gingham picnic
Last week in work was one of the most challenging and stressful I’ve had for a long time. I was a happy bunny when 4pm Friday rolled round and could leave the stresses of the week behind.
With plans for doing nothing much on Saturday and Sunday I made use of my time with my sewing machine and few meters of gingham fabric.
Imitation is the biggest form of flattery or something like that and having already made a knock off of Dolly Clacketts one good turn dress, knew what I was doing with the construction of the B5748 and an easy project was what my tired mind needed. I’d bought the gingham fabric to make an apron for a friends Mum and overestimated how much yardage an apron used, because I was left with over 3 metres when I’d finished it.
Gingham picnic dress butterick b5748
It took about 12 hours in total, I added pockets from the Sewaholic Cambie pattern to the side seams (I have a soft spot for dresses and skirts with pockets.) only the bodice is lined using cheap white heart printed cotton. The waistband is finished with polka dot bias binding and had only had to get the seam ripper out once! The skirt is machine hemmed using a 6mm rolled hem foot. I machine hemmed the Dolly dress too as I’m slow hand sewer and finishing a full circle skirt by hand would have taken days. I’m not ruling out hand-finishing in the future, I can imagine some bias tape at the hem would add a lovely finish and gives the skirt little more bulk to hold up against the yardage of the full circle, but right now I’m happy to cut a few corners and use the machine. I’m really pleased with the dress. I was going to retire the pattern for a while, but looking at these photos I really love the shape and I’d like to make versions with a floral print and large polka dots. I can improve the fit by pinching out an inch at the shoulders and from the lower part of the waist/bust darts and my pocket placement could do with moving a few inches up. – Oooooh, get me!
While I had the Cambie out I decided to give it a go and made a toile of the bodice out of some random sheeting material I had. There are some fitting issues at the bust (no surprise there) which will need a few tweaks or maybe a full bust adjustment. (I’ve so far put off doing this, sounds complicated.) hopefully I’ll have another butterick and something resembling the cambie finished soon.
There was also a bit of competitive connect 4 and chess playing with my Husband in Brasco Lounge near the pier head. Its a great bar which seems largely undiscovered by most.
saturday night we had one of my favourite teas, a selection of meats and cheese or picnic tea as we call it, on the front room floor (picnic style)
ginderella 