Blog feature: Tracy & Winifred

Keeping the awesomeness going today on the blog i have for you another Winifred sew-along  blog  feature. Tracy from her blog uandmii  has kindly taken the time to chat about about her  A-MAH-ZING Winifred dress that she  made for the sew-along and lots of sewing goodies. 

Enjoy!

What type of fabric did you use? What inspired your choice of fabric?

I used a really gorgeous 100% cotton which I found at the Spring Knitting and Stitching Show in London earlier this year. Rather than being a traditional fabric stand, the stall holders were selling reproduction Japanese quilts and all of their quilt fabrics were sourced from vintage Japanese textile prints which they then had reprinted. In the far corner of the stand was a small box choc full of roll ends of fabric. From the moment I set eyes on this confection of turquoise and hot pink I knew I would buy it. Although quite a thin cotton it was very crisp so I had my reservations, but it washed down beautifully to a perfect summer weight dress fabric. I only wish I had bought more of it now!

Did your Winifred dress live up to the image you had in your mind?

Actually, when I first saw the dress pattern I really wasn't sure whether it would work well on a plus size figure, or indeed if I would be able to alter it to make it fit. I knew it would look amazing in the print though and that was what kept me on track with the project .... That little picture of me walking down the street in the dress and pink shoes. When A finished I was delighted with it and it was very flattering on.

How did you decide to reflect your personal style in the pattern?

I made the neck V significantly lower than on the original pattern as with a large bust I need to avoid the human cube look at all costs! As well as choosing a large bold and bright print I decided to use contrast hot pink bands at the bottom to really make the colours pop. For comfort I also opted for the option of shirring on the back rather than the elastic casing, this was the first time I've done this and I loved it!

Tell us a bit about your making process, any tweaks you made?

This was a two toile process. I cut out the largest size and did a two inch FBA as demonstrated on your blog in the sewalong. It looked pretty good on Miss Jones (my dress form) but when I tried it on it ripped! It was back to the drawing board and after marking up the first muslin all over with permanent marker it was time to tackle muslin 2. This time I added a 5 inch FBA, widened the arm opening which made the dart placement a little tricky, so I rotated the dart down into the bodice. I also changed the angle and height of the inverted v darts to get the perfect waist fit. Whew! Sounds hard core doesn't it? I followed all the instructions on the sew -along which helped immensely.

 What thoughts do you have about the project?

I love the finished dress and it gets a lot of compliments. It feels great on and the shirring makes it really easy to wear. It has a vintage line to it so looks great with a thin belt in a contrast colour. The shaping may mean you have to fiddle with the pattern if you need an FBA, but it really is worth doing a toile and adjustments as I can see this being a summer dress star. The kimono sleeve is also really flattering. One last thing, it's incredibly quick to sew once you have the fit right!

Are you planning any future  Winifred dress ?

I do have a lovely navy cotton print from Michael Miller in my stash with pink sail boats on it. It has a matching pink print with white anchors ... I think that may well end up as a Winifred!

Check out Tracy's blog for not only sewing awesomeness but amazing photography.

Blog feature: Beth & Winifred

I love seeing all your makes pop up in the wild all over the place, and i have been meaning to catch up on featuring some spectacular makes from you peeps here on the blog but a spare moment lately had been hard to catch. Did i mention two new pattern releases are being released on Monday 26th?!!! Way excited for these two to be released. Literally about to self combust each day, ha!  But in the last day or two things have calmed down i can get back into the swing of things, especially here on the blog. So in the next couple i will be featuring the Winifred sew-along winners, picking their brains and finding out their inspiration for their Winifred's and above all looking at their pretty pics.

First up is  Beth, first place winner who has made not one, not two but three Winifred dresses! But also sewed the majority of her Winifred dresses in hotel rooms while travelling for work, amazing lady!

So without further ado, introducing Beth and her harem of Winfred dresses:

What type of fabric did you use? What inspired your choice of fabric?

I made 2 versions of the Winifred dress, for my first one I wanted a wearable toile and found a great vintage cars dressmaking cotton blend in my local fabric shop – Abakhan (www.abakhan.co.uk) at a reasonable price, so decided that this would fit in with the vintage styling of the dress. I then chose an African waxed cotton, again from Abakhan as I wanted a dress to wear to a Nigerian friend’s wedding with a colour scheme of red and gold. This was a more structured stiffer cotton, which gave the 2^nd Winifred dress skirt section a very different shape to the original version.

Did your Winifred dress live up to the image you had in your mind?

I love both versions, if the sun ever makes an appearance in the UK then they’ll make great summer dresses. They’re comfortable to wear and as I hoped both flatter my plus-sized pear shaped figure, by drawing the eye to my slimmer sections and skimming over my larger areas, just what I want in a summer dress and what I was hoping the Winifred would be like.

