattern development and really needed a little mental break. I was quite taken with the spirit and general vibe of the new Named collection, and basically started panting like a dog in 100 degree heat when I saw this pattern. I was fairly lukewarm on the kimono DIY trend last summer, mostly because when I think "kimono" I think dramatic sleeves, and most of the patterns and tutorials I was seeing were basically just boxy jackets. But Asaka could be the star of a sleeve porno. These sleeves are obscene, and I can't get enough. To be honest, it's one of those designs that makes me a little mad I didn't think of it first.

Thankfully, my buddies over at Globetex emailed me to let me know they had recieved a new shipment of rayon challis in stock last month. Did I run over there without even finishing the email, perhaps with hair still wet from the shower? I may have, dear readers. Did I buy almost 25 meters of aforementioned challis in 6 colours and patterns because it was only $3 a meter? Perhaps. Did I immediately spot this technicolour Golden Girls wallpaper print and yell out ASAKA KIMONO! to the surprised and confused bystanders in the fabric warehouse? I cannot confirm or deny that fact. What I can confirm is that I stinkin' love this fabric and the resulting robe. My only regret is not getting a chance to photograph it in the Arizona desert this month, but alas. There were rattlesnakes and curious retirees in golf carts everywhere I looked. The white studio wall will have to suffice.

While I may have referred to this garment as "icing" in the top of my post, I think I'll actually get a lot of wear out of it this spring and summer. Now that I've retired the velvet "winter" bathrobe for the season, I'm in need of something light and breathy to wear around the house after showers, and on those Sundays when putting on real clothes feels like too much commitment. As my Carolyn Pajamas can attest, I'm a big fan of luxurious lounge wear, and what's more luxe than a drapey, soft kimono with obscene, useless but beautiful sleeves?

This was my first time sewing a Named design but I wasn't surprised to discover it was only nested in two sizes; I've heard this is the norm with their layouts. I could see this being a problem with a more fitted design if you have to grade between 3 or 4 sizes, but since it's a loose-fitting shape, it's probably not as critical. The pieces were also overlapped, which I didn't mind since I am a tracer and a non-overlapped pattern would have eaten up 50 pages or more. The one thing I did find annoying was seam allowances; while they were included, it was only for 3/8" rather than the standard 5/8". Fine if you're serging your seams, but considering this pattern was designed for silky, drapey fabrics, I found it a little strange that the seam allowance wouldn't permit french seams. Needless to say, I added a 1/4" to my seams by roughly eye balling it while I was cutting out the fabric with my rotary cutter and then french-seamed all of the guts. The rest of the construction was pretty uneventful, although my fusible was a touch on the heavy side, so the belt and collar are probably a little too stiff. Since rayon is so wiggly, stitching in the ditch along the collar didn't result in the most even stitching on the inside, but meh. No one sees there but me. And if I ever make this again, I'm definitely adding pockets.

All in all, I am in complete and utter sleeve lust with this make. I'd love to wear it as a dress but it would need a few mods to stay modest all day long. As is, it's going to be my lazy glam houselook for the foreseeable future. Has anyone else made a pattern from the new Named collection? Would you wear this pattern as a dress or is it better left as an inside only type affair?

Details: Asaka Kimono in rayon challis (a similarly beautful floral rayon is on sale here), DIY turban, Hasbeens Fredrica Platforms, Wet N Wild Megalast Lipstick)

A Coco Dress With a Side of Leg

13 January 2015 by Heather Lou 65 Comments

Let me share a piece of hard-earned wisdom with you: never, ever hem a dress while wearing leggings. Yes, you are keeping your apartment at a cool 19 degrees and are rarely ever not wearing a dozen layers, and maybe are feeling particularly lazy on that particular day about taking the 30 seconds to remove said leggings (which may have also involved removing heavy wool socks, leg warmers and moccassins) but just do it.

Because otherwise you may fail to realize just how damn short your beloved new Coco is. The Coco you had in mind back in the summer when you bought two yards of pricey but delicious high quality ponte at Mood. The ponte you eye-banged every time you opened your stash closet. The black and white striped, heavy but drapey ponte you really should have splurged and bought more of. Observe the evidence:

She's laughing but really she's thinking, "I'm maybe a little too old to pull off skirts quite this short, and I will have to bring a towel to sit on every time I take the metro wearing this, because otherwise my bum will be touching the sweaty seat excretions of thousands of Montrealers".

