Tasha Sews

Pattern Review - Vogue 8645 As I mentioned in my last post I encountered numerous problems sewing a dress to wear to my friends wedding. When I picked up 3 metres of this lovely satin like fabric from Shepherd's Bush market a couple of months ago I had in my mind to sew this lovely Vogue maxi dress pattern.  However, as I was trying to be creative with my cutting out the pieces and trying to stretch the fabric to meet the pattern I sadly cut out the front facing on the wrong side. As time was short rather than try and get creative I popped it aside and decided to go for a quick and easy  Vogue 8645  that I have made  previously.   Of course, I stuffed up cutting this out as well by cutting out the back waayyy too short. And unless I wanted to really push the bootylicious look in perhaps a more literal way I knew that I would have to consider cutting out another dress. As my wedding suitable fabrics were on short supply I went b...

Pattern Review - Vogue 8711 So it seems as though I have been MIA these past couple of weeks. The reason for this is silly - I broke my camera on a hen-night out. So although I have been sewing I have not been able to upload any suitable proof of this! As I was visiting the folks this weekend I forced  asked my mum to take a couple of snaps of Vogue 8711  before heading out for my cousin's birthday drinks. I have made this skirt previously (view D) in my pre-blogging days as a skirt for work in black jersey, but I have been dying to make this again with the contrast panels.  I'm not sure about other sewers out there, but I generally find skirt patterns really underwhelming, so when I first saw this one a couple of years ago I had to jump on it! I absolutely love the fit and style of this skirt and think that it flatters most shapes. It creates such a feminine silhouette either enhancing your god given curves (have you guys seen the stunning Mimi G rock...

Pattern Review - Vogue 8667 Yay! I finally finished this. Vogue 8667 has been my February project and seemed to take forever, though this may be due to lack of sewing time, and also working on multiple projects (this is a 2013 sewing goal). I used a teal suiting that I picked up from Fabricland for £2 a metre. They have this fabric in many different colours and it is such a bargain. When I am next in Bristol I am definitely going to pick up some more. This fabric was a delight to sew, although it did fray a tad when working with it so I zig-zagged  the seams. The changes that I made was to cut grade out the front side bodice to 2" and increased the length of the front bodice 2". I wanted the skirt to hit me above the knee so I cut the skirt pieces the same length as the lining pieces. I cut a size 14 and graded out to a size 16 on the hips. I think that if I was to make this again I wouldn't the bodice pieces as a size 12. I had tried making a smar...

Pattern Review - Vogue 8645 Dress To continue with the instant gratification rush that I seem to be on, I whipped up this  Very Easy Vogue Dress . I bought this polka dot satin in Morocco last August and instantly knew that this was the pattern that I wanted to make and added it to my wishlist. I stubbornly waited until Vogue patterns were on sale just before Christmas before purchasing the pattern.  Close up of the gorgeous satin This dress was incredibly simple to make - so it really is a 'Very Easy' pattern, even for a Vogue. There are no darts, zips or elastic casing etc. so it would be perfect for a beginner. Because it is a loose pullover dress there are no fitting issues. I cut a 14 and sewed it straight out of the envelope with no alterations. Initially I was going to french seam this, but as it was lined I didn't bother. However I did go the extra mile and hand sewed an invisible hem.  Although I did make the tie belt, I really like t...

Pattern Review - Vogue 1189 Yay! I have finally finished this dress. After much blood sweat and tears over the plait it finally all came together.  If anyone has read these reviews, you will know that doing the plait is a mission, and extremely time consuming. However, this dress has hardly any reviews on Pattern Review, which I am really surprised about - as soon as this pattern came out a couple of years ago I picked it up asap and knew instantly that I wanted to make it with black jersey. I picked up this black jersey from Simply Fabrics for £2/metre. It has a lovely sheen on the right side, and is really easy to work with. Sorry - Southbank Centre doesn't have the best light I love the pockets on this dress! This is the first time I have made pockets where it is topstitched to the skirt front. I think that it works really well. It also makes the dress amazingly comfortable. The only things that I changed were to omit the topstitching on the elastic on the c...

Pattern Review - Vogue 1247 Skirt I have needed a black miniskirt in my wardrobe for ages and this  pattern fitted the bill. This pattern is actually easy, as some of you know sometimes an 'Easy' Vogue is far from it. I used a lightweight stretch denim purchased from Fabricland. The skirt was completed one leisurely Monday afternoon/evening and came together very easily. I omitted the pockets and went without the waistband and just finished it with binding. I really like the shape of the skirt and I like the instructions to finish the inside seams with bias binding - I think it looks neat - it both senses of the word. Inside View  You can see my review on Pattern Review here.  I currently have Simplicity 1872 on the sewing table. Hoping to finish this over the next week or so . I am still on a sewing high following my recent pattern and fabric purchases!