Tag: sewing pattern

Stakes Day, Family Day!

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events

Those who have been following us for a while will know our family loves an opportunity for matching outfits. There is no better opportunity than Stakes Day!  This year we went with a striped fabric that Erin sourced from DK Fabrics in Adelaide.  If you are in the area and looking for fabric stores check out her Must Visit Fabrics Store in South Australia blog.  

Lauren and Erin’s Outfit 

For our stakes day outfits, we chose patterns with panelled sections so we could play with the direction of the stripes in the fabric.

Lauren wore Vogue 9357 which is designed by Carlos at Vogue Patterns. We took the band out of the waistband as we didn’t need the extra panel or else it became too busy with all of the stripes. We utilised the front seam and cut the panel on a 45-degree angle and matched the stripes up the middle when it was stitched together (a nervous but rewarding moment)

Erin created a striped version of the Vicki Sews Lorraine bodice and added a gathered skirt with a horizontal band around the hem. The hem panel was the width of the crinoline we had on hand, we like adding crinoline into the hems of some of the dresses to give a fuller hem to some light fabrics.

Robyn and Davids’s Outfit

We don’t often have the opportunity to share what we sew for our parents, but after ourselves, they are the people we sew for the most!

With all of these garments, we were looking for a chance to showcase the panelling with the stripes of the fabric. For Mum, we returned to Vogue 1312 which is a pattern we had made for her in a light blue textured linen we love the bottom band and then insert the chance to cut it with the stripe going around meeting an up and down of the bodice running into the skirt was a great combination.

We love making Dad a matching shirt but for this occasion, he wanted to wear a tie so we created a self-drafted, Two Sewing Sisters tie that he could wear with tan chinos and a white shirt. The weather was surprisingly cool and we had just finished making him Simplicity 9191 in blue wool which we quilted.

Stakes Day Family Outfits

Melbourne Frocktails

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Events, Sewing Project

In July we headed to Melbourne Frocktails!  We have seen this wonderful event for several years but this is the first time we got tickets.  Melbourne Frockails is an annual cocktail party for people who enjoy sewing their own garments so the stakes are high for the dress code.  Obviously, me-made is a must!  

The brief was “Sew your finest outfit, and come to chit-chat to sewing peeps from near and far, over cocktails and canapes.” Th event was hosted at The Bank on Collins Street in the heart of Melbourne. Eliza joined us for the event creating a stunning version of By Hand London’s Anna dress in dark green velvet.

Lauren’s Frocktails Dress

We started this dress in 2019 for an event but didn’t get it finished in time – so it got its first outing for this event. I wanted to create something whimsical with a maroon striped lace I had found a Darn Cheap Fabrics and the vision became creating a “maroon fairy”. I was particularly inspired by Needle and Thread dresses with the light lace in gathered ruffles. I had been collecting some images on our Pinterest Board to bring together the concept.

The Pinterest Board

Once I had picked some elements to focus on I started with the bodice of New Look 6494. I liked the rounded bodice detail and sleeves. To test the design lines I took the line drawing from the pattern, which you can just see a faint line of in the sketch and overlaid the additional ruffles.

I wanted to create a soft neckline so I opened up the neckline line and added some gathering into the pattern piece then I used these stand collar pattern piece back to front and added a ruffle at the top edge.

The skirt was formed with three gathered tiers onto a poplin backing (thank you gathering foot, you lifesaver). I wanted to make sure the backing material was not too heavy and take away from the light characteristics of the lace.

The bodice was constructed with the lace basted on a matching poplin which was then treated as one fabric and bagged out with an interfaced support that included boning.

  • New Look 6494 Dress Sewing Pattern

The finished dress

Erin’s Frocktails Dress

Having created many amazing formal dresses for events across the last few years Erin pulled out a favourite that she originally made for the Women in Law Awards when she was nominated for Law Student of the Year. The pattern is Vogue 9343 and we altered the bust to allow for an overlap of the bodice pieces. It is constructed in a printed taffeta weight fabric that was sourced from Darn Cheap Fabrics.

PHOTOGRAPHY NOTES

Photographer: James Christie
Headpieces: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
Erin and Lauren’s Dress: Fabric from Darn Cheap Fabrics 
Lauren’s Bodice Pattern: New Look 6494
Erin’s Dress Pattern: Vogue 9343
Eliza’s Dress Pattern: By Hand London Anna
Eliza’s Fabric: Spotlight

Kaja Pinafore Dress by Schultz Apparel

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Pattern Testing

Embracing the cooler weather and trying to create some diversity in our winter style we joined the Kaja Pinafore launch for Schultz Apparel. This mod style dress was just what we needed and paired with a black blouse and boots the perfect addition to our wardrobe.

