the cocktail hour – sip & sew
hi everyone!
today i’ve got a special project to show you. it’s a super fancy jumpsuit that i’ve made to support the eve appeal.
i was asked to be involved with the cocktail hour (the theme for this year’s project) earlier in the year and said yes straight away – i loved seeing everyone’s posts from last year’s big vintage sew along. the whole sip & sew cocktail hour is in with conjunction with butterick and the eve appeal is a gynaecological cancer research charity who do amazing work. it’s sad to say we probably all know some who has been affected by a cancer of this type, so supporting the charity is something important for everyone.
we were sent a catalogue of patterns to choose from and i can’t say what is was that made me pick the jumpsuit (9160)… i think maybe because it was a bit different to the other patterns. what i don’t think was a good idea was picking something with trousers because i’d never made any trousers before now!
i loved the short sleeved cross over top, but i was unsure about the trousers. i’m not as comfortable with something form fitting on my bottom half so i was going to swap the trousers out for a skirt, but then i remembered about the culottes that came with love sewing magazine a couple of months ago! they are butterick b6178. i decided to do my first ever pattern mash up… again, not sure what made me think i could do this easily! i chose view D.
i sat on this idea for ages until a couple of weekends ago until i realised how close my deadline was, eep! i managed to talk to lucy at sew essential at the sewing weekender. sew essential’s warehouse is about 40 minutes from my house and i knew they stocked fabric that would be perfect for this. lucy very kindly opened up the warehouse for me on a saturday morning and i chose my fabric. the lace is this john kaldor tocca, and the twill is this dynasty two way stretch. it was just the dark blue colour that i had in mind and the two looked perfect together.
i did a toile of both the culottes and the bodice, and the fit was good on both. the mistake i made was not to join them together, i just assumed that it would work. more on that in a minute!
i used the scallop from the edge of the lace as the pattern said to do the fronts and the sleeves.
when i put the culottes and the bodice together, i tried it on and i would say there was a fair amount of uncomfortableness in the crotch area, haha. i ended up dropping crotch seam about 2 inches, which has made things better although i do think i could do with maybe another inch just to make things that bit more comfortable. then i decided that it would look a little more “put together” with a waistband, which i now wish i had interfaced. it’s not the end of the world though!
once i put the waistband on, then the zip in, i checked the fit… and realised because i’d lengthened the bodice due to the waistband, so i had to unpick it all and take an inch of the waistband, then put it all back together again!
but now it’s the right length and all is well in the world.
showing off the culottes, haha.
i basted the lace down along the edge as without it the lace was flopping around a bit too much. i hope you can see the effort that i went to here to pattern match my lace! haha.
every piece of the lace and lining had to be basted together by hand, and i had to thread trace all the construction points too. that took a long time, let me tell you! it hasn’t completely put me off sewing lace, but i think i’ll save the next time until i make my wedding dress one day.
so there you go, there’s my cocktail hour outfit! i might wear this to a wedding i am going to tomorrow… there will be more pictures appear if i do!
as part of the cocktail hour, every one of the patterns sold as part of the cocktail hour will raise money for the eve appeal.
i also have a copy of the jumpsuit pattern to give away! if you fancy trying your hand at sewing lace, then leave me a comment on this post or instagram telling me what your favourite song to dance to with a cocktail in hand is! mine is probably something from the 90’s… i’m going for whitney houston – somebody who loves me!
there’s still plenty more posts to look forward to by some very talented people, here’s a list of each blogger taking part in the sip & sew cocktail hour:
1. Winnie Longhurst
Scruffy Badger
3rd March
http://scruffybadgertime.co.uk
2. Kate Underdown
The Fold Line
10th March
http://thefoldline.com
3. Portia Lawrie
Makery
17th March
http://www.makery.uk
4. Rachel Walker
The Fold Line
24th March
http://thefoldline.com
5. Wendy Gardiner
Butterick
31st March
http://mccallpatternuk.
6. Abigail Dyson
The Crafty Pin Up
14th April
http://www.thecraftypinup.co.
7. Lucy Regan
Sew Essential
28th April
http://www.sewessential.co.uk/
8. Fiona Parker
Diary of a Chainstitcher
12th May
http://chainstitcher.blogspot.
9. Nina Chang
Thumblenina
26th May
http://thumblenina.wordpress.
10. Jen Sanders
Gingerella
9th June
http://gingerella.wordpress.
11. Charlotte Powell
English Girl at Home
23rd June
http://englishgirlathome.com
12. Elisalex de Castro Peake
By Hand London
7th July
http://byhandlondon.com/blogs/
13. Kerry Patterson
Kestrel Makes
21st July
http://www.kestrelmakes.com
14. Gabby Young
Gabberdashery
4th August
http://www.gabberdashery.com
15. Abigail Norton
Sew Abigail
18th August
http://sewabigail.co.uk
16. Karen Ball
Did You Make That?
1st September
http://didyoumakethat.com
17. Rachel Wain
Rach Against The Sewing Machine
15th September
http://
18. Elle Harris
Sew Positivity
29th September
http://www.sewpositivity.com
19. Rachel Pinheiro
House of Pinheiro
6th October
http://houseofpinheiro.com
20. Amy Thomas
Almond Rock
13th October
http://almondrock.co.uk
21. Jane Marland
Handmade Jane
20th October
http://www.handmadejane.co.uk
22. Jennifer Walker
Ginger Thread Girl
27th October
http://gingerthreadgirl.co.uk
23. Marie Koupparis
A Stitching Odyssey
3rd November
http://www.astitchingodyssey.
24. Elena Rosa Brown
Randomly Happy
10th November
http://www.randomlyhappyblog.
25. Laura Clarke
Sew for Victory
17th November
http://sewforvictory.co.uk
26. Janene Spencer
Ooobop
24th November
http://ooobop.com
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Gorgeous outfit and love the hack! The lace is beautiful. My song of choice is ‘come on Elieen’ by Dexy’s midnight runners! Usually with a Kir Royale in hand! Very messy
What a fantastic outfit – how ambitious with the pattern hack and all that lace. I can’t believe you haven’t done trousers before – you’ve done a fantastic job. We’re all different though – I am very inexperienced at dresses, but am on my third pair of trousers this year! Mmmm, cocktails …. pina colada and something suitably sunny, but cheesy to dance to … how about La Isla Bonita, Madonna!
I flippin’ love it!!! xx
My song would have to be Uptown Girl by Billy Joel. Yours looks fantastic. Well done with all that lace fiddling bit.
You already got mine, honestly! I love Whitney. : ) But if I’m feeling maudlin (not the first cocktail, perhaps?) Heart’s “Alone” will do it every time. I love this as a wedding guest outfit – I’m not really a dresses gal, so I have trouble getting semi-formal. This works really well.