Monday 3 November 2014

Tilly's Coco in Chevron Stripes

Here is my third Coco by Tilly and the Buttons. 


I am really loving this pattern for it's versatility. It's such a blank canvas that's so easy to make your own. Here are my first and second Coco's.


For this one I used the same shape with the narrowed skirt, as I did in version two.


I chopped the sleeves off short because I wanted this dress to be suitable to wear to work during the warmer months. In hindsight, I should have added a little width to the sleeves to make them a little looser fitting and improve the look. I did make the underarm length of the sleeve about 2cm shorter than the outer side. Hope that made sense?


The back does have a little wrinkling going on at the waistline. I didn't have this issue with Coco number two, so I am hoping the fabric will relax and drape better after a couple of washes.


The fabric is a chevron printed ponte, in navy and white, purchased from Spotlight back in July. The chevron stripes actually ran parallel to the selvedges. I was quite disappointed when I realized this, because I had pictured this dress with the stripes running horizontally. This fabric was very stable and there was little difference in the amount of stretch running either way, so I took a chance and cut the pattern so that the stripes ran horizontally as I wanted. This worked out fine. I tried to position the darkest part of the print to the waist area, to create a slimming effect, with the lighter parts at the shoulders and hemline.


I sewed this dress on my sewing machine using a very narrow zig zag stitch. This gives the stitching enough give so that it doesn't snap when put under a bit of pressure. I could have just used my overlocker, (but I would rather unpick a single line of stitching than an overlocked seam) if I make a mistake. I did go back and finish off the seams with the overlocker after I was happy with the fit.

Chevrons were impossible to match at side seams.
During the cutting out stage, I thought long and hard about matching the chevron stripes at the side seams. After much head scratching and Googling, I decided that it is impossible to match chevron stripes on curved seams. (Please correct me if I am wrong.) I did the best I could and made sure that at least I had the same width chevrons continuing from front to back. I was pretty chuffed with my seam matching at the underarm intersection.


I turned the hems up 2.5 cm and top stitched with a twin needle. I really like this finish, and if you measure accurately you can position the top stitching right on top of the raw edge, making a very neat finish on the inside.


The neckline looked like it might gape a bit, so I stitched some clear elastic (slightly stretching it as I sewed) to the neckline, using a zig zag stitch. The edge was then turned under (enclosing the elastic) and stitched down using the same twin needle finish as the hem lines.


This has worked well and the neckline sits nice and close to the body.


I omitted the pockets for this one. I thought the print was busy enough without pockets.


 I don't think you have seen the last of this pattern yet. I still have quite a few other ideas I want to try out and this is a great comfy dress suitable to wear to the office too.


Happy Sewing

28 comments:

  1. I love this, you look so smart and sophisticated -and comfortable!. Your chevron stripe placement is terrific, it really makes the dress.

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  2. Great job Jean. I love the darker chevrons at the waist-perfect placement! :)

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    1. Thanks Meigan. I was pretty happy with the slimming effect of the pattern placement. Need all the help I can get.

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  3. I sighed when I saw this because I adore chevrons and this is a stunning example. I haven't made a Coco dress and I think you've inspired me to try my first. Yours are all wonderful. Very clever colour placement, by the way.

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    1. Thank you Sue. You have had great success with the Coco tops so I am sure you will love the dress.

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  4. It looks great on you! I love, love, love that fabric!

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    1. Thanks Nakisha. As soon as I laid eyes on that fabric at Spotlight, I knew it was coming home with me.

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  5. This dress is absolutely wonderful! One of my favorite of your makes! Wonderful fit, great fabric placement, and extremely flattering :)

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    1. Thank you very much Carrie for your lovely comment. You have made my day.

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  6. What a terrific dress for work. I use the same process when sewing knits - seams only go through the over locker when I am happy with the fit.

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    1. I am loving the Coco dress for work. I have plans for a few more too. Unpicking overlocking stitches can be very tedious. I just reminded myself of that fact over the weekend when I had to unpick an entire neckband on a T-Shirt ...got a little too confident, and then realised it was too loose :-(

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  7. Your dress is gorgeous and I have severe fabric envy. Lovely.

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    1. Thanks BeaJay. The fabric turned out better than I thought it would.

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  8. Another lovely dress! I have loved all your Cocos:)

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    1. Thanks Angela for your nice comment. I'm sure you would look great in a Coco dress too.

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  9. I think this is your nicest Coco yet! Stylish and sophisticated! Will squirrel the tip re elastic to hug the neckine. That's an area that often gapes on my tops! Thank you.

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    1. Thanks so much Anne. I hadn't thought of my Coco as "Stylish and sophisticated"...but if you say so, I'll go with it. I find clear elastic is very handy to fix any gaping problems.

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  10. All your Cocos are beautiful. I loved the ones with the collar and now this one is just as lovely without the collar. And your fabric....sighh!

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    1. Thank you Kathy for your lovely comment. Nice to hear from you.

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  11. Truly a wonderful use of your print--the effect is awesome!

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    1. Thanks Mads. Anything that gives me the illusion of a waistline is a winner with me.

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  12. This fabric is wonderful! Your matching on the sleeves I think was flawless. This dress looks like such a timeless piece that can be worn dressy or casual.

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    1. Thank you Elovedra El. I hope to get lots of wear out of this dress. Thanks for stopping by.

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  13. This is lovely. Great use of the print as well.

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    1. Thanks Vicki. This fabric has been very popular and I am pleased with the print placement.

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  14. Love how you have used the chevrons in this dress and I can see why it is such a favourite for you.

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    1. Thanks Sharon. Gotta love a pattern that fits well, is easy to sew and suits my every day wardrobe needs.

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