A Novel Idea: Mma Precious Ramotswe

The next up in my Novel Idea collection is Mma Ramotswe from Alexander McCall Smith's book series The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. For her I found a bold and typically colorful Dutch wax print. The whole searching process was a feast for the eyes with all the variety in big patterns and colors, but it was hard to find something that went with my cool undertones and ghost-complexion. Darker skin tends to do so much better with bold and bright colors (in my opinion). I settled on this teal, orange, and navy fabric that reminds me of peacock feathers (I love blue and orange!). I used my own variation of of New Look Pattern 6500 (which I named the Gayle Shift Dress in this variation of it >> Link). This time I gave it a V-neck and lowered the back neckline, as well. I also converted the regular sleeve to a flutter sleeve and added 3 inches to the length of the dress body. For the flutter sleeves I used a 'Block, Paper, Scissors' tutorial on converting straight sleeves to flutter sleeves by Seamwork magazine, which is published by Colette Patterns (online: Link). Also, I left out the zipper because I am that brand of lazy. I also took in the underarm seam 2 inches on each side.

In the HBO rendition of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Mma Ramotswe is often seen in traditional dress, which is modest, colorful, and lightweight in fabric choice. She has a little drama, protection, and modesty with the sleeves, but she is a woman who would put comfort a step above style (though she is still stylish), so it is still looser in fit and only some darts in the bust. I've only ever imagined her in dresses, so I would not make anything else to represent her. ☺I believe I said that New Look 6500 would be a versatile dress to work with in some review I wrote for it, and it feels very satisfying to make this from the same thing I made the Gayle. I am so more than happy with the way it came out. Colorful and a lot of fun to wear! Makes me wish I could visit Botswana.

Fabric all laid out

The official seal!

Drank some red bush tea (rooibos) in spirit of Mma Ramotswe while I sewed

The final product. Look at all that sleeve!

Back view

“I am just a tiny person in Africa, but there is a place for me, and for everybody, to sit down on this earth and touch it and call it their own.” 
― Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Happy Sewing!

Summer Seersucker

Summer always comes to me with flashbacks of picking blueberries in the endless hot hours of humid summer mornings that were sealed in the afternoon with fuchsia watermelon. The slices were so full of juice that it just ran down our fingers in pink streams and stained our cotton t-shirts, leaving all the children an archetypal picture of youth's innocent flavor of thoughtless mess and adventure. Forever popular in the summer, seersucker is another thing one would find if she rifled through my summer memories, but it was reserved for Sunday attire and baby's clothes. Not so anymore, though I still think it belongs to some category of semi-formal. 

In lieu of summers past, my brother asked me to make an unlined 3-piece seersucker suit for him with a waistline made for suspenders. Right now the pants have been made and the jacket and vest are works in progress. The pants were a stepping stone for me, as I have never made things for suspenders, and it required a button fly. More on that later.

We bought an immense amount of blue seersucker so that I would have some wiggle room, but we still had about 2 yards left. So, naturally, I made something for myself with it.😁I chose a shirt out of Yoshiko Tsukiori's 'Clothing for everyday wear' book, part of the Stylish Dress Book Collection. Shirt 'Y' was my shirt of choice. Honestly, if the seersucker was anything but blue, lavender. or black, I probably would have used it for someone else. The shirt was straight forward and it is very delicately feminine, which is a little change for me, since I tend to opt for bolder colors and patterns or things that don't have that particular kind of sweetness to them. I'm not one to really wear ruffles, but it works on this. It also has plenty of gathering on the front and back panels. I was also worried that it would look like baby's clothes since it is seersucker with ruffles, but it's not like I have a matching skirt with it, so it's ok. There were a few things that I was a little unhappy with, like the way it stands in the back a little  around the neck, and there is some excessive bagginess above the bow on the outer front piece. That's what I get for not making a sort of model or mock up, I suppose. All in all, I really like the way it turned out and wearing it.

*The captions do have a little extra info on the piece.*

Model in the book.

Drawn version.

Yes, that says sew '1/32' of an inch from the edge on the binding 😆

The front view. SO much gathering on the front.

Some sleeve ruffles.

The back. There were also some gathers above the back hem band.

Muffy wanted to pose, too. 

The bow.

On the hanger and in need of ironing.

 Happy Sewing!

A Novel Idea: Jane Eyre

Nearly a year ago, I made a dress that was inspired by Miss Phryne Fisher from Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (book and TV series), which had a boyish figure and floral glamour. This next addition to my Novel Idea Collection is inspired by Jane Eyre, whose personality could not be more different from Miss Fisher, except that they both believe fervently in expressing one's mind and sticking to your guns.

Like the last time, this dress came from the Merchant & Mills Workbook and is called the Curlew. It comes in a tank top and dress form. My rendition of the Curlew is a mix -- I did not want sleeves, so I just left the sleeves off and made the dress body. My fabric was a grey charmeuse with a blue-green tint that had been bought a few years ago and had been reserved for a sewing challenge I received, but I liked this pattern for it a little more. It also seemed a little more 'Jane' to me. It is simple and elegant, but has a plainness to it and it is in that dark neutral color scheme often associated with her. If I had used the pattern I had originally intended (The Colette Crepe), it would have been more feminine, but I really also wanted to make the Curlew, so that's what happened. It's definitely a modern take on Jane.

This is the first time I've used seam tape, which is highly encouraged in the book, because this dress is both an article of clothing cut on the bias AND something made from charmeuse (which really likes to pull when the needle punches through it but did not when I used the tape). The seam tape made it feel more sturdy and like it will survive its first cleaning. I also bought some Swedish Tracing Paper so I don't need to use tissue paper taped together anymore. Yay! I made a few alternations. I brought the bias binding on the neckline back instead of to the front with top stitching. To the bust-- I made the darts longer and tighter since I am smaller. I also took the side seam right under the armholes in about a quarter inch and graded it out to the original side seam measurement where the darts meet the seam that cuts across the back. There was a ton of finagling for the bust and I was still not satisfied because it looked so baggy and an unattractive fit. However....

...when the dress was probably an hour from being finished, my scissors snagged around where I was cutting and I snipped a hole in the bust that made the entire front piece irrecoverable! It was all for the best though, because I tried recutting the paper pattern I had traced to fit my bust better and it worked! That blessing in disguise also motivated me to redo the neckline binding that stood up too much. Enough talking, er, writing, here's a taste of the final product and its process.

The finished product

 

The back. There's nice little curved seam that meets the bust darts, which was a nice little feature I appreciated.

Where the bust darts and back seam meet.

Another reason I converted this to this particular pattern was because I needed a simple little something to put under chiffon shell I had purchased at a antique store. Here is that completed outfit.

Super satisfied with this!

It also has some small slits on the side for a little reveal.

On the hanger.

Happy Sewing!

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” 
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre