Victoria is a casual blazer featuring 3/4 length sleeves, a turned up French seamed cuff and side seam pockets, with cropped and sleeveless variations. Designed with a generous amount of ease for a laid back style, this blazer is the perfect throw-it-over-everything wardrobe staple. 

Designed by and named after By Hand London’s very own Victoria Elliott – fashion graduate, hawt south London gal and pattern cutting extremo – shown above wearing our main variation with 3/4 length sleeves and side seam pockets, made up in a crispy white linen and slinky turquoise lining. Boldly teamed with skintight black jersey and chunky gold jewellery, Victoria wouldn’t be misplaced at a St Tropez yacht party hosted by Beyonce & Jay-Z – cos we’ve all be invited to one of those, amiright?!

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The cropped variation is just screaming out for it’s very own matchy-matchy Charlotte Skirt to complete the look! Victoria is as good as ready to board her private jet heading straight for Acapulco in this flamingo print quilting cotton number, or the Chartoria Suit, as we like to call it.

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Back to the 90s and feeling nostalgically grungy, our sleeveless Victoria Blazer, shown above made in a lightweight plaid wool, is the perfect cosy layer for chilly festival nights.

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The Victoria Blazer is an intermediate sewing pattern, however, just like our other intermediate pattern, the Elisalex Dress, this blazer is definitely suitable for confident beginners. We’ll be covering the following skills in the instructions of the Victoria Blazer:

• Basic seaming and finishing
• Darts
• Setting in sleeves
• French seams
• Side seam pockets
• Inserting a lining
• Hand stitching

We are expecting the patterns to be ready for sale by next week, so for real-time updates keep an eye on our Facebook page and twitter @byhandlondon!!!

The post New pattern!! The Victoria Blazer is coming so soon… appeared first on By Hand London.

What you need:

• a length of lightweight woven pre-washed fabric (quilting cotton is ideal) approx. twice the width of your bust measurement and 20ish” long (or however long or short you want your top – remember to bear seam allowances in mind!)
• at least 3 bobbins full of good quality shirring elastic
• 4x lengths of a pretty embroidered tape, each approx. 14″ long
• a spool of matching thread
• fabric scissors
• pins
• measuring tape
• sewing machine (while we’re listing every little thing!)

Step 1:

Measure out your fabric as outlined above and give it a good press. Identify which length will be the hem and which will be the topline. Press the topline in by 1/2″ and then again by 1/2″. While you still have regular thread in your bobbin, stitch the topline down. It’s from here that we’re going to start shirring and it makes it a hell of a lot easier to finish the raw edge first.

Step 2:

Take an empty bobbin and wind the shirring elastic on by hand, being careful not to stretch it as you wind.

Step 3:

Before you start shirring your top, it’s a really great idea to practice first! Get a scrap of the same fabric you’re using and stitch a few practice rows to get a feel for it and make sure your tension is nice and even. Make sure you stitch with the right side facing you, as the elastic will be coming from the bobbin underneath, and be sure to pull a decent length of the elastic out when you come to the end of a row to avoid it pinging back into the bobbin!

TIP – to make sure the rows of shirring are perfectly even, align the previous line of stitching with the right hand edge of the machine’s foot.

After three lines of stitching, it should look a little something like this from the right side…

…and from the wrong side:

Step 4:

Now we can start shirring the top! Stitch your first line ever so slightly to the left of where you hemmed the topline. Remember to backstitch at the beginning and end of each line of stitching.

Gently stretch out the shirring as you stitch subsequent rows:

TIP – check the bobbin after every three-four rows as the elastic runs out fast and you don’t want to be running out mid-row!

Keep going until your panel of shirring is deep enough to cover your bust – ours is about 5″ deep, with 18 lines of shirring.

Step 5:

Now it’s time to close the side seam (or centre back seam if you prefer) with a neat French seam that will securely ensconce the raw edges and all those pesky ends of elastic.

Pin the seam with wrong sides together, making sure that the first and last lines of shirring are aligned, and stitch with 3/8″ or 10mm seam allowance – and remember to replace the bobbin with regular thread!!

Trim the excess seam allowance and press the seam.

Now turn the top out and pin that same seam, now with right sides together, and stitch 1/4″ or 6mm from the edge. Press.

Step 6:

Before attaching your straps, try your top on so you can mark with pins where you want the straps to be placed. Take the top off and pin each length of tape in place on the wrong side and stitch to secure.

Step 7:

Last thing to do now is to hem your top! Try it on first so you can be sure to get the length you want, then just as you did before, press the hemline in by 1/2″ and again by 1/2″ and stitch into place.

Meet you by the ice cream van…

The post DIY shirred top – inspired by The Great British Sewing Bee! appeared first on By Hand London.

There’s only one thing even better than seeing someone make up our patterns, and that’s seeing someone make up our patterns multiple times!! We can’t quite decide which of Zoe’s Elisalex’s we prefer - the first, which was made from a beautiful pastel dotty brocade, or her second, made for Tessuti’s Gridlock competition teaming the Elisalex bodice with Gertie‘s pencil skirt… Gertalex!!

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Sew Hopeful‘s Janelle used a stunning upholstery weight cotton for her Elisalex making for some seriously crispy pleats, and she did a really great write up of some alterations she made – definitely worth checking out for some fitting tips!

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We simply adore Haylee’s beautiful emerald brocade dress - structured yet feminine just as this dress was intended!

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Here on the By Hand Blog for a second time, we have Hazel and her very first Elisalex – and completely smitten are we with the whimsical zebra print and flirty circle skirt.

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Kathryn’s mini tulip could not be more perfect for Spring – we love how she’s made a pretty dressy design more laid back by hacking off the length and pairing it with her Hasbeens – the ultimate summer sandal in our humble opinion!

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This watercolour beauty by Natty Jane was “too flimsy” for the tulip skirt, but we are completely in love with her gathered and pin tucked alternative!

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Our homegal Heather Lou actually wore her polka dot number to host her homewarming party! Now that’s what we call an honour. There’s a rumour she’s made a start on her Charlotte Skirt so I’m sure you can imagine how far off our seats we’re hanging…

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Dixie’s quirky geometric Elisalex with contrasting side panels was a “happy accident” as she didn’t have enough of the geometric fabric so had to cut the side panels from a black sateen instead – we LOVE the result and think more of us should be making dresses with contrasting panelling!

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Last but definitely not least we have another namesake of this pattern!! Well, almost… Elise, of Honig Design made her Elisalex from a delicious honey coloured duchess satin and shockingly whipped this beauty up whilst hungover!! No easy feat, friends! We especially love how she’s teamed her super elegant dress with leopard print tights!

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Interestingly, one musing that seems to keep popping up in reviews of the Elisalex Dress is how the full tulip skirt has seemed a little daunting at first for some of you ladies who usually like to disguise your juicy doubles… only to realise that actually by exaggerating this shape at the hips and cinching the waistline in, you end up with a beautifully feminine silhouette, described much more eloquently by Heather Lou:

“To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about this dress. We don’t generally seek to make our hips look wider, and during the construction process I was worried the end result was going to make me look like the Venis of Willendorf. But there is something so playful and even a little surrealistic about this silhouette. The exaggerated curve at the hip makes your waist look teeny tiny and I think the end result is a sweet, vampy, almost cartoonish celebration of a woman’s curves.”

We couldn’t agree more.

The post The Elisalex Dress: More of YOURS! appeared first on By Hand London.

First of all, we were so thrilled that some of you chose the Elisalex Dress pattern for Julia Bobbin’s second annual Mad Men Challenge! Just feast your eyes upon Stephanie’s Betty Draper inspired beauty:

Stephanie, of blog Mabel Makes, is utterly divine in her watercolour floral dress. The fabric she chose was a lightweight cotton, which she underlined in silk organza at the skirt to support the tulip shape.

Brunette beauty Erin (aka Miss Crayola Creepy) is channeling Megan Draper in her insanely incredible acid 60s print:

Seriously, if I (Elisalex) could find wallpaper in that print, that would be my house DONE.

We absolutely adore Helen’s Joan inspired Elisalotte!! That’s the Elisalex Dress bodice paired with our Charlotte Skirt for the ultimate wiggle dress!

Another beauty in blue, Hazel used a swirly whirly print cotton sateen fabric for her Elisalex Dress:

She omitted the lining, and instead cleverly drafted herself a neckline facing to avoid having to settle for the polyester lining fabrics available at the shop she works at. Hazel also followed our bonus tutorial on adding side seam pockets.

