new Bennett dress pattern

Well yes I have released another pattern so soon! I started working on this a while ago and really wanted to get it finished in time for the warm weather, holidays, weddings etc... Let's start with some pictures!

The bennet dress is essentially a pull on A-line shift dress with princess seams on the front to create a nicely fitted shape across the shoulders. Depending on which view you choose to make the silhouette can either show off your curves or be left loose and free flowing.

Both views have a centre front panel, which can be left plain or buttoned depending on your preference, but view A has additional waist ties sewn in with the panel to pull the shape in and tie around the back of the dress. View A is also a slightly longer length finishing below the knee. Something that is important to me, as I am not so keen on my knees!

The sample shown here is sewn in a glorious silk/cupro mix and has the perfect flowy drape to be gathered in. You want to stick to nice soft viscose, silks or maybe a cotton lawn so as to not add too much bulk around your middle.

 View B finishes a little shorter above the knee, but not too short (you can obviously adjust this to your preference). It needs to be at least above the knee if you are going to leave the shape loose for it to remain playful and fun. I have used a fairly stiff linen here (hand printed) and the shape can take it, but it obviously sticks out more, so if you prefer less structure stick to flowy fabrics!

So excited to get this out there and I hope you like it! As always, it is available to buy in my shop here.

Two Maya shirt dresses for the new year!

Here are a couple of Maya dresses that I made as part of the Autumn of 1000 shirtdresses challenge hosted by Idle Fancy. I was in two minds whether or not to blog them as a) I make a lot of Maya dresses and maybe you don't want to see them all and b) I didn't get very good pictures the first time around and only re-photographed one of them. In reading this you'll guess that I decided to go with the post!!!!

I have not been sewing quite so much lately, as knitting is on my mind and I think I am in the grip of a January sewing block. Whenever I approach my sewing area all I can think of is how much stuff I have and how much I want a clear out. It's that start of a new year, out with the old and useless type of thing and is making me veeery un-productive. I have been clearing out unwanted fabric that I will never use and plan to go through sewing and knitting patterns and at least halve my collections if not more.

These dresses are part of that feeling I suppose, as they are both made up of precious fabrics that I did not want languishing in my fabric stash a moment longer. Sometimes a sense of importance gets attached to certain fabrics and the pressure becomes too great when it comes to assigning them a project, so the Maya dress is my fail safe.

This dress is made from a Robert Kaufman chambray I ordered from The Village Haberdashery. They don't seem to have it anymore  but they do have some other lovely ones. It is quite expensive (for me), so I ordered 1.5 metres and squeezed this dress out of it with only minimal waste. I even had to exaggerate the curved hem in order to fit the front and back on, as well as obtain a pattern match. I was willing to sacrifice the dress for a blouse if I couldn't pattern match, as it seems a shame not to make the most of fabric that was an investment of sorts.

Anyway, I couldn't be more pleased with it and it's definitely a good all year round dress! It's perhaps a bit stiffer than what this pattern requires, but hopefully it'll soften with washing. I am wearing it with my grey jersey Alice tights and taupe suede boots and I love the neutral vibe of it all together.

I did mention two dresses didn't I??? Here's a picture of the second. I bought this Liberty cotton twill from Shaukat last summer when I went there with Jenna. I was dithering about it because I'd already seen that Katie had bought some (in a different colourway) and was blatantly copying, but when something's this good you can't leave it behind. This fabric is such good quality however that it is definitely too stiff for this dress. It's still a winner and definitely a new go to dress, but hopefully the wearing will do it good! You can't see the buttons very well, but these were reclaimed from an old shirt dress of my mums, so it feels great to re-use them. I placed the pocket just below my hips on this one for convenient tissue carrying.

Here's a close up of the print which was also used to line the bib of my Merchant and Mills dress.

I guess the benefit of paying a bit more is that I am much more economical with my fabrics and the scraps are minimal to say the least, but I can't afford to shop like this normally. Two very special dresses to start the year with though, so I am pretty chuffed!

By the look of this lot I am going for a very washed out colour palette this year!!!

New Maya pattern is released today!

The day has finally come and my brand spanking new pattern, the Maya, is finally set free and up for sale!

This is probably way more of a big deal to me than it is to anyone else, but just let me bask in this moment of pure joy and excitement for a moment!

Here is my official description accompanying the pattern...

The Maya pattern is available in UK sizes 8-18 and takes its influence from my Central American mother and family. It is a kimono/cap sleeve dress or top that is designed to hang well from the shoulders and have a wide fit from the bust down, much like a traditional Guatemalan Huipil. It is intended to be playful and fun and can really showcase an amazing fabric, whether that be a bold print or luscious fibre.

