Oops, I did it again…

I just couldn’t help myself. I have only gone and made another Frankie dress!

After the success of my fishy dress and the fact that I haven’t taken it off since the sun came out, I thought I would give it another bash.

There were a couple of tweeks I wanted to make with the fit.  I originally cut my fishy dress to a extra small on the top grading to a small.  This time round, I thought maybe a straight small would be better as the shoulders seams were a little short.  I also decided to add an additional centimetre for some extra room.  This is how I added that extra width.

I drew a diagonal line from the shoulder seam to the arm hole, cut long the line and opened it up by a centimetre.  It just gave me the extra room I needed.  The final adjustment was to length.  I had reduced the length on my fishy dress, mainly due to fabric shortage so this time I cut the specified short length as per the pattern.  You will notice that I also chose the elbow length sleeve option instead of the short sleeves.

The fabric I used for this make is really special.  I bought it from Faberwood in the UK. It’s quite a bold himmeli pattern and large in scale.

I had originally spotted it on Wendy Ward’s instagram page and went straight online and bought a couple of metres.  As I was heading back to the UK in August, it was waiting for me when I arrived at my parent’s place.  It was a long wait, but well worth it.  It’s an amazing quality knit.  This is what I like about Faberwood, it’s a well curated and quality driven fabric store.  AND bonus to me, I actually got to meet Fiona who owns Faberwood while I was back in the UK.

So here it is.

The morning light has sent this a bit blue, the image above is a closer representation of colour.

Here is the shoulder seam in more detail

I am pleased that I sorted out the fit, it feels less restricted on the shoulders than my fishy dress. I am also pleased I didn’t cock it up as this fabric is so lovely (and no longer available) that I think tears would have been shed if I had made a mistake. I am now waiting with bated breath to see what Wendy and Fiona make with their pieces.

 

Gotta love a stripe!

Great charity shop find!

I bought this top in the charity shop a while back.  Once a shapeless striped tunic or maybe mini dress, it had ‘possibility’ written all over it! The fabric was great quality, I couldn’t leave it behind, a heavy jersey knit in a bright mint green and navy.  Ripe for an up cycle.

Of course, I had to make a sweatshirt and as usual Bertie was the lucky recipient.  There was enough fabric to make the front and sleeves, for the back I used a plain navy knit. I used a navy ribbing on the neck, cuffs and waistband.  Again, I worked from the Brindille and Twig Raglan Sweatshirt pattern. I think he has been wearing it for about a year now.  It still looks great and has washed really well.

The raglan sleeve sweatshirt and notice the parsley pants with knee patches (patches are made from an old baby-grow) – just can’t help this up cycling…

Notice the lack of pattern matching on the sleeves… oh dear!

I stumbled upon a few pieces of this fabric last week in my (giant) box of scraps. While churning out another self drafted sweatshirt for Monty, I thought I might just use it up.

A self-drafted raglan sleeve sweatshirt – this one has endless possibilities

I added a row of stitching between the shoulder pad and sleeve to flatten and re-inforce the seam. It looks good too!

I think it’s a success, the shoulder pads add that bit of interest to an essentially boring raglan sleeve sweatshirt.  And yet again, Bertie manages to match one of his big brothers.

Woo hoo, I love an up cycle, it gives me a huge sense of satisfaction – sad, I know!