Up next, Sue is sweet and sexy, and a much needed ray of sunshine in her sleeveless Easter Elisalex:

Sue also added side seam pockets and fully lined her dress. Just check out those innards:

Tokyo based Angela, of Sake Puppets, has stolen our hearts with her sleeveless Elisalex in this bold Nani Iro linen:

We here at BHL HQ are massive fans of Nani Iro fabrics and can’t think of much better for the perfect summer dress!

It’s hard to believe it, but this was Siobhan‘s first ever dress:

Looks pretty damn profesh to us – she even did an FBA! That’s some serious dressmaking de-virginising going on there!

Get ready for this next one…

London based Emily, of Me and My Polar Bear, hacked up a Tesco duvet cover to make this totally far out galaxy dress! Now, strictly speaking we don’t do favourites but…

And that’s not it!! There are just too many of your delicious dresses to possibly round up in one post. We’ll be back soon with more of your Elisalex Dresses – so if you haven’t quite finished, there’s still time!!

The post Elisalex Dress Sewalongers: Sew us yours!! appeared first on By Hand London.

The sun is finally (kinda) out in London town, so we’ve gone and updated our Charlotte Skirt Kits with a suitable fabric. We’ve put 3m/3.25yds of a lovely, drapey deep cerise cotton -viscose mix in there, so you can make yourself a smokin’ summer party skirt.  You also still get all the same goods as before in your kit:

• Charlotte Skirt pattern
• tote bag
• hook & eye
• needle and matching thread
• woven name label
• invisible zipper

This is a really ideal project for a beginner sewer because it’s pretty simple, but you still learn lots of fundamental techniques, like;

• making a dart
• making a waistband
• blindstitching
• hemming

We’ve also now got the Charlotte Skirt Sewalong to help you out a little more and you can always just holla at us on Twitter or Facebook if you get stuck.

And, of course, last but not least, please share your creation with us when you’re done!

x

The post Calling all beginners, Charlotte Skirt Kits back in stock! appeared first on By Hand London.

The girl - Marcy, aka Oona

Her blog - Oonaballona from Kalkatroona (see Oona’s original posts here and here)

The pattern - The Elisalex Dress

What inspired your choices of fabric, and did your dresses live up to the image you had in your mind?

a piece of jersey knit must have lodged itself in my soul when i was on my leggings makin’ frenzy, because both of my elisalex dresses are born from the jersey aisle at mood. (as part of the mood sewing network, each month i sew a garment using mood fabric and post about it on MSN and my own blog.) the pink wool jersey went into my bag with no particular thought in mind, but i came home that day to find my BHL pattern had arrived and i couldn’t wait! however, pink wooly didn’t live up to my delicious dreams…the fabric was too floppy. seriously, it’s better suited for pajamas!

the technicolor betsey johnson jersey was meant for round eighty seven of leggings. i am SO thrilled i went for round two of elisalex instead, this dress exceeded all my most rabid expectations!

Tell us a bit about your making process, any tweaks you made, and how you infused the pattern with your own inimitably sexy Oonaballoonaness?

ah, you make me blush like a fine rose. coming from you sexy gals, that is indeed a compliment.

well, the pink wool process was perturbing, to say the least…and ALL MY OWN DAMN FAULT. i’m not really one for muslins, most of the time i eyeball the situation and try to head fitting off at the pass. turns out i created double the work for myself– i ripped out pretty much every seam i made in favor of doing it exactly as the pattern said to.  good times. smackdown: drafting skillz of by hand london.

pink wooly’s skirt was shortened quite a bit and “pegged” at the bottom to enhance the gams. you gotta enhance the gams when you only have just shy of 5’3 to work with! i also serged the neck & sleeve edges with a bright chartreuse thread to rough up the muted color palette a little.

as for the technicolor flowers, i only had a yard to begin with. after cutting the bodice with laser precision (pink wooly flashbacks looming) somehow i eked out a quarter circle skirt and little short sleeves.  on the sleeves, i pinched the bottom together to create a small gather. it’s a bit hard to spot with that crazy print, i’m thinking of adding a button for embellishment…

Are you planning any future elisalex dresses? if so, can you give us a clue?

i have ABSOLUTELY got to do one up in upholstery weight!!! the bodice is so perfectly poured on, i would love to see that skirt standing all stiff and up at attention. good in men, good in dresses. maybe with some tulle peeking out underneath… i’d also like one in something silky, three quarter sleeves, with the skirt at a drapey maxi length.

hmm…excuse me, i think i hear my stash calling…

Go go! We won’t keep you from the call of the stash! Thank you so much for stopping by, and let’s hope one day the hangout won’t be virtual and the cocktails won’t just be cheap innuendos…

The post Oonaballoona – Sew us yours! appeared first on By Hand London.

