Tilly and the Buttons - Francoise dress

Ever since the Francoise dress came out, I knew I had to sew it up! I used to have two similar A-line dresses that had French darts, and I just loved wearing them. Francoise has the same silhouette, so I knew it would be a winner!

You see, at times, I used to fall in love with a pattern, only to find out that sewn up, it didn't really flatter my figure. The more I sew, the better I get about only buying patterns that I know will work for me, but every now and then I still make mistakes. I knew that Francoise would NOT be a mistake.

Going by my measurements, I thought I would need a size 4. When I sewed it up, it came out a bit big, so next time, I will go down to a size 3. (Later, when I made Coco, I also confirmed that size 3 allowed it to hang comfortably on my body but not be too baggy.)

For the fabric, I decided to go with this patchy looking stretch, medium-weight denim-like fabric. I bought it years ago, and I liked it so much at the time that I bought probably 5-6 yards of it total. It was also on sale. You can use both sides of it, and I chose to use the brighter, reverse side. Looking back at the fabric now, I am not nearly as in love. In fact, I am looking at it with "What was I thinking??"

What's interesting about this fabric is that it stretches lengthwise. And because it's very very very wide, I had no trouble cutting the Francoise out on the cross grain. This means that I have tons of fabric left over to experiment with other patterns. I figured worst case scenario it would be a toile, best case scenario a wearable toile that I can wear for running errands.

I also decided to add piping to the raglan sleeve line. That looked cute, but didn't turn out to be very comfortable. So next time, I will omit it.

I might fiddle with making the neckline a bit more open, but otherwise I just love this exaggerated A-line silhouette.

Just like the Coco, I can see myself making the Francoise over and over and over. It would look smashing in a little black dress version or in a brocade; any fabric that has some structure.

Pattern: Tilly and the Buttons - Francoise
View: Sleeveless view, without the front placket.
Size: 4, 3
Fabric: Pink patchy stretch fabric (kind of like medium-weight denim from JoAnn. Navy piping.
Things I learned: 
* I am now certain that size 3 is the highest I should go in Tilly and the Buttons patterns.
* I think next time, I will add 1 inch in length at the hem.
* Note to self: don't add piping.

Simplicity 8212 - Fleece leggings

Not fancy sewing, just something useful: I made fleece leggings to go along with the fleece dresses both for my Mom and myself. They keep us warm and cozy this winter.

I made a toile to test the fit for the leggings, and both for my Mom and myself, I had to make simple but quite a few adjustments (see below) in the pattern.

The dress and pants have become a winter staple in my wardrobe, and they are in constant rotation.

Pattern: Simplicity 8212
View: A (mid-rise)
Size: M, L
Fabric: black no-pill fleece

Things I learned:
* I had to make quite a few adjustment to the fit. This seems to be the case for me for Simplicity pants patterns: they tend to be too short in the center back and too high in the center front. I added 1 and 1/2 inches to the back and removed the same amount from the front, connecting both sides to the original side-seam length.

*I also used the size S cutting line at the bottom of the legs to shorten the length, because the toile that I had made was too long.

* Because the fleece is not quite as stretchy as the activewear fabrics this pattern was designed for, I decided to serge only a 1/4 inch seam allowance at the side seams of each leg and at the crotch seam. I left the 5/8 seam allowance where the waistband joins the pant legs. I probably could have gotten away with a little bit of a snugger fit, but I didn't want to risk them turning out not stretchy enough.

* I constructed these pants almost exclusively on the serger. I did use my sewing machine to hem the pants. I hemmed them flat. If there is one thing I really don't like fiddling with is hemming small circumferences in the round. And I sewed in the elastic with a zigzag stitch. (I don't know about you, but my sewing machine does not like zigzag stitches on stretchy things like elastic or swim- and activewear: it always skips stitches. I need to figure out why. I use stretch needles on those, which helps, but it's still not great....)