Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

I'm really not sure about this jacket. I loved the technical drawings and it on the model in the magazine but I'm not sure on me. Its quite a boxy jacket and the under layer is deceptively long, I cut it a lot shorter (probably a bit too short looking at these photos). The chiffon under layer means the jacket slides around a lot so you are constantly pulling it back to sit at the front. The instructions are atrocious as Burdas normally are, I winged it a fair bit on the construction and it all came together and looks pretty close to the drawing. I didn't add the back under layer because I didn't want to waste my chiffon! Pattern Details: Sz 44 1" FBA Shortened the underlayer by about 5" 1" added to bicep width Burdastyle Layer jacket Materials; The main fabric is leftover spandex knit from my yoga pants and the underlayer is a scrap of silk chiffon from Spotlight. I'm really glad I used a scrap because the fabric is a l...

I've been a bit obsessed with mixed fabric dresses lately, I love a knit bodice and a woven skirt, seems the best of both worlds! Pattern detailsn (same as last time I made this dress ); sz20 with d cup 1" fba 1" wedge from back neck alongside of the zipper 2" petite bodice 1" wedge out of bustline length lowered neckline added waistband added pockets from Simplicity 2588 There were a couple added adjustments since the bodice is a knit; Took in the sides by a total of 4" Took out length in the bodice of about 2" Cut the back on the fold Gathered the skirt instead of pleating it so I could make the dress a pull-on. Bound the neckline instead of lining the dress. Added a 4" facing to the hem to help weigh it down I do need to take some length out of the upper chest as its buckling slightly. It looks like the princess seams are ripply too but in real life they sit flat. Fabric: Cotton spandex knit for the bodice fro...

How do I manage to turn a very simple knit dress pattern into a fitting saga?! This is version 4, I'm pretty happy with it, still need to tweak slightly but at least its wearable. Final version adjustments: Size 4 through the shoulders, graded out to size 8 at the underarm/waist/hips. 1" FBA eased into the side seam. Changed the shape of the armhole. Narrow shoulder adjustment 0.5" Dropped armholes 1" Lengthened the skirt by 2" Petited the bodice by 2" Muslin 1:  was a straight sz8, it was too big through the shoulders so I cut it back to a sz 4 through the shoulders. (didn't get a pic of muslin 1). Muslin 2. Muslin 2: This helped but I had a lot of excess fabric at the underarms/bustline. I pinched out a dart at the armhole and rotated it out to give that J shaped armhole which helped a lot. Muslin 3 Muslin 3: I still had some draglines, so I dropped the armholes by 1" and it seems pretty good now. I have added...

I'm on a stash busting mission at the moment so sewing through what I have - I got this jersey from Rathdowne Fabrics a year or two ago. Its got great recovery and is a nice medium weight. I've made this dress a couple of times now but mostly with crappier knits so this dress should *fingers crossed* last a lot longer. Because this is only a medium weight, I wanted the waistband to have more heft to it so I cut 2 and interfaced them both with a weft interfacing. This gives it a lot more stability and helps it sit smoother when wearing the dress. I did my same adjustments as last time - the back is a 45, front is a 40D and the waistband/skirt is a 42.5". I extended the sleeves by 1.5" and widen them slightly by about .5". Except I added to the bust length, this pattern is meant to be sewn without having to add a FBA but I found with me the length through the bodice I just way too short. I got myself a coverstitch machine this year, talk abo...

This poor pattern doesn't really resemble the original Ava dress anymore! I needed a dress with a zipper for the morning of my friends wedding and wanted a comfy knit one so that's how this dress idea was born. I wanted it different enough from my last version too which is why I changed the back and added sleeves. Fabric: Blue spandex knit from Spotlight and a mixture of bias binding on the waistband and some black knit for the neckline and sleeve binding. The lace is a remnant from Clear It. Adjustments; Same as last time; Size 14 Added 1" FBA Changed darts into princess seams Added the waistband. Dropped the neckline by 1" Sewed the side seams last and took it in by 1/2" each side. Made the length somewhere in between the short and long length. Added pockets from the Burda dress I last made. Plus - morphed the back pattern pieces into one then added the lace cut-out. Added sleeves The sleeves were a bit of a fiddle - I forgot ...

Time to battle my arch nemesis again - raglan sleeves! I've had this dress sitting on my wadder shelf for a few months, I had this idea that I could make a knit pattern out of sateen and I just couldn't get the fit right (no big surprises there...). A lot of the fit problems disappeared once I made it in a knit...... Pattern details: I made view D, the full skirted dress with sleeves. Sz XL 1" FBA 1.5" added to the sleeve cap length Added 3" to the skirt length Added 2" to sleeve length Added 3" wide waistband Added inseam pockets I need to the some length out the back next time, looking at these photos I have some excess there. The fabric is a medium weight cotton knit, its pretty stiff but is surprisingly nice in a dress. I added the neckline binding instead of turning and topstitching. So raglan sleeves, I have come to the conclusion that raglan sleeves will have draglines but there is a difference between normal lines a...

I'd been contemplating this skirt for awhile and then I saw Thornberry's version and downloaded it straight away! I've been wanting a simple pull on knit maxi for ages - I made up Simplicity 1616 (unblogged) which was ok.....but not swishy enough and it was really short. Agreeably this pattern is specifically towards petite so is too short as well but at least you know it before you cut it out. Pattern Details: Size 1XL Added 3" to the lengthen line Added 3" to the waistband height (I'm 5'7" and I like my maxi's to graze the floor) Fabric is a spandex knit from Spotlight that's on sale (I bought a few metres of it and am thinking about going back for more!) I am so impressed with this pattern - I never have to do this few adjustments and the fit is pretty spot on. I could potentially go up a size and I think I will for the next version but other than that its kind of perfect! And so swishy! I do have a couple of nit...