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Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Helen: Hello and welcome to Love To Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew and it’s essentially all we wanna talk about.

Caroline: We each sewed an eyelet garment and now we’re gonna tell each other about it for the first time. We discuss our fabric choices, pattern choices, sewing experiences, and lots more.

Helen: If you love to sew, this is your show.

Caroline: Ooh, Helen!

Helen: I know. I’m so excited. I feel like this new format is just blowing up, exploding.

Caroline: I know! In my, in my mind it is. I really had fun recording…well, actually, wait, I shouldn’t say I had fun because I think I had a whole, I went on a whole emotional journey in the last episode.

Helen: You had a transformative experience.

Caroline: I did. But it was really fun to try out a new format and fun to get our audience reaction and people seemed to love it.

Caroline: And then we both, like, listened back to the episode and enjoyed it. And then we had a conversation where we were like, “Maybe the whole podcast should just be this,” which it won’t be. That would be too much work. But it was really fun.

Helen: We love our other formats, too, but the sewing something and then revealing it to each other has been a lot of fun, and that’s what we’re gonna do today with eyelet. And we’re so pumped.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: But first we wanna do a quick little reminder that the best way to support us is by supporting us over on Patreon or Apple Podcasts.

Helen: You can join us over there and get access to bonus content every month. We have so much fun catching up with you all on those more casual bonus episodes. We actually talk a lot about what we’re sewing over there, so that’s always fun. And it really means a lot to us if you’re able to support us, even if it’s just for a month or two.

Caroline: Yeah. And if that’s not in the cards for you right now, we totally get it. We appreciate so much that you’re listening right now and cheering us on. That is absolutely enough for us.

Helen: Yeah. Okay, Caroline, I feel like maybe we need to do a little update about our skorts from our last episode because we got so many lovely comments when we shared them online, especially yours, because you were on the fence about it. People are loving your skort. So how are you feeling about it now?

Caroline: I did wanna give an update because I feel like I was sharing some, like, more difficult parts of my sewing process in that episode. And it was a while back, like, I’ve had a little bit of time to process, and I will say, that skort was in a time out for a while. But I had to pull it back out when we were gonna release the episode and I wanted to get some content and film it. And so I tried it on again and I kind of came around to it, in a way. I don’t know if it’s gonna be, like, my go-to summer garment, but I was really focused on the fact that it was too short, and then when I put it on again with, like, a different outfit and like a longer top, I ended up wearing it with a Nicole Top for the content that I made for Instagram, and I just kind of wore it lower in my hips. It was, like, loose enough that I could sort of, like, pull it down a little bit and not wear it as much on my natural waist. And obviously, that made it longer and that did make a difference for me in the way that I, it looked like just that extra, like, inch or inch and a half really impacted how I felt in my body in that skirt. So, lesson would be, I guess, it would’ve been good to lengthen it, but also maybe try it on with some different outfits.

Helen: Styling is everything.

Caroline: Yeah, exactly. Styling is everything. I’m feeling better about it and I liked the way I looked in it when I was taking those videos and, and pictures and stuff for the pod. So I’m feeling good about it. And it was definitely a learning lesson. And I just wanna say thank you to all the listeners who just came out and said that they related and gave me compliments and really lifted me up when I wasn’t feeling amazing. And I’m just glad that it resonated with some of you folks and, yeah. Thank you. And it was really fun to read the comments. And your skort got some great responses, as well.

Helen: Oh, I know. Everybody is loving them. I know. It was so fun to share the finished versions with the listeners, too. And I’m really pumped to share the eyelets, as well, ’cause I have a feeling we made some pretty cool things.

Caroline: Yes, yes, totally. I cannot wait. Actually, while I was sewing my eyelet garment, I was pretty thrilled just thinking about the idea of revealing it to you and also discovering what you made.

Helen: This is a new form of motivation we didn’t even know existed.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I love it.

