aka #teambumruffle

I wasn’t going to blog this for a while… but back to work tomorrow… so it’s a final holiday hurrah. Sorry for spamming you in the last week! I’ve mentioned before I’m an obsessive stitcher… and my last Alder is proof!

Grainline Alder view B – back view

So that pattern I wasn’t particularly entranced by when it was released? Yeah well… I’ve made three of them since November.

Here we go with the view I liked the least… and now find it has grown on me… View B – the one with the gathered sides and back.

Then it came up as a joke on Instagram that this version was #teambumruffle (recently blogged by Funkbunny and also made by The Stitcher and Gatherer – not blogged yet) which made me laugh… and then I wondered if I needed to re-think this one as there seemed to be quite a fan club out there.

Grainline Alder View B – side view. The armholes are slightly large but I prefer that in a summer dress, especially on our hot and humid days.

I wasn’t sold when I first put it on… and I confess it has grown on me. It’s been very, very hot lately and this is the perfect summer holiday dress. I don’t like wearing shapeless sacks as they swamp me, but the details of a collar and buttons provide some definition to this make and I do like that. I think the ‘girliness’ of this suits the pretty vintage fabric that I have been hoarding for a year or so now.

Attaching the skirt: It’s worth the three lines of gathering stitches recommended by Jen – the skirt gathers up nicely and it easier to attach to the bodice/shirt fronts.
I would also recommend referring to the online Alder sewalong when attaching the gathered skirt, it’s a little trickier than your standard gathered skirt shirtdress.
I did shorten this by 1 inch as I had read the back is rather long and I’m 5 foot 4… However the front is somewhat shorter than I anticipated so I would probably adjust the dip in the back and leave the front length next time. Then again… how many Alders do I need?
If you want more construction details, check out my Polka Dot or Blue Alders.

Grainline Alder View B, front view – a bit too short, ok for summer casual though I guess.

Since I have nothing else startling to add (other than my first impressions of this as a pattern release – and even when I first put it on – were wrong), I wanted to share The Thong Tree with you. Yes, yes. I know. In other countries ‘thong’ refers to a rather brief item of underwear. Here in Australia, it’s footwear – or as you might call it – a flip-flop…

This is a 700m walk up the beach, perched on the sand dunes with a stunning view – which Banjo rather enjoyed.

The Alder, the whippet and the Thong Tree

Lighthouse Beach Thong Tree

This local festive oddity only appears at Christmas time and is a ‘gift’ from a local artist. You can read about it here. We took Banjo for a walk on the beach as we had a spare hour or two the other day. Unfortunately the wind was howling and the #bumruffle was in full flight – or the dress plastered against my body… the perils of beachside living! Hence the photos in the ‘bush’ behind my house – the only place safe from the wind.

A windy day on a classic sandy Australian beach

It’s odd, these days I don’t like going to the beach and not taking Banjo with me. That limits the beaches we can visit… but I don’t really mind.

Pattern: Grainline Alder, View B
Fabric: Vintage rayon from the charity/op shop. Cost = $3

OK I’m done with Alders for now… I promise! Are you on the fence about this pattern or a fan of Alder? It’s taken me three versions to get off the fence and acknowledge that I am a fully-fledged member of the fan club.

Grainline Alders x 3

More obsessive sewing.

I did mentioned I had made another Grainline Alder and here it is. I’ve worn my first Alder so much that a second one seemed sensible. If it works for you – sew it I say! I’ve worn by McCalls 6696 just once, it’s lovely but I feel at home in my Alders.

I’ve sewn View A again, this time in a border print (or more like dip-dyed, marbled) rayon woven fabric.

Another Alder, more beach and whippet photos… a typical Lizzy weekend. I love this beach, it’s not too busy. Lots of space of a whippet to run,

The sewing

As the graduation in colour ran from selvedge to selvedge, I cut the Alder on the crossgrain. I also didn’t have quite enough so I shaved about 1 inch off the side seams. It was frugal cutting at it’s very best and I had the tiniest pile of scraps you can imagine when I finished… and I was very conscious not to make a mistake as there was nothing left to cut another piece – not even a pocket piece!

