Maggie Mae

Blogging and sewing is hard to go hand in hand. At least that's how I feel nowadays. I hardly have time to take photographs and upload and write post on my blog. But like any sewers out there, I'm glad I've a platform to share my finish products, especially when my girls happily wear them!

I've been thinking about buying the Maggie Mae pattern from Shwin& Shwin for some time now. But since I've one 8 year old and one 3 year old, the previous patterns for both sizes come in 2 kit. So, when I saw that they are offering size 6m to 10Y, I couldn't resist and bought them.  

I was not disappointed.  There is only 2 pattern pieces to cut. Front and back bodice and pockets. The skirts are just rectangles. The instruction is quite simple and I think I sew up one quite quickly.  For my 3 year old, I use her favorite Pink and Purple mix.  The pink fabric is from Sarah Jane's Out To Sea range "Find the Narwhal in Bloom" and purple is some cotton from Spotlight. I did the fabric cover buttons using the $2 kit from Daiso. So pretty right?

  

The 3T fits my 3 year old just fine, but the arm hole is a tad tight so next time, I'll probably trace a 4T.  She loves her new dress, especially it got pockets which I think is the right size for her. I put the pockets 2" below the waistline since it was not specified in the instruction.

For my 8 year old, I sewn her a tunic, without pockets. I also do away with the bottom band and measure her to get the length of the tunic since I find the original length pretty long. Now the tunic length is just right since it falls just nicely when she sits down and not fold under her bottom when she sits. The yellow fabric is Dress Up Bikes from Riley Blake and the brown is some suede fabric I got from Spotlight donkey years ago.

some more view of the fabric covered buttons.

I think this is a very simple but pretty outfit and I can see more to come since there is no need to set the sleeves. I will highly recommend it if you want something cute and simple. Till the next time...

Purple Dress

I made another dress for myself. The pattern is from this Japanese sewing book that I got from Kinokuniya called "Dressmaking at home" by Machiko Kayaki.  The book is in Japanese but I think if you have sewn from Japanese pattern book before, this is not a very difficult book to understand. The book come in pattern for 3 sizes "9, 11 and 13".   For each pattern, they will give you the bust, waist and length of the finished garments in 3 sizes since these measurements will differ based on the design.


I have many favorites and one of it is the Folklore embroidered dress on page 10.  I love the silhouette of the dress but didn't have any fabric with embroidery so I made it up with Kona Purple Cotton. The lovely purple with swirl print is really pretty. The dress has very basic shapes and only few pattern pieces like the front and back bodice, front and back waist yoke and 2 rectangle pieces for the skirt. The sleeve is a continuation of the bodice so no sleeves to set, easy.

If you are familiar with Japanese pattern, you will know that they usually run BIG. So, I usually measure the paper pattern to get the 3 vitals on the bust, waist and hip.  For this dress, it is important to follow the bust and waist since it is a pleated skirt with fitted waist so I go for size 9 but use size 11 on the waist.

Although the dress is simple, it has some fine details that add charm to the dress. I like the little gathers below the bust area that define some shape. It helps the dress to look more feminine.  I also love the waist yoke that enhance your waist. The combination of the soft gathers at the bust area and the high waist yoke really gives the dress a nice shape. If you are long waist like me, the dress will be perfect. If not, good to try on the bodice before you sew on the skirt so you can adjust the waist yoke first.

The pattern called for double layer for the waist yoke but since I've lined the skirt, I only have the 2 pieces. The skirt is simple 2 rectangles with 3 pleats on each sides, front and back so not a big problem. But I did shorten the skirt a little to just touch my knee.

I had to complicate the matter to add lining on my own. That took me some time as I didn't know how to line a dress with a side zipper.  I think the side zipper is necessary since all fabric are cut on fold and putting it in the back seems to break up the flow, imho. Finally I resort to hand sewing the zipper on at the lining. Anyone can advise on other faster method? I also didn't have a purple zipper so make do with the black one that I got in the right size.

I just love the overall shape of the dress. If I'm to make this again, which I think I will, I'll try using a thicker material and do away with the lining.

Here am I wearing the dress. Pardon the crease as i had the dress on for the whole day. It was after the Good Friday service and we went for dim sum lunch and did some shopping before dropping at my mother in law place for dinner. You can see how fitting the dress was on me. : )

Green Floral Cambie

Oh...I love love love this dress! It's Sewaholic Cambie. I know, I'm a bit slow in catching up with the trend in the sewing world but better late than never right?

I'm not sure of the fabric that i made this with. Bought from Spotlight some time ago. It was quite soft to touch with some stretch in it. Love the green floral print and thought it would be nice as a dress.  I did View A as I was thinking maybe View B will look too 'informal' for office wear? I intend to wear it to office when I made it. But I will like to try View B in future and change the neckline to straight-across like the one in Sewaholic blog. 

What I love about the Cambie is I can adjust the strap last and this help me to do a better fitting and prevent any gaping problem in front. Also, I tried on the dress many times during the sewing to get the exact position of the strap so that my 'extra fats under my arm sync area' are properly covered with the positioning of the strap! Clever.

Another love factor is the pockets. Very neat and didn't add bulk. The depth of the pockets were just right for me too.

Here's the back view of the dress.  I did marking on the zipper and the waistband so that they will be aligned on both sides. It's important to do this step especially when you have a waistband because any mismatch will be very obvious. I learnt this the hard way when I was sewing the Macaron.

Tasia's instruction was really clear and she has some helpful tutorial in her blog that helped me a lot. Her tutorial on lining the Cambie is a life saver and really got me motivated to try this technique for other dresses with the same made-up.  See, so pretty even in the inside. This is the first time that I've sewn the inside of a garment that I've sewn.

The waistband was slightly off in the back but I'll live with this since it is very small difference and I think it matter more that the outside is matched up.

I've worn this dress to office and got many compliments. It has come to the stage that everyone in office will be asking me if I have sewn the clothes that I wear whenever they see me in new outfit. Sort of scary but at the same time, motivate me to continue sewing and improve myself.

I wore this to church during the Easter Sunday service. And I can say that I still love this dress. I'm thinking of making this into a peplum top too since the bodice is so fitting. What do you think?