What do we have here… not one (look above) but two (look below) finished garments in the one post.  Actually this is the first of three posts where this happens, and they all have their individual stories.  Spoiler alert…this is the story of two left sleeves!

But let’s go back to the beginning of the story…. it started with the decision to sew a jersey Hope Dress, which was totally inspired by @rou2an1_made who is the queen of Hope Dresses and the leader of the #hopedressspringseternal band.

For this project I purchased 3m rather than the suggested 2.5m of fabric as when I sewed my last Hope Dress, which was for Sharon, I only just got it out of the suggested meterage.  It was only now that I realised that my fabric for Sharon’s dress was probably 140cm wide rather than the 148cm suggested on the fabric usage chart.  Hindsight… such a wonderful thing!

Needless to say… I had ample Orchid Road Jersery (a digitally printed cotton/spandex Oeko Tex knit) for both a dress and a tee, and I cut them out at the same time.

I proceed to sew up Hope, being Hope V3 (see V1 and V2) I feel that we are on a first name basis now, and discovered that I had cut out two left sleeves.  Not happy Anna.

I then had to purchase another sleeve length (thankfully it was still available) and lost that smug feeling of getting a dress and a tee out of my initial fabric purchase.  Not to worry… I’m thrilled with both pieces and they have already had lots of wear.

The three changes I made to Hope when sewing it in a knit:

• Cut the back on the fold (removing the centre back seam allowance)
• Bind the neckline as you would with a t-shirt (see photo above)
• Stabilise the bottom of the bodice with stay tape to help support the weight of the skirt

And if  you’d like to see Hope on the move… check out my reel on Instagram.

Pattern:  StyleArc’s Hope Dress
Size:  10
Fabric:  I purchased both the fabric and the pattern from work (The Cloth Shop).
Alterations:  I left off the pockets, removed the centre back seam, lowered the front neckline slightly, stablised the bodice where the skirt is attached and opted to binded the neckline like a tee.
Outfit:  Funkis clogs brought as-new second hand many years ago, earrings by Jo Hawley from e.g.etal and sunglasses from Luisa.
Location:  Maranoa Gardens

The tee is another favourite pattern of mine… the Basic Tee by Iconic Patterns.  You can see my previous version here and here  Unfortunately, this pattern is no longer available for sale.

Pattern:  Basic Tee (Pattern 1109) by Iconic Patterns
Size:  10
Fabric:  Orchid Road Jersery from The Cloth Shop
Alterations:  Completed a 3/8” (1cm) forward shoulder adjustment, slightly lowered the neckline and I shortened both the body of the tee by 2.5″ (6.5cm) & the sleeve by an inch (2.5cm)
Outfit:  Jeans from Witchery (mended by me), necklace a gift and sneakers from Luisa
Location:  Maranoa Gardens