She's thinking, "This is really going to have to be an opaque tights dress only, or perhaps a tunic to be worn with leggings, because mercy me, this is not a bike-riding dress, a metro-sitting dress, or a bending over dress. This is an upskirt dress".

Perhaps I'm over-reacting. It really is the comfiest, coziest Coco ever and I've certainly had dresses this short in the past. But my original Coco was at least 2 inches longer, so when tunic & leggings season is over I may just hack this one into a breton top. And remind myself to never, ever hem while wearing leggings again.

An Anna // Charlotte Holiday Hack

17 December 2014 by Heather Lou 44 Comments

Hello lovelies! As I type there is approximately 2 feet of snow outside, my new parka is getting broken in and I have stacks of wrapped Christmas gifts on the cutting table. It's that short, beautiful time of winter where the weather hasn't started to feel oppressive and all of the holiday parties take the edge off the fact that snow boots are your new daily staple.

Speaking of holiday parties..... I took a break from sewing comfy, loungey knits to make some icing. Some gilded, foiled icing that makes me feel like a Christmas decoration in the best possible way. It feels like it's been forever since I made an actual dress with darts and a zipper and it was fun to get back to my sewing roots: ridiculously over the top dresses that rarely get worn but make you smile every time you see them.

The fabric really called the shots for this project. On one of my trips to the wholesale wonderland that is the Chabanal district in Montreal, I stumbled on this gold foil organza. It reminds me of camo print, like if Ted Nugent did drag (if anyone is wondering what my dream Christmas gift would be, it is Ted Nugent giving Liza Minelli realness, fyi). I couldn't resist it's gilded lure, especially for $5 a yard. I brought it home, draped it on the form and tried to figure out what pattern would work. I wanted something with simultaneous softness and structure, so I turned to an old favourite, the Anna dress from By Hand London. Inspired by the beautiful Anna/Charlotte hack from Diary of Chain Stitcher, I decided a cocktail dress with a pencil skirt was the way to go.

I made the Charlotte way back when, but it was too tight and the fit was off (the things you realize in hindsight). This pattern has double darts in front which makes me look pregnant with hollow air babies. However, I wanted to keep them so that they lined up with the double pleats on the Anna bodice. I made a few muslins to try and perfect the fit, since this fabric magnifies drag lines like you wouldn't believe. I cut a US10 for the bodice and a US12 for the skirt. Here's a list of pattern modifications I made:

Took out a wedge from front and back neckline to prevent gaping.
Shaved 2 inches off each shoulder, basically removing a wedge and tapering to nothing at the under arm, since the fabric was too stiff for the wider kimono sleeve.
Drafted a deep V in the back. Since this means fabric is cut on the bias, to prevent gaping I shaved 1/8" at the inner back shoulder, tapering to nothing at the outer arm. It helps pull the fabric in a little.
Shortened the front pleats by about 3/4". I've never had to make this modification before but in this fabric, the pleats weren't ending beneath the girls like they should have.
The skirt gave me some headaches since I was moving the darts higher than they were designed to sit on the body. I was getting crazy volume under my tummy, so I narrowed the front darts on the skirt to half the original size, lengthened then by about 1"and moved them over to align with the pleats. I then removed the excess width at the waist, and moved the side seams over so they aligned with bodice.
Lengthened the back dart by 1" and moved it over so it aligned with bodice dart.

I was fairly happy with the fit in the end, but in hindsight I'd shave more off the back shoulder seam since the back gapes ever so slightly. It's also a little hard to assess if the fit is spot on or not since the fabric is so distracting and stiff. I think I could have made the front darts even skinnier since there is still a little too much volume around the baby maker.

In terms of construction, I left the seams raw since they were ever so pretty, hemmed with lace tape, fully lined it with a navy bemberg rayon, interfaced the CB for an invisible zipper and added a hook and eye at the top. I used my favourite method to line the bodice, which is to sew both the bodice and lining at shoulder seams, and then sew then together along the neckline and arm opening. You then pull one end of each side through the shoulder opening and sew the side seams in one continuous line (refer to this tutorial if that is not clear). I was in a bit of a rush and didn't have time to handstitch the lining to the zipper, so I tried flipping everything inside out and machine stitched the lining to the zipper. I've never done this before and it was a little tricky to get everything aligned but it's a good time saver. My lining ended up looking a bit wonky at the top but no one will ever see it so, pffft.

