Category Archives: Minerva Blogging Network

Chambray Burda

Burda 7078

For this month’s Minerva project I picked out some gorgeous striped chambray to make yet another button-front dress.

Burda 7078
burda7078

The pattern is Burda 7078 with a couple of adjustments. It’s one of those patterns where the sample photographs aren’t particularly inspiring but the line drawing shows promise. I made a mix of the two views – the skirt and sleeveless bodice of A with the button-through front of B – and also extended out the shoulders by a couple of inches to add little cut-on cap sleeves.

Burda 7078

The funny thing is one of the things that initially attracted me to the pattern was the waist ties, but I actually removed them from the final dress because I thought they made it look a bit too twee for me. The fit is too relaxed without the ties so I stitched in some thin elastic to suck in the waist instead.

Burda 7078

I picked this pattern so I could play with the stripe placement over the princess seams. I cut the centre pieces on the cross grain, the sides on the bias and the rest straight. This fabric is absolutely luscious to the touch, almost brushed and silky soft. It presses well and gets that lovely linen-y rumpled look with wear.

Burda 7078
Burda 7078

The pattern fitted me well with no adjusting as Burda often does, though I’d say to check out the bodice length if you’re not short waisted like me – the waistline is quite high. You can’t really tell from the envelope views but it’s actually designed to be a couple of inches above the natural waist, though it’s more like natural waist on me. Next time I’d drop it an inch or so to be right on my waist.

Burda 7078

Anther sweet spring day dress in the bag! You can grab the pattern (currently half off!) and fabric from Minerva.

Lil’ black dress

Self-draft dress

You may have spied this dress in my MMM update – I’ve worn it twice already in May so it’s definitely on course to becoming a wardrobe staple. Like some of my other recent self-drafts I think it hits that sweet spot between low-key but not boring, and hence extremely everyday-wearable.

Self-draft dress
Self-draft dress

It’s a self-draft from my block – a very simple one in fact. I just added a bit of waist ease to my princess seam bodice, slashed out the skirt to include gathers, and added side pockets. I wanted to incorporate a shoulder-to-waist princess seam so that I could trim it with this gorgeous woven ribbon that I bought in Paris last year and have been hoarding for exactly this purpose. I only bought a metre as it was quite expensive, and luckily that was just enough to trim the seams and cross the front waist – I used every last mm of it. Check out Minerva’s ribbon selection for some alternatives: these two are quite similar, or how about some cats?

Self-draft dress

To enhance the ribbon design I picked a complementary embroidery stitch on my machine to hem the sleeves. I really dig how the white stitching looks against the plain black fabric – memo to self to play more with built-in stitches sometime.

Self-draft dress

Furthering my button obsession, I put them all the way down the back. I thought it reflected the folksy kind of feel. Luckily I can actually get the dress on and off without having to undo any of them! Having worn it a bit I reckon I need to put a few extra buttons on the skirt portion as it doesn’t feel 100% secure.

Self-draft dress

This is my Minerva network project for this month, and I used their linen-look cotton fabric in black. I was intending to make trousers initially but I think the fabric is a touch too lightweight and not quite fully opaque. It makes a great dress though and was super to work with – crisp and non-fraying – and feels delicious to wear. The fabric comes in an enticing range of colours and at £4.99/m is a real bargain. Check out Amy’s vintage Vogue in the burgundy version. Yeah, I think I’ll be needing some of that colour next.

Self-draft dress

Yay for a non-boring little black dress that’ll see me through summer and beyond!

Burda boyfriend jeans

Burda jeans

Spring’s hit London! And I have yet more jeans to show you. Sorry. At least they’re a new pattern and a slightly different shape to previous pairs! These are my Minerva blogger network project for April, and I used their 100% cotton 7.5oz black denim, which is a great basic light-medium weight denim with no stretch but a bit of ‘give’.

Burda jeans

The pattern I used is Burda 6798, a ‘boyfriend’ type style with a low waist, shaped back pockets, front hip darts, and options for either a buttoned or zip fly.