Grainline Alder, view A. Side view

Pockets: I moved the pockets up about 1/2 inch. I think they could move up more next time.

Hem: I hemmed it. I wasn’t pleased with my finish. So I hemmed it again. Then I took some photos and thought it was slightly too long. So I cut off the hem, slightly increased the curve at the side and re-hemmed it.

Grainline Alder, view A – wide view. The hem is even – it’s just windy (as usual) and I like to leave the bottom button undone as the dress moves better as you walk.

Buttons: I got some lovely buttons that were a perfect match. I made the buttonholes… started sewing on my buttons… decided the buttons were slightly too large. Fortunately I had not cut the buttonholes! I found more buttons, unpicked the buttonholes and re-did the buttonholes. I want to unpick the buttonhole on the collar (which I haven’t cut fortunately) as it is slightly too low.

Grainline Alder, view A. Back view

The Fabric: this is a marbled, graduated rayon fabric from The Fabric Shop in Robina. It’s just a hop, skip & a jump off the freeway on the way to Brisbane. It’s got parking out the front, a refreshing change from Brisbane which can be a parking nightmare, especially around The Fabric Store in Fortitude Valley!

Despite vowing not to add to my fabric ‘library’ on this trip, I succumbed to some blue fabrics – which seemed to be in plentiful supply in this shop! There were lovely piques, sateens, embroidered cottons, Japanese fabrics and a range of fabrics that Maria (the owner) imports from Madrid. I loved the white cotton broderies – which I’m still wondering why I didn’t buy as they would make gorgeous summer tops… then I look at the size of my fabric ‘library’ and remember why that’s a good thing!

This fabric was the end of the bolt (I think it was about 1.5m) and Maria slipped it into my bag when I bought the two fabrics below… clearly I have a thing for blues – thank you Maria. The Fabric Shop does have similar fabrics to this one – I just got the last sliver of this one – sorry!

A cotton pique and an imported embroider cotton eyelet

Pattern: Grainline Alder, view A. Purchased by me.
Fabric: An ‘end of the bolt’ piece, woven rayon from The Fabric Shop.

I’m on a Grainline binge at the moment. I’ve also just made the Hemlock tee (the free Grainline pattern) with some striped cotton knit from The Fabric Store, Brisbane.

WATER-LOVING WHIPPET

The following photos are for those who love to see Banjo on the blog.

There are quite a few whippets in Port Macquarie now. None of them seem to love the water quite like Banjo does. He will spend more time swimming than running if the family are in the water and he attracts a lot of attention as whippets are not famed for their love of swimming… although no one has told Banjo that…

Yes, my whippet even enjoys body surfing!

I love this shot, he’s such a happy handsome hound.

Banjo – my favourite water rat.

The latest shirtdress…

This year I’ve suffered from bouts of obsessional sewing. I’ve made three Hollys, three drop-waist dress (one still to be blogged), three draped singlet dresses and now three shirtdresses (sewing buttons on the third). I’ve really enjoyed taking a pattern, idea or something/anything and exploring it. That’s my favourite part of sewing, blogging and reading blogs – exploring variations. I also love sewing some patterns more than once if it triggers a burst of inspiration together – perhaps there is a miser hiding somewhere inside me (just not when it comes to fabric LOL).

While I love the idea of McCalls 6696 and I do like the shape on me… it just doesn’t feel like ‘me’. However I couldn’t give up the idea of a shirtdress.

I’m the first to confess I didn’t leap out of my skin when the Grainline Alder came out. However I just kept coming back to it after I finished the McCalls dress. Then I saw Cut Cut Sew’s version which I loved and I decided to take the plunge.

I had considered McCalls 6885 as made by Lori of Girls in the Garden, however there were no pattern sales locally, making the McCalls option quite expensive. I got out my Archer, tried it on and that sold me.

Why not just amend the Archer pattern if I had it? Excellent question and I wondered that myself when Alder was released. However the Archer has been drafted differently, as a sleeved shirt with the shoulders slightly oversized – there is a variation in the Alder sewalong if that’s what you want to do.

