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| Style Arc Adeline Dress |
I just can't leave this pattern alone. This is Style Arc Adeline Dress # 3 for me. You can see # 1 here and # 2 here.
It is a simple cocoon style dress yet, I feel effortlessly stylish when I put it on. This was my first experience sewing with Tencel and I am in love. After a little internet research I learned that this is a natural fibre produced from wood pulp, similar to rayon but more sustainable. It is soft, drapey, breathable and wrinkle resistant. What's not to love? I found it similar to rayon, but a little better behaved when it comes to cutting and sewing. It pressed beautifully. I used a microtex needle size 80 which worked very well.
For this version I cut a size 12, as usual. The only alteration to the pattern was a forward shoulder adjustment which I explained in this post. Such a minor adjustment that has a big impact on comfort.
The look can be changed easily by the addition of a scarf or a statement necklace. This lovely gauze scarf was a great way to keep the chill at bay in my air conditioned office .
As the fabric was quite plain, I top stitched all the seams to add a little visual interest. It also kept the seam allowances nice and flat. The neckline and hemline facings were also top stitched.
I made a silly mistake when top stitching the side seams. I had completed one side perfectly and then went on to do the second side. Half way up the second side seam I realised that I had forgotten to lengthen the stitch to match all the other top stitching. I might have uttered a few swear words under my breath and proceeded to unpick my mistake. After I had unpicked quite a lot, I realised I was unpicking the wrong side. More swear words ensued and it was thrown in the naughty corner for a couple of days.
The cuffs are a lovely detail and are so easy to do. This is a great pattern that is so well drafted and goes together very easily. I really can't stop singing it's praises.
I love it when an outfit turns out just as I had imagined it would.
Happy sewing
Jean
On Christmas Eve afternoon I got the silly idea to sew up my second Style Arc Adeline Dress to wear on Christmas Day. I did have a bit of a head start, as I had done all the cutting out and fusing the interfacing to the facings the night before. I thought it would only take a couple of hours as I had sewn it before here, but sadly I was a little over ambitious and I didn't finish it until 9pm and then I still had Christmas food to prepare. Anyway, all the stress has now been forgotten and these photos were taken yesterday in my mother's garden during it's second wearing, at a family New Year get together.
The fabric is a cotton linen blend purchased from Spotlight in a very colourful floral print. This fabric behaved very well and was a pleasure to sew and press. It was also nice and wide and I was able to eliminate the centre back seam. Also, wrinkling that is usually an issue with linen has not been a problem. I don't know the percentage of linen to cotton in this blend, but it wears very well with little wrinkling.
I made my usual Style Arc size 12 and I did make a couple of pattern alterations to this one in order to improve the fit. I shortened the length by 3cm at the lengthen/shorten line to give it a more summery vibe and I did a forward shoulder adjustment following this guide from Sew Hopeful.
The shoulder seam on the Adeline Dress is a relatively straight line. I removed a wedge from the front shoulder, 1.5cm at the sleeve edge tapering to nothing at the neckline. I then added this wedge to the back shoulder. This worked very well and the dress sits better on my shoulders, without wanting to slip back all the time.
It is very important to stabilise the neckline to avoid any distortion or stretching. I did this by sewing some narrow cotton tape to the stitching line on the wrong side. It worked beautifully and the neckline sits perfectly. All the facings (neckline and hem) were under stitched and then top stitched so there is no problem with them flipping out or misbehaving at all.
The photo above was taken as I was attaching the patch pockets to the front. I posted this on IG, not knowing if I was going to be able to finish it in time for Christmas. I was very happy when I did manage to finish it in time as it was perfect for our Christmas Day weather and it was comfortable and stylish...but best of all, there was plenty of room for all that Christmas over indulging that tends to happen on Christmas Day.
I think I have a new favourite dress, and judging by the number of Adeline dresses popping up on my IG feed, it is becoming a very popular pattern. My darling grand daughter wanted to join in the photo shoot and this shot was just so lovely of her that I had to include it.
Wishing all my followers a wonderful 2017 filled with the joy of sewing.
Jean
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| Style Arc Adeline Dress |
Sewing has taken a back seat over the last couple of months as I have had some serious health issues to deal with which I will share at the end of this post if you are interested*. And now, onto the Adeline Dress, a recent pattern release from Style Arc which I sewed up during my recovery.
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| Style Arc Adeline Dress |
I have been a bit of a rebel and used a textured silk cotton knit from Knitwit in an olive green, (this colour has sold out but other colours are available), when the recommended fabric was a woven. I thought this would work because it has a low stretch factor and a nice drape.
These photos were taken after the dress had been worn all day at work, hense the wrinkles. The Adeline dress is a little longer than I expected, but I quite like it. The hem is finished with a facing and I did find it a little restrictive and it could perhaps benefit from a centre back vent or split. I may incorporate this in the next one.
You can see the high/low hemline in the photo above. This is quite fashionable at the moment, but I'm not sure I'm a huge fan. I think this dress would look just as good with a level hem line.
The shoulder seams were stabilised with some cotton tape to stop them stretching out, as I was using a knit fabric. The neckline and hemline were finished with a facing which was then top stitched to keep it in place, but also adds a nice decorative element. I love the cuffs on the sleeves and I have secured them with a few hand stitches to hold them in place.
I decided to add some decorative buttons to the pockets, as the fabric was looking a little drab. I found these cute orange buttons at the local fabric shop. They are made from Corozo, a natural product which I thought was quite fitting for my silk cotton dress.
This how I styled it for work yesterday. Thanks to Mum for taking these photos for me in her beautiful garden. She did an awesome job and I had 97 photos to choose from, not the 3 or 4 I usually get when hubby is behind the camera. (And this was the first time she had used a smart phone to take photos too. We had such a laugh and after all I do have plenty to be happy about now).
Happy sewing
*I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in early September. This came as a huge shock to me and my family. It is very confronting when faced with your own mortality. I have decided to share my experience to help create awareness of this insidious disease.
I casually mentioned to my GP (on a totally unrelated visit) that I had noticed I was passing a little blood when using the toilet. She referred me to the local surgeon for a colonoscopy. It took a month to get in to see him. As I have no private health insurance, he put me on the public hospital waiting list for the procedure. This took another two and a half months before I had the test on 2/9/16.
Everything happened very quickly after that. I was sent for further tests...a CT scan and an MRI. There did not appear to be any spread of the tumour to any other organs. The local Surgeon referred me to a Colorectal Surgeon in Sydney, due to the low location of my tumour, and I had an appointment with him a week later. He booked me in for surgery on 30/9/16. The surgery (an ultra low anterior resection) went well. Due to the skill of the surgeon, the operation was done laparoscopically (keyhole) and I did not require an illiostomy, so no "bag" to deal with. After spending eight days in Westmead hospital, I was sent home to recover.
I then had to wait almost three weeks before I received the pathology results... a rather nervous wait. However, I received good news...no cancer cells were detected in the associated lymph nodes, therefore I require no further treatment. I couldn't have hoped for a better outcome. Early detection is the key to beating this disease so I urge you to act promptly and get any symptoms checked without delay. It may just save your life.
