PatsyPoo Makes

This one fills me with joy! First, there's the fabric... It's a Liberty Tana Lawn that Ginner gave me as an anniversary present about 8 years ago when I'd first started sewing. I've been saving it for so long and nothing ever seemed to be good enough for it but I finally found the perfect match. Then, there's the fact that this was a buddy sew with my best bitch, Mel ! After MONTHS of several cancelled plans to visit each other and do stuff together, we were at last allowed to actually meet up and have a metric crap tonne of fun last week! It was so wonderful to spend time with her and I can't wait to do it again. So let's get into the sewing. This is the Davenport dress by Friday Pattern Co. It's a very recent release and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make one. Mel felt the same way so it was clear early on that this would be our buddy sew project for when she came to stay with us. To me, it gives strong peasant dress vibes but Mel thinks it...

Happy new year! I haven't done a lot of sewing in 2021 yet but I do have something to share today. I don't usually blog about repeat garments but I made some changes to this one and I wanted to leave a written, searchable record of them for my own convenience really. I made the True Bias Roscoe again. In another dreamy Atelier Brunette fabric but this time it was this stunning double gauze. I got mine from Fabricate  but unfortunately they don't have anymore of it in stock in this colourway. They do have the deep green , which is almost as nice. 😁 I really love this red, I must say. It's a bugger to capture in photos but it's a gorgeous, rich, deep red. It would actually be an excellent Christmas dress as it happens. Anyway, the sizing is exactly as before - check the blog post here for the rundown. Now on to what I changed: first, the neck opening. On my original one, the opening is a bit too low for me to wear it undone. For this version I shortened it by an in...

The  Kitty Dress  from Maven Patterns has been on my list to sew for a long time but I couldn't settle on a fabric for it. When we travelled to Scotland over the summer, though, I found some medium-weight denim that would be perfect for it. This was always going to be a buddy sew with  Mel  and we finally found the time to do it a few weeks ago. The dress has a strong 60s vibe. It features a Peter Pan collar and a horizontal dart across the 2 front, which I absolutely love. It's slightly fitted at the top but flares out over the hips. There are also 2 shoulder darts at the back. The patterns offers 2 sleeve lengths and I really wanted to sew the longer one because it has an elbow dart, but I thought the short sleeve would work better with the denim for a casual dress.  I absolutely love my Kitty. I made a size 10 up top and graded it to a 12 from the waist down but I probably would've been ok with a straight size 10. I'm not sure the dart is sitting at the right...

Today I'm sharing a slightly seasonally inappropriate dress. Not only is it a racerback cut, but I've also made it out of linen... I've had it on my list to make for ages and I'm glad I've finally done it! It's the Hey June Handmade Trevi dress and I'm really happy with it. The drafting and instructions are the usual high standard I've come to expect from Hey June and now I want to make the top version as well. I made a size 2 without FBA. A few of Hey June's patterns offer a version with a dart added on, for anyone who needs a full bust adjustment. Isn't that great? It's a very simple dress: classic shape, curved hem, racerback and look at the button back! I really love it. All the edges are finished with bias tape, which is something I enjoy doing but I'm aware not everyone feels the same way about it. My fabric, as I've said, is linen. I got it at Merchant and Mills  in the summer, when I visited with Mel. ❤ It seems softer than o...

This one was a bit of a journey... So let me start at the beginning. When I had to cancel my trip to visit Mel a couple of weeks ago because of this bloody virus, we decided we'd have a buddy sewing session to make up for it. The most socially distant of activities, over 200 miles away from each other, sadly. Anyway, after a little bit of deliberation as to what we should sew we landed on the  Fleetwood Dress  by French Navy. We both fell in love with it as soon as it came out a few weeks ago so it was a pretty easy decision to make. The dress is gorgeous, with lots of details I love, like a princess-seamed bodice and front yokes. The fit is really good as well. Very much in keeping with my Lockdown Style, consisting of anything that isn't fitted but looks cute. It is missing pockets actually 😁 but that will be remedied when I make it again. The fabric I chose is a chambray that was a joy to sew and press. It came from  Hometown  in Rochester, which is where Mel wor...

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling like a different person compared to who I was pre-lockdown. This year has changed me in many ways. I have learned a lot about myself and about what I actually cannot cope without - my hairdresser and the internet if you're curious. Another thing I've noticed is a shift in the sorts of shapes towards which I now gravitate when it comes to my sewing. I want all the loose clothing, please and thank you. I suspect getting older and giving less of a shit about everything has a massive part to play in this as well, but let's take a look at this particular dress for a minute... This is the  True Bias Roscoe dress  and it's been around for some time. Had I ever paid attention to it until now? Not really. Have I ever thought about wearing a boho style dress before? Not at all. Do I bloody love it more than anything now that I have actually sewn one? ABSO-FREAKIN'-LUTELY! I mean, how could I not? It's super loose, mega comfy and i...

The dress I'm going to share today is a very special one indeed. It was made with special fabric, for a special occasion and it was another buddy sew with Mel. It's the  Rochester dress  by Maven patterns. Mel was the one who introduced me to the pattern and it's really, really lovely. I wasn't planning on making it but things changed when we booked our Bitchmas weekend. I went down to London and stayed over at Mel's. We managed to fit a lot in, including the New Craft House winter party, and finished the weekend off with a super fancy afternoon tea at The Langham Hotel . Obviously, I wanted to make something lovely to wear for it. I knew I wanted to use this gorgeous  Granito Chestnut  viscose by Atelier Brunette that I bought from Harriet at Sew Me Sunshine as soon as it was available. But I was stuck on what pattern to make. I wanted sleeves and a high-ish neck, not too short and fairly loose. Mel suggested the Rochester and it fit the bill. I've wo...

When the  Indigo dress came out I wasn't bothered. I had just bought the  I AM Cassiopée  and didn't think I'd need another smock style dress in my life. I wasn't even sure if the shape was for me at that point. I have since made the Cassiopée twice and I wear them a lot. I still wasn't convinced I needed another pattern that was so similar though. But then,  Fabricate  had a party to launch their new shop location and I wanted to attend. Obviously, I'm still on a fabric buying ban until January and couldn't buy any fabric so I bought an Indigo pattern that night instead. I am so in love with this dress!!! How can something so simple look so good? I think the fabric plays a massive part though. Ever since I saw  this chambray version  that Caroline made I have wanted to make a similar one. It just works. My fabric came from  Ray Stitch  when I visited last month. I can't find it on their website but I also can't remember the name so it...

I need to start this post by saying I really love this dress, I have another one planned for very soon and I am very glad I made it. However, I have a massive issue with one particular section of the instructions. It made no sense to me at all. Having been in touch with the designer herself, it now makes a little more sense but I still believe the finish is really rather poor. I'm talking about the  Sheath Dress  by The Avid Seamstress. It's a super simple - wait for it! - SHEATH DRESS! 😆 Sorry... It features grown-on sleeves, so the dress has one piece for the front and one piece for the back. The neckline is finished with facings and an optional elastic casing gives the waist some definition. There are also optional pockets, which I omitted (😱I know!!!) but more on that in a bit. The back has a zip closure as well but I swapped mine out for a loop and button instead. I believe it was a pull-on dress when it was first released, judging by some early reviews. Althou...