Hello Blackbird

(Of course it should be, Bye Bye Blackbird, but that doesn't really work as a post title!)

New Look 6723, aka the Blackbird dress, is finished.

Finished at last!

Once I'd finished wrangling the zip, it was pretty straightforward. Because I couldn't find any lining remotely the same colour as the fabric, I'd just used white. But then I worried that it would show at the edges, so added narrow facings around the neck and armholes. This was more work in terms of sewing down the edges, which I did by hand, but it gave a neat finish.

All neat and tidy at the front

Slight mismatch at the back, but I can live with it

I also added in-seam pockets because, well, pockets. I used the pattern in Vogue Sewing, and went for the version which is sewn into the waistband rather than just hanging loose.

The joy of pockets

I decided that the dress would hang better with a belt, but couldn't find a suitable buckle, so just made a tie belt the width of one row of trees.

Simple tie belt

The hem was done by my usual method; overlock the edge, then turn it up once and hand sew into place.

I really like the neckline on this dress - unfortunately I didn't think to put my hair up, so it's not all that clear. This is definitely a 'make again' pattern.

I can see this getting worn a lot

Next it's back to vintage, and my first go at a pattern featured in the Vintage Sew-Along; Butterick 6582.

Coming soon (I hope)

It's been that kind of week

You know, THAT kind

So there I was, trying to get the blackbird dress finished for a friend's birthday party. The bodice is lined, with the sort of lining which you sew on round the neckline and armholes and then pull through, so that all the edges are neatly finished. I'd never tried this before, but was pleased with the end result.

The zip should be put in towards the end, but because I was using an invisible zip I decided to do this step earlier. So I attached the skirt backs with about 2.5cm / 1"of stitching, and put in the zip. Then I laid the dress out flat.

All was not well (see top left)

There was a twist in the left shoulder of the bodice. I thought that I'd just zipped it up wrongly, so undid the zip and turned the left back though, so that the shoulder was flat. And got this.

All was even less well

I'd managed to twist the zip while in the process of setting it in, and the only solution was to unpick one side completely and start again. While on a very tight deadline.

And the really annoying thing? I've got form in this area. I've made exactly the same mistake before, with the Vegas Night dress back in 2012. Which coincidentally I was making to go on a night out with the same group of friends. On an even tighter deadline.

Lesson learned - if going out with these friends, do not try to make a new dress! I wore New Look 6070 instead.

On the plus side, I can now reveal the Secret Sewing Project. Earlier in the year I was thrilled to be asked if I'd contribute something to this year's Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge 2016. The result was the 'Rosalind dress'; Butterick 6877 in a fabulous double-helix print cotton.

The secret's out!

The full details are on Marie's A Stitching Odyssey blog here. It had its moments, many of them involving pattern matching, but I'm really pleased with the end result. A huge thank you to Marie and Kerry for the invitation.

The Rosalind dress

The blackbird dress -part 1

The Secret Sewing Project has hit a major fitting crisis, the sort which can only be dealt with by an emergency visit my mum, wailing, "How do I fix this?" That's scheduled for tomorrow after work, so in the meantime . . .

My London trip unsurprisingly included the fabric shop heaven that is Goldhawk Road. This time I went for quality rather than quantity, and bought silk for a couple of projects, but despite my best intentions, a couple of cotton dress lengths somehow insinuated themselves onto my shopping bag!

This tree print was available in three different colourways, but I really liked the green (or possibly turquoise/teal, I can't really decide on the colour).

Trees in a row

When I looked at it closely, I noticed that one of the black leaves was actually a little bird sitting on the lowest branch.

Blackbird on a branch

In the summer I have a little table and chairs in the yard (or 'patio', if I'm feeling posh) where I take all my photographs, and eat outside whenever the weather is good enough. A blackbird often sits on my neighbour's TV aerial, and warbles away beautifully for ages. So the association was enough to make me buy the fabric (any excuse).

I've decided to use it to make New Look 6723, view B. As ever, I'm lengthening the skirt a bit.

I'll decide about the belt once the dress is made

For New Look patterns, I have to shorten the bodice between the bust point and the armscye. This produced a really exaggerated curve on the princess seam.

The bodice is lined, so because I wasn't entirely convinced about my alterations I decided to make up the lining first, as a sort of wearable toile. I've also had a few problems with straight-across necklines gaping on me, so this was a good way to check if the neck needed altering.

It turned out that the neckline was fine, but the armholes gaped a bit. The solution was to take in the princess seam, which made the bust curve even more exaggerated. It also meant that the front and side front no longer joined, so I had to redraft side front completely.

The final bodice side front piece

It was well worth doing however, because the bodice does now fit perfectly, and I made my mistakes in easy-to-replace locally bought lining, not fabric bought 200 miles away!

When it came to cutting out the dress, things got 'interesting'. Like a lot of fabric, this wasn't quite printed on the straight grain. The row of trees is on a slight slope, with the occasional wobble in the row added for good measure. I decided to go with the printing line rather than the grain line; my logic being that the skirt is full enough to hide any wonky hanging issues, and the lining will keep the bodice in shape. It did mean that I had to cut everything out from a single layer of fabric, marking the tree trunks on the pattern pieces so that they would match up, and pinning the pattern pieces on far more firmly than I would usually do.

Lots and lots and lots of pins!

So, all cut out and ready to sew.