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Brown striped Waikerie Dress

This is one of my 7 Waikerie Shirts and Waikerie Dresses that are in various states of completion- This dress has been sitting almost completed for quite a few months now and I finally put some buttons and button-holes on this tencel/linen stripe fabric.

I’ve made View B of the Waikerie Dress (with mitered corners and a high-low hem), and this is my first Waikerie Dress with short sleeves

Brown dress 6.5

It’s not quite warm enough here yet for me to be wearing only a dress- and Christchurch often has a chilly wind even in the middle of summer! I’m wearing the dress over some linen Glebe Pants, but could also see myself wearing it like a short-sleeve duster with a top (maybe a Nullarbor Cami or a knit-tank) on underneath. The dress has a high-low hem (which is a bit more clear on the final picture below), and for my taste I thin I’ll lengthen the front pieces for future versions so that it hits mid-calf. The length of the dress is perfect and exactly what I was hoping for!

Brown dress 3

Please excuse the popped collar in the picture below! Don’t you hate when you take a heap of photos and then realise that there was something sitting wrong the whole time!? I didn’t realise how wrong my collar was sitting until I got up close to the camera to show you how I changed the direction of the stripes so that I could skip any pattern matching stress that comes up when dealing with stripes! I also changed up the direction of the stripes on the sleeve band.

Size Details: I made Size E, graded out to Size F (I increased the size of the pleat in the back so that the Size F back piece matched up to the Size E yoke.

Brown dress

I love the generous pleat in the back of this dress, and the deep pockets, and I’m excited to finish up the many other Waikerie Work-In-Progress piles that are waiting for me in my sewing room!

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Sunday Plus-Size Pattern Roundup #23

The theme of the Sunday Pattern Roundup this week is gathers and pleats! All of these patterns are available up to at least a 50″ bust or hip! Usually I only share 4 patterns in each roundup, but I included a few bonuses this week so that there were plenty of options!

You can check out all of the posts that are part of this series here.

Number 1, Meadowood Top

The Meadowood top is the latest pattern from Straight Stitch Design, and is available up to a 59.5″ bust and 60″ hip

Number 2, Pleated Summer Dress

The Pleated Summer Dress is designed by Emily of In The Folds and is available as a free download from the Peppermint Sewing School Website. The sizing goes up to a 51″ bust and 54.5″ hip (finished bust measurement of 53″ and 88″ hip)

If you find these free patterns useful, please consider donating or supporting the pattern designer.

Number 3, Huon Shirt & Dress

The Huon Shirt and Dress from Muna and Broad is available up to a 64″ bust and a 71.5″ hip

If these sizes are too small for you, Muna and Broad will grade this pattern up to your size for no extra cost.

Number 4, Fringe Blouse & Dress

Fringe Blouse and Dress from Chalk and Notch is available up to a 52″ bust and 53″ hip

Bonus, Wildwood Wrap Dress

The Wildwood Wrap Dress from Sew House 7 is available up to a 61.5″ bust and 65″ hip. The shoulder and waist pleats here are why it’s included in this roundup of gathered and pleated patterns!

Bonus 2, Gather Dress

Gather Dress, Zero-Waste Pattern from Birgitta Helmersson is a ‘1 size fits this range’ zero-waste sewing pattern which is available from Bust: 108.5cm – 135cm / 42 1/2 – 53 1/2 inches (there’s also another pattern that’s fits a smaller size range).

See this dress being worn here.


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Free Sewing Pattern Resources

Since it still feels like March, but it’s actually almost November, I wondered if it might be time to share the pattern roundups I’ve put together on the blog during the past wee-while. Whether you’re after free plus-size sewing pattern PDFs, free eco sewing pattern PDFs or free Christmas gift sewing ideas, I’ve probably got you sorted!

Free Christmas gift idea sewing patterns

9 free Christmas Gift Sewing Patterns, including a Christmas pickle sewing pattern and some great free tote bag sewing patterns.

20 free Sewing Patterns for Christmas Gifts, including bags, zipper pouches and pot holders.

18 free Sewing Patterns for Christmas Gifts you can sew, including gifts for men and plant lovers!

Free sewing patterns that make great gifts

16 free sewing patterns for wearable accessories like clutches, scarves, headbands, bags, etc.

19 free sewing patterns for kids gifts (or other people who like things (not for kids to make)).

14 free sewing patterns for your dad or brother or whoever

Free eco-minded sewing patterns

15 free ‘eco’ sewing patterns, including reusable paper towels, and lunch and sandwich bags.

20 free ‘eco’ sewing patterns, including reusable makeup wipes and reusable coffee filter patterns.

Free plus-size sewing patterns

Check out the blog posts to see more information about the patterns! Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5,Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11,Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25,

Not free plus-size sewing patterns

I also have a weekly (off-and-on again) roundup of plus-size sewing patterns that I like. You can check out all of the posts that are part of that series here.