Caroline: Okay. I wanna share a little bit of listener feedback before we get into the eyelet chat. So this is feedback about our episode with Sewstine, and this is from Sophia. “Thank you for your podcast and for the really interesting episode with Christine Millar. I know how much work it is to make podcast episodes and yours are so carefully made and edited and researched. Christine Millar mentioned an unspoken rule in historical costume making about avoiding the 1860s. I live in Memphis, Tennessee, where the Ku Klux Klan has rallied in my memory and sometimes in historical costumes, so I understand how avoiding this time period can relate to one’s social values. But just two days ago I heard from four historians about Anna Murray Douglass, who made and cared for her husband Frederick Douglass’s clothing as he went on abolition speaking tours in Scotland in 1847-8 and 1859-60. Sir Isaac Julien’s installation “Lessons of the Hour” actually highlights her historical labour, mixing in careful shots of an actor playing Anna Murray Douglass sewing a bright blue coat on a hand-cranked machine before he goes to speak in Scotland. Frederick Douglass was the most photographed person in the world in his lifetime. The role of photography, and what one wore in one’s portraits, occupies central space in theory produced by African American thinkers. One more anecdote – Dr. Earnestine Jenkins showed a photo from her own collection of a young woman in Memphis just after the Civil War. She had the means to have her portrait taken at a studio run by white photographers. In it she reclines in a tailored, checked dress with complicated seams down the front. She likely engineered it well from an older garment and cared for it with small repairs. She was skilled and showed off! There’s room for historical costume sewers to experiment and repair the costumes they make, honouring talented Black sewists from the 1860s.”

Helen: Ooh! Hi, Sophia! Thank you so much for this incredibly thoughtful email and the education that you provided us. This is such a great point. Even in time periods like the mid-19th century where there was a lot of horrible stuff going on, there are heroes like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman that we can admire, plus a ton of unnamed people who were doing good in the world and making incredible things. The resources you shared are really wonderful. So we’ll make sure to link up Isaac Julian’s website; a short film of “Lessons of the Hour,” made in collaboration with the Edinburgh Art Festival; and some of Earnestine Jenkins’ amazing photograph collection. You definitely wanna have a look at that. It’s so cool. We also wanted to mention Cheyney McKnight, aka @NotYourMommasHistory on Instagram, a public historian and sewist who teaches a lot about the 19th century. Go follow her. She’s so cool. Add a little bit of historical sewing knowledge to your sewing practice.

Caroline: Yes, absolutely. Okay. Are we gonna move on, Helen?

Helen: Yes. I can’t wait.

Caroline: Okay. So this is our second ever “We Sew” episode. I feel like there are gonna be many more in the future. But this one is extra exciting because it’s more fabric-focused. The last one was garment-focused; this one is fabric-focused.

Helen: Yes. And so, in this episode, we’re going to be making projects using eyelet. And we wanna describe eyelet fabric for our listeners who might not be familiar with this: eyelet is a lightweight woven fabric that’s typically made out of cotton. It has a pattern of small holes that are bound by buttonhole stitches. Eyelet is also known as cutwork, or, oh, Caroline, I always mess this up. Let me try. Oh, no. Okay. Sorry.

Caroline: Oh wait. No, you try. You try.

Helen: Okay. Broderie anglaise. Okay, good. Yay. Classic eyelets are made of white fabric, but there are some really beautiful coloured versions you can buy, too. Uh-huh. There are. It’s true. I know.

Caroline: Spoiler alert.

Helen: Spoiler alert. There are little holes in the fabric, as I mentioned. And because the base fabric might be a bit sheer, people often choose to line eyelet garments or wear a slip underneath them. It’s really fun to play with the transparency, too. And eyelet fabrics have great dimension and texture. They are a classic choice for warm-weather clothing. So, summer, here we come!

Caroline: Yes, perfect timing. Ooh, I have a fun fact because another spoiler is that we designed a custom eyelet collection at Blackbird this year, and through that we learned that, when you’re manufacturing eyelet, the bigger the hole, the more expensive the fabric.

Helen: What? But you’re getting rid of fabric. No, that kind of makes sense. Is that ’cause there’s more thread involved, or?

Caroline: Yeah, I think so. Maybe harder to keep it stable. ‘Cause the more holes, the more, like, shifty things get. I’m not really sure the reasoning, to be honest, but we just were told that: big holes, big money.

Helen: Big holes, big money. Yeah, I’m curious about that. ‘Cause I feel like if you’d told me the opposite, you know, the smaller the holes, the more expensive, I would’ve been like, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: So who knows?

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yeah. And I mean, obviously you don’t want huge holes on your eyelet. Either way.

Helen: No, it does make it more difficult. Do you wanna tell us a bit more about the Blackbird Collection? I wanna hear about it.