We had really hoped for at least one whole hour of sunshine to get some decent photos of our finished Elisalex Dresses on an actual body, however the weather here in London Town has progressively gone from bad to worse since the bank holiday. Snowing in April? Really??? One day guys, we’ll have a seriously profesh workspace, complete with photography studio and in house haberdashery… Until then, we remain restricted by the current apocalyptic climate, so apologies for the dark and gloomy images in this here post. As soon as the sun comes out, we’ll be back with more photos of Elisalex in her Elisalex’s, for your viewing pleasure!

*If you’ve just joined us, you can find all the Elisalex Dress Sewalong posts here, and buy your Elisalex Dress sewing pattern here!*

In this final post we will be:

• Inserting zippers, both standard and invisible
• Hemming our skirts
• Finishing off the raw edges left in the lining

Zippers:

The Elisalex Dress pattern calls for a 30″ standard zipper. This is the exposed kind that will be visible down the centre back of your dress. We wanted to make a subtle feature of the zipper and so have recommended a zipper that runs the full length of the dress, from back neckline to hem, which if you go for the kind of zipper that opens all the way, you’ll have a dress that can literally be peeled off you from behind… um anyway! You could of course opt for an invisible zipper instead (16″ is ideal), which we have done for our blue short sleeved, tulip skirted variation:

You can find our definitive tutorial on invisible zip insertion here.

For our red sleeveless Reversalex however, we’ve gone for the recommended 30″ standard exposed zipper (this one is reversible too! A must if you’re making your Elisalex Dress reversible – see this post for more info and where to buy reversible zippers). And it’s an absolute doddle to put in:

• Open and separate the two tapes of your zipper, right side facing you.
• Lay your dress flat, right side out, so you can see the open centre back.
• Take the tape on the right, flip it over to the wrong side and place it along the left centre back opening.
• Pin into place, with the top of the zipper either perfectly aligned with the top of the back neckline, or just a couple of millimetres below to leave space for a hook & eye.

• Stitch into place from the hem up using a zipper foot.

• Repeat on the other side, flipping over the remaining tape to the wrong side to be pinned down the right hand side of the centre back opening. Stitch from the top down, making sure your zipper meets at the waistline.
• Trim any excess tape at the top, and sew in a hook and eye to close the gap at the top (if needed – we didn’t have to this time – anything to avoid sewing in those pesky hooks & eyes!!).

Hemming:

How you hem your skirt tends to be a very personal choice, and one which will depend also on the fabric you’re using and whether or not you’ve chosen to make your dress reversible.

The quickest option is to hem by machine:

• Press the hem in by 1/4″, and then press in again by 1/2″, or however much or little in order to achieve your desired length.
• Stitch into place by machine using either a standard straight stitch or one of the fancy decorative stitches on your machine like we did. Make sure you test out any fancy stitches on a piece of scrap fabric first!

If you don’t want your hem to be visible from the right side, then you’ll want to finish off your hem by hand:

• Press the hem in by 1/4″, and then press in again by 1/2″, or however much or little in order to achieve your desired length.
• Thread up a hand sewing needle with a length of thread. A ‘catchstitch’ works especially well when hemming this dress. Working from left to right, and on the inside of the dress, pick up a teeny thread from the fabric just above the folded in hem. Next pick up a few threads from the fold of the hem, moving diagonally down to the right of your first stitch, followed by another teeny stitch from just the fabric just above the fold to the right, and so on.
• This hand sewing technique will hold up your hem whilst allowing some flexibility, and best of all – it’s invisible from the right side!

