how to – The Sewing Room / Šivaona

The Kew dress by Nina Lee Patterns is a real beauty and I was eyeing it ever since it came out. I was not sure it was really me (although it is my dream wardrobe, just not sure I would wear it as much). So I waited. And waited. And one day I caved and got the pattern. That is how it usually works 😊

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Kew haljina od Nina Lee Patterns je prava ljepotica i dugo sam ju mjerkala. Nisam bila sigurna da je u potpunosti moj stil (iako tako izgleda moja garderoba iz snova, samo nisam bila sigurna da bi ju u stvarnosti dovoljno nosila). I tako sam čekala. I čekala. Sve dok jednog dana nisam popustila i kupila kroj. Tako to kod mene obično ide 😊

I thought about making the dress, but as I am really into separates recently I decided to do the top first and check the fit while I am at it. Top version is not included in the pattern but it is so easy to make. You just measure how long you want your top to be and make the bodice that much longer (with extra 2 cm or so for the hem). Easy peasy.

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Razmišljala sam napraviti haljinu, ali kako sam u zadnje vrijeme totalno luda za majicama odlučila sam napraviti top verziju i usput provjeriti jesu li potrebne neke preinake. Top verzija nije uključena u kroj ali je to jednostavno napraviti. Samo trebate izmjeriti koje dužine želite majicu i za toliko produžite kroj gornjeg dijela (plus otprilike 2 centimetra za dovršiti rub). Jednostavnije ne može.

20180817_171600 — Combined here with Flint pants pattern by Megan Nielsen / ovdje u kombinaciji s krojem hlača Flint od Megan Nielsen

Now the fit – it was ok. That means that it was good but I had some gaping in the back. The back bodice was a bit big in the shoulder area so the neckline stood up. Not good. But I only noticed that when the facing was already sewn and the top was basically done apart from the hem. So I debated with my inner self weather I prefer to take it apart, take it in, redo the facing and stitch it all back together or I want to go the lazy route and try taking it in somehow. Guess which route I choose. Yes, lazy as one can be. So, I opted to make the back darts longer and sewed them all the way up to about 2 cm before the facing and bodice seam. This helped a bit but not 100% and there was still some gaping in the middle back. So finally I added a big dart in the middle and caught both bodice and facing in it. That gave perfect results and it now fits perfectly. This also helped with the front and raised the neckline a bit which I like. And it does not look like a butcher’s work at all and it actually gives a fun detail to the back.

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Kroj haljine mi je odgovarao, ali bila je potrebna manja intervencija. Sve je dobro pristajalo, ali kada sam praktički bila gotova sa svim osim s rubom, primijetila sam da su leđa prevelika i da majica strši u zrak kod vrata. A to nikako nije dobro. U tom trenutku sam debatirala bi li radije rastavila majicu, unjela ju i ponovo zašila nazad ili bi odabrala lijenu verziju i u ovom ju stadiju nekako unjela. Probajte pogoditi za što sam se odlučila. I tako sam išla lijenom rutom (pogodili ste, jel da?) i za početak sam produžila stražnje ušivke prema gore do otprilike 2 cm prije šava. To je malo pomoglo ali nije skroz riješilo problem. Onda sam na sredinu stavila veći ušivak s kojim sam uhvatila glavnu tkaninu i postavu i to je bilo to. Sada majica pristaje odlično, a to je čak i malo podiglo prednji izrez što mi se sviđa. I obzirom da sam išla ljenijom rutom na kraju rezultat uopće nije neuredan i još daje zanimljiv detalj na leđima. Pobjeda.

I omitted the front darts since the fit without them is perfect and with them it was too snug. I hemmed the top after making buttonholes and sewed on the buttons to make it even. I plan to wear it tucked in so wanted to make it a bit longer. That way I can wear it with high waisted trousers or skirts.

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Prednje ušivke nisam napravila jer nisu bili potrebni. Kada sam ih ušila majica je bila preuska, pa sam se odlučila izbaciti ih iz kroja. Rub sam dovršila nakon izrade rupica za gumbe i postavljanja gumba da bi ga mogla uredno poravnati. Plan mi je nositi ju zataknutu u hlače ili šoseve visokog struka pa sam ju napravila malo dužom.

And the colour of that fabric is everything! It is linen (with viscose I think) and it is gorgeous. I couldn’t leave without it when I saw it in a local shop. It is perfect for this time of year.

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Boja tkanine je sve što sam ikad sanjala! To je lan (mislim da ima i malo viskoze) i predivan je. Nisam mogla izići iz dućana bez njega. Boja je odlična za ovo doba godine.

20180915_184245 copy — Combined here with Erin skirt pattern by Sew Over It / u kombinaciji s krojem šosa Erin od Sew Over It

Next I plan to make a dress version (all three of them!) and also the skirt. I think they all look great paired with the right fabric. And my wardrobe is more cheerful once again with this new garment, so yey!

