Tag Archives: Beatrix Blouse

Beatrix Blouse Pattern, Gemma Tank, Made By Rae Patterns, Ruby Dress Pattern, Sewing, Zadie Jumpsuit Pattern

June 2019 Sewing: Made By Rae Tops and the Zadie Jumpsuit

After the sewing whirlwind that is Me Made May, June is usually a pretty low key month for me but this year the frenzy continued. During June I sewed two versions of the massively popular Zadie Jumpsuit and decided to tackle the pile of partially sewn projects dating as far back as 2015 (Oh my word). There were 8. They are now finished!

What  happens to me is that I get started on something or a couple of somethings because I like to cut out more than one version of a pattern at a time and then a new pattern launches and I get distracted or life gets busy and I have no time to sew and then the weather changes. I am so glad I rescued these.

First: three versions of the Made by Rae Beatrix Blouse. The first is made with the leftover fabric from a blue linen York pinafore that I sewed in May.

I had just enough leftover fabric. I cut one of the sleeves on the cross grain and used other scraps for facings.

I had started this last year to go with the brown corduroy York pinafores that I sewed last fall and then life got busy and the button placket felt overwhelming which is actually silly because it was very quick.

After I finished this in short order, I sewed the two sleeveless versions I cut out four years and two years ago respectively. I love this beautiful Melody Miller cotton lawn. I am so glad I finally sewed it up! Look at those button holes! Such a confidence boost when they come out well. The buttons are antique from a button jar I found at a tag sale 25 years ago.

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And another version in this beautiful woven lightweight cotton fabric. I had planned on the sleeved version but I wasn’t happy with how the stripes lined up and I cut off the sleeves and used bias binding to make a sleeveless version. I used elastic thread to gather the sleeves. It works really well but after you sew the sleeve in, it is important to take out, or at least cut the elastic stitches in several places or it will cause your garment to have puckers as you can see in the sleeved version. I realized this again when I made one of my ruffle Gemmas.  More button holes below. I use a disappearing marker to mark them first. It works really well for me. The navy buttons are recycled buttons that I got at Fab Scrap.

With sleeves (notice the puckers-I could have gotten rid of them but I decided I wasn’t happy with the way the stripes lined up)

Sleeveless version:

I love that the same pattern can give you such different looks.

Second: I had a summer dress idea for a Gemma tank with a skirt. I was really successful with this approach when I sewed this double gauze version

but when I started a green Loominous version last summer I cut the bodice too long and the whole effect was frumpy. I had already gathered the skirt and didn’t feel like unpicking the whole thing so I took a chance and sewed a second seam joining the bodice to the skirt to effectively shorten the bodice and then I shortened the skirt. Amazingly, it worked. Now I love it.

As worn:

I had also started a rayon version of the Gemma peplum tank last year with a tiny remnant of striped rayon. I loved this fabric and knew it would be perfect for this pattern but the rayon was slippery and bias binding the neck temporarily overwhelmed me and there it sat. I tackled it this past weekend, hand basting the neck binding before machine sewing it and used scraps of cotton lawn in solid colors for the arm bindings and the hem binding. I love it! The rayon has a beautiful drape and the stripes look just the way I had hoped they would.

I wore it to work with pink jeans! 10 years and 25 lbs. lighter ago, I would never have worn pink jeans because they didn’t seem slimming. Silly me! Getting to the ripe age of almost 60 has made me appreciate having a healthy, strong body. All those wasted years of worrying about a couple of pounds. (sigh) I am hoping to tackle sewing myself a bathing suit this summer. Stay tuned.

I also finished a solid navy lawn Gemma that I will wear all the time. It is perfect with all of my York Pinafores and all of the Cleo skirts that I have made and plan to make. A great basic.

I also refashioned this dress that didn’t really flatter me into another Gemma ruffle tank.

These are so great for the really hot days. I actually cheated and used the already hemmed part of the dress for the ruffle to save time. Winning!

Then I finally finished a Ruby blouse that I started in 2015. I batch sewed some bodices the first year I started sewing my own clothes with some quarter yards of quilting cotton. You can see them in this post.

I have since used white double gauze to make several blouses for my daughter and a friend. I used this one to make one for me. I have sewn two other double gauze Ruby’s that I have worn to death. They are the best! You can see them here and here.

This is a very neutral top that I know will just get more comfortable with washing and wearing. The cotton double gauze is great for hot weather-very breezy.

I bookended the month with a pair of Zadies. I sewed the lightweight denim jumpsuit in a day on June 1st to be able to have it to wear to the New Haven Documentary Film Festival.

We went to see Pizza, A Love Story. So fun. The Zadie was so quick to sew-I was really surprised. Great directions. I bought the fabric at Joanne’s and thought it would be my wearable muslin but I am so happy with how it turned out that I don’t feel the need to make another version right away. I will definitely make a linen version at some point, probably next summer, just for fun, but for now, this one is perfect! It is so comfortable. I love it! I added two inches to the bodice length and a couple of inches to the pant length (I am 5’9″) and otherwise it is a straight 12. My measurements are 37 bust, 32 waist, 42 hip.

I had been seeing several dress versions of the Zadie popping up on Instagram so I made a version in double gauze from my stash using a gathered skirt. I lined the bodice with white cotton batiste.

I ended up hand sewing the lining in. Then I sewed a line of machine stitching to the edge of the bias binding to secure everything.

It was a pain but it worked well in the end. It isn’t my usual style but I like it.