Anyway enough navel gazing and onto my make…

I spent last Friday sewing, at home by myself. It was heaven – decadent but work has been so overwhelming I needed a mental break. I sewed from about 9 to 4 – with a button-buying break around 2pm – thanks Lizzie for putting up with all my texted photos during the ‘audition process’ – and totally enabling the Alder sewing process!

Grainline Alder Dress – I made View A – the plain version on the right-hand side

The gathered skirt version appears to have been quite popular but the simplicity of the plainer version appealed to me.

Most of these pictures were taken by my husband while we were at the beach on Sunday morning with the kids, surfboards and Banjo. I didn’t even know he had taken most of them. The surf was rough, our favourite beach is unpatrolled (but it’s one of only two the dog can go to) meaning intense supervision is required when the kids go into the water.

Alder, view A – back view. I sense this will be worn A LOT this summer. A very windy morning and rough surf – I was watching the kids like a hawk.

I confess I am not a massive fan of polka dots… I know I am not a very cool blogger. However they seemed just right for this dress and it’s such a gorgeous shade of blue.

Front view, this is very ‘my lifestyle’, simple, loosely fitted and casual.

Ok, my McCalls 6696 has a great shape… but I really do love the Alder. I like the fit across my shoulders and upper chest. There are also bust darts to add some shape. I like the curved hem that gives it that ‘boyfriend’ shirt look and that it’s not oversized. I like the back – without any gathers, pleats or added fullness. I love that it’s so simple and waist-less. It’s really very ‘me’ and my lifestyle.

CONSTRUCTION NOTES

After my contrast disaster shirtdress I opted for streamlined simplicity with this make, white top-stitching & white buttons.

Yoke: sewn using the Burrito method – not outlined in the instructions but you can watch the online video from the Archer sewalong.

I like the fit across my back and shoulders.

Collar: attached using the Four Square Walls method, read about it here. I’m really starting to enjoy sewing shirts and want to prove my skills.

I did have trouble with my top stitching with this fabric, I ended up using my heavy duty Singer for most of the collar band – it’s a plodder of a machine but great for some jobs.

Armholes: I folded my binding in half (wrong sides together), placed the raw edges to the raw edges of the armhole, stitched and understitched, then turned it over to the inside, then top stitched it in place. I really hate folding the second raw edge of self-made bias binding under after I’ve sewn one edge to the armhole, it’s so fiddly and I have little patience – especially when it comes to ironing on a hot day! This fabric is rayon so this technique worked for me, perhaps on a heavier fabric it would add too much bulk.
Pockets: I’d move them up about 1/4 inch or so on my next version
Buttons: I am so glad I went with something that just ‘disappears’, it gives me the freedom to wear this dress plain or dress it up with whatever accessories and shoes I like. I wish I hadn’t added the last button near the hem. Oh well, I know for next time. Is there a next time? Oh yes… I’ve nearly finished it!
Length: I’m 5 foot 4, I did not alter the length at all.

Verdict? I do like this pattern and I’d recommend it. I found that it went together beautifully (not seamlessly – as there is a lot of seams LOL). I like it on me – it’s not as ‘shapely’ as the McCalls but that doesn’t mean it’s shapeless. I’ve really enjoyed wearing this.

Pattern: Grainline Alder Shirtdress, purchased by me. There is an Alder Sewalong on the Grainline blog with lots of tips and variations if you are interested.
Fabric: Printed Rayon from Spotlight, Australia (sold out in my local store). Purchased by me at a 30% fabric sale, usually about $12 a metre. I used about 2m. I’m tossing up whether to make a self-fabric belt for this as I like Cut Cut Sew’s one… but it’s so tempting to squeeze a little summer top out of the scraps instead. This is lovely fabric to wear and doesnlt seem to crush as badly as other rayons.

Also see: Little Betty Sews | Tiff Toffee | Ginger Made | Pincushion Treats | Sew Unravelled | Holly Anna Bella | Justina Sews | just google image Grainline Alder Shirtdress there are quite a few out there!