My daughter's first skirt - upcycling an adult dress into a children's wrap skirt

I will be honest, it's hard to sit down and write anything much at the moment. I have been sewing in fits and starts which always helps my mental health enormously. But in general the world feels pretty overwhelmingly awful at the moment. I say that as a confirmed optimist! I'll stick to the sewing chat but suffice to say that life feels like a grind right now. I'm finding joy where I can! Of course my delightful little children bring me a lot of that joy. Thanks kids.

My little girl (almost 5) asked me out of the blue the other week: "Mummy, can I do some sewing?" "Sure!", I said. I wondered whether she'd like to make a bag or a cushion cover but she wanted to make "a summer dress or skirt from a pattern." Oh my love. On Sunday we had a look for some fabric in the upcycling box, and came across this bright pink ex-dress of mine which caught her eye. The dress has long since stopped fitting me but the fabric holds happy memories for me, so it has sat patiently for about 3 years waiting to be made into something else. 

In the end we didn't need a pattern as I suggested a simple wrap skirt, mostly for ease of sewing, but also to fit for longer. We used the dresses original hem as a time saver, and my mini sewing student sewed hems on the edges of the wrap part, sewed gathering sticthes along the top and gathered them, then helped me pin the twill ribbon along the top. She then sewed this in place and voila! Very fast result, one happy little sewer and her first project ticked off. She's already asking to make something else! 

We had to engineer a solution for reaching the peddle, so here is what we ended up with: books on top of upturned washing basket. 

When she tried the skirt on she said it makes her feel strong like Luisa from Encanto! I love that :)

My First Plantain tee

Do you have those jobs on your to do list that have been on there for multiple years? Perhaps that’s just me. Along with organising the understairs cupboard and digitising all my childhood family photo albums, making the Deer and Doe Plantain tee has been on my list for a long time. I finally did make one! Ticking that off feels great. Ticking something off a list has got to be one of my favourite things. 

This lovely drapey red jersey was previously this Wren dress which saw me through the enormous part of both my pregnancies and the early days of breastfeeding. Both times it was summer so the drapey swishy dress was a big help! But once the post partum days were over I found the dress made me feel squat, dreary and a bit like a sack of potatoes. So it’s been sat in the refashion pile for about a year. Enter, Plantain!

By the way, I do find these photos quite hilarious. The outside ones were taken by my surprisingly assertive 4.5 year old, so the angles are quite odd (and we did refill the birdfeeder, honest!). She did make me laugh which is nice. The indoor ones are not quite as bright but I'm sure you can get an idea of what the Tshirt looks like!

Well I can see why it’s such a popular pattern. It sews up so well, is clearly very well drafted. The neckband is just the right thickness, and it’s a lovely relaxed style of T shirt. Plus of course it is free. Thank you so much Deer and Doe for sharing your wonderful pattern for free! 

I really love the finished T shirt. I’ve even got over not feeling cool enough to tuck just one side in! I do need to raise the shoulder seams next time, there’s just way too much room in there. This is a common adjustment for me so I should have done it right off the bat! My only worry is how this will affect the neckband and the arm hole. I shall do more research first! 

This fabric is just the perfect weight for this pattern. It’s wonderfully drapey and great quality.

It’s a true red, which is one of my best colours. Halesmooresewing is running a year long Challenge: Sew Your Colours 22. It’s all about finding which colours suit you best and sewing more of those. I’m a Clear Winter palette and this red is just perfect for me. Here is my palette and me wearing some of the colours to show you what I mean. 

And notice what happens when I try to wear pastel colours! They just do not suit me, my skin looks all washed out and I even look slightly ill. It just shows what a different colour can make.

It also may go some way towards explaining why everything I've made so far this year seems to have been red! 

Ogden Cami in the fabric of dreams!