I wore this to a holiday party last weekend in New York, and will probably pull it on New Year's Eve. It's been a long time since I made a party dress and I forgot how much I missed the process! The only real problem is that this fabric creases like CRAZY and looks a little worse for wear after an evening of sitting. I'm hoping a good steam will release some of those creases.

How about you? Any holiday dress sewing plans?

Jump for CoCo

20 August 2014 by Heather Lou 79 Comments

Hello friends. I've been trying to settle back into civilian life after an incredible weekend in New York where I spent just as much time wandering the city alone as I did in big groups of ladies gabbing non-stop about sewing. I hit that point in a vacation where you stop thinking about what everything costs and just mindlessly hand over your Visa about 20 times a day. If you don't hear from me in the next few weeks it's probably because I had a heart attack after looking at my bank balance.

To say I hit the fabric district would be akin to saying that Godzilla tiptoed across Tokyo. I think I dislocated a shoulder carrying all my spoils around town; I know relatively speaking Montreal has pretty good fabric shopping but the sheer quantity and quality of what's available does force you into this half-mad state where you're just fondling and buying without end. I just kept whispering "Business expense business expense business expense". I got lots of supplies for my next few patterns, but I was determined to find good basics for my much needed home office wardrobe.

My old handmade work wardrobe of sheath dresses and pretty blouses isn't really appropriate for waking up and walking to the computer. And wearing ratty pajamas isn't really the best recipe for "LET'S BE PRODUCTIVE!" It's more, let's work for a few hours and take a catnap. So I scored a bunch of great ponte, organic jersey and wool knits for comfy but cute stuff I can throw on in the morning.

My biggest priority was making Tilly's Coco. I've had the pattern for a few months but as you may know, it is REALLY hard to find perfect Breton stripes, and I had a "Heather Lou in the Riviera" vision in my head I wasn't going to compromise. This white and black ponte from Mood fit the bill. It has a touch more poly than I would have liked, but the weight was good and it had the perfect stripe ratio happening.

I went for a classic boat neck dress with 3/4 sleeves, and I'm pretty sure I'll make a lot more. It's a "make in the morning, photograph in the afternoon" sort of garment; super comfortable and a great blank canvas for accessorizing. In my "money means nothing" fugue state I picked up a great straw fedora and shades in the East Village, and *may* have actually bought a watch on Canal street. All the New Yorkers laughed at me when I admitted it, but at the time I was happy to dole out $40 to watch the hilarious transaction go down. I think they learned how to get away with selling knockoffs by watching The Wire; it involves a relay of about 4 people. I kept expecting to see a tiny hand pass them the goods through an opening in the sewers. My other two fake gold men's watches have bit the bullet, so feeling like i was in the middle of a high stakes drug deal was an added bonus to acquiring a new one.

Not much to say about the construction. I serged all my seams and zigzagged my hems because I've been having issues with my double needle stitching unraveling. I've accepted that it may be time to buy a coverstitch machine, and I am hoping some of you will chime in with suggestions!

Introducing...The Nettie Pattern

30 April 2014 by Heather Lou 122 Comments

Hello friends! I’m beyond excited to tell you that after a few months of laaaaaate nights, a mind-numbing amount of serger thread changes and more yards of jersey than I can count, my new baby is finally ready for your eyes and sewing machines.

Say hi to Nettie.

The genesis of this project started months and months ago. I was on the hunt for a bodysuit. I love how clean and modern they look under skirts and pants, and I hate having to constantly tuck in my shirt. I couldn’t find a pattern I liked, and all the vintage ones I tracked down were not designed for modern knit fabrics. I finally resorted to retail, and had a few moments of pure panic and body shame in dressing rooms, trying on leotards that basically cut my (prodigious) booty into the quad cheek nightmare that inspired the Bombshell pattern. They were either too high cut or way too short for my torso. Clothing shouldn’t feel like dental floss.