Iduće planiram napraviti haljinu (sve tri verzije zapravo!) ali i šos. Mislim da sve verzije kroja izgledaju predivno kada se kombiniraju s pravom tkaninom. A moj ormar je još malo sretniji sa sunčanom bojom tako da – jej!

Thank you for reading!

Hvala na čitanju!

Ana

I shared this dress on Instagram few weeks ago and I got a lot of comments asking what pattern I used or how I made it so I thought I would write a blog post about it for anyone who might be interested. I made the dress two years ago and do not have any in progress shots so can not share any pictures of the steps involved, but I did try to describe it with words as much as I could. Just scroll down for the ginghamization goodness.

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Gingham is a well positioned fabric in the fashion world. I love it and think it always looks great. Somehow it is chic but casual at the same time. How is that even possible? Gingham superpowers at play. So when I saw the perfect gingham cotton fabric at a local fabric store I bought it straight away without even knowing what to make with it. I knew it would live it’s life as a dress but had not known in what form. I think I bought 2.5 or 3 meters of it, but it is hard to recall now. This is more like a guess based on the amount needed for the final dress plus I have a bit leftover.

With time some ideas started brewing in my mind and I knew what kind of a dress I wanted. I did not have a pattern for it so decided to look for a basic bodice I could use as a base and work around it. I needed a simple bodice with two front and two back darts. What I wanted would not be suitable for princess seams or bust darts as the fabric pattern would look different and possibly strange/unattractive. I went for one I already used before and knew would work. It is bodice pattern from Burda Style dress no #101 from 2/2011 magazine issue. But you can use any bodice pattern with darts that suits you.

IMG_0497_original_large — Burda Style dress 101, 2/2017

I played around on paper first to see how the fabric placement would look. I find this as a good method when I want to play with fabric print and direction to test out the ideas.

20180602_184338 — I am not one for beautiful sketches but good enough to get the feeling if it will work (and you can see it worked from all the ticks – why are they all there I have no idea)

And now the construction of the dress.

BODICE. I had the bodice already traced so went straight for the fabric cutting. First step was to sew the darts on both bodice pieces. Then I needed to cut out the triangles. I measured the bottom of the front bodice piece on fold and side of the bodice front from bottom to bust height. That way I had measurements for two sides of a square. Then I cut out two squares of fabric and folded them diagonally to get two triangles.

I pinned the triangles to the front bodice and ‘tried it on’ to see if it lay flat or if there was some gaping or what not. What you want to check at this point is where the waist seam will be so you know how to position the triangles for them to meet in the middle, right where the skirt will be attached to the bodice. When I was happy with it I sewed the triangles to the front bodice within the seam allowance on the side and bottom of the bodice. The top of the triangles on the fold is left unsewn. You can stitch them down by machine or by hand with invisible stitch, but I did not want to have any visible stitching or do any hand sewing so left it like that. Hand sewing can easily be done when the dress is finished if you end up with any gaping, but I did not, so it is free and I can put my hands in if I want to rest them, for example. Then I attached front and back bodice pieces together. My dress has a side zip so I left one side open to insert the zip later.

I opted for a V opening on the back of the bodice (not pictured), this was an easy alteration to do. I cut out the original back bodice and then measured how low I would like the opening to be. I did not want it to be too low so I could securely hide the bra. When I measured it in front of a mirror I simply cut out a triangle opening. I finished the neckline with a bias binding but you can also do it with a facing or a full lining for a cleaner finish, which is my go to option these days. The armholes are also finished with bias binding.

SKIRT. The next step was the skirt and I went for the drama effect and cut out a full circle skirt. When it was ready I attached the skirt to the bodice and inserted the zip. And then all that was left was endless seam finishing on the circle skirt.

And voila, there is my gingham dress of dreams! It is not hard at all but gives a simple dress so much more character. If you go ahead and do it I would be happy to see your version, so please leave me a comment, send me a message or tag me on Instagram 😊

20180512_163816 — And one bathroom selfie for the end because we are in 2018

P.S. – I love this photo of ladies in their gingham outfits waiting in line by Nina Leen for Life Magazine. You think I would fit among them with this dress? The caption of the photo is ‘Women wearing checked outfits, waiting to place bets at racetrack’. That kind of line is not where you would find me but if it were a line to buy cinema tickets that could work. Imagine a gingham movie premiere – now that is where I would love to be!

leen_nina_1806_2005_456738_displaysize — Photo by Nina Leen for Life Magazine; source

Thank you for reading!

Ana

Tag: how to

Kew Lindo – Nina Lee Kew dress pattern / Nina Lee Kew haljina

Ginghamization – DIY dress with triangles