I can’t be alone in keeping old handmade garments that no longer fit. I have quite a few of them that I’m ready to take out of my wardrobe and accept not being able to wear again, but I do struggle to say goodbye to the beautiful fabric they’re made of. So I do keep a lot of them with plans to make them into something else “one day”. Anyone else?

The fabric this True Bias Ogden is made of may actually be my favourite piece of fabric I’ve ever owned. It’s a beautiful Swiss cotton with a slight sheen to it. It’s incredibly soft, it has washed like a dream and seams just disappear with a quick press. Not to mention the beautiful print in all my best colours. I remember when I saw the fabric, on a shopping trip to Goldhawk Road when I lived in London in 2014. It wasn’t on my list, it wasn’t what I’d been looking for but once I’d seen it I couldn’t leave it behind. Now I wish I’d bought the whole bolt!

The fabric of dreams was made into this Emery dress, which was a firm favourite for years:

Post children, however, it doesn’t fit, and somewhere along the road a sleeve ripped, so I carefully packed it away in the “refashion” box for one day when I could transform it into something else.

The Ogden was a natural choice. I’ve wanted to make this pattern for so long, and it’s one of my Make Nine for this year, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and make the dress into an Ogden. There looks to be loads of material to work with in that dress, doesn’t it? Well, I managed to do it, but only just! The front piece was cut out of the skirt front, I had to have a centre back seam and piece the lining from the dress sleeves, but I did it! 

I do love the lines of the Ogden, it seems to flatter everyone I’ve seen it on. I made up a straight size 16 to check the fit, and I do feel I need to make some tweaks to get the fit right for me. It is most evident from the side. The top just hangs off my bust and it feels quite tent-like. I do enjoy the swingy, roomy feeling but may just scale that back a bit.

Here I’ve made myself stand absolutely flat and straight so you can see what I mean. The front hem is also riding up a lot so I plan to do an FBA and add a dart to my next version, and perhaps grade down to a smaller size at the waist and hips to tackle the feeling of too much fabric around my middle.

There also seems to be a slight issue with the neckline/armholes. You can see some strange pulling of the fabric under my left arm in these pictures, I don’t know what that’s all about. I would like the straps to cover my bra straps so I may need to move them out slightly and redraw the neckline. 

So that’s all left me feeling:

• Pleased with myself for finally refashioning the dress-made-of-dream-fabric

• Smug that I can tick another of my Make Nine off and it’s only February

• Slightly disappointed that I’m not 100% happy with the fit

• Frustrated that I have to do some fit work when I’d rather sew up new things

• Determined to do version 2.0 ASAP so I don’t lose the will to

• So satisfied with the sewing of this project and impressed with the pattern. I can see why it’s so popular. Pulling those straps through was loverly! 

I wonder if there’s anything in the refashion box that I can make the next version out of…

People get ready

I made this top almost a year ago and still love it just as much as I did then. I’m sure you will have seen lots of this Lady McElroy fabric around in sewing social circles, and that’s because it’s a corker. I went with the viscose lawn which is beautifully soft and drapey. This was at a time during the pandemic where we had not two pennies to rub together. We were just about getting by so I was definitely not spending any money on hobbies. My lovely mother-in-law gave me some birthday money and this fabric is what I bought with it. It felt like such a treat to be able to sew up a brand new length of beautiful fabric that I’d admired from afar for a long time. 

I can happily report the fabric stands up to washing really well - I’ve worn and washed this a lot over the last eleven months before finally taking these photographs. I hope it can stand a lot more wash and wear because it’s still my favourite thing to reach for! It feels casual but put together, every day but special. I feel 100% me in this. 

The pattern is a New Look 6217, which I've made a few times before. This is such a great woven t shirt pattern, I just love this style. I did a really daft thing cutting it out though. I faffed about choosing which part of the print I wanted in the centre front, cut that piece out then realised I might not have enough room for the back pieces!! What a daft bat. I did manage to squeeze the pieces in in the end but there could be no semblance of pattern matching, which to be honest doesn’t bother me at all. 