I love that my butt, and how to fit it into things, is the inspiration for so many of my ideas.

While I was bodysuit hunting, a few other sewing bloggers were posting about their DIY attempts at drafting them, or the relative dearth of available patterns. Logic followed that I take up the bodysuit quest, and draft one that would make all of our different types of bodies happy. So that’s what I’ve done.

In the process, I discovered that Nettie, with the addition of a skirt panel, makes one helluva knit dress (or t-shirt!), so I am thrilled to add that as a variation as well. Whether you make a Nettie bodysuit or dress, you will get to mix and match your choice of 3 sleeve lengths, two neckline and 3 back options for a Nettie cocktail perfectly tailored to your taste. You can go modest with a bateau neckline or show off some skin with a scoop neck and low back version. The bodysuit variation has a low cut bum to prevent those annoying panty lines, along with an optional snap crotch so you don’t have to get naked to go pee. The leg and neck openings are finished with the same stretch fabric you’re using to make the bodice, so this is a budget conscious project – you don’t need any extra notions unless you’re adding crotch snaps or a shelf bra.

Nettie Dress & Bodysuit Pattern, Closet Core Patterns, PDF pattern — Nettie bodysuit paired with By Hand London Flora skirt!

This pattern can be made using a serger or a regular machine, and I worked hard to write instructions and draft illustrations that should make this a breeze to make. And the beautiful thing is, Nettie goes with everything! I love wearing her with jeans and wide legged pants, or a full skirt for a chic French vibe. The dress variation can be perfectly casual with sandals, or sexy and simple with a pair of heels. It’s my idea of the perfect pattern – easy to make, and infinitely customizable.

Nettie is designed to be made with 4-way stretch fabrics with good recovery and at least 50% stretch. My absolute FAVOURITE fabric for Nettie is a medium weight cotton-spandex. It’s perfectly clingy and has a little firming mojo. I’ve also had success making them with spandex blends like rayon and bamboo, but drapier fabrics may not have enough body to do the job. The Nettie dress can be made with 2-way stretch like ponte, although I don’t suggest using such fabrics to make the bodysuit since you won’t have any vertical stretching along your torso and will need to lengthen the bodice in order to be comfortable.

I will be hosting a sewalong in a few weeks that will walk you step by step through the Nettie process. I know some people get nervous about sewing with knits, but as long as you have the right needle on your machine, Nettie is your friend. I will also be covering how to hack your Nettie with different seam finishes like lingerie & stretch lace elastic. I plan on posting an exhaustively detailed post later this week explaining fabric in more detail so you will know what to look for.

Now that I’ve told you a little bit about Nettie, I'd like to get a little personal and explain the naming of this pattern, and all future Closet Core Patterns.

Nearly everything meaningful I’ve learned about sewing has come from the blogosphere. There was a time when you relied on a home-ec class or a patient family member to show you the Singer ropes, but these days I open my rss reader and have a daily college level sewing class at my fingertips. It’s the highlight of my day.

I've been lucky enough to meet some of my fellow bloggers. Maybe we've talked on the phone, exchanged emails or racked up long distance phone bills gabbing about the craft. At the very least, we keep in touch and encourage one another through comment sections, Instagram and Twitter. You are a large part of why I sew, and are 100% responsible for why I decided to release the Bombshell last summer. I am so grateful to be a part of this inspiring, generous and creative community. Me? Wings. You? Wind.

This year I started thinking really seriously about where I wanted to take Closet Core Patterns. I had sketchbooks filled with pattern ideas, many inspired in some form or another by other bloggers; what they were making, what they wanted to make but couldn't find patterns for. Most of my ideas already had blog muses preternaturally attached to them in my mind. So it seemed fitting to name my new patterns after the people who get me excited about style, making and sewing, and who taught me so much about this craft; you folks in the sewing community.

So…. Nettie.

My muse for this pattern is Wanett aka Nettie; she writes Sown Brooklyn. Do you know her? You should. She's insightful, lovely, kind, creative, intelligent, a lover of reading and history. She has adorable children who take photos of her wearing the sorts of fun, modern, individualistic yet functional clothes you'd imagine a cool mom living in Brooklyn to wear. When I finally met her in NY this fall it was like meeting an old friend. And fatefully, she wrote a post about wanting to make a bodysuit around the same time I was trying and failing to find a pattern for one. Kismet... I probably wouldn't have started working on this pattern if it wasn't for bloggers like Nettie who told me I wasn't the only one longing for the sleek, no-fuss lines of a bodysuit.