For a super special hem, try finishing it off with bias binding or tape. Ensuring you have a hem that is passable for the right side on both sides is of utmost importance if you’re making the Modular Reversalex:

• Take a length of bias binding, Petersham ribbon, decorative tape or lace etc and pin it, right side facing you, to the right side of your hemline. Stitch into place.
• Fold and press back to the wrong side and topstitch. This technique is shown in more clarity with pictures in this post where we were hemming our Charlotte Skirts!

From the “right side” you’ll have a perfectly stitched hem, and from the “wrong side” you’ll have a pretty added detail at the hemline!

Finishing touches:

All that’s left to do now is neatening off the raw edges in your lining.

If you’ve made the sleeveless variation, you’ll have the easiest task – simply press in and pin the raw edges at the waistline and continue up the centre back openings, perfectly ensconcing the zipper between the shell and lining. Seal this flawlessly by hand with a blind slipstitch as shown in this post.

If you have also lined the skirt, for example, if you’re making a straight up Reversalex, the you won’t have to blind stitch the lining at the waistline as you will have attached this to the skirt lining’s waistline. Instead, press in and stitch the seam allowance all down the open centre back, hiding the zipper tape between your two layers.

*A word about finishing the exposed zip on Modular Reversalex’s*

Unlike the regular Reversalex, who’s entire zipper is hidden between the shell and lining at both bodice and skirt, the Mod Reversalex will have the wrong side of the zipper visible down the length of the skirt when turned inside out. We think this looks absolutely fine, as long as you secure the edges of the zipper tape down – you can do this either by blind stitching the edges of the tape down to the skirt, or you can machine topstitch down each side of the zip – this will work especially well if you’ve already topstitched the neckline as it will then allow the topstitching to flow naturally from the back neckline and down the centre back.

I sincerely hope all this is making sense – I think I may have frazzled my brain slightly keeping up with all these different variations and Reversalex’s and Mods…! Any queries, just hit us up in the comments below!

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Back to finishing the dress with sleeves:

If you’ve gone for one of the sleeved variations, you’ll need to press in and blind stitch the raw edges at the waistline and centre back as above, and also at the armholes.

This is a little bit tricky, but made easier if you can do it on a mannequin. Snip the curves at the armhole of the lining as this will make it easier to fold it in. Press in the seam allowance and pin into place, hiding the armhole seam of the dress’ shell. Stitch into place by hand with a blind slipstitch.

Ummm… All done guys! Another Sewalong done and dusted. Once again, we’ve loved every minute and have come away with two new favourite dresses! Now if only the sun would get his damn hat on so we can go out to play…

*Join the party! More than anything, we LOVE seeing how you made it! We’ve already been blown away by so many of your smokin’ hot Elisalex’s, but we want more! Share your pictures on our Facebook page, tweet and Instagram us @byhandlondon using the hashtag #elisalexsewalong, upload to our Flickr pool and pin to our Elisalex Sewalong community board (leave us your Pinterest username in the comments below so we can add you) so we can include you and your Elisalex Dress to our big round-up next week!*

The post Elisalex Dress Sewalong #7: Zippers, hems & finishing touches appeared first on By Hand London.

*If you’ve just joined us (and are wondering what exactly a Reversalex is!), you can find all the Elisalex Dress Sewalong posts here*

Skirt alternatives:

The Elisalex Dress was designed to provide the perfect bodice for infinite skirt variations. Just Google it and you’ll see all the beautifully different ways in which this pattern has already been interpreted by so many talented sewist bloggers out there. We’ve made up pretty much every combination under the sun here at the By Hand Studio, particular favourites being circle skirts, gathered skirts and the Charlotte Skirt (the Elisalotte!), as well as the given tulip skirt. You can Frankenfrock your Elisalex Dress any way you like by changing the skirt, but before you begin, here are a couple of things to bear in mind:

• Use the waistline measurement of the bodice to dictate the waistline measurement of your skirt
• The skirt will need to fasten at centre back in order to align with the centre back opening of the bodice

The basic concept of the Reversalex:

The sleeveless bodice of the Elisalex Dress is constructed in such a way that it is finished flawlessly with no visible raw seams, and if the skirt is flawlessly lined also, you got yourself a reversible dress! We are basically glorifying the lining by making it in a fabric just as worthy of being shown off as the main fashion fabric.

If you want to make a basic Reversalex, both skirts need to be the same style and length so as not to create unwanted bulk. Think of it as a lined skirt. Good choices are: the tulip skirt, pencil skirts or circle skirts. Two gathered skirts would make for a seriously bulky waist, as would heavily pleated skirts.

