A Triumphant Kielo Dress and a Black Watch Purse

This dress was a TRIUMPH. It’s my new favourite synagogue outfit.

This is exactly how I go to synagogue: mask and nice-married-Jewish-lady-beret.

The process was really a testament to how nice it is to actually have enough fabric for a project! No adding seams, no piecing, just cut and sew.

The back is not exciting, but it’s fine.

The only challenge I had was with the neckline, which is slightly puckered at the back. I basted in the neckband–something I’ll do going forward because it makes things MUCH easier–but I think that this knit has so much recovery that the neckband needed to be a touch longer. No matter, though. It’s a black dress. It eats up light and flaws are easily hidden.

You can also wrap the “wings” in the back, which leaves a plain front…

I kept the construction simple and did the whole thing on my regular machine. I hemmed the sleeves with a straight stitch and the bottom hem with a zig-zag.

I absolutely adore it. It feels like a t-shirt but looks great.

My other recent project was a purse. For a very long time, my only nice purse was a small leather clutch that I painted pale pink (a successful pre-blog project.) It was originally lime green, matching my grade 8 graduation dress which was (wait for it) mottled lime green and brown chiffon with rhinestones. And a matching lime green chiffon shawl. Eugh. Thankfully, this was before social media existed! Anyway, I figure that after 18 years, a new purse is in order.

It’s about 8 inches x 4 inches, a very handy size.

I whipped this up using a free pattern and some wool suiting scraps. It’s interlined with canvas for structure and lined with silk scraps. It’s very simple, but I like it a lot!

In Summary:
Fabric: 2.5 meters of deadstock cotton/spandex from Riverside Fabrics. I don’t remember how much it cost, but I’m going to guess about $25? It’s mid-weight with great recovery–thicker than your average t-shirt, but not like a ponte knit. I wish I had 10 more meters of the stuff. The purse was all scraps, plus a $3 zipper from Leather & Sewing Supply Depot in Toronto.

Pattern: Kielo Dress. It’s shortened by an inch under the arms, and I cut the length the be just below my knees. The purse is the Zipper and Bow Clutch from Pretty Prudent. I omitted the strap and didn’t follow the instructions, since I know how assemble zippered bags pretty well.

Cost: $28 for a dress and a purse.

Final thoughts: This dress is basically my ideal garment, and I’ve been wearing it once a week. I’m very pleased with the purse, too. It’s a good size and doesn’t look to “homemade,” what with the dark fabric and metal zip. All in all, the process of making these two things was a pleasure.

A Quick Pair of Pyjama Pants

This was a very quick project, borne of need. I had a pair of pyjama pants that I LOVED (stretchy, cheerful, bear-printed.) The only downside is that after, uh, eight years of wear, they were irredeemably falling apart.

Spurred on by wanting to participate in Me Made May, I cut the old PJs apart, traced the pieces, and used the resultant pattern to cut out a new pair in green cotton knit. I added seam allowance, hem allowance, and a 3-inch waistband extension on the top.

I sewed all the seams on my serger, except for the hem and waistband. I made a very simple waistband by serging the top edge, folding it under, and then folding down a 1.5 inch waistband. I sewed it, leaving a bit of space at the centre-back. Then, I inserted the elastic, the end.

This was a really quick photo during Me Made May; it was a weekday morning and I looked so miserable that I had to fully crop out my head. Hah. Also, sorry for the filthy mirror.

In Conclusion:

Materials: 2 m of green cotton/spandex knit that I impulse-bought for 12$ at Fabricland; it’s the same fabric as this dress in a different colour.

Pattern: None; I traced an old pair of pyjamas.

Cost: $12, plus a few cents for the elastic

Final Thoughts: I love these and wear them all the time! The only change I’d make next time is to sew a vertical line over the waistband above the side seams and at the centre-back, to keep the elastic from twisting.

A Nursing-Hacked Kielo Dress

(This project is from 2022, when I was still nursing my then-infant.) One happy Tuesday, when I–miracle of miracles!–had the apartment to myself, I shoved our furniture out of the way and made myself a Kielo dress.

Squeezing this dress out of 2 meters of fabric was really hard.

As I did last time, I added a waist seam at the back, which allowed me to tesselate the pattern pieces together.

The ties are also heavily pieced, which I wouldn’t do again. The piecing is visible when the dress is worn and I don’t like how it looks.

The pattern comes either sleeveless or with long sleeves. It’s been a while, but I think I tried to make flutter sleeves? They came out looking like a cropped wizard’s robe. Not the look I was hoping for.

