Paisley Cashmerette Vernon Shirt

Last week I said to myself, "Meg, you need a new white buttonup shirt. A classic, simple, white buttonup. The one you made a few years back is a little snug and a little stained."

Roseclair Wrap Blouse

Continuing my woven wrap dress experiment (aka, the wrapstravaganza), this time in wrap blouse format... click for parts one and two of this wrapventure.

Floral Dove Blouse: The Sequel

My mom really loved the Megan Nielsen Dove Blouse we made her a few months ago, and I had a piece of cotton lawn purchased from Belleboo with her in mind, so the combination was a no-brainer.

Bangkok Fabric Shopping Guide

Since I lived there until very recently, I receive almost weekly emails through my blog from people asking where to go fabric shopping in Bangkok when they visit on holiday or work travel. I've also met up with lots of sewcialists who've stopped through and people seem happy with the fabric shops I've taken them to, so I've decided to do a little write-up on fabric shopping in Bangkok. And by little, I mean epic. Long post!

Please note, this is not an exhaustive list, by far. Bangkok is a massive, sprawling city with probably hundreds of fabric and haberdashery shops. I am focusing on the major highlights as well as my regular haunts.

Purple Polly

A project from last year finally making an appearance on the blog!

Lace Print Gallery Tunic

The sewing blog and indie sewing pattern worlds have been abuzz with tons of new tunic patterns lately (see Hey June Cheyenne, Itch to Stitch Mila, etc). While I have been tempted by and have even succumbed to that new pattern buzz, before I jumped into sewing those newer patterns, I wanted sew up a tunic pattern that's been in my stash for a bit longer.

Josephine in Lawn

Here's a Made by Rae Josephine blouse I made for my Mom. I've made Josephine for myself several times in the past. I love the pleats (pintucks?) and the wide (but not too wide) neckline and thought my mom would like it, too.

Painted Portrait in Lawn

When she was in town earlier this year, Martha picked out a few colorways of this pretty cotton lawn at Belleboo. I offered to sew her up a top from the fabric and she chose the Painted Portrait blouse pattern from Anna Maria Horner. I'd made a couple of these tunics before, so she was able to try them on to see if the style worked for her, which it did!

Bubble Fairy Twin Dresses

A couple of dresses I am sending back to my nieces for Christmas!!  Based on their Halloween costumes, my understanding is that they are big into fairies.

Floral Sureau Dress

After my (many, many) successes with Deer and Doe's free Plantain pattern, I bit the bullet and ordered some more Deer and Doe patterns from their shop.  Their plan worked!  I am now a committed D&D customer.  I bought Sureau, Datura and Belladone, specifically. 

First up: Sureau!

I thought there were lots of similarities between the Sureau pattern and Megan Nielsen's Darling Ranges dress, but I was hoping that my Sureau wouldn't ultimately be balled up on the shelf out of frustration like my attempt at Darling Ranges.  I abandoned my Darling Ranges after some seriously wonky dart issues and haven't had the guts to tackle it again.  In contrast, the Sureau bodice fit right out of the envelope... win!  It's hard to tell in the print fabric, but here's a zoom-in on the bodice front and back:

I didn't make any changes to the pattern with the exception of lengthening the skirt slightly (2", because I am an old lady) and using a shorter zipper (9", because that's all I had in the appropriate color).  Also, I stay-stitched the neckline at the beginning to make sure it didn't get bent out of shape (good thinking, Meg, pat on the back.). I left off the bodice buttons because I was concerned that it was veering in the Little House on the Prairie direction, which nobody wants (ok, maybe somebody wants it, but not me).  The fabric is a lovely cotton floral from BelleBoo here in Bangkok.

I like it best with a belt:

I like this pattern a lot: the bodice is great and pretty flattering, methinks.  The sleeves may be a leeeetle baggy, but nothing terrible. I am already scheming about what other ways I can use this bodice since it fits so well!!  I wonder how it would look:

a) with short sleeves (this short sleeve version from the Nerdy Seamstress looks pretty awesome);

b) in a solid fabric to show off the bodice gathering details more;

c) as a peplum top (the pattern envelope has a drawing of a peplum top, but no "cut here for peplum" line or any instructions.... I wonder if I could substitute a more circle-skirt style peplum from another pattern, like Hawthorn or Vogue 8815?)