Burda jeans

Generally Burda patterns fit well on me out of the packet, and this wasn’t an exception. I cut a 14/40 to account for my hip size but ended up sewing the outer seams with a very large seam allowance as they turned out too big, so I’d say size down if you’re on a cusp. I graded down to the second-smallest size below the knee to slim the calves and ankle down, and took 2″ off the length.

I’ll just take this opportunity again to say if the fitting part is putting you off sewing trousers – don’t let it! Honestly, I think I’m making so many pants at the moment because I find them so much easier to fit than dresses. They’re also much simpler to baste and adjust as you go without needing to worry about lining or fastenings. And I don’t even have a straightforward lower half to fit, since there’s a 13″ difference between my waist and hip. Pants sermon of the day over!

Burda jeans

Pleasingly the curved waistband and back yoke of the 6798s fits perfectly with no fiddling – no gapeage at all to deal with. Burda pants patterns are constructed in such a way that it’s easy to alter the back seam right up until the end though, so you can adjust on the fly for a perfect fit. The back pocket shape is a fun change, and I really like where the low waistline hits. The slight puckering you see below the waistband, by the way, is partly because I eased in the waistband tightly to keep it snug and partly because I hadn’t removed the hand-basting I always do to secure the inner waistband before topstitching. I’ve taken it out now and the puckers have smoothed themselves out with a bit of wear.

Burda jeans

I didn’t use the instructions at all because I’ve made so many jeans now I have my ways, ha. I cut-on the fly extension piece and sewed the fly per the Ginger instructions. I do however really like how Burda do the pocket stay/holster, it’s less bulky since just one layer goes right to the fly. I flat-felled the yoke and inseam and serged the other seams.

Burda jeans

I haven’t really worn non-skinny jeans for ages, so I’ve been gathering some ideas for how to wear these. I think they look best with the cuff rolled to show a bit of ankle, so any day it’s warm enough that’s how I’ll wear them – here’s how I wore them on a slightly cooler day. I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up making another pair of these sometime – they’re in regular rotation already, being super comfortable, cycle-friendly and fun to make to boot.

Plum Gingers

Ginger Jeans

Oh hi! Do you like my new sewing room?! Obviously it’s not nearly finished yet, but with a dividing wall to some useless hallway knocked down the room has been made about 30% bigger and the light is 200% better. I’m SO excited to get back in there and sew as soon as it’s finished. I snuck in there today to photograph my finished Closet Case Files Ginger jeans – hence apologies for the mucky backdrop (RIP birdy wallpaper) but the rest of the flat is filled with all my stuff. This was a great project to start the year with: it’s a wardrobe essential, tests my skills, and was a good opportunity to practice my vow of ‘slow sewing’. I made them over 3-4 sessions around the new year so as not to get tired and make silly mistakes or cut corners; overall I think they took about 10 hours sew-time excluding PDF assembly.

Ginger Jeans

True silly story: I was intending to make view B, the high-rise skinny leg option. But I accidentally printed view A (low-rise stovepipe leg) instead *facepalm*. I couldn’t be bothered printing off 40 more pages so went ahead with A, tapering in the the legs manually. I AM going to make the real view B sometime as that high rise waist is hot stuff. Anyway I love the low version too and it more closely mirrors what I go for in RTW jeans.

Ginger Jeans

My fabric is plum cotton/lycra stretch denim from Minerva. It’s gorgeous; I love the colour, the stretch is perfect for Ginger (about 20% crosswise) and it’s got a super-soft brushed type finish. Plum (or maroon/wine/claret) is one of my favourite colours to wear and it’s a great partner to my large collection of grey and black tops.