The construction is exactly the same as for the regular Elisalex Dress in that we will attach the skirt to the bodice at the waistline in exactly the same way as we did in the last post – simply lay your skirt flat (side seams closed if applicable, back seam open) and with right sides together, pin skirt and bodice together along the waistline and stitch into place. Repeat this along the waistline on the other side.

The modular Reversalex:

Modular dressing is a concept we’re pretty obsessed with right now. The idea that you can get  up to five outfit combinations out of just two pieces (a reversible dress and a detachable skirt) is seriously cool and practical, we think.

We’ve gone for a reversible 1/2 circle Elisalex Dress with a detachable gathered skirt (see our gathered skirt tutorial and circle skirt tutorial) and therefore we have 4 possible dress combinations (and a separate skirt in its own right!) – what makes this possible is having the attached skirt with no “right side” or side seams, so it looks fine from both sides. Circle skirts are perfect for this as they can be cut whole with the only seam being the back seam where it is attached to the zipper. Once the skirt is attached, zipper inserted, the waistline seam pressed up and the raw edge of the “bodice lining” pressed in and blind stitched to hide the waistline seam (all things we’ll be covering in detail in the next post), the dress will look perfectly neat from both sides. It is of utmost importance to think of all the little details if you want to go down this route:

• Is the fabric I’ve chosen for the attached skirt more or less reversible, ie, looks like the right side from both sides?
• Do my two fabric combinations complement each other?
• Have I chosen a skirt style that will look good from both sides? Circle skirts are perfect, as they can be constructed whole with no side seams. Things like pencil skirts, or anything with darts or side seams, will not look good from the wrong side. Gathered skirts are a good choice in theory, but then your detachable skirt would need to be of an even more voluminous style in order to fit over the top – that’s why we’ve attached the slinkier of the two skirts and made the fuller gathered skirt the detachable one.
• The hem also needs to look good from both sides – a good way to achieve this is to hem your skirt with bias binding or a decorative tape or trim.

Here’s a list of modular Reversalex’s that would work super well:

• Attached 1/4 or 1/2 circle; detachable full circle
• Attached 1/4 or 1/2 circle; detachable tulip
• Attached 1/4 or 1/2 circle; detachable gathered
• Attached 1/4 or 1/2 circle; detachable pleated
• Attached full circle; detachable gathered
• Attached full circle; detachable tulip
• Attached tulip; detachable gathered

You get the drift… Infinite possibilities, and with five outfit possibilities from just one dress and one skirt, modular dressing also makes for lighter packing! Sold? So are we.

Just one last post in the Elisalex Dress Sewalong to go now! All that’s left to do is insert the zipper, stitch the hem and put the finishing touches to our dresses. Watch this space…

The post Elisalex Dress Sewalong #6: Reversalex and skirt alternatives appeared first on By Hand London.

*If you have just joined us, you can find all the Elisalex Dress Sewalong posts here*

So today girls, we will mostly be:

• Checking that our bodices fit perfectly
• Assembling the box pleats on the tulip skirt
• Closing the side seams
• Attaching the skirt to the bodice

And we’ll have something that looks a bit like this:

Before we begin: Checking the fit of the bodice

Now is the time to try on your bodice!! Before attaching the skirt it’s essential to check that you’re happy with the fit of your bodice, just in case you need to make any alterations. Try on your bodice inside out and if possible, ask someone to carefully pin up the open back 5/8″ in from the raw edge in order to mimic the fit once the zipper has been inserted.

If the bust is too big:

This is a common issue if, unlike those of you needing an FBA, your bust measurement falls into a smaller size bracket than your waistline measurement.

Lifting the lining out of the way, simply pinch the princess seams at the bust and pin evenly until you’re happy with the fit. It is important to only take in the seams at the bust area and not all the way down to the waistline, and not to take the side seams in, as this will then mess up the matching of seams and pleats when you come to attaching the skirt. Remember to take in the princess seams of the lining in the same way.

If the bust is too small:

Hopefully it’s only too small by a tiny amount, in which case all you need to do is reduce the seam allowance at the curve of the bust at the princess seams. If this is not enough and the bust is significantly too tight, you probably needed a Full Bust Adjustment (FBA)…

Now that we’re happy with the fit of the bodice, it’s time to assemble and attach the skirt!

