Liesl Gibson

Good pick up and very good question.
I’ve got one cut out and ready to sew for the first time.
You’re right that the instructions differ. The cut line drawn on the pattern is certainly at the 1&1/4″ distance from the fabric edge.

I tend to follow the written instructions and never look at photographed sew alongs, but now you’ve got me…[Read more]

Hi EDB,
It’s nice to hear you have people looking out for you and time to sew!
Sleeve heads fitting into armscyes nicely is definitely a pattern designers forte. The sleeve from one pattern will almost certainly not go easily, if at all, into the armscye of another pattern.
If you’ve made the long sleeved classic shirt and the sleeve fits you…[Read more]

The “cut placket piece” referred to in step 2 is not the 1″ strip you’ve just removed from the front of the shirt.
The cut placket piece is a separate pattern piece.
Check your cutting layout. You’ll find it. It’s plenty wide enough to follow the instructions as written.

Hi Ann,
Curly knits can be a right pain.
One tip I’ve heard, but never yet resorted to trying myself, is spray starch.
I tend to pin the shoulders, centre back and centre front and then start stretching and pinning all the rest of the way around.
Use lots and lots of pins.
If you then find it scary to sew the neckband on with the serger and all…[Read more]

I notice you asked in the Facebook group too and I answered in a little more detail there.
In short, it depends entirely on whether the dress you’ve designed requires any opening in the centre back skirt.
If an opening, like a zipper, or button placket extends into the skirt panel then you need that extra seam allowance.
If not, use the inner line…[Read more]

Here it is: https://oliverands.com/community/blog/2016/08/reversible-bucket-hat-tutorial.html
The photos help to show how you get the lid set into the crown.
Good luck.

Even when you’ve got everything right, seeing hats can be tricky.
I find it helps to mark, or stitch, along the 1/2″ seam lines and make sure I’m pinning at the seam line, not trying to match up raw edges.
It also helps to pin the four quarter marks (front, back and each side) and then ease the fabric inbetween to fit.
You may also need to clip…[Read more]

Lining up the raw edges flat like that doesn’t represent what happens when you stitch. What you need to look at is the stitching lines.
With a 1/2″ seam allowance you should overlap those pattern pieces so there’s 1″ of double pattern.
Does that make the edges meet properly?
It’s a slightly curved seam, so there’ll be a little bit of angle change…[Read more]

It would be a challenge, sure. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a go!
Options to make it easier for yourself might include cutting the waist/belt section on the bias (windowpane check) or cross grain (stripe)
That gives you a bit of a visual break between the bodice and the skirt so your pattern matching across those sections doesn’t have to…[Read more]

The Saint-Germain has waist pleats, not waist darts. So you don’t really need to extend anything. If you don’t think that will work for your shape, you could try rotating the fullness of the pleat into a side bust dart. I added a dart for mine since I have a large bust.

I think “over the top” and “as it pleases them” and “with pockets” are really the only rules when it comes to sewing for two year Olds.
So, by those benchmarks your dress is a winner!

It’s possible, sure. But you won’t like it as much 😉
The back waistband with the two channels of thinner elastic has a much nicer feel with softer gathers and just wears SO much better than with one wide elastic.
Wider elastic will either be really stiff, or will be prone to folding.

As I’m typing this, I’m wearing an Everyday Skirt that I…[Read more]

I believe it’s not just the negative ease of the fabric that drives the difference. The pants have an elastic waist, so the relaxed measurement includes the elastic at rest. The waist will expand significantly when worn due to the elastic and the knit fabric.

There’s a tutorial that will show you exactly how to do that here:

how to turn a long sleeve shirt into short sleeves

Hi Cindy, the seam allowance is there on Page 2 of the Instructions: General Instructions, point 4: “Seam allowances are included in the pattern and are 1/2″ unless otherwise noted”.

All of the Oliver + S an dLiesl+ Co patterns tend to work with 1/2″ seam allowances, the main exception being knit garments which may have a 1/4″ seam allowance.…[Read more]

Ha! I love the tag you put in the collar. I’m thinking this particular shirt was made with more swear words that most!

So glad you figured out the issue, and thanks for providing an update.

Hmmmm…. I’ve made both the M and the L of the All Day Shirt and found the collar matched the neckline with notches aligning and only a ” regular” amount of easing to fit.
Is there any chance you did the same as the OP and cut the shirt on the placket line not the front cutting line? Your collar looks fine, so us the shirt too small?

Hi Nancy, the African Wax Prints that I’ve sewn with have been Vlisco which is 100% cotton base. I’ve thought of them as having the weight and thickness of a quilting cotton but the weave and quality of a Liberty lawn! Perfect party Frock fabric.
I would think that a quilting cotton collar would work fine and I doubt it will matter which fabric…[Read more]

If it’s just the shoulder width you want to change, I’d probably try a narrow shoulder adjustment on the size x-large yoke to get to to the width you need. Then you don’t have to mess with trying to get it to match up to the x-large body parts.

Do you have the Jump Rope Dress pattern? That shows the easy way to do a cuff where the sleeve has parallel sides.
Essentially a cuff is just a really deep single fold hem and then the folded edge is turned up again.
I would straighten out the sides of the sleeve to make them closer to parallel, then add a deep hem allowance with the slight angle…[Read more]