In the end, I cut them shorter and called it good enough. To make it nursing-friendly, I left part of the “swoop” part of the side-seam open, tacking the raw edges under. When I needed to nurse, I just untied the ties, and shifted the gap over to allow baby to nurse. It was convenient and exposed very little skin.

Obligatory “I made a Kielo Dress and it looks like a flying squirrel” pose

As of 2024, I can say that I wore this dress twice a week all summer when I was nursing, and then regularly in warm weather for the following two years. It’s looking pretty tired (the fabric was cheap) so it might be turned into pyjama shorts or something. But it definitely earned its keep!

In Summary:
Materials: 2 m of pink 95/5 cotton/spandex which I impulse-bought for about $12 CAD, thinking I’d make pyjamas. There were some flaws in the fabric–the dye job wasn’t perfect–and I tried to lay it out so that the little dime-sized pale spots are on the back and sleeves. In the end, it really just looks like light and shadow.

Pattern: Kielo dress, with 14 inches off the hem, 1 inch shorter below the armscye, and short sleeves.

Cost: About $12 CAD.

Final Thoughts: EXCELLENT! I’m really, really pleased with how this turned out. Raising the waist improved the fit compared to my last version. It’s also interesting to see how the shape of the pattern works with the stiffer cotton, compared to a slinky silk knit. It’s a great pattern for accommodating pregnancy, nursing, and all the various body changes that accompany the post-partum period; it’s really generous to a changing body.

Three Stubborn Magnolia Dresses

Well, hello! I have a lot of projects to catch us up on. Let’s dive in.

About a year and half ago, I became convinced–convinced–that I was going to use the Magnolia Dress pattern to make myself a gown for our long-delayed wedding reception. I had visions of soft pink silk under embroidered chiffon. I had it all planned out: I would make several versions, all wearable, which would be such an efficient use of my time and materials! Spoiler: it didn’t work.

This was my first version. Since I’m short, I shortened the bodice without trying it on first. Efficient, right? Unfortunately, the waistline is too high.. I wore the dress three times before admitting to myself that it’s not particularly flattering.

This was the second version, which I made in July 2023 for my brother’s wedding. Better! Kind of? I undid my pattern changes, but the resulting bodice is too big at the bust. If I stand absolutely straight and still, it looks fine. Unfortunately, this is not compatible with your wedding basic activities of eating or dancing or really moving your arms at all.

(The specks are dirt on the mirror, not flaws in the fabric)

Was I willing to call it and make something else? No, I was not. Soft pink silk, embroidered chiffon, remember? I had a vision! I used a second-hand sari with damaged trim and made a third dress for a friend’s wedding in November 2023. I made an SBA to make the bodice fit, but the princess seams are awfully wrinkled and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. Also I ran out of fabric and had to make a pleated skirt, which is too bulky. Gah!

So. Three dresses, ranging from “just OK” to “unwearable.” Finally I admitted to myself that I don’t like this pattern. The flutter sleeves are too fluttery; the neckline doesn’t stay put; the very round princess seams are better suited to a more spherical bustline than I possess. It also really irks me that the inner princess seams are left raw. I actually lined the bodice for my second two versions because I was so annoyed about it, though this does make the bodice a beast to iron. Anyway, not to my taste.

In Conclusion:

Materials: 3 m of pansy-printed cotton lawn, 24$ from Fabricland; 2.5 m of purple sand-washed crepe de chine, about $120 from Riverside Fabrics; 5 m damaged sari, 15$ from Value Village; three invisible zippers of unknown cost and provenance.

Pattern: Deer and Doe Magnolia dress, $12 when I bought it.

Cost: We’ll round up to about $60 a dress.

Final thoughts: Efficiency is overrated. I rushed through making three dresses, one of which was expensive, and while I learned a lot, I don’t reach for a single one of them! I tell myself that learning isn’t wasted, and I do wear that purple one with a sweater on top for the rare occasion where a silk skirt is appropriate. But this was an expensive lesson, in terms of both money and time.

Winter mittens, a little late.

The swans are in the lake and the daffodils are blooming; I have finished a pair of warm, double-layered, felted wool mittens. Not quite impeccable timing, even though I like the mittens themselves very much!

There are two mittens, obviously, but my other hand is taking the picture.

In my defense, I did start them in the winter, but I think that my baby precociously developed an understanding of irony; she started sleeping through the night the evening before my return to work. The Venn diagram of, “Time” and, “Energy” is most often two circles so far apart that you could practically lie down between them.