Caroline: Yes! Okay. It’s actually dropping today, so you can go to the website and check it out. But we really wanted to do some really fun, kind of different eyelets in fun colours. So, eyelets often are available in just kind of classic colours. We’ve seen some fun, bright colours, but I don’t know. We’ve always had trouble finding, like, just the right ones that we like for our store. So we thought it’d be fun to design them. And I think the timing is good ’cause I feel like eyelet and broderie anglaise is having, like, a moment right now. So there are a few different designs and each of them come in a few different colours. And then we also have an eyelet trim that we’re bringing in, in white. So if you got, like, a white eyelet, you can use the trim to finish off the edges. And then it also, all of these eyelets come with a matching cotton voile. Like, we have the same color palette in a cotton voile so you can get matching lining for the eyelet. And it’s a really beautiful, soft cotton voile. It’s not too stiff. And I did use one of these fabrics for my make and I’m really excited for you to see it. And I loved working with it. So I’m hoping that everyone likes these eyelets as much as we do.

Helen: I love them. I didn’t, I didn’t get to use one for my project. I used something else ’cause it wasn’t available yet, but I’m so excited about them. Especially the, like, windowpane one. You have one that’s like a bunch of squares and it looks kind of like a window and it’s just, like, so gorgeous. It’s like eyelet without the, like, super floral-y style.

Caroline: Mm-hmm. Yeah. A bit more geometric. Well, very much more geometric.

Helen: Yeah. Sharp angles. Yeah. It’s so cool.

Caroline: Yes, it was definitely cutting it really close. This collection was delayed a couple times and I actually got the fabric in my hands one week ago to make this garment. So, not to say that I would’ve started earlier anyways, ’cause you know I love sewing last minute. But it was touch-and-go there.

Helen: Well, I’m glad it all worked out. Do you have any prior experience sewing eyelet? ‘Cause you guys have carried it before, I believe, right?

Caroline: Yeah. I was, like, trying to think of the eyelet projects that I’ve done. ‘Cause I’m gonna talk about two here, but I feel like I’ve done more. I just can’t really remember. But I did make an eyelet dress for my sister about 10 years ago, maybe a little bit over 10 years ago. It was the Chantilly Dress, which was from Colette Patterns, which is now Seamwork. Formerly Colette. Very, like, feminine, ruching around the chest and, like, gathered skirt. Very, very cute. And I can dig up some pictures. I know I have pictures of that dress. And I think I still have it, actually. It has a hole in it that I need to repair and it’s been sitting in my sewing room for years, so I should really get to that.

Caroline: But then last summer I also made a Selina Skirt hack in a white eyelet that I’ve been wearing a ton. I love it so much. So yeah, big fan of eyelet. Would love to make more eyelet things. I’m very inspired. I’m sure you’re gonna inspire me, too. So I feel like I see more eyelet in my future, even beyond the project that we’re gonna talk about today.

Helen: Yeah, it is pretty fun to work with. I haven’t made very many eyelet things. The only thing I could think of was a black Reynolds Top that I made when we did the pattern release for that pattern. And I didn’t line it or anything, so it was kind of like a sheer moment. And I really liked it, but I ended up parting with it recently ’cause it was too small, so I consigned it. But it was really cute and I do think a little pop of eyelet in the form of, like, a cute tank top is a nice way to dabble. You don’t have to make, you know, a full on cottagecore gown, you know?

Caroline: Wait, is that a clue, Helen?

Helen: No! I went so over the top of this project. Just you wait.

Caroline: Oh my God, I’m so excited. This is thrilling.

Helen: Thrilling stuff.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Okay. Who should go first? Who should go first?

Helen: I don’t know!

Caroline: Wait, are we gonna guess what each other made?

Helen: Oh yeah, we wanted to do that. Okay, so I’m picturing…why don’t you go first.

Caroline: Okay.

Helen: So I’ll guess for you.

Caroline: Okay. Well, I kind of know the fabric that you used because you spoiled it because you were telling us about it in one of our podcast meetings.

Helen: I know, It was early days. Literally the moment we were deciding that we were gonna do eyelet, I was like, “I know what fabric I’m gonna use.”

Caroline: But actually, to be honest, I know it’s a melon-coloured eyelet, but in my mind I’m, like, kind of mixed up because I think I originally thought it was gonna be orange-y, but then maybe it’s more of a green melon. But maybe it’s orange. I don’t know. So this’ll be a surprise either way. ‘Cause I don’t actually remember what melon colour.

Helen: It’s one of the melons. It could be watermelon.

Caroline: It’s, it could be, it could be watermelon. No, I think you went dress. I think you went dress with it. I think you leaned in and needed full melon dress.