Other things I have enjoyed this month. These books:

 

And some lovely summer days and greenery after SO MUCH RAIN! I took advantage of the rain in the northeast to plant seeds in my planters. It is my cheap and easy way to have blooming things in the summer. One packet of seeds per planter at a cost of $1.50 a packet. Nasturtiums are my favorite.

Now that I am mostly caught up with my backlog of sewing projects, I have a short list of clothing projects that I want to sew but will also be turning my focus to quilts. I have a goal to sew a quilt for each child by the end of the year. There are 5 of them so must get going!

This picture sums up how I feel about summer sewing. Taking your own picture while jumping. My new superpower!

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Made By Rae Patterns, Sewing

Heritage Rayon Challis Beatrix Dress

When I first saw this beautiful April Rhodes fabric last summer, I knew that I wanted to make something with it. Red is not normally a color I gravitate to. Most of my handmade garments are blue or yellow but I loved the fabric so I bought a couple of yards. I thought it would be perfect for a holiday garment (tree close-up with ornament made 25 years ago when my daughter was in preschool, sob.)

Then life got busy, as it usually does. I teach nursing students for 12 weeks in the fall in addition to my regular Monday-Friday job and there isn’t time for much sewing. That gave me a lot of time to think about what to make. This summer I made this dress.

I liked the general shape of the dress but the shoulders and neckline didn’t fit me well: too loose in the neck and too tight in the shoulders. I decided to try using the Beatrix Blouse pattern by Made by Rae as the starting point to make a loose dress that was similar.  I had made the Beatrix several times and knew that the shoulders and bodice fit perfectly. I thought if I cropped it and added a gently gathered skirt that I would end up with a dress I would really enjoy dressing wearing.

I first made the  Beatrix when the pattern was released. It was one of the first patterns I sewed after the Washi Dress and I learned a lot in the process because Rae did a series of blog posts that walk you through making the pattern from start to finish. I learned so much going through that process. She literally explained how to tape the pattern, how to take your own measurements and how to make adjustments for your body type. I learned so many great sewing techniques. When I first made the blouse, the medium fit pretty well with a couple of inches added to the length (I am 5’9″ with a very long torso) but there was a bit of gaping at the neckline. Rae told me how to do a hollow chest adjustment and once I did that, the fit was perfect. It is a really subtle adjustment but it makes all the difference. I just fold a tiny bit of the pattern at the center front and then shift it back once I cut the neckline.

When I cut the bodice out for this project, I put one of my Beatrix blouses on and then figured out where I wanted the bodice to end and the skirt to start which was just under the rib cage. I marked the spot with a pin and then drew a line on the pattern pieces to match that bodice length after adding 1/2 cm for a seam allowance. I folded the pattern piece on that line and cut out the shortened front and back bodice in both the rayon and in the cotton batiste that I planned to use for the bodice lining. I cut out the pieces before Thanksgiving and then they sat on my ironing board until January. But that’s ok. Sometimes you have time and energy to sew and sometimes you don’t. I did a lot more reading than sewing this fall. Reading on Christmas Day below. Such a good book. The ear muffs were my given to one of my daughters. I was just borrowing them. They are actually really warm and cozy though a bit flashier than my usual style.

After the holidays I went back to work and did a long drive the weekend after New Year’s Day,  taking my daughter back to school. Finally, the second weekend in January, I had time and energy and finished the dress. img_8464Pictures of sewing the bodice below.

I realized that I cut the back lining piece too wide so I just sewed a center seam to take out the excess. I like to top stitch around the neckline so that everything lies flat.

I sewed the shoulder seams together for both the bodice and lining, sewed the pieces together at the neckline, gathered the sleeves and attached them and then used Rae’s burrito or sausage method to line the bodice. Then I sewed the side seams of the sleeves and the bodice side seams.

I used the skirt from the Isla pattern as a template to cut out the front and back skirt pieces.

I added 2 inches to the width of the back skirt piece because I am bigger in the back than the front and I thought the dress would flow more nicely with a bit more gathered fabric in the back. I did this when I made my  Isla Maxi Dress I was really happy with it. I marked the back skirt piece with two pins and front piece with one pin because they were so close in size that I was afraid that I would mix them up. Then I gathered the front and backs, sewed the two skirt pieces together using french seams, lined up the center front of the bodice with the center of the front skirt and did the same on the back and sewed the bodice to the skirt. I turned the bottom edge of the lining under and hand sewed the lining to the seam that joins the bodice to the skirt in the same manner that Rae shows in her Washi tutorials.

I usually make a hem facing but I thought it might make the hem more stiff since the rayon was so lightweight so I just turned up the hem twice and sewed a line of stitches using a matching thread. It came out fine. I have yet to hand hem a garment. I am sure there will be a time when I feel I should but I have gotten this far machine hemming with good success. And that was it. It was a pretty quick sew. I like that the dress has shape from the darts but is also loose and flowey. I think it can be dressed up and down. I have already worn it to church and I have plans to make it again. I have this rayon which I think would be perfect! This isn’t the first time I lengthened the Beatrix. I have also made two tunic length Beatrix’s that I love. One seen below last summer on the beach. You can read details about those here and here. I highly recommend the Beatrix pattern and Rae’s Beatrix sewalong posts and her videos demonstrating the bodice-lining technique.

More pictures of my new red dress below. You can tell it was windy.

I had the perfect sweater in my closet. Never get rid of a cardigan, that’s my motto. I want to sew the Blackwood Cardigan by Helen’s Closet this year. I think it will be perfect in a sweater knit over this dress worn with jeans.

Perfect with denim.

I love the fit through the bodice.

I highly recommend this pattern!

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