Anyway, the “make winter accessories out of old sweaters” trend has been around as long as the internet, but I never had a sweater I really wanted to use that way. However, I did have two pieces of wool knit in my scrap bag: a pink cashmere shirt and a piece of a green wool/silk skirt. I felted both by running them through a hot wash and dry twice, and figured that I’d make luxurious double-layered mittens.

This is after felting, which is why the sweater looks a bit wonky.

All I did needed to do was make two pairs of mittens, slip one inside the other, and hem. Easy, right?

Titled: The Effects of Sleep Deprivation, January 2022

Sigh. So, then, I unpicked one pink mitten to make a right and a left.

For the green outer mittens, I used a smaller seam allowance to make them ever-so-slightly bigger than the pink ones. It helps them lie together without wrinkling, which is more comfortable.

Then, I tucked the pink set inside the green set, folded the green hem over the pink, and whip-stitched it down.

Tucked in neatly! Also, you totally can’t tell that I didn’t have green thread and just used navy blue.

And that’s it: beautiful, warm mittens. They feel downright luxurious! I could get used to cashmere. I like the shape of them, too; because the thumb protrudes from the front instead of the side, the mittens don’t twist around my hands. They tend to slide down my wrists because there isn’t any elastic or ribbing to hold them up, but overall they’re great.

Are they a wee bit wonky? Yes! Do I care? No! Do I know how to colour-correct photos? Also no. Sorry. They’re a dark forest green.

In Conclusion:

Materials: Two pieces of felted knits from hand-me-down garments.

Pattern: Simple Felted Wool Mittens, free from Purl Soho. I messed up the printer setting and they’re about 12% smaller than they should be, but I have small hands so it worked out.

Cost: I’m calling this a freebie.

Final Thoughts: These are so cozy! The cashmere is incredibly smooth and soft but I dislike the colour; using as a lining is a perfect solution. They’re warm, soft, pretty, and easy to make (even if it did take me three months.)

A Long Black Cabernet Cardigan

After making a very practical grey Cabernet Cardigan for my upcoming return to work, I decided to make a black one! This may be the most non-descript garment I’ve ever made, but I really like it! This time, I made view A, the long and boxy version, in a size M graded to an L at the hip. I used the optional bust darts.

This time, I cut the neckband correctly (though it still wings out at the sides of the neck, but as you can see–or can’t, really–my hair covers it up) but I ran out of fabric for the waistband. Sigh. That’s what happens when you just buy random lengths of fabric for, oh, ten years, and then try to use it up. I pieced the waistband together by adding side seams and it worked out fine. I’m big on adding extra seams when you don’t have enough fabric.

I omitted the topstitching due to feeling lazy, but it makes the button band flip inside-out when I wear the cardigan open, so next time I’ll include it.

I decided to save myself struggling with my automatic buttonholer and hand-sewed the buttonholes again. These came out better than my last ones!

I’m really pleased with how it turned out! It is pretty boxy, and I probably could have managed with a straight size M, but I don’t mind the looseness over my hips and bum. I wonder if the relative stiffness of ponte compared to a typical sweater knit makes it look a bit more bulky than it might otherwise?

It’s pulled in a strange way, but it illustrates that there’s a LOT of extra fabric around the hips.

Regardless, overall I think it’s terrific! The only thing I’d change is to cut the pockets bigger next time. These are on the petite and chic side; I require cavernous pockets in which to carry my phone, my wallet, a pen or two, my folded up to-do lists, a snack…you know, the essentials.

In Summary:

Materials: 1.5 m black rayon/polyester ponte ($12 from Fabricland), five plain black buttons of unknown origin from my stash.

Pattern: Cabernet Cardigan, which I already owned.

Cost: $12 CAD

Conclusion: I’m delighted with this pattern! It’s scaled perfectly for a short person; I’m 5’2 and didn’t alter the length at all. This might be the most boring garment I’ve ever made, but I really like it. It’s rare for me to find a long cardigan that doesn’t pull over the hips and bag at the sleeves. Well-fitting basic clothes that I can wear and not really think about is exactly what I was after when I started sewing. Really, I was about 17 and I just wanted a plain grey cotton t-shirt to wear with jeans and a cardigan to school (ahem, my style evolution is non-existent) and I could not find one that wasn’t too tight, too low-cut, too polyester, too thin, without slogans on it…it’s strange to think that this is the cardigan of my teenage dreams, but I guess it is!