So, this pattern is for Nettie, and all the other busy ladies out there who need chic, simple, flattering basics. This pattern has made getting dressed so much easier for me; I hope you find it as indispensable in your wardrobe as I do!

You can purchase it on my online store here. For those of you dedicated Paypal users, you can find it on Etsy here. Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm going to have a gigantic glass of white wine and exhale.

A Sequin Shift For A Mississippi Wedding

21 November 2013 by Heather Lou 58 Comments

Why does no one tell you when you buy your first sewing machine, "Have fun. But don't even think about tackling sequins unless you have 6 whole seasons of Sex and the City to watch while you methodically remove sequins from your seam lines". Bernina, Viking, Singer, et al., I'm looking at you. Seriously. WE NEED TO BE WARNED.

I've made some pretty involved stuff in my few years of sewing, but nothing, NOTHING (not rolled chiffon hems, not bound buttonholes, not bra-making) compared to the labour that went into this sequin dress.

Get ready for a photo deluge. I sewed this fugging thing for a whole month and it doesn't count if I don't drown you in photos of the pretty, shiny albatross.

Before I explain why I am posing on the steps of a beached houseboat in Mississippi, why don't I tell you what went into this beautfiul chevron asshole.

I'm feeling listy. Let's see:

1. The original pattern (a 60's shift from Burdastyle's Sewing Vintage Modern) did not even remotely fit. There was MAJOR back gappage and it took 2 muslins, dozens of adjustments and the spontaneous purchase of Fit for Real People to make it work. I pinched out many inches from the back seam (and then eliminated it all together), shifted the shoulder seam forward, pinched off the front.... the works. The final product fits like a dream. In the process, I learned I need to make forward shoulder and/or high rounded back adjustments to my clothes. Damn office job (and damned inability to ever attend a yoga class) explains the gaping I get in almost everything I've sewn. It's only taken me 2 years to figure it out.

2. The pattern did not call for sleeves so I frankensteined some from another pattern. I was recently won over to the concept of zero ease in sleeve caps after reading this (especially because sequins, in a shocking turn of events, look like disco barf when eased). I removed the ease by measuring the armscythe and sleeve opening. The sleeve was 4 cm larger, so I folded the difference out and redrew my sleeve curve. There is a good tutorial for this here. I initially drafted a short sleeve but got nervous about the sequins rubbing up against each other under my armpit, so I drafted yet another sleeve, this one more of a little shoulder cap that would not create pit friction.

3. Once I had FINALLY got the fit down, I cut out my fabric. I should mention, this was an amazingly lucky score from a swap we had in Montreal. Monseratt, I was blessing and cursing you during the making of this dress, but the two yards of bronze chevron hell came in on the side of Good in the end. Rather than use weights and a rotary cutter as is my wont, I traced the pattern pieces on the wrong side and cut them out using heavy duty shears. I was trying my best to match the pattern on the sides as well.

4. Now I had 4 pattern pieces and about 20 feet of seam lines to prepare. Here is where this epic sewing tale took a gnarly Lord of the Rings "Thou Shall Not Pass" twist. You have to remove sequins from your seams. You will destroy your machine if you don't. So I spent hours, days, weeks, on my couch with a protective lap cover snipping each faux leather and tiny metallic sequin off with tiny scissors, and then pulled each one off the thread with tweezers. If you just seam rip them off you will loosen the entire thread and will be dropping sequins like bread crumbs. My house looked like Rupaul exploded in it for weeks. I kept finding sequins everywhere - my bed, my shoes, my tub. Thank god the cats can't complain.

Here you can see me naively trying to minimise the amount of sequins to remove. I used a sharpie to mark just under 5/8" of an inch and removed ever sequin the sharpie touched. When I sewed everything together, I would inevitably catch one here or there so those had to be removed as well. Once the seams were sewn, I went and removed everything along the seam allowance to remove bulk and allow me to serge them together. Hours, days, weeks, people.