Step 1: Box pleats

Start with one of your skirt back pieces, right side facing you. Check that you have snipped the three notches at the waistline, and mark them now with three pins. The central pin represents the centre of the pleat; the two pins on either side will be folded in to meet the central pin to create the pleat.

Secure the pleat into place with pins, and baste into place. It’s a good idea to baste the pleat 5/8″ (or slightly more) in from the raw edge so that when you come to attach the bodice, the folds at the centre of the pleat will stay together, as opposed to shifting slightly apart (not the end of the world, just not as neat and crisp a pleat). Any visible stitches can easily be removed once the skirt and bodice have been joined.

And this is how it will look from the back:

Repeat this on the other skirt back piece, and the two box pleats on the front piece.

Step 2: Close side seams

With right sides together, lay your back pieces onto your front piece and pin down the two side seams, matching waistline, notches and hemline. If you’ve decided to add side seam pockets, remember to stitch down the side seam, around the pockets and down the rest of the side – don’t stitch your pocket shut! If you’ve omitted the pockets, simply stitch down the length of the side seams, press open, and finish the excess seam allowance. DO NOT CLOSE THE BACK SEAM!

Step 3: Attaching the skirt to the bodice

Lay out your skirt flat, right side facing you.

Now lay your bodice on top, right sides together, (lining out of the way!) and begin pinning them together along the waistline, matching the side seams, the centre back opening, and matching the princess seams to the box pleats.

Stitch into place, and press the seam allowance up towards the bodice.

Looking good.

For those of you making a straight up Elisalex, you’re almost done! We’ll be back by the end of the week with the final post in which we’ll be inserting zippers (both exposed and invisible), hemming and putting the finishing touches to the lining.

But for those of you making the Reversalex, or those of you who are thinking about alternative skirt possibilities, we’ll be back even sooner talking in depth about the concept of modular dressing, revealing how to make your Elisalex Dress reversible and which skirt combos will work best.

In other news, we have been absolutely floored by all of your amazing Elisalex Dresses that keep pooping up in Blogville! Just feast your eyes upon Elise’s honey satin deliciousness, Roisin’s spectacular bird print bombshell number and Heather Lou’s polka dot Minnie Mouse madness, to name but a few. Keep ‘em coming girls!!

The post Elisalex Dress Sewalong #5: Assembling & attaching the tulip skirt appeared first on By Hand London.

Step 1:

Cut out 2 pairs of pocket bag pieces. You can either use a pocket pattern piece from another pattern, or simply draft one yourself – copy the shape below, making sure it’s big enough to get your hand in, plus extra all round for the seam allowance!

Step 2:

Snip a little notch into the side seam of your main fabric (on each side of your front and back pieces) to mark the top of where your pocket will sit. On this high waisted skirt shown, we have snipped the notch about 5 1/2″ down from the waistline. Using the image below as a guide, take one of your pocket bag pieces and lay it, right sides together, onto your skirt front piece (or jacket piece or whatever you are adding pockets to!), aligning the top of the pocket piece with the notch you just snipped. Pin into place. Repeat this on the other side, and on both sides of the skirt back piece.

Step 3:

Stitch the pocket pieces into place with a 3/8″ seam allowance. This is so that when we close the side seams, the pockets will sit slightly inside, for a more discreet finish.

Step 4:

Turn the pocket pieces out, and press.

Step 5:

Now place the skirt back pieces onto your front piece, right sides together, and pin down the side seams and all around the pockets pieces.

Step 6:

Close the side seams as normal, pivoting when you get to the top of the pocket, stitching the two pocket pieces together, then continuing down the rest of the side seam, using the image below as a guide.

All done!

Now press the side seam towards the front and when you turn your garment to the right side, you’ll have something that looks a little bit like this:

Super easy no? And this is a technique that can not only be applied to any skirt/dress/jacket/trousers etc that you’re making (provided it has a side seam!), but you could even add side seam pockets to any existing garments simply by unpicking the side seams and following the instructions above – just think of all those vintage dresses in your wardrobe that would benefit massively from the addition of pockets!

The post Nerdy Sewing Tips: How to add side seam pockets appeared first on By Hand London.