Ginger Jeans
Ginger Jeans

I cut size 8 which matches my waist measurement but is smaller than my hips – a bit silly as there’s negative hip ease built in to the pattern already. I think slight vanity-size-choosing was at play :/ I ended up sewing the hip and thigh area with a scant seam allowance to compensate and just about got away with it. The waist fits perfectly, so I’ll stick with the 8 but do a full thigh-and-bum adjustment next time. In terms of other fit modifications, all very minor stuff: I manually slimmed down the leg below the knee to turn the stovepipe to skinny and took about an inch off the length at the hem.

Ginger Jeans

To accommodate my weird caved-in back I tapered in the centre yoke seam allowance at the top to about 1″, and redrafted the waistband to have more of a curve in it. It’s got no interfacing in but still hugs and stays in place admirably well. Best waistband yet!

Ginger Jeans
Ginger Jeans

The fly front is tidy although a little bit twisted – I think the buttonhole isn’t in quite the right place and also the fact that they’re snug across the hips makes it pull apart a bit. I went for the baby pink topstitching thread mostly to practice accuracy – contrasty topstitching isn’t really my favourite look so I didn’t topstitch the leg seams at all. But what i did do turned out quite nicely, and I only had to swear at the machine once or twice.

Ginger Jeans

I used leftover fabric from my first Holly for the pocket bags, which is nice and lightweight so they don’t show from the outside. Next time I will bias-bind raw edge of the fly shield rather than overlock for a cleaner finish. I’ll also definitely add the front pocket stay/extension because it really helps suck in and smooth out the front line.

Ginger Jeans

The best thing about this pattern  – other than bangin’ drafting – is the construction order and directions. It takes the best bits of all the methods I have picked up from previous jeans and adds some new tricks to make them even more foolproof. Heather also has you switching between normal seams/overlocking/topstitching as little as possible to avoid annoying machine change-overs. There’s also the comprehensive sewalong which I referred to once or twice.

Ginger Jeans

A few other random thoughts, mostly notes to self for next time:

  • Back pockets a bit too close together – the CB seam topstitching makes them look uneven, even though they’re correct from the seam itself. Tiny bit smaller?
  • Bit of tension at front crotch – add length/flatten crotch curve.
  • Wrinkles down the back leg – lengthen back crotch curve.
  • Slash and pull open front hip a little bit.
  • Taper 1/2″ out from back yoke at top.
  • Add the front pocket stay/extension.
  • Finish fly shield with bias binding.
  • Take excess length out from the knee line rather than hem.

Ginger Jeans

I’m really happy with the final jeans – for an un-toiled foray into a new pattern the fit is impressive and they definitely fill a wardrobe, gap, adding a bit of colour to pair with all my monochrome tops. I’m a bit torn now about which jeans pattern to use as my TNT – the Gingers, Burda 115, and Style Arc all fit pretty well but none quite perfectly. The thing is, as Heather has said, you need to baste jeans together every time you make them really because each denim will fit differently, so perhaps I’ll just rotate depending on whim, ha! Props to Heather anyway for this great pattern and for getting so many sewists over their fear of jeans.

Minerva Network: Shibori-ish tee

Shibori tee

Here’s my Minerva make for this month! I went a bit off-piste and used some plain cotton lawn fabric and Dylon dye with the intention of dyeing it myself in a kind of shibori style. The heat of summer made me really notice and appreciate the difference in breathability between natural and synthetic fibres, and this combed lawn is ever so soft and breezy.

Shibori tee

I’m so pleased with how the dye job came out. I didn’t take any process photos i’m afraid, but it was very simple. I just pleated both pieces in different ways, dunked them in the dye and salt mix for about half an hour, rinsed and left to dry.

Shibori tee

I started both with a piece half a metre long to be more manageable for folding. For the right hand side one here I folded it into 2″ pleats selvedge to selvedge, then clipped clothes pegs all along the length of the concertina to hold it in place (inspired by this project). For the other one I made wider pleats, then pleated the other way at 45-degree angles to make a fat triangle shape, then again used clothes pegs to hold the edges in place. Pretty spooky how it turned out with definite skull faces, right? The dye colour was Antique Grey by the way, but I like the greenish tint it came out with. The joy of dye, you never know quite what you’ll get.

