Sewing

The Peppermint Milton pinafore is a new sewing pattern made in collaboration with Just Patterns (and it’s free! You can download it from the Peppermint website here). For once I’m a bit stumped in terms of description of this … my mister described it as “typical Just Patterns meets farm girl?” which might be as good as it gets. Can you tell I’m a pinafore newbie?!

Disclaimer: As you probably know by now I work closely with Just Patterns as the technical editor and this time was no exception. But writing this blog post and photographing my make is on a voluntary basis!

Peppermint Milton Pinafore – pattern details

General observations

I made a straight size 40 with no modifications (my measurements: B81 / W72 / H74), from memory there were no changes to the 34-46 size range post testing (there were some to the 46-60 size range) … FYI the pattern runs up to hip size 60”. 

• The waist is fairly loose, assuming you will want to wear something under it. Here I am wearing my Tyra tee (also Just Patterns) which is boxy and oversized and bunches up if you want to full tuck into eg jeans. But here it works out just fine.
• You will want the waistband to be sitting in the right place on your body so check the length of the bodice. Toile is always advisable.
• A line skirt so there is good ease at the hips, but as always check the finished garment measurements.

Things I like

• Fully lined bodice and straps, plenty of opportunity for fun lining (or you could just use self fabric if it’s not too thick).
• Clean and tidy finishes on the inside, as typical of Just Patterns. Waistband is bound on the inside and you can make the bias tape in the same fabric as the pockets and bodice lining to get the full effect!
• Pockets. My favourite kind of side seam pocket, with an all in one pocket piece.
• Button back adds detail and interest.
• There is no elastic waist, woohoo! After this covid year of loungewear, I’m into things without elastic.

Things I like less

• There are a lot of buttons …. 12 in total. Takes awhile to make the buttonholes and sew the buttons on.
• Not sure how you feel about a button back, some people like it, some people hate it. I’m like the look of it but from a comfort perspective I’m in the neutral camp. It doesn’t bother me that much but I do have to adjust my sitting position on a regular basis so there’s no buttons jabbing my sit bones.
• As with any bottoms with a button at the waistband, there is always some pulling right at the waistband seam. This is not a pattern flaw, every piece of clothing with this kind of closure has this. To lessen the problem, I sew a hook and eye as you can see in the pic below.

Fitting note

One thing I encountered that you may wish to bear in mind: The straps and front bodice need to be the right length before you start. Let me explain (and why you might want to toile this): the front bodice is one piece that runs up to the shoulder as you’d expect. Then the strap joins to the bodice at the shoulder. 

Now I am a short-waisted person that often shortens bodices by 2-4cm. A quick and dirty fix for this in this pattern is to take the excess length off at the shoulder seam, i.e. slice off a little bit on the top of the strap and the bodice. 

You might think an even quicker fix would just be to pull the straps tighter at the back (and therefore the buttonholes a bit further up). I tried this but then the effect is that the front of the dress lifts up, whilst the back stays where it is. So the balance is off and if you look at it from the side you will end up with a waistband that is not level.

The only thing is, the front bodice/straps are all constructed together at the beginning due to there being a lining. Therefore, this kind of adjustment should be done at the beginning, else trying to adjust the shoulder at the end will be a total pain and you may not get the tidy finish unless you unpick a lot.

Fabric choice

This is linen from Elizabeth Suzann in the US. I loved her brand and everything she stands for, but my goodness I am so unimpressed with the linen that I want to tell you there’s way better linen out there for a lesser price. This is the mid-weight flax colour and whilst it feels pretty weighty (which is nice), unfortunately that’s where it ends. It has so many imperfections I feel like it’s beyond “slubby”. It is not softening with washing or ironing like my other linens (after 3x washing), and I’ve even got bits of yellow stick stuck in it … have a look at the photo below where I’ve pulled out some yellow bits and also check out Leila’s review of the same fabric.

Anyway, linen is a good choice for the pinafore, and so is denim, corduroy, Kaufman Ventana twill … anything that is nice for making bottoms.

Styling

To be honest, as a pinafore-wearing newbie, I had to try on a few different things before finally settling on … the Just Patterns Tyra tee (I’ve made many, see here). Which I could have done at the beginning if I had been clever about it. The neutral colours mean I wore this to work today and felt pretty good, and yesterday when I wore it I even got a compliment!

I have another version of this cut out in denim, but with a back zip instead of the buttons. Here’s me thinking it will be more city chic and less farm girl looking, I’ll keep you posted on how that goes!

Till next time

Kate x

New favourite dresses alert! The Just Patterns Helena Wrap Dress is newly released but it has been months in the making. I worked on the pattern instructions for this and I’m so happy that Delphine finally got it released. This is my second version (first one in wax print, scroll later to see it) because, you know, fruits and all. 