Helen: A melon dress. Well you can have a look at my video that I sent you now and I will describe it. Let me know when you hit play.

Caroline: Oh my God. Hold on. I’m so excited. Ahh! Oh my gosh. Okay, hold on. I’m looking at the…oh, wow.

Helen: Okay, so I made the True Bias Lora Dress, which I think came out a year, maybe two years ago. And when it came out, I was jaw-on-the-floor about this design. I absolutely love this dress. I’ve been meaning to make it since it came out. It’s, like, just kind of a dream dress for me. I love the silhouette. I just know it’s perfect for me. And it comes with a sleeved option, and the sleeves are incredible and would’ve looked great in the eyelet, but I felt like they would be, in this colour, a little bit much. So I did the sleeveless view. It has spaghetti straps, it has an empire waist, beautiful gathering under the bust. It has a straight skirt, kind of a fitted silhouette, and it’s got the cutest little buttons and button loops down the front. It’s very, like, dainty and sweet, pretty and springy and romantic. I chose an incredibly bold colour for this. It’s, like, the green melon. It is the honeydew. It is like neon honeydew. And I’m so into the colour. I think it looks really great with my kind of pale complexion and my dark hair. Something about this colour, I’m always drawn to it and I don’t see it very often in fabric. So when we decided to do the eyelet episode, I was like, “I have been passing by this eyelet fabric at Fabricland.” Every time I go there, I’m like, “Oh, that melon eyelet just calling my name,” but I didn’t have a reason to buy it. And then when you suggested we do eyelet for this episode, I was like, “I can finally go get the melon eyelet!”

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: And I was so excited. So that’s what I did.

Caroline: Oh my gosh, it’s so cute. First of all, the pattern fits you so well.

Helen: I know, right?

Caroline: Like, it’s quite fitted around the bust and under the bust, and it’s just perfect on you. So I’m really excited to hear if you made a muslin and how all of that process went. But no, I do, I love the colour on you. It’s not as, I don’t know why I was imagining, like, more volume.

Helen: Mmhmm. Like, extra. I did say it was, like, over the top, but I feel like it’s over the top in this, like, dainty, feminine way. That’s not my typical style, you know?

Caroline: Yeah. And it’s quite a sleek silhouette. Like, really simple, which I think really lets the eyelet shine. Did you get, like, a matching lining or…? Wow. So they sold, they were selling the same colour of, like, plain cotton?

Helen: No, they were not.

Caroline: Oh, okay. Wait, okay. I need more information.

Helen: So what I decided to do, because this color is not a color you see very often, and I, I thought about lining it with white or even black, like, something to, like, make the eyelet pop. ‘Cause you can do that with eyelet, right? You don’t have to do matching. You could do contrast and then you end up with some cool duo tone kind of effects. But I thought lining it with a matching green would be ideal. So what I ended up doing was matching it to my Art Gallery Fabrics quilting wall, ’cause I have all the chips on, like, little magnets on my wall.

Caroline: Helen, that’s so smart.

Helen: I know, right? I was like, “Oh, I can just pick one.” So I end up going with, I think it’s called Pistachio. And I ordered a bunch of it online from my quilting store that I like ordering from, Peace Fabric Co. over in Alberta, and it’s a perfect match. So that was really great. And Art Gallery lawns, they’re a little bit lighter than quilting cotton. They’re not quite as stiff as your average quilting cotton because they are lawns. So they have a little bit more of a luster and a little bit more drape. It’s still a bit stiff. Like, ideally it would’ve been a voile or something like that. But I think, like, in a pinch, it was kind of the perfect option for me.

Caroline: Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Yeah, it looks so good. Honestly, I am surprised. It’s not what I was expecting, but I love it. I love it so much. Wow.

Helen: I think it’s the perfect wedding guest dress.

Caroline: Totally. Oh my gosh. Like, a summer garden wedding? Gorgeous. Yes. Okay. Helen, are you ready to look at mine?

Helen: I am so ready. Okay. Wait. But first I have to guess what you made.

Caroline: Oh, yeah. Okay.

Helen: Oh, I’ve seen the collection, but I don’t know which one you chose. I think you told me which one you were gonna choose. Maybe it was the red one. I think it’s the red one. And I think you made a matching set. I think you made, like, a elastic waist skirt with some gathering, and I think you made, like, a kind of billowy peasant top to go with it. And so it’s, like, matching, but you could wear it as separates. So that’s my guess.