If You Hear Hoofbeats, Think Zebras! (A Zebra Baby Sleeper)

Since discovering the second-hand baby clothes market, my motivation to make baby clothes has plummeted. I could spend hours making baby clothes…or I could just buy sleepers for a dollar apiece. Alas, sometimes I want something specific, or my frustrations with the children’s clothing industry bubble over (Do little girls have to wear only pink? Why are her clothes so thin and tight? Why use scratchy fabrics for an infant?)…and out comes the sewing machine! In this case, I wanted her to have a thick sleeper that could go over her clothes without interfering with her car seat straps.

Enter: the Green Bean Baby Set sewing pattern. Because I had tried to use the pattern previously to disastrous effect, I checked very carefully that all of the pattern pieces for a a hooded, footed, mittened, zippered sleeper would line up. Unfortunately, the left front piece is unusable. It’s several inches too long, as is the corresponding facing. To fix that, I simply threw those pattern pieces away and used the basic sleeper shape as a template to trace a new left front. Otherwise, many pieces need a few millimeters of fudging, and the hood is weirdly small even though it technically works.

See? The hood is tiny! But I am SO PROUD of that zipper.

I decided to make the sleeper double-layered, so I used old sweatpants for the lining and zebra-printed interlock for the exterior fabric. I bought it on a weekend trip that I took to Niagara Falls and Buffalo when I turned 27. It feels so strange; that was the last summer that life was normal. How things change! When I took that trip, I was a single student living in a different city in a pre-pandemic world…it feels like a lifetime ago.

Two sleepers, insides out, attached at the belly.

Misty-eyed nostalgia aside, the assembly of the sleeper was easy. I decided to challenge myself to enclose all of the seams, and managed to do it except for the feet and the cuffs. I took the time to baste in the zipper, which I think gives a particularly nice finish, and was ultimately easier than using a thousand pins.

The cuff has a clever flap that flips over the hand for warmth.

There are definitely good things in this pattern: the hood construction gives a tidy finish and the mitten cuffs are very clever, though I get frustrated when I spend money on something requiring major correction. All that said, I’ll definitely use this pattern again, with a big dose of caveat emptor!

In Conclusion:

Materials: About 0.5 m of a 1.5 m cut of zebra-printed cotton interlock, bought at Joann Fabric in Buffalo for maybe $15 CAD. The lining was an old pair of sweatpants that I bought at a Walmart on my way home from a miserable elective during a miserable winter; I wore them constantly because my apartment’s heat kept cutting out…yeah, maybe I’m not so nostalgic for my student days after all. A white zipper from Needlework for about $2 CAD.

Pattern: Green Bean Baby Set, $12. I recommend it with caveats: if you make the sleeper, you’ll have to re-draft the left front. This is size 64 (i.e. for a baby 64 cm long.)

Cost: About $29 CAD.

Final Thoughts: I am incredibly pleased with the final product. The sleeper is heavy and warm and beautifully finished, if I do say so myself. There are little things that remind me that it’s handmade–I cut the front lining pieces with the fluffy sweatshirt side out instead of the smooth knit side; I sliced a hole in the foot seam and had to close it up by hand; the topstitching on the hood is a little rippled and the zipper guard doesn’t quite work because I didn’t line it up perfectly–but on the whole I think it looks really, really good! I absolutely love it.

A Rather Belated Baby Blanket

I’m calling it: this is my most impressive work of 2022. Nothing I make will beat it!

The garbage and spare box under the crib are there for “realism” lol

This blanket is made out of many, many individual puff-stitch flowers. This was a phenomenal amount of work, and while I’m delighted with the outcome, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started this project.

Initially, I figured I’d need about 80 flowers. I chose four colours and planned to use cream for the centre of each flower, but once I got started I realized that adding cream as its own flower colour would add some much-needed contrast.

Spoiler: I needed way more than 80 flowers.

At seven months pregnant I started to crochet. Once I had my 80 flowers, I laid them out and realized that I had something the size of a placemat. Hm. So, I continued to crochet. At eight-and-a-half months pregnant, I had 125 flowers. I laid them out and realized that I had something the size of…a slightly larger placemat. ARGH! Ultimately, the baby was born in mid-September, and I finished this blanket at the end of January with 252 flowers. Whew!

I used what remained of the pale blue yarn and some of the cream to slip-stitch the flowers together. I used a random number generator to help get a pleasingly random arrangement, but made sure no two adjacent flowers were the same.

Hoots the Owl, looking surprised to be a photo double for my daughter

I also added a puff-stitch border to secure and even out the edges. It was improvised and doesn’t look great but I’m fine with it. There are other small errors too, like flowers with the wrong number of petals.