When Delphine first started draping this pattern, I was so excited that in my head I already made 4 versions of this dress. The oranges … or peaches? were a surprise 5th version that did not exist in my imagination until Kim saw the fabric in the store and thought of me. Who am I to say no to an enabler? 

Helena Wrap Dress Pattern details

This is NOT a quick make despite what might appear at first glance. It took me 5 hours to make it + cutting time (and this is with me not needing to look at the instructions, I wrote most of them haha).

My favourite details are the 8 pleats in total on the bodice, the shaped front waistband, swishy skirt, the neckband with a nice V shape that ends up being quite shallow with good coverage. So much so that I’d definitely take earrings over a necklace to style with this dress! And of course the option of patch or side seam pockets. 

What I like less is that the dress is less suitable for playing basketball, or washing windows overhead. I can lift my arms in a T shape but that’s about it. I don’t think this is really fixable to be honest due to the design – if you raise the armhole you’ll lose the wide sleeves and it won’t look as pretty. But, a small price to pay for an otherwise delicious dress.

Fabric choice

I’m very happy to say that this dress is great in poplin. My wax print is a bit stiffer than the oranges but still works well (and the colour!) – both poplin. 

Delphine made her samples in linen and I think this would look lush in silk as well. Choose anything you want! Note that Helena Wrap Dress is a bit of a fabric chewer, so for the smallest size you still need 2.3m x 140cm wide. Largest size is 60” hip and requires 3.3m. 

Fit and adjustments

Despite being a wrap, the dress needs to fit properly at the bodice and the waist. Like most wraps that are fitted rather than sacks, it is not a good idea to just hope that you can pull the waistband tighter or leave it looser – you’ll just end up with gaping in unwanted places when you wear it and it probably won’t feel awesome either.

Therefore, if you want to make it work, it is VERY advisable to toile the bodice. And in this case also include the waistband in your toile so you are sure that the waistband is sitting comfortably on your body. I ended up shortening my bodice by 3cm (3-5cm is fairly standard for me), because 1) my legs are long relative to my upper body, 2) I have a small bust and this also acted as the SBA. But you need to check for yourself what suits you.

Construction 

There’s a lot of interfacing in the dress – on the neckband, on the waistband, on the front edge of the wrap. That was probably the longest part of the preparation process before I even got to the machine. And make sure you have a full bobbin because there’s a lot of topstitching on the ties.

Neckband

This is the trickiest bit because you need to make a fairly angular corner and it’s very easy to end up with a pucker. Pic here to show you what I mean – look at the shoulder seam where it is joined to the neckband. Excuse my lack of ironing, the dress had come out of the wash when I remembered I wanted to take the pic.

It is the same technique used for any garment with this kind of neckband. Off the top of my head I’m thinking of the Named Lahja dressing gown and Fibre Mood Luz.

The instructions for the Just Patterns Helena Wrap Dress (step 6b and 6c if you bought the pattern) advise you to attach the neckband in one hit. Start at the outer shoulder seam, stop at the shoulder seam/neckband junction, leave your needle down and pivot your fabric, sew the back neck (be aware this part is 0.6cm seam allowance not 1cm), pivot again, then sew the other shoulder seam. 

However, it worked better for me to stitch it in 3 parts. First, shoulder seam. Then back neck. Then the other shoulder seam. This way I could remove the bodice from under my machine, reposition my fabric, then go again. (Note: Delphine who made the pattern tried this and hated it. I hated her all in one instruction. As ever, there’s usually a few different ways to get to the same point). What we did agree on is that whatever you do, you must press well!

Waistband / ties 

The “step” in the front waistband on the pattern piece is deliberate. Stitching the waistband ties with a 0.6cm seam allowance means you get a less bulky result without the need to trim. Follow the instructions closely and you’ll get a good result. 

Cycling friendly adaptation 

I’m not sure I can call adding on a snap an “adaptation” but I put one on at about mid-thigh level to hold the skirt together whilst I’m on a bike. Works at treat with any wrap dress!

Final thoughts? 

The Helena Wrap Dress was a pretty fun sew for me because it’s just a bit different from a lot of the “typical” simpler patterns that I tend to make. If you’re not too experienced in sewing I’d suggest choosing an easy fabric to work with (hello poplin), don’t rush it and follow the instructions. The results will be worth it, promise! Here’s the video of the dress in action. Follow me on IG if you’re keen to see my other makes because I don’t blog every single one of them!

For other Just Patterns makes you can check out my posts on the Tyra Tee here and the Tatjana trousers here.

Till next time

Kate xx