maria denmark edith

Maria Denmark Edith Adventures Part Two – The Liberty Carline Ones

This post could quite easily consist of me going ‘squeeeeeee!’ accompanied by photos of my overly smiley face but it might be helpful to add a bit of background before we get to that.

Following on from my first two Maria Denmark Ediths I felt confident about cutting into some Liberty. I had a little over a metre of the red Liberty Carline Poplin in my stash for a while with no real plan what to use it for. Then I scored a metre and a half of the blue Tana Lawn on Ebay. While I was stroking it and pondering what to do, the other half helpfully suggested using it to make a blouse and so a plan was hatched. I decided to use both pieces and make a pair, a little more production line sewing.   Maybe I’m just impatient but I’ve found it doesn’t really take that much longer to make multiples at the same time.

I cut out the red first as it was the smaller yardage. I managed to fit it all on but had to cut one of the front pieces on the cross grain. I spent ages trying to work out if the print had any direction but after twiddling and comparing decided it was multi-directional so would be fine. I ended up with a 40cm x 40cm chunk left, plenty to use for facings and pocket linings. The Blue was easily squeezed out and I pleasingly had more than enough left to make a pair of matching knickers!

I sewed them up the same as my previous two, a size 44 and C-cup. I French seamed them again (my overlocker must be feeling very lonely). the only changes I made were to:

  • Lower the bust dart an inch
  • Raise the back darts an inch
  • Square off the collar

I didn’t have the right buttons in my stash so armed with swatches of fabric I made a trip to my local haberdashery. It took half an hour for me to decide, the most fitting were the red mother of pearl and some green vintage looking ones.

Anyway here’s some pictures:

WP_20150525_004 1

WP_20150525_019

WP_20150524_041

WP_20150524_042

WP_20150524_052

Elderly photo bombing cat!

WP_20150525_007

WP_20150525_010

WP_20150524_067

WP_20150524_077

WP_20150524_066

Squeeeeee face!

I’m struggling to put into words how pleased I am with how they’ve turned out. It was one of those projects where you get halfway through and start to get a tingly feeling in your stomach as you realise it’s going to be a winner. I finished them at the end of May and wore each one during the final days of Me Made May. As soon as May was over I’ve binge worn them constantly, at least having two means they get regular washing!

The fit is as near as perfect I’m going to get. I haven’t really sewn many sleeveless tops recently so they’ve definitely filled a gap in the wardrobe. They’re great with skirts and jeans and perfect under a cardigan, the red works really well with my green Miette and the blue with the green or the navy. I know I say this about every project but I really think these are the favouritest things I’ve ever made!

WP_20150618_003

And of course there are the matching knickers!

Maria Denmark Edith Adventures – Part One

After my success with Maria Denmark’s free Kimono tee pattern I thought I’d give another of her patterns a try. I’d been eyeing up the Edith dress and blouse for a while:

402FrontPage-602x800

For the dress I used the lemon fabric I bagged at the SewBrum meet up swap, originally from Louise over at Not Sew Simple. I’d been wondering what to use it for, it shouted out strappy sun dress but the opportunities to wear one in the UK are few and far between so a shirtdress seemed the perfect compromise.

The pattern is available in two sizes; for a B and C cup. I chose the C cup and cut a size 44. One thing to note is that Maria’s patterns don’t include seam allowances. I added a 1.5cm SA around the main pattern pieces and 1cm on the collar and facings. It was surprisingly quick to put together, I didn’t use my overlocker but French seamed throughout. I added side seam pockets but placed them quite low below the hips so as not to interfere with the line of the dress. I also tapered the end of the shoulders down by a centimetre, my shoulders are quite broad so I wanted to reduce the emphasis a little. (These pictures were taken on a massive photo catch up session btw, the dress was the last item and things had got a little silly by then!)

WP_20150525_016

WP_20150524_078

WP_20150524_082

WP_20150524_099

WP_20150524_092

I like the finished dress, it’s very comfortable, especially without having any restrictions around the waist. I’m not sure that the yellow works next to my pale skin but it looks great paired with my green Miette cardigan which seems to tone down the yellow and highlights the green in the fabric.

The only thing I didn’t like about the pattern was the round collar, but this is purely down to my school summer uniform which consisted of a Boater and a really unflattering shirt dress. It was designed in the early seventies, so wearing it in the eighties was more than a little outdated. The fabric was horrible, it had a circle skirt which took off with every slight breath of wind, exposing navy polyester knickers for all to see. It also had a huge round seventies collar, every time I see one now I get flashbacks!

Anyway, I’d had a metre and a half of pale blue gingham cotton in my stash for a couple of years. I bought it specifically to make a blouse but never got around to it. The blouse uses very little fabric and I was easily able to squeeze it out of just over a metre. For this version I decided to square the collar off but otherwise made it up as the dress. One of the great things about this pattern is the amount of darts which give it a lovely shape. There are fisheye darts front and back, bust darts and back shoulder darts. The fit is really good with plenty of room in the bust so no need for a FBA. I finished it off with some vintage buttons I’d had in my stash for ages. The fabric doesn’t photograph very well but it’s a nice little everyday blouse (I could have done with running an iron over both of these before the photos!)

WP_20150525_012

WP_20150524_025

WP_20150524_037

WP_20150524_033

Next time I’ll lower the bust and back darts by an inch, (a short waist and droopy boob adjustment) take the plunge and cut into some precious Liberty! (to be continued…..)