5. Once the main pieces were assembled, I made a simple lining out of a stretch net (the sequined fabric had stretch as well). I sewed the neck opening down and then turned the lining in. The sleeves were lined and assembled separately. Attaching everything at the arm hole took a little McGyvering but I got it done. BUT. The lining was too lightweight and despite the understitching I had done at the neckline, kept flipping up. I had to hand sew the seam allowances to the net lining in order to get it to stay down. Not my best work. I was exhausted and my hands were sequin throbbing.

6. Once I removed the sequins from the hem, I realised a simple folded hem wouldn't do. I made a hem facing out of a similarly weighted stretch fabric and then hand stitched it to the inside. This is maybe my new favourite hem finish - it looks so profesh and gives a nice weight to the bottom.

7. FINALLY, I spent a night filling in the gaps where I removed too many sequins. This was after 6 seasons of Sex in the City and into the second movie. Thank heavens I was visually distracted by the dress and didn't have to pay too much mind to the MONSTROSITY that is SATC 2 (Samantha in the souk with condoms, ugh). But I digress.

The reason I embarked on this sequin journey in the first place was the fact that one of my favourite girlfriends was marrying a good ol' Southern Boy in Clarksdale, Mississippi. I wanted something fancy but casual for their wedding. Little did I know when I arrived that I would be staying in one of the greatest accommodations ever.... The Shack Up Inn. It is a collection of old sharecropper shacks surrounding a cotton gin. The place is loaded with charm and history (which you may have seen a little of in my Instagram feed this week).

At the risk of making this post even longer than it is, I can summarise the three days I spent there thusly:

Drank moonshine and ate smoked deer and wild boar ham and got into an discussion with a Southern Baptist preacher about global warming. Ate a chili cheeseburger for breakfast and followed it up with a rack of ribs for lunch and fried catfish for dinner. Carted a bottle of whiskey the size of my torso into a juke joint and watched an 80 year old man sing the blues while passing the bottle around. Gave the bride a pair of homemade white lace wedding night knickers. Kissed the best man in a muddy field. Danced in an old cotton gin with a mix of hipsters and extras from Duck Dynasty. Rode in a pickup, got very little sleep, drank more beer than I ever have in my life and learned to say y'all. Had the best time ever. Y'all.

The south is tremendously underrated.

Also, I dyed my tips with red Manic Panic this week.

Back to the real world, where sequins are for special occasions and the morning doesn't start with cracking a cold one. xoxo

All photos by the inimitable Alanna Whittington-Barnes.

Another Wax Print Party Dress

25 April 2013 by Heather Lou 17 Comments

There is something about wax prints that just screams "HAVE A GOOD TIME" to me. Maybe that's why I sent Oona a few yards of this gold peanut print beauty for our Sew Bossy exchange - Oona IS good times personified.

That is also why when I decided to make a very very VERY last minute dress for New Year's, I turned to the scant 2 yards I had left to make something. Something short. Something cleavagey. Something New Yearsy. Now, I know it is now April 24th, and New Years happened many moons ago, but I realized I haven't posted this guy yet. And I have a backlog of projects to be photographed so in the meantime...

In a shocking turn of events, I added an exposed zipper. I think I might be close to over this detail now. Almost every dress I've ever made has had one.

Now, it's been so long since this dress was made I don't remember what pattern I used on the bust. But it was just a simple sheath dress from my stash, nothing spesh. I added a circle skirt, just barely eking it out of the little material I had left. I lined it in a rayon bemberg. if I remember correctly, I finished it about 20 minutes before i was supposed to leave for my party. If memory serves, I had a wonderful, drunken night and danced until sweaty and kicked 2012 in it's lousy ass.

Then came home (*intoxicated*) to a burgled home.

Maybe that's why I kept postponing posting this dress. Bad memories.

But I've worn it since and tis a fun party frock and doesn't deserve to be put in the naughty chair because of some jerk with a hammer, amiright?