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Sunday Plus-Size Pattern Roundup #22

It’s been a long time between posts in my Sunday Plus Size Sewing pattern series, which was a weekly occurrence earlier in the year, but which fell by the wayside!

What do I share?

In every post I share 4 patterns- some are old, some are new.

Generally, I’ll only include patterns that I like! It’s biased, but I’m not interested in rounding up fit and flare dresses for the masses.

In order to be included, the patterns will need to have either bust or hip measurements of over 50″, but preferably they’ll have both.

I try to only share pattern makers who release all their patterns in their entire size range- I don’t want to support companies who are further marginalising fat bodies, or treating us like an afterthought!

Check out the previous posts here.

Number 1, Ninja Top & Dress

Stokx Patterns are a relatively new, and even newer-to-me pattern company based in Berlin. The Ninja Top & Dress is available up to a 59″ bust and 60″ hip.

Not all of their patterns are available in this extended range, but the newer ones seem to be. Stokx Patterns come from Stokx’ RTW clothing shop in Berlin, so I presume they’ve been extensively fit-tested by real people!

Check out @weboughtamanor’s gorgeous purple version

Number 2, Grainger Coat

I’m on a cool-weather vibe with this roundup, so it seemed like a great time to include the latest pattern from Leila and me- the Grainger Coat, a quilted coat with 2 lengths.

Available up to a 71.5″ hip, we will grade the pattern up to your size at no extra cost if our patterns are too small for you.

Number 3, Arlo Track Jacket

The latest pattern from Friday Pattern Co, the Arlo Track Jacket is available up to a 60″ bust and 63″ hip.

Sold a unisex pattern, this comes in a variety of lengths!

Number 4, Pekka Jacket

The Pekka Jacket from France based Ready to Sew is available up to a 54″ bust and 59.5″ hip

I like how this pattern could fill the gap left because some other haori style patterns aren’t as size-inclusive as this one. But, the large format files are laid out in a way that requires you to trace your pattern pieces off- this is a bit of a bummer for those of us who love digital precisely because it allows us to skip the tracing!

Keep an eye out next Sunday for the next edition of my Sunday Sewing Pattern Roundup!

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Grainger Coat, a plus-size quilted coat sewing pattern!

I’m so thrilled about the Grainger Coat, the latest pattern release from Leila and me through Muna and Broad! I’ve wanted to make myself a quilted coat for the longest time, but the popular patterns on the market weren’t available in my size.

Grainger Coat

While the Northern Hemisphere is thinking about heading in to cooler weather, things are starting to heat up here (or they were, but then there was a blast from Antarctica that brought snow to the nearby mountains, but now we’re back to warm weather). We’re heading in to summer but Christchurch summer can mean quite chilly weather, so I’m pleased to have this denim layer because:

A) denim is a neutral, so I hope I’ll be able to pair it with lots of my wardrobe

B) it’s a touch cooler than my boiled wool Mallee Jacket, which has been my go-to outer layer over the last few months.

I constructed this Grainger a little differently than the instructions called for because I was hoping to skip the binding on the outside. to keep the denim very neutral. With right-sides together, I sewed the lining pieces to the front of the body (all the way down the bottom hem), the neckline of the back body, the hem of the back body, and the cuffs of the sleeves. I then pressed and understitched the lining, before turning out and pressing again. I decided that I’d then sew the coat together as the instructions indicated and I’d bind the internal seams with bias tape.

Grainger Coat

Size Details: My current measurements are 47″ (119cm) Bust, 43″ (103cm) Waist and 55″ (140cm) Hip, which puts me in to the Size D bust size and Size F for hip size according to the Grainger Coat size range. Generally, I make the Muna and Broad sample size (Size F), which corresponds to my hip measurement but not my bust measurement.

One of the things that sewing has taught me (but which has been especially reinforced of late) is that I have quite narrow shoulders, and this often messes with the ‘look’ of garments.

Grainger Coat

Fabric Details: I used 12.5oz pre-quilted denim fabric from Miss Maude in NZ (currently sold out, but apparently she’ll be stocking it again in NZ Autumn), and I lined it with lightweight cotton chambray. I purchased 2.25 metres of this fabric well before the pattern was finished, and I could have got away with 1.7 metres EXCEPT that I then might not have had room to attempt quilt line matching on the two front pieces. I had actually purchased the red version of this Lady McElroy fabric for the lining, but decided just before cutting out that it would be better to have something closer to the denim in case anything peeked out!

Grainger Coat

My next version: There will definitely be a next version! I think I will make a Size D or Size E next- Size D would match with my bust measurement, and the oversized fit will mean that there’ll still be room for my hips. I’m planning a ‘summer quilt’ version where instead of batting, the middle layer is flannel, and I’m also planning to start piecing together scraps from my extensive scrap fabric collection… Perhaps I’ll start with a Semi-Breve Bag and branch out from there to improv-piecing a whole coat.