Caroline: Okay. Okay.

Helen: I’m so excited. Okay, hold on. Let me get, pull up your video. It is the red one! It is a peasant top! Oh my god, it’s so pretty. Oh, okay. Wait, what pattern is this?

Caroline: It’s a hack.

Helen: Oh, fun.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. I’ll tell you about it.

Helen: Oh my gosh. It’s so cute. Yeah, it’s got, like, these gorgeous gathers along the bust and then the arms. Oh, this looks so good. Are you thrilled with this?

Caroline: I am so happy with it. I love it. Okay, so you guessed basically halfway right? Or, like, two thirds of the way right. ‘Cause I did use the red and I did make a billowy, kind of, peasant-y top. It’s the red from our new collection and then matching cotton voile. The red just spoke to me. I was originally gonna use, we had, like, a darker kind of, like, purple-y brown, but then when we got the fabrics in and I kind of knew the direction I wanted to go pattern-wise, I was like, “I think red is, is the move.” And I also could really imagine wearing it on my vacation this summer. So I went with that. So this is a heavily, heavily hacked Sundaze Dress from Les Perlines. So, do you remember I made this for our friend’s wedding two summers ago? It’s, like, a puff sleeve dress with, like, gathering around the bust and a keyhole neck opening. So I went in that direction, but instead of having it be a dress, I just extended the, like, top part down so it’s more of a top. And then I had to change the back because the back sort of had shirring that led into the skirt and I didn’t wanna do that. So I changed that. I, like, extended the back to be a little bit wider. And then I put an elastic into the back neck line to, like, cinch it all in. I knew I wanted it to be, like, really loose and billowy and, like, a little bit cropped. And I added, instead of having the ties extend over the shoulders and to the front, I had, I had an elastic over the shoulders. So it felt, like, a little bit more snug, I guess. And then the elastic attaches to a tie that ties in the front. So it’s all, like, in this casing over the shoulders in the front. But anyways, I can get more into that. I feel like I’m getting too technical right now.

Helen: No, it’s so cute.

Caroline: But I also wanna say that I was super inspired by Antonella, who is @AntoTheArtist on Instagram. She shared a top out of our gingham linen that is very similar to this, and I totally fell in love, but it’s self drafted. So my brain was just, like, spinning, trying to figure out, like, “I don’t really wanna completely self-draft. Can I hack a pattern that I have to make it similar?” And I was kind of, like, doing a little bit of browsing and I ended up on the Les Perlines website because Sarah just does such a great job with this sort of style of, like, really feminine, gathered, puff sleeve, like, tied kind of garments. So I, I felt like she would have something that I could work with. And it turns out, I own the pattern already. And I did reach out to Antonella to let her know that I was gonna be doing this and got her blessing to mention her on the show and stuff.

Helen: Oh, that’s sweet.

Caroline: But yes, it’s, it turned out really, really well. And I’ll, maybe I’ll send you the picture of her top, hold on a second, so you can see.

Helen: Yeah, I’d like to see that. It’s really cute. I like how, in the video, you’re showing that it can be worn with the puff sleeves more up on the shoulders. Or you could kind of pull it down if you want, like an off-the-shoulder look.

Caroline: Yes. That was kind of, like, a surprise bonus because I put the elastic in the shoulder. Once I tried it on, I was like, “Oh, what if I could wear this as like a little off-the-shoulder moment? And it worked really well.

Helen: Yeah. Oh, this is really cute.

Caroline: Yeah, it’s cute, right?

Helen: Yeah. I love this. Mmhmm. Yeah. Hers has, like, a little back tie, too. I like that detail.

Caroline: Which I was originally thinking of doing, but then it stayed on really nicely without it, and I felt like that would’ve interfered with my ability to have it, like, off the shoulder. So I went with just no tie in the back.

Helen: Yeah, this red looks fantastic on you. It’s not, like, fire engine, but it’s also not, like, wine. It’s, like, in between. It’s like a rich, juicy red, you know?

Caroline: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It’s not an orange-y red. It’s more of like a cool tone red, but it’s still pretty bright. I’m really happy with it. I know I’m gonna wear a ton.

Helen: It’s fantastic. You should be, this will look so cute on your trip. It’s perfect. It’s perfect.

Caroline: Yay! Okay. We did the big reveal.

Helen: Are you gonna make a matching skirt now? As, as per my idea?