Pattern: Kaja Pinafore Dress by Schultz Apparel

The Kaja Pinafore pattern is a pinafore dress, with French darts, two V-neck options and side seam pockets. The dress is fully lined and has a loose fit with a lot of ease that finishes above the knees

Finished Kaja Dress

Get your copy of the pattern here

Photo Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: Elena Dress by Schultz Apparel
Fabric:  Black and red wool from The Fabric Store

Viola Dress by Schultz Apparel

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Pattern Testing

Ah dresses! What a key part of our wardrobe. We love added to the collection so we were excited for the new Viola Dress from Schultz Apparel.

Pattern: Viola Dress by Schultz Apparel

The Viola dress has a fitted bodice with three bust designs, three strap options and three skirt options. It has an invisible zipper at Center Back and is fully lined at the bodice.

This is the type of pattern that you can mix and match the elements, however, for something different, we made it just like the pattern! We are as surprised as you are. We created view A that has a pieced cup, ties at the shoulder and a gathered skiert.

Fabric: Bird print cotton

We were recently gifted a stash of fabric from someone in our hometown in Wangaratta. It is also home to Bruck Textiles and was known by locals for creating many home furnishing fabrics. In this bundle, we found this fantastic cotton print fabric initially intended as a curtain fabric but as it did not have a backing on it we could also use it for a dress.

With the sweet bird print it was the perfect pairing for the Viola Dress.

Finished Viola Dress

Get your copy of the pattern here

Photo Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: Viola Dress by Schultz Apparel
Fabric:  Cotton Print from Bruck Textiles

Senna Dress made with vintage equipment

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Pattern Testing, Sewing Project

When we helped Schultz Apparel test the Senna Dress we were in a lockdown away from our normal machines so we took on the challenge of stitching the dress in a different way. We would normally use our industrial sewing machine or electric domestic Bernina machine then finish our seams using an overlocker. None of this was an option so we scouted our parent’s house to see what we could find.

Senna Dress

The Senna dress is fitted around the bust and loose at the waist. It features a pleated skirt and tie at the center back and waist.

This is a simple beginner-friendly pattern with no fastening just the self-made ties.

Vintage Singer Sewing Machine

We found our Nan’s old Vintage Singer Sewing Machine which is a 306K Model, it has an electric foot pedal and is still working. This was Nan’s first electric sewing machine which would have been purchased in Echuca around 1956 when our grandparents lived in Gunbower. It has made many dresses for our family as has many machines since but this one is lucky enough to still be with us.

In terms of using the machine, it takes some work to get it moving and sometimes required to hand roll the wheel for the first stitch but once moving it stitched really well. The reserve as expected on a machine of this age is a manual leaver which needed to be moved to the reverse position and then back to the forward stitch length position.

Once we had tested the sewing machine worked our next challenge was deciding how to finish the seams. There were a few options including making bias from old sheets but we chose to go with pinking shears which seem appropriate considering the machine we were also using.

Pinking Shears

Before overlockers were available for the domestic market home sewers had to use alternative methods to finish the inside of their garments. Having said this, an overlocker is not essential to have. If you are just starting sewing it can be a large cost and you should not feel the pressure to purchase one, you can find many other ways to finish your seams including bias, zigzag or pinking shears.

Pinking sheers look like a heavier pair of scissors with a sawtoothed instead of straight blades and cut the fabric to have a zigzag edge. This prevents the woven fabric from fraying with the short diagonal cuts of the zigzag that do not provide any long fibres on the edge to get caught or damage and pull their full length. There are few seams in the Senna Dress

Using the selvedge

As we needed the full width of our cotton fabric for the skirt pieces we were to cut across the width of the fabric and we used the already existing selvedges as the finish for our seams. Cheating? Maybe but also using the resources we had on hand, it is an already finished seam and it did not affect the overall finish of the dress

Double Rolled Hem

For the hem of the dress, we created a wide double rolled hem, pressing the material over 1cm and then 4cm. We were able to have such a deep hem because the overall shape of the skirt piece is rectangular meaning that we could work on the straight grain of the fabric.

Finished Zebra Stripes

The Senna dress is simple garment to construct the instructions provided by Schultz Apparel are clever and could be described as the path of least resistant show by the order the all in one neck facing is finished around the neck and armholes.  Always winning points with us the instuctions include understanding in all the good places.

With no fastenings required is a great pattern for beginner sewers to create yourself an easy to wear Summer number. 

Photography Notes

Photographer: Erin Ritchie
Model: Lauren Ritchie
Dress Pattern: Senna Dress by Schultz Apparel

Get your Senna Dress Pattern from Schultz Apparel

Other Schultz Apparel patterns we have made include Ottlia Top, Begonia Dress and Minna Dress. 