In other news, I received a surprise prezzie from Sarah at Pattern Vault this week. She had actually mailed it to me in February but in my moving madness I gave her the wrong address and it didn't get rerouted back to her until last week. Imagine my UTTER DELIGHT, JOY AND WONDER when I opened it to find this:

Why yes readers, that is a HAND TRACED copy of a 1930's Vionnet pattern I had innocently adored on her blog, not remembering that our sewing pals are the types of people to HAND TRACE VINTAGE VIONNET PATTERNS FOR YOU BECAUSE THEY ARE THE LOVELIEST PEOPLE ON THE PLANET. How rad is this dress? The beauty on the left is going to be something silk and bias cut the moment I finish this new, for the moment secret project I am working on. A project I hope you will all get to enjoy very soon.

In the meantime, Argo and I have a belated date. Work has been crazy (I flew to Toronto today to meet with our new, amazing cafe client) and I need a lay down and a brain break. Hope spring is a spring in your step.

The BurdaStyle Louisa Drop-Waist Dress

14 December 2012 by Heather Lou 20 Comments

A few days ago I reviewed the new BurdaStyle book "Sewing Vintage Modern". When the author Jamie Lau asked me to make a dress using one of the patterns from the book, I had a brainstorm. Despite the over-the-top insanity of my Toddler in Tiara costume this Halloween, I loved the dropped waist and realized it's a style I've never really rocked before. The Louisa Dropped Waist dress from the book is a classic 1920's silhouette, but unfortunately for a lady with my birthing hips, flapper dresses are not always the most flattering - but give me a waist and we can talk.

The dropped waist has been back this season in a big way (check out this beauty and these beautiful babies) and I couldn't help but wonder what the BurdaStyle flapper dress would look like with a bit of a modern spin. I wanted a red ponte knit, but Mood was backlogged with orders post-Sandy. I ended up settling for one on fabric.com. When it arrived I almost cried; so rough and acrylic and completely unwearable (we need a fabric feeling app on our iphones ladies). Thankfully I ended up finding a beautifully soft double knit while fabric shopping with Sarah in Toronto. It wasn't quite the shade of neon red I had in mind, but it would do.

In the spirit of the book, which gloriously celebrates pattern modification, I made a muslin out of the icky combustible ponte acrylic nightmare and fiddled and twiddled until I came up with a fit that I liked. I added a boat neckline, took in a lot at the waist, and added a few darts in the back to prevent the fabric from pooling in unsightly ways. Rather than doing multi tiers as the original pattern called for, I added one gathered tier.

Because jersey is very clingy, I thought it wise to line the entire dress with more of the double knit to minimize the old "belly button shadow" issue (am I the only one who notices this in tight fitting dresses?!) The tier was also doubled, so the entire dress has some heft to it. It is practically reversible! I wish the tier was a little fuller at the hips like in some of the links I shared above, but I think you would need a less drapey fabric to achieve that poofiness. I had purchased some big beautiful gold zippers in Toronto as well and intended to do one of my classic exposed zip moves, but this lady in red is so stretchy I didn't even need it! It's so comfortable. It's basically the dress equivalent of jogging pants!

She had her debut at my best friend's 40th and was much complimented; I also wore her to my staff party this week. It's turning out to be the perfect holiday dress - lots of stretch for when you overdo it on Christmas cookies.

I thought I would share how I styled it for a Montreal winter night out.

Thankfully it has been pretty mild the past week so I could still pull off wearing my cape! I haven't felt this sophisticated since I accidentally ordered a vodka martini and had to pretend I could drink straight alcohol without whimpering.

So there we have it. My take on a 20's flapper dress. I am so happy I managed to take a silhouette I've always loved and make it work for my body. You should take a minute and check out Amy's version; it's jaw dropping and she looks fabulous in it!

Big love to BurdaStyle and Jamie Lau for asking me to participate! I love the book and I love my dress!

A Makeover For Autumn

9 September 2012 by Heather Lou 20 Comments

It's Sunday afternoon. The sun is shining, but it's not warm enough to go the quarry as planned for one last swim before fall descends. Yesterday I canned 24 litres of tomatoes (nothing beats the winter kill-me's like opening one of these babies up in January and making a tomato sauce that would make summer blush). Trying to mentally calibrate for the dropping temperatures; I've been finding it difficult to get dressed these days. I haven't organized my closet for fall yet and I've been resisting wearing closed toe footwear and heavier clothing and have been suffering through chilly evenings in my not-ready-to-give-up-summer-dresses stubbornness.