Caroline: Honestly, that is a really cute idea. I don’t think so, right now.

Helen: It would be a lot. It would look almost like, I don’t know. Like, it’d have, like, a flamenco vibe.

Caroline: I know. I was gonna say, it’s, it’s like that dancing emoji. Like, I’d be like, I would be the dancing emoji.

Helen: Nothing wrong with that.

Caroline: No. Oh my gosh. Okay. Well, I think we both did really good with this challenge.

Helen: I know, I’m so proud of us. Yeah. I really had a lot of fun with this one. Definitely got outta my comfort zone a little bit with my sewing, so that was cool.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. Can you tell me about your actual experience sewing it up? Did you make a muslin? Did you have to do any fit adjustments? What was that like?

Helen: Yeah, so I did make a muslin because, you know me.

Caroline: Of course.

Helen: And it’s a fitted dress. So with, like, the bust fit, I didn’t wanna end up with anything, like, that didn’t fit well in the front. So I did whip up a quick little muslin and, lo and behold, it fit like a dream. Just, like, one of those sewing moments where I’m like, “Ugh. The sewing gods are smiling down upon me. They’ve blessed me with the perfect fit. I’m so grateful.” And, I mean, Kelly at True Bias, their patterns fit me really well, and I knew that, but it’s been a minute since I made a True Bias pattern. So it was fun to come back and make one of her patterns again and be reminded of how well-drafted they are. It was so good.

Caroline: I feel like Kelly’s patterns are kind of magical, ’cause they often fit me right out of the quote-unquote envelope, and I don’t know how she does it.

Helen: She is good. She is real good.

Caroline: Yeah, she is really good at drafting.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: The only things I did was: I took in the back darts on the skirt a little bit and the back bodice to match, just to get a little bit of a better fit at the mid-back. But other than that, I didn’t make any changes. I decided not to lengthen it. Even though I didn’t lengthen the muslin for my height, but when I tried on the muslin, I was like, “I like this length.” So I just left it as-is. But yeah, the drafting was spot-on for me, so that was really fun. And the only other changes I made during the sewing was that she has you interface both the outer fabric and the lining on the bodice, which makes sense. But, of course, working with the eyelet, interfacing can become a bit tricky, because there’s holes, so you don’t want, like, glue interfacing showing.

Helen: So I just interfaced the cotton lawn underneath. And I used a white interfacing. And I applied it all and then I realized, oh, because of the hole…again with the holes. Like, this interfacing’s going to show through because I don’t want the, like, the interfacings not gonna be facing my skin. It’s gonna be facing out. And it was one of those moments where I’m, like, trying to, like, A Beautiful Mind it. I’m like, “Which direction is which? And where? What’s going where?”

Caroline: And you’re like, “Is there a way I can make this work?”

Helen: Yeah. And then, ultimately, I was just like, I laid the eyelet over the interfaced piece, and I was like, “Oh, it’s fine. Like, if anything, it just sort of accents the edge and you can’t even really see it.” So I just decided to go with it. So if you look really closely, you can see. I think you’d have to be, like, literally about to motorboat me to see the interfacing.

Caroline: Wait, where is the interfacing? I can’t even see it. It looks green.

Helen: Yeah, it’s, like, along the whole edge of the bust pieces and then down the whole center front.

Caroline: Oh, I see. Okay. Yes, yes, yes.

Helen: You can see it’s, like, just a slight little bit, like, brighter.

Caroline: Mmhmm.

Helen: But like, you would not notice it if I didn’t tell you it was there, you know?

Caroline: Yeah. No, no. Totally. Like, no one’s gonna be zooming in on your boobs this close, you know?

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Yeah. No, it’s, I wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t pointed it out. Awesome.

Helen: Yeah, that was the only moment where I was like, “Oh, I have not thought this through. Oh no, I made a terrible mistake.” Oh, and then also, the Lora Dress has the lined bodice, but doesn’t have a lined skirt. So I did extend, I basically just made two skirts. Then I just treated one as the lining and one as the outer. And so I did end up adding a skirt lining, which wasn’t hard to do, ’cause there’s a facing down the front already. So I just sort of followed the construction as instructed, but with the lining as a part of it.

Caroline: And where does the lining, does it go all the way down to the hem?

Helen: Yeah. And so then I had to decide if I was gonna hem them separately or together. It’s better to hem separately because they could drape differently and the fabric will hang better. But I hemmed mine together because it was sewn in as the front facing, it was already fully attached all the way to the hem along the center front. So then I basically just made the decision that I didn’t care that much and hemmed them together.