Despite that, I’m really pleased with the blanket. Because of the puff-stitches, it’s cushion-y and very warm. I do suspect that as soon as I give it to the baby, she will find the strands of the puff-stitches irresistible and will dig at them with her wee fingers; it remains to be seen how well this blanket will last! It’s still not huge, I must say; it’s not even big enough to be a lap blanket. I may someday buy more yarn and extend the border, but for now, it’s DONE!

In Conclusion:

Materials:
Cascade 220 superwash merino and regular Cascade 220 superwash. I bought everything at Romni Wools except for a second ball of cream wool, which I ordered from Yarn Canada. I used a 4.5 mm crochet hook.

Pattern: Mollie Flowers, available for free on Ravelry. I pulled up 8 strands in each puff-stitch instead of 9. I made 252 flowers. The blanket is 18 flowers by 14 flowers; about 90 cm x 60 cm

Cost: About $100 CAD. Whew! That much wool was pricey.

Final Thoughts: There are some negatives. The blanket is smaller than I’d like and liable to be picked apart by little baby fingers. At the same time, it’s beautiful, soft, and warm! Overall, I’m very pleased with how it came out.

A Little Cardigan for My Little Baby

I made a merino-silk-cotton cardigan for my baby. Is is ridiculous to dress a baby in the most luxurious textiles possible? Actually, wait, don’t tell me.

The buttons are a rabbit, a fish, a duck, and turtle!

I had this pair of socks that I hand-knitted yonks ago in a really nice yarn from Cascade that they’ve since discontinued (the nerve, to not carry exactly the same product ten years later.) I didn’t actually wear the socks much, because I hadn’t managed to make them the same size (heh) so I unravelled them!

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I chose the Fuss Free Baby Cardigan Pattern, and held my sock yarn doubled. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn! The 100g listed must be for the 0-3 month size, not 3-6. I found a ball of soft dark blue cotton in my parents’ basement and used that to finish the sleeve and button-band….and then I found a tiny leftover ball of the green yarn at the bottom of my yarn bag! ARGH! Oh, well. I’ve tried to convince myself that the sweater looks cool and not like a hack-job, but you know what? It’s soft, it’s warm, and the baby is deeply indifferent to what her clothes look like. Also the little animal buttons are cute.

In Summary:

Materials: Recycled merino-silk yarn from a pair of socks, and a bit of sport-weight cotton that I had lying around; I bought it to make a hat years ago but I think the pattern didn’t work out. Buttons from my stash, from a big grab-bag at a thrift store. Because cotton is not at all springy or elastic, the sleeve with cotton yarn looks longer despite being the same length as the other.

Pattern: Fuss free baby cardigan, with the sleeves lengthened to come to mid-forearm. It’s a free pattern, but the designer requested donations. I donated to my local children’s’ hospital.

Cost: I’m going to call it free, but with a donation to the hospital. The materials were recycled from other projects, and the buttons cost pennies a long time ago.

Final Thoughts: You know what? It’s pretty cute! I might be biased because I think that my daughter is adorable regardless of what she’s wearing, but I really do like the green yarn a lot and the blue is not so bad. It was a quick little project that gave me a boost in the midst of the interminable baby blanket that I’m crocheting for her. Sigh. More on that, soon.

2021: Year in Review

It’s always strange to look back on the sewing year. I start the year with such lofty goals, and finish it surprised (again) that real life interfered with my fantasies. Here’s what I made this year:

Row 1: A Cabernet cardigan (not worn yet, but I love it), a Tiramisu dress (failed, never wore it), and a nursing top (loved it, wore it a lot post-partum until the weather got cold).

Row 2: Another nursing top, (ditto on the success), two bassinet sheets (turned out the baby hated the bassinet and refused to sleep in it, so these were unnecessary),

Row 3: Three receiving blankets (worked fine), four crib sheets (probably more than we needed, but so cuuuuuute!), a red silk Kielo dress, and a swing dress copied from RTW (I wore it twice a week for the last four weeks of pregnancy). Not pictured, but I tried to make my own nursing pads, which didn’t work at all.

Now, my most significant project is not pictured; I had a baby in September (a sweet, snuggly girl), and my pregnancy really ran the show in 2021. While I am deeply aware of how fortunate I was to be healthy, I felt like absolute garbage for nearly the entire nine months, and going through a pregnancy as a resident during COVID was…not easy, to say the least. Creative work (other than, you know, gestation) took a backseat. My one single yarn project of the year was a baby blanket, and it’s still not done!

I’m hoping that 2022 can include more making, even though we now have a baby and I’ll be back at work in the spring. Who knows what the year will bring? Here’s hoping it’s better and better.