Rosella Jumpsuit by Schultz Apparel

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Pattern Testing

Hello jumpsuit! When we saw the options for the Rosella Design by Schultz Apparel the thinking went; the fun of a pant, that ability to decide on an outfit in just one garment, sold!

Pattern: Rosella Jumpsuit by Schultz Apparel

The Rosella Pattern (find it here) comes in three design options, a pinafore dress, a jumpsuit and a playsuit. It has a fitted bodice, V-neck at the front, waistband and a fully lined bodice that is paired with a full skirt or straight leg pants.

We created view C which was the shorts with a higher V neck and bodice darts. We chose a light printed cotton for a Summer style.

Finished Rosella Jumpsuit

Get your copy of the pattern here

Photo Credits

Photographer: James Christie Media
Pattern: Rosella Jumpsuit by Schultz Apparel
Fabric:  Cotton Print from Paris

Solace Top from Stay and Stitch

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Pattern Testing

Welcome to our top making phase!  We are great dress lovers but have been trying to fill some gaps in our wardrobe recently.  After creating quite a few Summer tops (in the middle of winter) we began to explore what options are available for some comfy winter styles.

We are not big sewers of knits but when Stay and Stitch did a call out for pattern testers for their new design we were excited to give it a go and loved it.  

Solace Top Details

The Solace Top has a funnel neck with an option to cut out the back piece on the fold or place a center back seam in it. This cutting option allows for more flexability if limited by fabric layout.

The hem has two options a curved or straight finished, both which have a side split detail.

We really loved the neck shape of this style, Stay and Stitch described it as a mock turtle or funnel neck. To help showcase this feature we chose to construct the top in a jade double knit fabric from our stash.

The pattern was easy to cut out with only three pieces; front, back and sleeve.

We opted for the curved hem to provide a nice line if the top if worn out over a pair of pants.

Constructing the Solace Top

Finished Top

This was an easy pattern to stitch up, the instructions were very good in outlining the process.  It is a great pattern for any level of sewer as the instructions would support a beginner or be a quick guide for an advanced seamstress. 

We are looking forward to making a few more versions of this top and in particular would love to make it in a textured knit.  We styled it here with jeans and a head wrap but would look great tucked into a pair of high waisted pants for a more corporate style. 

Photography Notes

Photographer: James Christie
Model: Erin Ritchie
Headpiece: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
Top Pattern: Juliet Coat By Hand London
Dress Fabric: Two Sewing Sisters fabric stash

Get your Solace Top Pattern here

Juliet Coat By Hand London with Drapers Fabric

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Pattern Testing

The Juliet Coat is the latest release from By Hand London.  We enjoyed been part of the testing team for this project and partnered with Drapers Fabrics who supplied us with a beautiful wool coating for the project.  The Juliet coat is fully lined and features two-piece raglan sleeves, in-seam pockets, a roomy swing shape and the option of a classic notch collar or a softer shawl collar.

Channel your inner Mrs Maisel with this perfectly retro swing coat!

By Hand London

Drapers Fabric

Drapers Fabric Fitzroy

Thank you to Draper Fabrics for partnering with us for this project. They supplied us with the lovely wool and lining for the testing of this pattern. We had a look at their online store which ships from New Zealand to get an idea of they might have available. before we headed into the Fitzroy Store.

We selected a checked blue, grey and cream wool for the outer fabric and a silk twill for the lining

Outer

Storm was the other colourway, we went with the blue tones of the London Wool

Lining

This silk twill was a perfect colour match – only available in store

Finished Juliet Coat

Construction Notes

This is a PDF pattern which means that you download a PDF file and then need to print it out. Words from the wise – copy shop. Visit your local print shop.

We did the testing for this in the first stages of lockdown of COVID19 so we didn’t feel we should leave the house but if we were to print this lovely coat again it would save so much time to get it printed on A0.

Instead Erin spent a long afternoon with tape and scissors. The other disadvantage of printing at home is that the edge of the pattern pieces fall on tape lines of the A4 pages.

The outer shell

We are big fans of under stitching, big fans! It stops seams from rolling and the underside showing where it shouldn’t. This wasn’t listed in great detail in the instructions. We should suggest under stitching the underside of the collar piece, on the facing from the hem up to the button

If you are nervous about make a coat – don’t be for this one. There are no shoulder pads or complex pocket details to worry about. Essentially make the outer shell, make the lining and stitch the together around the openings (okay there is a little more to it but that is an overview)

Juliet Coat Details

  • Show off your biggest and bestest button
  • Pleat in the center back
  • Side seam pocket

Anna Dress

We have been excited to make an Anna Dress since we saw Stitches and Sutures wearing it and it has come one of her favourites. This seemed like a great chance to give it a go.  We wanted the coat to have the iconic fitted dress and oversized coat styling.  The colours within the coat where specific tones and we found a piece of light wool suiting in our stash to that blended perfectly and did not distract from the stunning coat fabric.  