Caroline: Yeah, I had this same beautiful mind moment with my wedding dress ’cause it’s a very similar construction to this down the front. And I remember getting to the bottom and being like, “How am I going to…” I wanted to hem them separately and I, like, I don’t remember what I did, but I figured something out. But it took a lot of, you know, it took a lot of brain power.

Helen: I probably should have, and if, over time, I what I, my thought process was like, “I’m going to do it together and then I’m gonna wear it and wash it and, like, live with it. And if I hate it because it’s like bubbling and hanging differently and it looks weird, I will just unpick the hem and I’ll do something else.”

Caroline: Yeah, totally. Yeah, I think that’s a good call.

Helen: Yeah. I mean, I will admit that it was kind of borne out of laziness.

Caroline: You know what? No judgment from me.

Helen: Yeah. I’m like, “I’m finishing this dress today and I don’t have time for this.” Okay. How about you? How was your fit process?

Caroline: Okay. So I had a dress that I had already made out of this pattern. I tried it on again to make sure it’s still fit, and then I was like, “This is good enough.”

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Which, I know, was a risk, because this was very hacked. Like, I extended the sleeves, I extended the bodice pieces. The back of the dress, I sort of put the two back pieces together into one. And then I extended those and I made them wider. Like, I made quite a few adjustments, and going into sewing it, I didn’t exactly know how it was gonna come together, so I just, like, looked at the instructions and I was like, “I’m just gonna take this one step at a time and, like, I know this is gonna come together. It’s gonna be fine.” So I think it was like a bit of a risk to hack this pattern so heavily and not make a muslin, but like, I had a week and I am who I am, so.

Helen: Yeah, you, you sew how you sew.

Caroline: Yeah. And I had a really similar experience to you with this, with, for me, it was more seam finishes, because there were parts where the lining attaches to the outer bodice and you had to sort of like trim the seams and grade the seams or, like, cut into the curves to, like, kind of make everything lay flat. But I was like, “This is gonna be somewhat exposed.” ‘Cause you’ll see the seam through the eyelet holes, even though the holes are really small. And I was worried that, over time, if I didn’t finish the seam allowance…’cause normally if it’s just, like, inside, you don’t really have to finish the seam allowance. And even if it frays a little bit, it’s all, like, hidden, right? But I knew that if I washed it, it would probably fray and the seam allowance would, like, knot up. So I was like, “I know I need to finish this somehow.” So I ended up clipping the parts that needed to be clipped and then running them through my serger.

Helen: Mm. Yeah.

Caroline: And when I ran them through my serger, I, like, made sure to, like, separate them a little bit, like each little chunk of fabric, so that it had some movement there. And then at least I know that I can, like, wash it and it won’t fray. For the most part, it didn’t finish, like, the little clipped parts, you know, like, the part that touches the stitch line or almost touches the stitch line. That part’s not finished, but I feel like there’s enough of the seam lines finished that it should be fine and I feel comfortable, like, washing it and, but it did, for a moment, I was like, “Oh, how am I gonna do this and make it look good?”

Helen: That’s a great tip, though, for underarms, especially, have that issue. Typically, when you go to serge them, especially if you’re not cutting off a lot when you’re serging, if you like to leave more seam allowance, it’s nice to clip in and spread them out and then serge along that clipped seam so you have movement.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah. The other thing I fiddled with, which I kind of alluded to earlier, was I knew, like, the original pattern had shirring in the back and then, it’s kind of unique, you have to, like, see it to understand. But, like, there was a tie that went from like the back neckline over the shoulder and then through the front neckline. And then you sort of, like, gather up the fabric and you distribute that to make it sit where you want it to sit. So it’s, like, kind of a little bit convertible, which is nice. And it can grow or shrink with you however you wanna wear it. But I wanted to have elastic in the shoulder, but then the tie in the front. So I sewed, like, a length of elastic to a tie so it was connected, but I inserted the elastic over, like, into the seam allowance where the back shoulder meets the back neck line. And then, yeah, so the elastic kind of went through that casing and then it sort of, like, changed to a tie in the front. So it makes it kind of, like, stretchy and sits really nicely on the shoulder. And I was a little bit worried. There’s also elastic in the hem of the sleeves. I was a little worried, ’cause I only had black or white elastic, that that would show through the eyelet. Because it’s sort of, like, inserted in between the eyelet and the lining. But I ended up going with black, truly ’cause that’s what I had enough of.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: And it’s fine. I don’t think it shows, I think, like, the holes are small enough and it’s gathered up enough that it’s not noticeable. So it, that ended up being fine. I was, like, worried it would be really obvious, but it wasn’t. So that worked out. Yeah.