How did you decide to reflect your personal style in the pattern?

I’m not really one for cutesy or dainty prints, so chose bold colourful fabrics. Having a directional prints for both the retro cars version and the African waxed cotton Winifred’s I made sure that I took my time choosing the fabric layouts, after all I wouldn’t want half of the cars to be upside down! The African waxed cotton has an ombre colouring, so I chose to layout the colours differently on the front from the back, with the front focusing on the darker aspects and the back focusing on the lighter shades of the fabric, creating a bit more individuality. Also choosing the buckles to go with these dresses is an art form in itself, they’ve got to look just right! I spent hours scouring local fabric and  haberdashery shops as well as searching online incl eBay and etsy to find just the right one!

Tell us a bit about your making process, any tweaks you made?

As I’m more self-conscious about my waist and hips, I chose to add a little more width to the side seams of the dress, to enable it to skim over these areas more. Plus I have now created a third version and find that slight bell-shaped sleeves suit my ‘bingo wings’ more, so have redrafted the sleeve to show this and to finish at a flattering elbow length. I also left the belt off this final version as I cut the lace slightly longer and only included the underlining in the gathering, so a belt would have been overkill.

 What thoughts do you have about the project?

I love how the Winifred dress can be easily adapted to suit most figures. Following the pattern as it comes makes the dress easy for beginners to dressmaking to tackle, whilst those more advanced can easily alter it and adapt it to their own needs. I also love how versatile the pattern is, all 3 of the versions I have made look very different based on the different fabric choices and alterations I made.

Are you planning any future  Winifred dress ?

I’ve already completed my third Winifred! My friend’s mum brought me the most beautiful gold lace and deep raspberry velvet from Nigeria, so I could match the outfits that were being brought over from Nigeria. I took a week off work and made another very unique Winifred, incorporating both fabrics and of course an underlining for the lace or it would be too revealing! Taking inspiration from another version I had seen I decided to split the pattern and use different fabrics for the bodice and skirt sections.

I already have a few more versions in mind with fabric from my stash, so there will definitely be more Winifred’s in my future!

Check our Beth on Instagram for sneak peeks into her many sewing projects, this gal is a machine!

Cast your vote!

Time to cast your votes, folks!

This so, so exciting.  All the entries are so darn beautiful! I'm kinda glad its not me voting, i truly don't think i could pick between them all, I'd want to give everyone a prize. 

So below is how to vote and  its real simple too:

      1.  Check out  the fabulous contestants listed below.   Also have a more closer look over            on the Flickr group.            

     2.   Then cast your vote on the  voting form and and pick your favourite.

The winners will now  be announced on Monday 23th of April ( aest) so you will need to cast your vote by 20th of April ( aest).  Once your all done with voting, i will tally them to find out who YOU chose as the 3 winners!

Here is what the three lucky ducks could win:

INDIE STITCHES - $50 online shop voucher

This indie pattern shop  caters for you, the lovers of Indie patterns as well as  supports all of us indie pattern designers!

SEWBOX - £40 pound online shop voucher

Check out the  beautiful range of fabrics they have in stock, this voucher will get you some pretty cool fabric for your stash.

A FASHIONABLE STITCH - PRIZE PACK

The lovely Sunni, has together and amazing prize pack from here shop, A Fashionable Stitch  which lots of sewing goodies. 

Below is the fun part, the Contestants!!!

Ruth from Beaker and Bobbins

Kim 

Claire from I want to be a turtle

Cari the homemaker

Katherine

T from Uandmii 

Tanya from Tanya Today

Claire from The Panda sews

Aurore

Beth 

Maria from Velosewer

For more a look at everyone's lovely Winifred dresses take a look at the Flickr group.

 VOTE HERE!

Have fun!

Abby
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Winifred - A Collarless Variation...

Hello everyone, I hope you are have a great time finishing up your Winifred dresses after sewing along with us. Can't wait to see all your pictures.

Spring is still dragging her feet about arriving in my parts, so it seemed like the time to make a seasonal appropriate Winifred. For this version I was thinking about making a neutral base piece that would be easy to layer.  I'd also been watching a lot of episodes of "Longmire," which happens to be set in Wyoming.  All the women on that show have kind of a "cowgirl chic" style with lots of denim, leather jackets and big necklaces. It makes me want to move to the mid west and learn to ride a horse.  Instead I rustled up my pattern cutting scissors, some chambray and then got to work making a collarless Winifred.

"Hi Y'all, seen any cowboys around these parts? I might need some help cause this wind is about to blow me over."  Alas no cowboys appeared and I had to save my camera tripod myself.  But enough about that, let's talk about dresses instead.

