Nina Lee - In The Kew

I'm not sure I need another summer dress pattern.... I found my perfect version!

And made it three times.




Enter the Kew Dress into my life. To be honest I've swerved Nina Lee patterns as they always seemed rather 'girly' and I wrongly assumed that they were only for very slender petite figures. I could not have been more wrong.

The pattern cropped up as a result of a Minerva project #minervamakes a little while back where I was kindly gifted some digital print cotton and challenged to make something that showed off the print. The result was this absolute beauty:

I won't say too much about this as my project post will go live on 25th September on Minerva's blog where you can have a browse of the pattern hacks. I'll give you a little peek at how I felt about it though!


I was all prepared for a week's worth of pattern adjusting and fitting, having just fully given up on a Deer & Doe Magnolia dress (oh the hours of my life I will not get back).

Checking measurements carefully I went for a size 14 at the bust graded to 16 at the waist and hip. To my utter astonishment - it fit!!!!!! Not one adjustment was made to the patterns. No broad back, no bust faff, Nada. Unbelievable. Even better is that this dress totally covers bra straps which is pure genius.

My tulip field version is a soft cotton poplin and sewed up really well and without issue. The zebra print version is cotton fabric from Fabrics Galore I bought an age ago at the Sewing Bee Exhibition!


This one was made for my sister who really liked the print and colour - and of course the pockets ;-)

My last and favourite dress is this beautiful viscose from Sewisfaction called 'Divine Landscapes'. It being slippy and slidey, the dress was much more of a challenge to make and the back did stretch out quite a lot and the buttons gaped.


I MAY have fixed this with bond-a-web. Gasp. So it's pretty on the outside, but held together inside by string and glue. I also had to rip out the pockets and move the placement as I seemed to have sewed them in at the knees. I can't unbutton it now and it has to go on wriggled over the head but never mind.

None the less I love it now and the extra room is quite nice and comfortable, plus it makes me feel all nice. 


Just to evidence that I do leave my back garden sometimes, here is the dress in action actually being WORN. Result for me.


The dress passed the day out and mega-lunch test on a trip to Urban Jungle with The Fabric Wrangler. Awesome cafe, would highly recommend.  


The buttons on these dresses are lovely and fairly unusual. I found them on Textile Gardens and they are made of cotton!The colours in real life are like 'bright pastel' and they have this great matte texture to them.


Summer 2019 - The Year of the Kew. Love it.


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Dotty Anza Dress - Itch to Stitch

It's that gauze again!

Last seen on my Cielo dress in black, here's the green version in action. (The yellow is still biding its sweet time).


This dress is the Itch to Stitch - Anza Dress (& Jumpsuit) pattern - in dress format obviously.

I came across the dress on the Love Sewing magazine cover and liked the casual style of it. There seemed to be lots of details and a nice shape to the neckline so went for the download. It was inevitably massive so I admit to having it printed. Ain't no-one got time for that.

There it all came unstuck as once I'd cut my pattern pieces out - and just a warning - there are many, I could not figure out the magazine instructions for the life of me. So I bought the actual pattern, got proper instructions and felt generally much better about life.

(Well it feels a lot of pattern pieces to me, who makes 3 piece t-shirts all the time and rethinks life-choices if there's more than 6...)

It was a good meaty little project this one - after sewing many basics, it was nice to have a go at something a bit more involved. I wouldn't say more complex as the separate features are not massively difficult, just more time consuming. I think it took a couple of weeks in total, just doing bits of it here and there in my lunch break.

Can we just take a moment here to appreciate the god's of haberdashery who were on my side when it got to button day. It needed 4 buttons for the front bodice and low and behold, 4 glorious matching buttons were in my stash!!! (Found a while back from Textile Garden - my go-to button gal).



The pattern is really well drafted - there is cup-size options as well as normal sizing so a lot of folk will love that. I went for B cup and therefore no darts were needed. Lazy girl's dream. I graded the pattern between 12/14 without any modifications and it seems to be spot on. Next time, the bodice could come up by 1cm ish but that's just a minor niggle.

Just proving I ironed my fabric this time, check out the back crease hehe
I totally messed up the position of the button holes so I have one right next to the waist band that sticks out, and the top gapes a bit so I've sewn in closed. The dress can just pop over your head anyway its pretty roomy.

The dress is super comfy, there's a bit of a belt and braces job at the waist which is a bit weird. It has elastic casing AND a waist-tie. I did myself a favour by mistake in this respect as I didn't fold over the waist casing and applied it more like bias binding. Turns out it was a good job as the casing would never have been big enough for the elastic and tie as it was on the pattern piece.

If you're going to make this dress - double the width of the casing strip!! I've since since some other reviews of this dress who also say the same thing so glad its not just me being daft.


All in all a good and useful project - I've worn it several times now so a good sign!

Just a little note - not all projects are a success I just generally can't be bothered to write about the disasters (unless it was particularly comical). For example - my usual love of Closet Case Patterns designs was slightly blighted by the worst fitting trousers known to mankind when I tried the Pietra's! That was definitely a case of what suits one person will not suit everyone! The quest for trousers continues....

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All the Ogdens...

'Tis the season of the Ogden.  Buenos Dias you beautiful basic.

This year I joined in with the Ogden Swap #ogdenidaswap2019 organized by Jen @jenlegg4 and Samantha @purplesewingcloud through Instagram.

This was an 'international stash-busting swap' and sounded good fun. People signed up, then we all got assigned a swap partner who you could insta-stalk to see what they may like, then make them a little cami top in secret!

The reveal date was yesterday and my swap partner, also an Emma did an absolutely spectacular job! She absolutely hit the nail on the head with this top. The fabric is called 'Slow and Steady' from Tula Pink in the colour 'Tortoise Shell Kiwi'. Perfect!!!


I was really overwhelmed that a stranger had taken the time to make something so lovely, I feel very lucky. There was a beautiful little tortoise key ring included aswell as a nice note and the top itself is immaculate. Thank you so much Emma :) One of my favourite touches was this label:


In return I had been plotting an Ogden cami for her, and having seen her sporty photos, love of Liberty and nice colour choices I decided to use some of this Liberty of London Strawberry Thief fabric. I really enjoyed the research part of this little project and seeing what someone may like, all very exciting.


Not part of the swap, but also going elsewhere, I have made several other Ogdens this summer, these one's out of jersey for a soft and stretchy fit for my good pal in Barcelona.

She, like myself, is obsessed by Snoopy, so when I saw this Woodstock fabric from Flamingo Fabrics
there was no way I could let that lie.



 Not stopping there I also made her a chameleon version - look at those colours! This is also a beautifully soft cotton jersey from Olumis fabrics. I was quite taken with this fabric so went back for some more to make myself something. I'm sure that will pop up on here at some point. 



I've been having some fit issues myself with this one so had to reprint and size up from my previous pattern. Since gyming I clearly have a broader back which is causing some sewing issues however the size 12 now seems to fit - so more Ogdens for summer here I come!

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