I’ve got my eye on another Lady McElroy fabric, and it’s nearly my birthday again! Maybe I can make this some kind of tradition.

Project Prom Dress

Today I'd like to show you the last Big Project I worked on. Actually, it was such a big project it comes close to the amount of work I put into my wedding dress! This was made in 2019, and somehow I'm only just getting round to putting this post together. I felt this dress deserved a proper post, a detailed account of it's making and lots of pictures of the process. Here is the dress (I'm pretty proud of it):

When my niece first asked me whether I would make her prom dress, I told her I needed to think about it. Sewing time was few and far between for me at that time, and I knew how important this dress would be to her. Still, wouldn’t it be a special thing to do for her. So I said yes!

THE DESIGN 

I advised Layni to go and try some dresses on. Having done this with my wedding dress, I knew how useful it would be. Sure enough she ended up hating the style she thought she wanted and feeling amazing in something completely different! After her trying on sessions Layni decided she wanted a fitted bodice and a fishtail skirt with a chiffon overlay. She had tried a few in this style but liked different things from each. 

The design brief included:

• boned bodice. I decided to make a corselet for this
• comfortable to move around in (eg sleeves that don't slip down, able to sit down etc)
• sweetheart neckline but not too low
• refelecting Layni’s age (nothing too “old”)
• V shape where fishtail skirt joins the main dress. Mirrors the neckline and adds interest

I hunted for patterns and decided to go with a combination of McCalls 7320 and Simplicity 1418. I took Layni’s measurements very thoroughly - she lives 200 miles away! - set my dressmakers dummy to her size and got to work. 

First I traced the pattern pieces from McCalls 7320 down to hip level for the corselet, and also traced it to mid thigh level as I wanted the lovely, seamless fit of a princess seamed pencil dress for the main bodice, without it being interrupted with a waist seam. I then traced the top part of Simplicity 1418 as it had similar sleeves to what Layni wanted, and merged the two patterns making sure I lined up the bust points etc. Despite being from different fit styles the two patterns went together well. I smoothed out the lines and got ready to toile!

Because I am silly and find it hard to choose the quicker way sometimes, I decided to go all couture and thread trace the seamlines on everything. Yes, on the toile. Then on the real dress which meant 5 layers of fabric. I swear I spent a solid week thread tracing. I hated myself a little bit for choosing to do it the “right” way, but I do feel that it has led to a super fit. 

THE TOILE

I was so grateful for my dressmakers dummy here. I had set it to Layni’s exact measurements, although she is slightly smaller in the upper back than my dummy would go, but really it was so so useful to have a fitting aid before fitting it to the real person! 

I fit the corselet first. It needed quite a bit of tweaking and taking in from waist to hip level, but the bust was pretty good. I sewed in a zip so that I could see it properly done up. This helped when I got to trying it on Layni too, as it’s so tight I wouldn’t have been able to pin it closed! 

Pleased with the fit, next was the main bodice. This was pretty straightforward and didn’t need very much altering, just a little more fitting from hips downwards. I also had to draw on the desired neckline, which was obviously a guess! 

For the fishtail part of the skirt, which I took to calling the “flounce”, I thought I would do a circle skirt for the satin layer and lining, with a long straight piece of gathered chiffon on top, and petticoat netting sewed to the lining. This all worked out fine, but it did take a bit of head scratching to figure out how to make the pattern for the flounce where it curved up in that front V. I would love to explain how I did it but I don’t quite understand the notes I made! I do know I made a centre front seam at that V. I must have done that bit later as on this toile the flounce joins in a straight seam.

Please excuse the strange fabrics here, I had run out of calico for toiling, and the peacock chiffon was all I had on hand of an appropriate weight. 

FITTING

I had one toile fitting. We were visiting our families so I took the toile and my sewing machine, so I could make some proper toile alterations after the fitting and double check by trying on again.