Floral Washi

When Chuck was in Bangkok we went to Sampeng Lane to do some fabric shopping... she picked out some nice floral printed cotton from Belleboo and decided it should be a Washi top.

She chose the sleeveless version with the u-shaped cut-out neckline (the "fun" neckline, as she called it), so I did some things a little different than my last Washi top (which I love and wear on the regular!):

• Last time I used bias tape on the neckline rather than facings, but with the u-shaped cut-out, I decided that following the directions and using the facings was prudent... 
• I top-stitched the facings down and sewed them to the shoulder seams to make sure they don't flap out.
• I'm still having trouble with shirring on my machine, so I decided to make internal casings for 1/4" elastic using bias tape and the pattern's shirring lines as my guide.  
• I was able to get the stripes of flowers to match up in the center of the bodice and skirt, but the pleats threw off the matching a bit. Meh.

Maggie Mae Menagerie

Zoe loved her Maggie Mae tunic (pattern from Shwin Designs) so I thought I would make one for Anna, too, so she wouldn't feel left out.  And while I was at it, I cut another one out for little baby Zoey here in Bangkok, figuring I could sew them at the same time, assembly line style, and also get some instant gratification by walking down three flights of stairs and seeing Zoey try it on immediately.

The navy menagerie  fabric (with some seriously random animals: lions and frogs and octopi (?) and dogs and rabbits and elephants, oh my...) is from Belleboo, paired with some coordinating yellow quilting cotton.  I made the Maggie Mae according to the directions, with the exception of the pleats in the skirt, which I just gathered instead.

I meant to cut out the dress version, but spaced out and cut the tunic version by accident (note to self: measure twice, cut once), so I made a matching diaper cover using the free pattern and tutorial from MADE... I sewed up the version with the bias tape edges to match the yellow fabric.  Cute!!

Here are a couple shots of Anna looking pretty great in her new Maggie Mae, paired with some jeggings and a long-sleeved t-shirt for warmth:

Pretty Polly

I've had By Hand London's Polly tank top pattern printed out and ready to roll since they first posted it (it's free!!), and am regretting not getting it sewn up earlier!  How has my to-sew list gotten so long?!

I think this might be my new go-to tank pattern.  While I clearly love the Tiny Pocket Tank, having made approximately 8,000 of them, I think the fit on Polly might be a little better for me.  And no darts!  Woo!  Plus, I like the options for fabric mixing, color blocking, etc.

Deets on my Polly sewing experience:

- The pattern seems to have a lot of ease to it: I actually went down a size from my measurements based on the finished garment measurements and was happy I did.

- I had to sew the front panel in a couple times to get it to lay flat with no puckers.  A good pressing helped immensely on that front, though.  Now that I'm looking at the photos, though, I can see the outline of the seam on the inset piece (on top of the boobs). Maybe if I make the inset in a print and the straps in the solid next time that would hide any lumps and bumps.

- I used store bought bias tape to save fabric and also because lazy.

- I used some solid cotton shirting that I bought at the Jim Thompson factory outlet and mixed it with some pretty floral cotton from Belleboo.

Polka Dot Mara Blouse

I know I promised that my next piece would be my wearable muslin of By Hand London's Anna dress, and it was next in the sewing line.  In fact, it's done but for a hook and eye and some action shots.  Coming soon!

Instead I present Compagnie M's Mara blouse: a cute little round yoke blouse for the kiddos.

I made it for Zoe using some fun BelleBoo fabric I scored on Sampeng Lane here in Bangkok: polka dots with a few hearts thrown in for good measure.

I think this pattern is really cute, although my implementation leaves a little to be desired... the pintucks got a little lost in the big print (they're right below the yoke if you can't see them) and my flat piping around the yoke is a bit of an uneven mess.  I'm not sure why I had so much trouble easing the yoke in, but I'm confident Zoe won't notice my shoddy craftsmanship. I changed up the sleeves a bit, tapering them a little at the ends rather than going for the fluffy, elasticized sleeve.

I'll definitely make another Mara blouse soon!  I am driven to improve on this one!