Shibori tee

I wanted a simple top to showcase the dye job, so dug out the old See Kate Sew Zippy top. Sans zip, but with rolled cuffs which I achieved just by cutting the sleeves about 1.5″ longer, pressing back 1cm then again by 1″ and topstitching down. There’s something about the shoulders and hang of this pattern that I just love.

Shibori tee

I seamed my dyed panels back together, and after a bit of draping in the mirror decided to run the join up the centre to show both dye jobs next to each other. All the seams are Frenched and the neckline is finished with bias binding.

If you fancy a bit of DIY dyeing too, you can find the plain cotton lawn fabric and Dylon dye on Minerva. You can also see some more dye inspiration and tutorials on my Pinterest board.

Minerva network: Tessuti Pia dress

Quick thanks first for all the lovely comments on my Anna! I’m so proud of it and reading your encouraging comments only make me want to continue doing better and better with my sewing :)

Tessuti Pia dress

Here’s my Minerva make for this month. It’s a (slightly modified) Tessuti Pia sundress, using this luscious batik print cotton lawn. I actually made this quite a while ago and even wore it to the Minerva meetup day back in June! It’s a bit different in style to what I usually go for (I mean apart from all my obvious usual hallmarks: abstract print, blue/black colours, pockets…) but I’ve been wearing it a lot in this sunny London weather.

Tessuti Pia dress

It’s the first Tessuti pattern I’ve made and I’m afraid it gave me a bit of grief, mostly down to the PDF itself. It is SIXTY NINE pages long (!) so very intensive on paper and ink. I literally had to print it out in chunks over a few days to make it seem less daunting, then felt like apologising to some trees. The main reason is that the pieces aren’t nested, ie the XS/S are laid out separately to M/L/XL, which would be fine if that was noted somewhere so you could selectively print only the size you wanted, but all but impossible to deduce before printing them all out. I ended up recycling at least twenty unused sheets which is pretty unacceptable. There are also a bunch of pieces which have to be cut out of something called Vilene Shield (used to temporarily stabilise the arm and neck edges for finishing, I think). I’ve never heard of it so didn’t use any of those pieces either.

Tessuti Pia dress

Luckily after the nightmare of printing and assembly the dress was simple to put together. The instructions are good and each step is clearly photographed. I especially liked how the instructions show where and how to finish raw edges with an overlocker as you go – so often that is missed out. The front pockets are constructed so the inner pocket is smaller than the outer, causing them to droop open in quite a pleasing way. I think this would be even more effective in a slightly drapier fabric than this crisp lawn.

Tessuti Pia dress

As I mentioned, I didn’t use the Vilene method to finish the neckline and armsyces but instead drafted a simple all-in-one facing which was burrito’d and topstitched. Another example of deviating from instructions and swapping out finishes and techniques to suit my own preferences.

Tessuti Pia dress

I cut the smallest size because it’s designed oversized, and made quite a lot of fitting adjustments directly to the paper pattern. I took about 4″ off the bodice length and at least 10″ off the skirt because looking at other versions of this dress I figured a higher waistline and shorter length would be better on me. Halfway through making it I was still convinced it would look awful on me, but actually I really like it – it’s different to my usual silhouette but very easy to wear and nice and breezy for hot days.

Tessuti Pia dress

Once constructed I felt it was still a bit too straight-up-and-down, so added a little smocking detail into the front and back to add a touch more waist shaping. Really pleased with how this worked out: it’s just small pieces of thin elastic stretched and sewn onto the inside. This lawn was really scrummy to work with and feels great to wear – perfect for a loose summer sundress. I think it’s got a nicer handle than Liberty lawn, which I find can be a bit clingy and crease-prone, especially unlined. This one resists wrinkles much better but still has the characteristic fine weave which makes it delightful to sew and to wear. You can find the fabric here, and the Tessuti Pia pattern here.