The corselet needed some excess removing from the upper bust and across the back, and the main bodice needed similar alterations, plus more excess taking out of the skirt at thigh level. We redrew the neckline as I had gone a bit high.

The biggest relief was that IT FIT and SHE LIKED IT. I cannot tell you how happy that made me. I am still in awe at how chilled Layni was about the whole thing. She was very trusting.

THE FABRICS AND NOTIONS

Layni was open to colour options but suits strong colours best. We knew we wanted to have lace on the bodice part so I ordered lots of lace samples, although the choice of strong colours in corded lace is not huge. 

We were so excited though when we discovered this combination, red lace over magenta satin, making a raspberry colour. Just that little bit unusual and special. 

The corselet was two layers of mid weight red cotton, pinned wrong sides together to sew boning channels over each seam. Lace was added at the hem and a grosgrain waist stay. I already had the raspberry hook and eye tape, harvested years ago from a dance costume I think. I knew it would come in handy one day! Spiral steel boning is from Vena Cava. They are great, I highly recommend them. 

The magenta satin and the red corded lace are from White Tree Fabrics (which has since closed I believe). I had quite a few problems with using their website and getting my order processed, but the team were very very helpful on the phone and got it all put through for me. The quality of the fabrics from them was excellent.

Of course I could not tolerate seeing seams in my lace, even where the sleeves join at the shoulders, so I did appliqué seams. A lot of work but very satisfying. I was also worried about there being too much bulk in the corded lace to sew an invisible zip through, so I decided instead to hand appliqué the lace pieces to the satin bodice. I think this was definitely the correct decision. I also cut off the scalloped edge of the fabric to use along the neckline and the flounce seam. It makes all the difference, just finishes it off.

hand appliqueing the lace to the back, along the zip

scalloped edge appliqued to neckline

It took a lot of trial and error to find the correct colour for the chiffon. This one is from Minerva and is really lovely for this kind of project. I ordered samples of about 12 different red chiffons and they are all completely different colours! The screen really cannot give an accurate representation. This one in real life is on the raspberry side of red, so looked great with the other two fabrics.

I lined the dress in anti static lining from Minerva. I sewed the lining to the satin bodice before adding the lace, but then wished I had done it the other way round for the neckline and sleeve pieces. Oh well, you live and learn! 

I gathered up a lot of stiff dress net for the petticoat parts (also from Minerva) and it did definitely need the extra poof! 

FINAL FITTING AND FINISHING TOUCHES

My niece and her family came to stay with us the weekend before the prom, for a final fitting and finishing touches. I was a bit of a sewing hermit and just stayed in the sewing room till it was done! 

When Layni tried it on my heart leapt. It looked incredible and suited her so well! Such a relief and a joy! We then measured hems and I did the following:

• serged hem for the lining
• zig zag hem for the duchess satin layer. I am embarrassed by this but I had somehow ended up with no extra length to play with on this layer!
• horsehair braid and double fold hem in  the chiffon layer. This was in the hope we could achieve a kind of wavy effect at the hem. It didn’t wave as much as hoped but it did add volume and made a nicer overall shape to the dress.

Oh my word are you still reading?? That is kind of you!!!

Then all that was left was to attach the corselet to the dress, which I did at the centre front and the underarms, and add Swarovski crystals at random all over the lace part. They don’t really show up in the pictures very well but in real life they just catch the light and glint very subtly. 

the corselet attached to the main dress

Layni was overjoyed with her dress, as was I. I am so pleased I could create something special for her, and it was so lovely to see her so happy with it.

A huge project, which I enjoyed much more than I expected to. It also showed me how much time I could find for sewing if I really wanted to (although my house was an absolute tip and I hardly saw my husband for 2 weeks while I was at the height of Project Prom Dress).

Thank you for reading! I'll leave you with just a few more pictures of Layni looking beautiful on her prom day.