Showing posts with label Pauline Alice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pauline Alice. Show all posts

Tuesday 29 January 2019

Xerea Dress - Pauline Alice


A while back, a lovely sewing friend gave me a gift voucher for Tessuti Fabrics. One of the things I bought was this Italian designer, stretch denim, panel print called 'Water Wheels' (now sold out). It was $49 for the 1 metre panel, which is rather more than I usually splurge on fabric, so I just got the one panel with no idea of what I would make with it.


I eventually settled on an old favourite pattern - the Xerea Dress by Pauline Alice. When adding this link, I wasn't able to find the pattern in the online shop. I hope it is still available as it's a winner. I have made this pattern a couple of times before and I still wear the dresses a lot. I chose the View A shift dress, but left it sleeveless.


I had to think carefully about cutting this dress. I only had one metre of fabric and the bold print could not be ignored for matching purposes. The large size of the 'wheels' added another cutting challenge as they needed to be centred. In the end I cut front and back pieces with the skirt section slightly narrower than the pattern piece so I could fit them on the fabric with the wheels in the right place. The side panel and internal pocket pieces were cut from a very dark grey ponte. I just squeezed the yoke pieces on and I added black piping between the yoke and main dress pieces for interest. I hemmed the dress with black bias binding as it seemed to need a line of black to balance the colours.


I didn't get an exact print match at the sides, but it's acceptable and seriously, this fabric is so stunning who's going to be looking at the side seams except other sewing people?!


I adore the colours and print of this fabric and the stretch denim was perfect for this style of dress. I do realise I have a target on my stomach, but I give not one hoot.

I was so pleased with this that I wore it on Christmas Day and will certainly be wearing it much, much more.



Thursday 2 June 2016

Brief thoughts on Me Made May 2016

StyleArc Toni dress made as a top with StyleArc Elle pants / Named Jamie Jeans with Burdastyle 06/2014#114 jumper / Vogue 1378 pants with Megan Nielsen Briar tee made as a jumper / StyleArc Lola pants with Deer and Doe Plantain tee and Paprika Patterns Opal cardi / StyleArc Mara Shirtdress / Pauline Alice Xeria dress with Megan Nielsen Virginia leggings / Vogue 1378 pants with Burdastyle 11/2012#128 top / Refashioned dress from jeans
Like me, you are probably ready to forget Me Made May for another year. However, I thought I'd just have a quick look through the handmade clothes I wore in May 2016 and see what was popular in my wardrobe.

May 2016 in Perth was, weatherwise, pretty similar throughout. Most days were in the low to mid 20s with a couple of rainy days. This meant that hardly any of my warm and cold weather gear was seen at all, which was a bit of a shame.

Patrones army jacket with StyleArc Elle pants and Named Wenona shirt / Patrones jacket in black with khaki StyleArc Lola pants / Deer and Doe Plantain tee with black StyleArc Lola pants / Named Jamie jeans with Paprika Patterns Jasper sweater / Named Jamie jeans with StyleArc Amber top / Vogue 1313 dress with Closet Case Files Nettie bodysuit / StyleArc Estelle jacket, Paprika Patterns Jade Skirt and SavageCoco Patterns Presto top / Named Inari Tee dress / StyleArc Estelle jacket, Patrones blouse and silk StyleArc Lola pants.

MY MOST POPULAR PATTERNS IN MAY 2016

Pants: StyleArc Elle and Lola pants (some of the Lola pants were altered to have an elasticated cuff and front and back patch pockets) and Named Jamie jeans.

Tops: Burdastyle jumpers and Deer and Doe Plantain tees.

Jackets: Patrones jackets in black and khaki, StyleArc Estelle jacket.

Dresses and skirts: my refashioned denim dress from jeans was the only dress or skirt I wore more than once. I always wore my Megan Nielsen leggings to stay warm. I love all the dresses and skirts I wore in May.

The pattern companies I wore most things from were StyleArc, Paprika Patterns and Named Clothing. I think I use mostly patterns from these companies year round actually.
StyleArc Estelle Jacket almost finished! / Named Wyome jeans, Paprika Patterns Zircon sweater / Named Wenona shirtdress / Victory Patterns Hannah dress, Closet Case Files Nettie bodysuit / Burdastyle jumper and StyleArc Elle pants / Refashioned dress from jeans / Patrones jacket, StyleArc Lola pants, indigo dyed Plantain tee / Vintage pattern jumper with Megan Nielsen Virginia leggings in ponte / Burdastyle jumper, Named Jamie jeans
So there we are. Thank you to all who followed my progress on Instagram and made lovely comments. I loved seeing what everyone else was wearing day to day too.

