Rhapsody Dress Love

I am going to make a concerted effort to get into blogging again as I have been getting into clothes sewing again.  My clothes sewing was in the doldrums a bit as I put on a bunch of weight and was having trouble working out what worked for me now.  I have been dabbling with mixed results but think I am getting into the swing of it again.  So for now I am catching up and will apologise in advance as the photos mostly will be on my dressmaking dummy.  I plan to try and get more modelled shots later but did not want to have that delay me up from blogging about my makes.

In my last post I made the revised Rhapsody blouse which I still love (but haven't worn much as it has been too cold for it).  I wanted to put an entry into my QCWA Division's dressmaking contest (been a member for a bit over a year), so I thought the Rhapsody dress would be perfect because of all the great details - concealed yoke,  french seams, narrow binding, cuffs, etc.... It needed to be a complete outfit and I did not have a lot of time so decided a dress would be more time efficient than two seperate pieces.  I used a rayon I had bought from Spotlight recently when it was on sale.  The fabric is lovely with a sweet floral print but has a dark background so it is a bit hard to see all the details easily.  This is the finished product.

Oh, and I am super proud to say that I did win at Division level in the Smart Casual Garment section.

Sadly though because of Covid, the State level of competition will not be proceeding but it may get displayed at an upcoming showcase of the competitions we hold.  This dress has not been worn yet but I look forward to wearing it when the weather warms up.  

Ciao kittens, more makes real soon....

The newest Love Notions Rhapsody top

I just have to share my latest make.  This is my second time making this top and I like the first version I made but was not sure if I should have sized up a little.  This time I downloaded the re-jigged version of the top and used the full bust piece which is provided with the pattern.  I am on the borderline of needing it going by the sizing and I am very happy I decided to try it.

The fabric is a lovely cotton, maybe a voile? but it has slight crinkle in it.  It behaved very well under the machine and I love the pretty print.  I bought it a few years ago at Russells Fabrics at Sandgate.

My tips with this pattern 

• Note the size printed on your pattern somewhere, as you can't tell what size you have if you have the other layers turned off and you cut the pattern on your size line.  The size is incorporated into that line.
• I made the bishop sleeve at 3/4 length (a new option) and the elastic measurement would have been too small for me.  I think it may be the elastic size for the original long sleeve option.  I added 2" and cut my elastic at 12".
• I put the binding on (I think) the opposite way to that shown on the pattern.  I sew the RS of the binding to the inside of the neckline and then flip to the front and top stitch.  I had the impression in the pattern they start at the outside and flip to the back.

I love all the details in this sew.  It has a burrito lined yoke, french seams and gathering at the front shoulder yoke seam.  The explanations in the pattern are excellent and they encourage you to read the pattern on your computer or tablet rather than print it out as they have hyperlinks that move you to the section needed next.  The only thing I don't like about this is I can't write notes onto the pattern for how I did things.

I hope you are all staying safe in this COVID time and getting lots of sewing, crafting and cooking accomplished!  

Ciao Kittens!