Anna Dress by Hand London

We used the higher neck bodice style of the pattern and as we only had a small amount of fabric replaced the paneled skirt with a straight skirt and back split.

We fully lined the dress in a polyester lining to allow for ease of movement in such a fitted style

Photography Notes

Photographer: James Christie
Model: Erin Ritchie
Headpiece: Lauren J Ritchie Millinery
Coat Pattern: Juliet Coat By Hand London
Coat Fabric: Drapers Fabric
Dress Pattern: Anna Dress By Hand London
Dress Fabric: Two Sewing Sisters fabric stash
Shoes: Wittner

Get your Juliet Coat Pattern here

Jackie Trousers – By Hand London

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Pattern Testing, Sewing Project

We were thrilled to part of the testing team for By Hand London’s latest pattern release, the Jackie Trousers.  The Jackie style is a semi tailored loose-fit trouser designed to sit comfortably.  They finish just below the natural waist, featuring pleats at the waist, slanted pockets and a gently tapered leg. 

Inspired by the easy fit menswear slacks of the nineties, and nodding fondly also to early modern women’s trouser styles of the thirties, these trousers are designed for women, but have proven to look and fit great on men too!

By Hand London

The fabrics suggestions for the Jackie Trousers is medium weight woven fabrics with some body or weighty drape. This includes materials such as wool suiting, wool crepe, tweed, linen and flannel. We chose to visit The Fabric Store and went to their Brunswick Street Store in Fitzroy. While browsing through their stunning selection of fabrics we found a beautiful cotton and silk woven blue fabric that looked perfect for Jackie!

The Finished Jackie Trousers

Finished by Hand London Jackie Trousers with top from Vogue 1466. They were constructed in a Denim coloured Cotton/Silk from The Fabric Store. Modeled by Lauren Ritchie with photographs by Erin Ritchie.

Jackie Trouser Details

The large pocket bags extend to the fly front contributing to the comfy fit of the pants. The key fit for these pants is to make sure the waistband is the right size for you. We cut a UK12 based on the measurements of the finished garment but ended up bringing it in for a snugger waist fit.

The folded up cuff gives a lovely finish to the tapered wider leg of the pant style. We found the length of the testing pattern a little longer than we needed. When you make them ensure to mark the hem in the shoes you intend to wear them with.

Get your Jackie Trousers here

Jenna Dress By Hand London Pattern with The Fabric Store

by two.sewing.sisters, posted in Sewing Project

We had the exciting task of testing the new release pattern from By Hand London.  The new style is called the Jenna Dress.  A fitted bodice with darts paired with an empire line dress with a bias cut skirt. 

The first options includes a scooped neck and ties on the sleeves, the second a peterpan collar with longer sleeve.  These options designed so the elements can be swapped around to create you own combination.  We made both version of the dress. 

Zoe Dress with Ties - By Hand London - Sewing Blog - Two Sewing Sisters
Jenna Dress with Ties
Zoe Dress with collar - By Hand London - Sewing Blog - Two Sewing Sisters
Jenna Dress with collar

The Pattern

We chose to do the at home print. The skirt pattern which is used for both length options is 32 pages and there is separate file for each bodice style. Variation 1 is 16 pages Variation 2 is 18 pages.

They were stuck together with clear tape before we cut it back to size. We chose to cut a size 12/16. See the images for fit.

Jenna Dress with Ties

We made the Jenna Dress with Ties from Houndstooth Patchwork Stretch Silk Crepe De Chine from The Fabric Store.  This striking graphic houndstooth print is a combination of Silk and Lycra and is 115cm wide.  You can find the fabric in their online store here. 

Due to the light weight of the fabric we chose to line the skirt as well as the bodice.  The ties around the arm are finished with a slip stitch and the hem of the top fabric hand finished with a herringbone stitch. 

Jenna Dress with collar

We made the Jenna Dress with collar we made in a light woven cotton that was purchased from a fabric store in Paris.  A playful confetti coloured print was the perfect modern choice for a vintage inspired style dress.  

The collar and cuffs are fused with interfacing and the bodice was lined with pongee lining a softer finish than using bem silk.  

Photo location

The photos of the finished dresses were taken at the Vault sculpture that is in the forecourt of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Southbank Melbourne. You can find out more about the sculpture on the ABC website here. 

Get your Jenna Dress here

Head over to Pinterest to start collecting your next project inspiration