A Modified Coco Dress for July's MAGAM

July's theme for MAGAM (make a garment a month) is Seasonal Stashbuster. I outlined my plans on IG earlier in the month: 

"I am planning to sew this lovely tartan double knit from my stash into a winter dress, loosely based on the Tilly and the Buttons Coco Dress. I will reduce the flare of the skirt, add vertical darts at the back, add a bias cut split lapped collar and bias cut patch pockets. Hope it turns out as good as it looks in my head." Well, here is the completed dress:

It has turned out just as I imagined, apart from the lack of plaid matching of the sleeves to the body of the dress...woops. I somehow forgot this detail at the cutting out stage. At least the sleeves match each other. I did all the cutting out in a single layer so I could line up the stripes. The tartan double knit (from Spotlight) had only been in my stash for a few weeks and I was originally planning to make a casual winter top, but after washing it I felt it was more suited to a dress, and this is the eighth time I have made up the Coco dress/top pattern so I have certainly got my money's worth.

I did match the plaid at the side seams, but failed to get a good photo showing this. The bias cut pockets are exact mirror images of each other and I was very happy with this detail.

The vertical darts created a nice fit through the back. I completely fluked the position of the plaid at the centre back of the collar, but love how it is nicely balanced. All the hems were hand stitched so they remained invisible.

Bias cut split lapped collar

I just love the bias cut split lapped collar. It gives the dress a bit of a retro vibe. I wish I had added some interfacing to the collar because it has turned out a little floppy in this double knit, so I will have to remember that for next time.

This will be a nice comfy work dress and I think it will get loads of wear.

Happy Sewing

Jean

A Self Drafted Poncho

Self Drafted Poncho

I have been wanting to make a poncho for ages, so I did some research on Google and came up with this. I'm really pleased with my first attempt, but already have a few ideas for poncho's I may make in the future.

I found a simple tutorial at Hammers and High Heels for this cute poncho. The photo on the left was Carla's inspiration and the photo on the right is what she made.



After studying the tutorial, I quickly realised that the poncho made following the tutorial was not going to look like the inspiration photo. It clearly had a separate collar. So then I googled how to make a split lapped collar and found this wonderful tutorial at Off The Cuff - Sewing Style and I was off.

I used this lovely Indigo Wool Ponte from Knitwit that I had left over from my Style Arc Estelle Ponte Jacket. It's lovely and warm and perfect for this project. I cut a rectangle with the long side twice as long as the short side. The measurements I used were 160cm x 80cm. I then folded the rectangle in half to create a square and tilted diagonally so that the hem points are at centre front and centre back.

There is only one shoulder seam to sew. The other shoulder is on the foldline. I cut a small neckline at the top diagonal point (just big enough to squeeze my head through) and then I tried it on. To get a nice fit over the shoulders the seam needs to be curved over the shoulder and the other shoulder needs a dart added to follow the shoulder curve. This was all trial and error and took a bit of sewing and resewing to get it right. I also recut the neckline once the shoulders were sitting correctly.

Once I was happy with the size and shape of the neckline, I measured it and followed the collar tutorial, linked above, to add the split lapped collar.

I love how simple, yet effective this collar is. My only regret is that I didn't make it wider so it would have been a little more snug around the neck.

For a nice neat finish on the inside, I pressed the shoulder seam and dart open, and top stitched the seam allowances down. The hems were turned twice and top stitched.

This poncho has been a welcome addition to my wardrobe and can be worn over many outfits, including those with wide sleeves that are impossible to fit a cardigan over. I did find it tends to stick to my sleeves a bit, restricting movement. Nothing the addition of a slippery lining wouldn't fix. I have lots of ideas swimming around in my head for future versions.

Happy Sewing

Jean