I’d wanted to take part in #SewTogetherForSummer but, because of my injury, I’d been unable to get in my sewing room for a while and had pretty much given up hope of participating. Then Sew Over It released the Penny Dress last week and I fell in love with her, so, as I’m a bit more mobile now, I decided to set myself the challenge of completing it before the 21^st June deadline. Mad? Probably! Determined? Definitely!

I’d had my eye on the gorgeous Amazon Lily cotton lawn for a while and it’s a perfect match for Penny. I love love LOVE the bold pattern and the colours are fabulous. It’s such a happy fabric and totally shouts SUMMER!

I use Netprinter for PDF patterns these days: it’s so much easier than printing and cutting out out reams of A4s and sticking them together; it only costs 75p per A0 sheet; and they’re super-quick with their turn-around and delivery, so ideal for my challenge.  And, of course, Sew Over It offer brilliant customer service, so I didn’t have to wait long until I’d got everything together and ready to go.

The finished measurement for the bust on a size 10 is 39.5” and I’m 37”, so, aware that shirt dresses are better with a bit of room in the bust area to avoid gaping, I decided to go with that, as the waist’s elasticated so I could adjust it to fit, and it’s a full circle skirt so no need to worry about hip room. I’d seen that others had mentioned about the bodice being a bit short, so I checked the length and then added 5cm to the bottom of the front and back bodice pieces. If (who am I kidding? WHEN!) I make Penny again, I think I’ll add an extra couple of cms to the centre of the front bodice, as the waist rides up a bit there because of my full bust.

The construction of the bodice was straightforward with clear instructions – the shoulder band and ruching make for a lovely detail – and the only part that was a bit of a fiddle was attaching the collar. When it came to the button placket, I felt the ‘correct’ way – left over right as you look at it – of buttoning it just didn’t look right, due to how the pattern finished at the placket edges, so I made a conscious decision to fasten it the ‘wrong’ way. See what I mean…?

I also decided to add pockets, because, well, POCKETS! Lisa’s done and excellent video tutorial showing just how easy it is to add them into the side seams. Penny’s full circle skirt is one HUGE piece of fabric folded in half. In an ideal world, you’d add seam allowances and cut the fabric as two pieces, but I’d already cut it out on the fold, so I went ahead and cut it in half along the fold line. Then when it came to sewing the side seams I used an 8mm seam allowance instead of the usual 1.5cm to gain back some fabric so that it fitted into the bodice correctly at the waist.

It’s a fabulous, floaty dress to make for the summer, with plenty of challenges for a beginner, but enough detail for an intermediate sewist.  I love cover buttons for shirt dresses, so matched mine to the pattern on my dress with two yellow ones and one white. The midi length (now 5cm longer overall than it’s designed to be) is perfect, even on my vertically challenged 5’4”, and gives it a real ‘50s look.  I often find flared skirts make me look like a little girl, but this longer length is much more grown up.

Just one last thing… it’s a loooooooong way round that hem and there’s a lot of overlocking (I’ve got an overlocking stitch on my machine which looks more professional than zig-zagging) so make sure you’ve got plenty of thread! I got through two-and-a-half reels in total.

These photos are from my first proper “walking” venture outside since March (my current step-hop method of getting around on my skinny left leg – the result of rupturing my Achilles tendon back in March – needs a lot of work!). They’re taken at Blakeney Quay on the North Norfolk Coast – the perfect place to take my Perfect Penny out in the glorious sunshine!

I’m back! Well, kind of. It’s now nine weeks since I ruptured my Achilles and, as you’ll see, I’m wearing my big ol’ clodhopper boot. Two weeks until I see the consultant, and I can now mostly fully weight-bear in my boot and I’m *almost* walking without my crutches, so I can finally hobble around my sewing room – hurrah! It’s slow going and I’ll still have a long road to recovery once the boot’s off, but I’ve definitely got my SewMoJo back – YAY!

Anyway, I’ll stop rambling about that and crack on with my review of the Sew Over It Kimono Jacket…

I bought this beautiful fabric from Sew Over It quite a while ago and it’s since sold out. It’s sooooo pretty, but it’s chiffon, so it has a mind of its own and tends to fray quite a lot too, so although the pattern is really straightforward, I wouldn’t recommend making it from chiffon if you’re a beginner.

The body measurement chart puts me firmly in a size Small (10-12), but having checked the finished measurements I went with the XS (8-10). I measure 37,28,39 and it’s plenty big enough all over. The curve under the arms has more than enough room for a long sleeve tee, but not for anything thicker, which is fine as I’m only planning on wearing vest tops or tees underneath. I went with the shorter length as I felt it would suit my height better. (The longer one would probably look like a dressing gown on me, though there’s a thought for a future project…)

It comes together very quickly; under normal circumstances you could have this whizzed up in an afternoon, but it took me a couple of days, as I have to keep stopping to rest and elevate my leg. The sleeves are super-easy to sew on; there’s no easing, just a straight line either side to attach them, then another from the cuffs down the sides to the hem.

I decided to use French seams throughout, including on the neckband, as it gives a much neater finish, hiding all that fraying, and it makes the seams stronger. Sewing around the underarms was quite tricky, as it’s quite a tight curve, so I used lots of pins and took it slowly.  I’ve used French seams plenty of times before, but it still seems alien to first sew with the wrong sides together!

I machine-hemmed the sleeve cuffs and the hem – even though roll hemming chiffon is normally recommended  – as I feel that the row of stitching mirrors the neckband nicely and also adds a bit of weight and stability to the fabric. My hand-sewing isn’t the neatest and I usually only do it where it’s not going to be seen, so the only part I did by hand was slip-stitching the neckband on the inside.

Aaaaand, that’s all there is to it! Once my boot’s off and I can wear jeans again, it’ll work perfectly as a feminine touch to a simple jeans-and-cami outfit, but, for now, here I am wearing it with a denim skirt combo…