Darling Ranges Dress

Hi all,

My make for this week is a Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges dress. No PDF cutting and taping this time - I purchased the pattern! What a time saver. With paper patterns I usually trace my size onto tracing paper (or baking paper if needed) rather than cut the pattern.

I made a size small using the sizing on the pattern for Version 1 but made a few adjustments:

• Shortened the bodice by 1 inch and repositioned the bust darts
• Raised the neckline by 1.5 inches so that the v-neck did not sit too low
• Shortened the skirt length by around 5 inches
• Shortened the sleeve length by around 5 inches

I suppose it is obvious by the amount of shortening I had to do that my frame is somewhat small - I am 5 foot or 152cm on a good day (or after a yoga class!!).

This is the first time I have used the button hole function on my sewing machine and I think I am addicted - that is dead set fun! I remember sewing button holes by hand when I was in my twenties.

The material used was a graduated print cotton purchased online from Style Maker Fabrics in a gorgeous eggplant colour. I did a prewash of the fabric but it will be interesting to see how the colour maintains after several washes.

I will be making another Darling Ranges in a rayon next time and might add a hi-low hemline and make it sleeveless. Well that's the plan anyway......

Namaste

Playing catch-up - Rigel Bomber

It was hard work but I finally caught up with the rest of the indie pattern user world and made a Rigel Bomber !!

It was a hard fought win though - those welt pockets nearly cost me my sanity. 

Finding ribbing that was anything but your basic black, white, yellow and green was a bit of a stretch (blaah). I would have liked to use a hot pink or teal blue for the ribbing but this dark navy had to do.

I made a size XS which was a pretty good fit. The sleeve length was perfect.

With such a strong jacket fabric I let the lining be softer in a pink bemsilk.

I will definitely make another of these and most likely use a plain outer with a mad over-the-top in-your-face lining.

As this jacket turned out a little long in the body I will make an adjustment and take about 2 inches off the length.

It will mean finding a zip to fit or otherwise attempting to shorten one. There are some great tutorials online about this and it seems do-able.


Namaste