Tag Archives: Newlook 6124

Plain and simple

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Front_V2Hey there everyone, I expect you have seen the title of my latest blog post, seen the picture and thought what is that crazy woman going on about PLAIN?! Well the dress is really quite plain. You see, with this fabric I didn’t feel the need to sew anything too fancy and overcomplicated.Back_V2

The pattern is Newlook 6124, which came free with Sew magazine last year.  I have made another version of the dress which I blogged here.  I had an idea in mind of how I wanted the dress, I needed to adopt the pattern to create the look in knitted fabric.  I had a practice run first to check the size, I actually made a size smaller than I usually make and I also took it in around the hips to created the seriously fitted look.  Now on to the fabric, this little number was made from medium weight polyester knit which just happened to be sat in a bag full of other material which I bought at the Abakhan Fabrics secret sale a couple of months ago (I didn’t know what was in the bag when I bought it), it quite literally jumped right out of bag and screamed “check me out”, my husband and I both looked at each other and grinned.

Close_V2Moving on to the construction of the dress, here goes, blink and you will miss it. The front was made up of three sections creating princess seams on either side, the back was four sections made in the same way, I inserted a concealed zip in the back, although the fabric is quite stretchy, the neckline is a bit too small to fit my entire body through.  There is a facing around the neckline and armholes, which is inserted before the zip and then it’s hemmed, job’s a good’n.

ZipA simple little dress with the biggest wow factor I have probably encountered since I made my first vogue dress a couple of years ago.  Another creation which I will wear with pride and an incredibly massive grin on my face.

All things bright and beautiful

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FrontHere we are again folks, me sharing my most recent experience in the wonderful world of unpicking (whoops I meant sewing!).  This is my second blog post for the Calico Laine Blogger Network, the fabric and haberdashery came from their website.  The pattern, Newlook 6124 is another freebie from Sew Magazine.  The fabric is Red Poplin (a new one for me to sew with). I have to say it was very well behaved and didn’t give me any grief (although if it had taken me much longer to make it might of started fraying out of sheer boredom).  To add my own variation I decided to fully line the dress, I personally prefer a shift dress when it is lined.

The pattern comprises of different variations of the same dress, with or without sleeves and a square or round neckline.  I haven’t actually sewn a garment with a square neckline before so I decided to give it a try.  I ploughed straight on with the construction, which consisted of three front panels, shoulder pieces, sleeves and four back panels with a centre concealed zip and a vent at the hemline.

NecklineIt all started with the princess seams at the front, then back panels, which were swiftly followed by the shoulder pieces.  The sleeves were joined at the top of the shoulder and finished three quarters of the way down the armhole.  As I mentioned before I decided to line the dress, I was very conscious of making sure the lining was inserted at a specific point so I could turn it the right way round easily (oh no that did not happen).  I rushed headlong into sewing mode without thinking and stitched the side seams (BIG mistake, I realised that as soon as I had done it, clearly having a sewing melt down).  So, much unpicking ensued and I attempted lining insertion number two.  To complicate matters the half sleeves meant that the lining had to create a facing at the base of the armhole only and the little sleeves sat proudly inside the lining at the top.

ReverseThe rest of the construction was really straightforward, zip went in without a hitch (I’m getting so used to those) a little hand stitching and the vent and hem to finish it off.  This number will be put away for the warmer weather (I am confident we will get some), it will probably venture into work with me at some point.  My mind has already moved on to what I am making next as it always does, I don’t like to be without my sewing in hand and subsequently the fabric, pattern, cotton and zip are always ready and waiting before I am anywhere near finished.