Like my previous Winifred I used smocking on the back and added the Billie Jean pockets to the side seams. The big change was cutting off the collar section, leaving a curved neckline with a notch.  The neckline is finished with facings and understitched. It's hard to see in these pictures, but I've also added a little sewn on cuff to the sleeves.

All of these pattern changes are easy and I'll show you how to do them.  Are you really to get cutting?

Collarless Neckline Instructions
You'll need a traced copy of your front, back and facing pieces, a straight ruler, a french curve and a pen/pencil.  You can always tweak the measurements I use to suit your own preferences/size.  I'll be using the size 10 in all these examples.

1. On the front measure up 4" from the joint point and mark.

2. On the shoulder measure 3/4" away from the collar and mark.

3. Use these two marked points and a french curve to draw a new neckline.

4. New front neckline will look like this. Now you can cut it out and continue on to the back.

5. On the back the neckline needs to be widened to match the front.  Lay your new front on top of the back, matching the shoulder seams on the sleeves.  Mark the new width of the neckline on the back.

6. Use a french curve to draw the new neckline.

7. New back neckline will look like this, cut it out on the new lines.

To finish the neckline we'll need to modify the front facing and draft a back facing. Let's start with the front.

8. Place the new front over top the front facing and trace off the new neckline.  Then cut off the collar so that they match.

9. The facing is now a little to small to sew so we'll add onto it.  Tape paper to the shoulder side and extend out the shoulder  1 1/2".

10. Use a french curve to blend the shoulder area into the bottom of the facing.

Finished front facing looks like this.

11. To draft the back facing place a scrap of paper over the back pattern piece.  Trace off the neckline, some of the shoulder and CB.

12. First take off the seam allowance on the CB and mark the facing as being on the fold.

13. Then draw in the seam allowance on the shoulder seam.  Grab your front facing and do the same.

 Place the two facings on top of each other on the seam line.  Use the front facing shoulder to mark the correct width of the back facing.

14.  Use a french curve to draw the curve on the bottom of the facing.

Finished back facing looks like this.

Cuff
To draft a cuff simply measure the circumference of your sleeve hem and draw a rectangle with that length.  For the cuff pattern width decide how wide you want the cuff to be and double it.  Example, my pattern is 3" wide for a finished 1 1/2" cuff. Add seam allowances to all sides and the cuff pattern is done.

Happy sewing everyone, if you need me I'll be down at the rodeo. Yee Ha!

The Winifred sew-along # 7 - Assemble and attach the belt and hem the sleeves

In today's Winifred sew-along post we're going to keep the full steam ahead sewing going. We are so close to finishing up our Winifred's, with tomorrow being the final post for the sew-along! Woo!

Before we begin, below you can find all the previous posts for the sew-along so far:

•   #1 - Getting started
•  #2 - How to complete a FBA & SBA
•  #3 - Collar, neckline and sleeve adjustments
• #4 - Sewing time!
• #5 -How to add smocking 
• #6 - Front tucks darts, center front dress seam & shoulder seams 

 

So let's start today's post with stitching up the cutest part of the Winifred dress, the belt.


ASSEMBLE THE BELT

1. Right sides together fold each belt section in half lengthwise. Stitch the horizontal open edge of the belt closed, but leave the vertical 'end' of the belt open.  For the right side belt stitch the end following the shape of the belt. For left side of the belt stitch across the end in a straight line where marked.

 

2. Trim seams on both belt sides and cut off the surplus on the left hand belt side end.

 3.  Turn both belts right side out and give them a good press.


ATTACH THE BELT & DRESS SIDE SEAMS

1. Baste each of the belts to the side edges of the front dress, right sides facing and lining it up with the back elastic waistline. Remember the belt is designed to basically cover the elastic on the back of the dress. Keep in mind too when basting the belts to the dress, right side to right side and left side to left side of the dress for each of the belts.

2. Right sides together and placing the belts into the inside of the dress, pin the dress front (1) to the dress back (2) at the side seams.  Stitch the dress sides seams together in one continuous seam from underarm to hem ( View B stitch the sleeves from the sleeve edge to hem) catching the belt ends ( which are basted into the dress side seams) on the seam. Make sure to keep the rest of the belt clear of the stitching line.

3. Finish the dress side seams and press.


SLEEVE HEMS

Hemming the sleeves applies to both views of the Winifred dress.

1. Hem the sleeves by folding  a 1/4'' then another 1/4'' again, press it down and then  stitching this  folded edge down.
  

Turn your Winifred dress right side out and you're hitting the final stretch!

Tomorrow's sew-along post we will be finish off our belts and attaching the slide buckle and then all that's left is to hem our Winifred dresses! 

Abby
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