After a few busy weeks at work, which included a 9 day school trip to Japan; I have finally found time to blog! I've managed to do some selfish sewing during this time and these are the outcomes!
After making my husband a shirt for Christmas day, i've been looking for another opportunity to make a shirt. The process and and the amount of different steps makes them really enjoyable to make. I started to shop around for a pattern I liked way back in February. I eventually settled on the Grainline Studios Alder. This shirtdress is much blogged about, so I sought lots of advice and opinions before setting off on my Alder journey.
whilst doing my frequent browsing on fabric websites, I stumbled upon these beauties from modes4u.com. I loved the japanese origami pattern of the fabric above and the birds below really stood out. Both are lovely and summery prints on a lightweight quilting cotton, so I just had to order them!
Tracing the pattern off and sticking together the 51 pages of this pattern were very long processes and meant that the manufacturing of my Alder's was very drawn out and done in many different sessions. I've only ever made one Grainline Studios pattern before, which was the Linden sweatshirt, so I had to check sizes carefully. I pretty much fit into the measurements provided, so I just cut a straight '12'.
The sewing of my first Alder (the origami one) was very satisfying and mostly done in one session. I left the buttonholes, armholes and hem for another occasion. I stuck to all the details of the pattern and was pleased with the outcome. I made some small fitting adjustments to the waist as it was quite baggy, but other than that the fit is pretty good. The loose style means that it's going to be lovely to wear in the sticky Hong Kong summer.
No sooner had I finished my first Alder, I knew I wanted to make a second. I just love doing all the different stages and I absolutely love doing topstitching (strange maybe?!) I made some changes to the pattern, including the shape of the collar stand (more rounded to allow for larger buttons) and the collar (rounded shape instead of the original points). I took approximately 2cm off the waist seam in order to match up with the fitting that I did on the original.
As you can see, the birds really are stunning! The exaggerated grain of the fabric is also a nice addition.
As with the original, this Alder went together like a dream. I'm so pleased that I decided to make this pattern up, because it's awesome! The outcomes will certainly be a staple of my summer wardrobe and will probably be in my suitcase for my upcoming trip to Singapore.
I wonder how long I need to wait before making a third one?
Hey Sophie - your Alder's look super cool. I remember it was really sticky in Hong Kong when Chris and I visited in 2005! You should def make a third one - what fabric will you use?
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