I do love autumn - I like crisp nights and changing leaves, but when you live this far north it is over far too quickly. It is more of a very brief, bittersweet interlude than an actual season. Over before you know it and then it's parkas and snow boots and vitamin D supplements. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

In honour of the changing season, I decided to give the blog a makeover. I was never really happy with the original design (being a designer by trade means I tend to obsess about it in every area of my life) so I enlisted the help of the lovely and wonderful Meghan Murray to help with some graphic and web design. Blogger is not the most flexible platform for being really creative but I'm super happy with what we came up with. One element that I think is particularly useful is the Gallery we created. It's an easy way to organize all of my projects on one page and is a quick visual summary of what I've been up to for the last year or so (big epic props to Andrea at Four Square Walls who helped me figure out how to do it).

In exchange for Meghan's help, we employed the age old barter system. Not having any goats to give her, we settled on a dress. She picked Vogue 1102 out of my stash, and we did a preliminary fitting using a muslin before I made the final product out of a beautiful Egyptian cotton sheet. The dress was inspired by this beauty - I think it's a pretty good approximation and I think Meghan looks amazing in it. I shortened it quite a bit and lined it with cotton batiste. It's light and airy and will probably turn some heads when she gets a chance to wear it next year (unless we get an Indian summer: fingers crossed).

It's a wonderful pattern to work with; I am definitely going to be making myself a version next summer.

Off to cook brunch for some out-of-town friends. Hope you are enjoying the last dog days of summer.

Maxi & Relaxi All Cool // McCalls 6559 Sewing Pattern

17 August 2012 by Heather Lou 19 Comments

I am one of the many sewists who got wrapped up in the maxi madness this summer. Seeing so many Mission Maxis turned out by SO many talented ladies made me long for one the way your friend’s Facebook vacation photos make you start calculating if you can squeeze out a flight somewhere on your (maxed, ha) credit card.

I stumbled on this really great, soft, striped jersey at a thrift store. It has a nice weight and thickness that I thought would stand up well to some maxi action. However, I did not use the Mission pattern here. During the insane fugue state I entered during the last McCalls/Vogue pattern sale (when the 18 arrived I couldn’t remember or justify most of them) I found McCalls 6559. Great lines and only 2 pattern pieces!

McCalls 6559 Sewing Pattern // Closet Core Patterns

This marked my second foray into bias tape. The pattern recommended turning the neckline and armholes in twice but I thought the finish wouldn’t look as professional so I cut some 2.5” strips and made double fold bias tape; I love the way the striped tape emphasizes the openings. I cut a 12 but took in quite a bit at the bust. I should have lengthened the pattern pieces by an inch or 2. It’s the perfect length now and since jersey doesn’t fray I’m leaving it unhemmed at the moment. I’m worried hemming it will make it too short.... Also, I am lazy.

The bias tape was bit of an adventure... took some trial and error to get the perfect amount of stretch to avoid gaping at the armholes. As a result, this dress took quite a bit longer than I anticipated but I could probably knock it off in a few hours if I did it again. I tried my best to match the stripes on the seams but it got away from me. The walking foot is not infallible.

The only change I would make is cutting more of a racerback shape – it didn’t turn out as pronounced as I would have liked and I was too tired of seam ripping when I noticed to do anything about it (see above: lazy).

Needless to say, this is the most comfortable dress I’ve made yet. I’m going up to a rented cottage for a week on Sunday (no internet, no cell phones, just lake floating, bbq, the September Issue and palpable relief) and I don’t think I’m going to take it off!

Now for a question to the wise:

I just cut a high-waisted bikini bottom from the vintage swimsuit pattern I made last month but I am having a dickens of a time getting my bobbin thread to catch. Skipped stitches all over the place. I didn’t really have this problem with the first suit or any of the jersey I’ve seen with before, but this matte tricot is quite slippy and stretchy. I’m using new ballpoint needles, I played with the tension, I sewed it with tracing paper beneath..... I’m lucky if I can get a stitch to catch every 2 inches. I'm planning on serging all the seams but I need to gather the sides and would rather not hand baste all that fabric. Anyone have any advice for me? I’d love to have a new bikini for the cottage!