Although relatively simple in design, the variations are endless and there are several lengths to choose from ranging from a cropped top to a knee length dress with a hip length top and shorter dress length in-between. Other variants include a straight or shaped hem, button or plain front as well as an option for a sash belt.

The construction is straight forward and creates a tidy finish as you work through the instructions leaving no raw edges in sight.

This pattern would be suitable for an advanced beginner as there are elements to take your time over, such as the top stitched facings and the button plackets, but there is nothing too crazy and nothing that can't be completed on a standard sewing machine.

And now here are several hundred pictures, well almost!

click image to enlarge for size inforamtion

 If you are interested in buying this pattern then please come and visit my shop. If you are struggling to read this link then here's a bigger one...

If you wish to see more images of this pattern then please head over to my Pinterest board to see what some of the testers made!

On that note, I cannot get over the generosity of fellow sewists. The ladies who agreed to test this pattern for me took a complete chance on an unknown designer and took time out of their lives to make up my pattern and provide valuable feedback for which I am so grateful!

My longer term aim is to produce good quality print at home PDF dress making patterns that are stylish, versatile and offer value for money (hence the many variations). I would like to eventually produce a physical paper product, but that really depends on the reaction to the digital version first.

Essentially I am designing things that I would wear myself and am predominently influenced by minimalist Japanese and Scandinavian styles. I hope to create a range of 'go to' patterns that can be used time and time again, but cannot confirm how quickly these patterns will come together, as I already have full-time obligations and am literally doing every little aspect myself. This is not a complaint by the way, as I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't passionate about it and I feel totally fortunate to be able to explore this venture at all!

If you like what I do then watch this space for more!!!

Maya pattern release soon!

For those of you who don't know, I have been working on a dress making pattern for the last few months. I can't tell you how excited I am about this. Well actually it's a mixture of excitement and nerves really, but no pain no gain and all that!

It has been my wish to design in some capacity for a while now, but I have struggled with finding a suitable outlet or path to channel this ambition. I graduated from a fashion and textiles degree several years ago now (ok, more than several) and kind of got caught up with needing to pay bills and not being able to explore working in a creative field and it's not until now that I am open to the possibilty that this could happen. So that's what I am doing. I really want to produce dress patterns that I would be happy wearing and that I would return back to again and again. Basically, I am designing clothes that I would be happy to have in my wardrobe!

Here is a taster of how this pattern looks made up!

I have called this pattern Maya referring back to my Central American heritage. My mum and her family are from Belize and my great grandmother was a Mayan Indian, so there you go! The style also has alot in common with traditional central American dress, as like the Huipil it is wide and loose. It has a kimono cap sleeve with a wide neck and a load of variations in lengths and plain or button front. If you want a basic, easy woven tee or a basic dress that can be dressy or casual then this is the pattern for you!

I shall explain more about the pattern and provide a few more pics when it is released in a couple of weeks time. I am aiming to have it released on Monday the 6th October. I would have released it sooner, but I am away the week before, so figure that would be the worst idea ever!

Anyway, I'm not sure what to expect from this, but I'm hoping that if I like it then someone else will! If it's a slow grower then that's fine and if it's a mega success then brilliant, but if it's a massive flop then at least I tried!

Accidental capsule wardrobe!

What was I doing this weekend? Well, when I wasn't spending quality time with the family I was making up some Purl Soho city gym shorts.

The beginning of this tale starts where I ask my good friend Eleanor if she would like me to make her something and I asked her if she would like me to make her a Flora dress with wrap over bodice. This was my downfall! Several months later and this has not materialised. Almost as soon as I suggested it I knew it was a mistake, as I haven't met up with her since and wasn't planning an immediate visit to Bristol to check fitting etc... I have since read loads of comments about the Flora wrap needing major fit adjustments, so knew this wasn't the right dress to tackle without dear friend to test fit.

In hindsight  the Flora dress wasn't right as it's more of an occasional dress and if I'm going to the bother of making someone something then it may as well be something more wearable. I do however love the Flora pattern!

One of the prototypes I had made for my own pattern over the last couple of months was perfect for Eleanor anyway, so I decided I was going to send her this dress.

This is me trying it on and photographing it to get a sense of proportion. The difference that this has compared with the final pattern is that it features a narrow collar that mimicks a t-shirt neck ribbing, but in a woven fabric. I have left this off the final pattern as I was worried it was too fiddly to attach.