Monday 29 February 2016

Pauline Alice - Xerea Dress


The Xerea dress is such a comfortable and easy style to wear that I decided to make a third one with the hand-stamped cotton fabric I bought in Singapore. Actually, I've just realised that I was wearing my summer Xerea dress when I bought this fabric (winter one is here). The only problem with the fabric is that the colour tends to run in the washing machine (I have hidden husband's blotchy white and orange shirt at the back of the wardrobe).


I love that this pattern has so many possibilities for colour blocking and piping detail. For this dress I used the main fabric for all the pattern pieces, but defined the yoke and pockets with black bias binding, folded lengthwise and applied like piping.


As the pattern on this fabric is hand stamped, it is not in straight lines. I matched the pattern as best I could on the yoke, but gave up trying for the pockets. I wasn't sure how the wonky pattern lines would look on the finished dress, but I rather like the result. I cut the dress so the small border print was at the hemline.




Previously I have made this dress with short sleeves and long sleeves. This one is sleeveless and is lovely and cool with the V-back and cotton fabric.


We are dog-sitting Bubbles again and he and Truffle decided my photo backdrop was a perfect place to play!


 The Xerea dress is a lovely pattern and I'm sure this won't be the last one I make.

Thursday 30 July 2015

Xerea Dress - Summer version


I was so happy with my recent winter version of the Pauline Alice Xerea Dress, I decided to quickly whip up another one to wear on our recent Singapore holiday. This time I made the dress exactly as specified in the pattern. 



I found this printed 100% cotton in Spotlight. It features pictures of vintage Italian motor scooters being ridden by gorgeous girls. I'd hoped, as the wearer of this seductive print, that I might absorb some of the glamour myself, but it seems to have eluded me thus far (hat hair and backpack strap wrinkles duly noted. I may have got away with wearing those neoprene Crocs).


These pictures are taken on Victoria Street, Singapore following my successful fabric shopping stint and just before a fabulous lunch in a Turkish restaurant.



Stop posing for blog pics Mum, you need to buy these for us!


 The restaurant we chose is behind me and along on the right in the picture above.



Anyway, enough about food and back to the dress. I had bought a navy cotton for the side panels, yoke and sleeves, but a vision of this flower embroidered denim came to me as I was dozing off to sleep the night before cutting out the pattern. It was an op shop purchase from way back and I had just enough. I like it! I think the dress would have looked good sleeveless, but I decided to be sun-smart and protect the old shoulders with the short sleeved version of the pattern.

Clarke Quay, Singapore

I like the fabric combo in this dress, it feels fun to wear. I love the pockets and I love the style. I worried that the dress was a bit short, but Mr M. disagreed. I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced! It was the perfect dress to take on holiday to stay cool and practical (as long as I didn't bend over too far). I even washed it and wore it again and you can hardly even tell it wasn't ironed!

Sunday 19 July 2015

Xerea Dress - Pauline Alice Patterns



The Xerea Dress, by Pauline Alice, was first brought to my attention when I spied the gorgeous Moomintroll version made by Inna of Thewallinna. I had to have it, despite it being a summer dress and the middle of winter here. Click, click and it was mine mwahahaha.



I immediately raided my stash for suitable winter fabric and pulled out this, a recent purchase from 'Fashion Fabrics Online'. It's a ponte knit in colours bright enough to warm any dreary winter day. To tone down the print a bit I used black ponte for the yoke, side panels and cuffs.

Speaking of the cuffs, they and the long sleeves were my own variation. The pattern comes with short sleeves, which I lengthened for my winter version. 


Xerea dress line drawing
The other change I made, purely for warmth, was to omit the V in the back yoke. I cut a high back neckline with the yoke on the fold (rather than two yoke pieces for the V-back version), then cut the neckline a bit lower once it was sewn in place. It was all eyeballed in this case, but if I'd had a t-shirt pattern handy I would have traced the back neckline from that.


I love the pockets on this dress and their construction was very straightforward. Since this fabric was a bit stretchy, I had to take in the side seams, which made the pocket openings a bit narrower than intended. They are still fine though.


The length of the dress is short! I am around 5'10. I feel it's fine with leggings though. Also, the neckline is fairly high, which balances the short hemline.


I'm very happy with this dress. It is fun to wear and I got a lot of compliments the first time I strutted out in it. The pattern is well drafted, the instructions are clear and this is fast to whip up. I also like that the pattern pieces offer lots of colour blocking opportunities. I can't wait to make more!


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