This weekend I tweeted the link to the city gym shorts pattern and Eleanor said she needed a pair for Zumba class (not asking me to make her some by the way) and I thought I'd give it a go. I mis-printed a landscape version of the PDF which had some parts missing, threw it in the recycling, broke the printer, fished it out of the recycling and traced the rest directly from the monitor (not advised!). Anyway, eventually I got the pattern together... A couple of pairs later, plus a co-ordinating top and I seem to have developed a mini capsule wardrobe that would be perfect for a holiday!

The top in matching fabric is another sample from my pattern (sorry for the shameless plugging), which I made as a dress as one of the many construction test samples. I simply cut it down to a top following the curved hem for the top variation. Looks way better as a top!

Zig zag top-stitching to keep that pesky elastic in place.

Overlap detail. I confess I didn't follow the instructions apart from what length to cut the waistband and the elastic, but I'm sure I must have done a similar construction anyway!

Dress collar detail with little rouleaux loop and button on the back. Fancy!

And the front...

Top pocket close up. I used a jersey for the pocket for a relaxed sporty feel.

The only picture I took of the printed shorts in full view. A bit rubbish, but it gives you an idea.

And I think that's it! I'm definitely going to make myself some of these shorts, as the cut on the leg is very flattering, even on my thunder thighs!!! Fortunately Eleanor has amazing legs, so I hope she'll get loads of wear from them. I'm glad it's worked out this way and I'm sending her a collection rather than just one dress, as it seems more special somehow and will hopefully be easier to intergrate into her actual wardobe. Only time will tell, I just hope it all fits!!!

Hand printed fabric swap and watermelon top!!!

I am sewing, sewing, sewing at the moment, but sometimes it's nice to have a change, so whilst testing some construction techniques recently I thought it would be fun to have a go at printing. Every now and then I like to decorate my fabrics, but it got me to thinking, what about a hand printed fabric swap!!! More on that in a minute after I show you my new top...

Here it is in all its glory, but before we go any further, I need to point out that I have shamelessly copied a kids t-shirt design! I dyed this (formerly white) linen last week and realised straight away that I wouldn't wear this fabric as it's too sugary, but when I came across this t-shirt on pinterest I knew what to do!!!

I bought a stamp set for my husband from Donna Wilson a couple of years ago, which has some perfect stamps for this project. I have just checked her website and unfortunately it no longer seems available, but here is a product image of the set. I used the raindrop  and eye stamp.

I dipped a sponge into some black screen printing ink and pushed it down a bit to make a stamp pad kind of thing and just pressed the stamp into the sponge and then onto the fabric. I think it worked out quite well. It's by no means perfect and I made no effort to mark the pattern position beforehand, but does that matter?

Here are the creepy eyes on the back!

You can see that some of the wooden block edges have marked the fabric on the front where I put pressure in the wrong area of the stamp. It's kind of messy, but there's no mistaking that this is a hand printed item!!!

I made the pocket out of some cloud 9 faric from 'the village haberdashery', which is ear marked for Maria. I was going to leave it off, as this is what makes my top a blatant copy, but it looks so good...

The shorts I'm wearing are some that I made a few weeks back and have been wearing loads. I wasn't going to blog them as they didn't seem very interesting, but as they're here I may as well. They are using the same vintage pattern I used for these pedal pushers, but shorter and with a scallop hem.

Right, now onto my idea for a hand printed fabric swap!

I have taken part in something like this before, but it was set up for quilters and it was to swap in groups of four, giving each swapee a fat quarter of your print. I really like this idea, but think it would work great for dressmakers if we swapped in pairs and each gave each other one metre of printed fabric, so that there is a possibility of making something with it afterwards.

Who would be up for doing something like this?

Before you run away scared at the thought, you do not need to have any previous experience in print to produce something fabulous. Look at the following (very acheivable) samples.

This gorgeous linen has a simple ink wash line running down the border

Printed spots, acheivable with a cork and some fabric stamp inks???

Some shibori/tie dyeing

Hand painting with fabric inks

Hand painted stripes!

Amazingly simple idea using bleach, some branches and a spray bottle!

Now I'm not sure how many people will be interested in taking part in something like this and I do not have a massive amount of followers to appeal to, but it should be fun shouldn't it?

Post a comment below if you think that this sounds like a good idea and if I get more than 2 responses then lets do it!!! I'll do a follow up post where you can officially sign up and be allocated a swap partner as well as follow ups after that with print inspirations.

Here are some links to some of my past efforts...

Mimi blouse
Previous fabric swap here
Lino printing (on paper)