Helen: Cool. Yeah, that’s kind of like me with my interfacing, too.

Caroline: Yeah. Yeah, totally.

Helen: Yeah, seam finishes are interesting with eyelet, for sure. Like, I think people do tend to do French seams. Like, you kind of wanna keep it tidy on the inside because it will be visible and also just to strengthen it.

Caroline: Yeah. And, like, you could underline, depending on the garment. Let’s say you’re doing something, like, really fitted. You could underline all of the eyelet pieces, but it would add quite a bit of structure, right? So, like, say if you didn’t wanna worry about the interfacing, I think you could have underlined all of your eyelet pieces and then lined it as well. But that would have been three layers of fabric.

Helen: I know, right? Yeah. That would work if you, yeah, if you were doing something really structured.

Caroline: Yeah. Again, that’s kind of what I did for my wedding dress, which, duh. I actually used eyelet on my wedding dress, so.

Helen: Oh, there you go. That’s a big one.

Caroline: That’s another eyelet project. That’s what it was. Dur. But yeah, I think that’s what I did in my wedding dress. I, like, underlined all the pieces and then also lined.

Helen: Also lined. Yeah, that would be a really nice finish. Yeah. How did you find sewing the eyelet?

Caroline: Okay. I didn’t find it tricky at all, but I think it’s because my particular eyelet had really small holes. And so it was really easy to work with. It didn’t feel tricky. But I know other eyelets with bigger holes, it’s, like, a little bit humpier, you know? Like, when you’re sewing through, it’s like, dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun.

Helen: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mine was definitely more like that. Like, the holes aren’t huge by any means, but I think they are bigger than the ones on yours. There’s, like, some big circles. Mine’s kind of, like, I didn’t really describe it, but it’s like circles and leaves, I think is what it’s like. Fronds and circles. There’s no flowers. I don’t know what the circles are supposed to be. Just circles, I guess. But because of those big holes, it was definitely awkward at times. Like, the edges would pucker as I sewed them because as soon as the machine was not stitching on anything, it would start, like, gathering up a little bit. So I was having some issues with that. And then, like, stay stitching, for example. Like, anything on a single layer, it was like, “No, I don’t like this.”

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: And then also, the bumps and holes can make it hard to maintain a consistent seam allowance. So that can feel a bit frustrating. Like, you’re used to being able to sew straight and then, all of a sudden, the eyelet sort of, like, it’s like driving over like a poorly paved road, you know? You’re like, “Whoa!”

Caroline: “There’s potholes every centimeter!”

Helen: Exactly. But it’s also cotton, so it does press well and it’s pretty easy to handle in that regard. So there’s some benefits and drawbacks, for sure. But I think if you’re nervous about sewing eyelet, definitely go smaller holes and you’ll be totally fine.

Caroline: Yeah, totally. So did you finish most of your seams with a serger, or how did you?

Helen: I actually didn’t, and maybe I’ll regret that. Listening to you talk about how they’re gonna unravel, I was like, “Hmm.” Because I decided to, like, fully enclose the inside of mine. I just left all the seams, like, I just pressed them open and I left them raw. So we’ll see how that goes.

Caroline: Okay. Well, maybe we’ll get an update next season.

Helen: Yeah, I don’t think it’s gonna be a heavily worn item of clothing. This is, like, a occasion dress, you know? I’d like to try styling it for more casual. Like, it’s definitely giving wedding guest attire. It could be giving garden party or, like, barbecue.

Caroline: Yeah, I was gonna say, I could see you, like, having lunch on a patio this summer in this dress, you know?

Helen: Yeah, right? With the right styling? I think it’s just, that melon colour feels very wedding to me for some reason. But I do wanna wear it just as, like, a casual eyelet summer dress. But the bust fit is very, like, “Look at my chest.” So there’s also that element to it, where it’s like, how presenting do I wanna be, you know?

Caroline: Yeah, this is…okay, so I was gonna ask you, like, do you feel like you went out of your style comfort zone with this make?

Helen: Yes and no. It’s definitely a bit more feminine and fancier than I usually go for. And it’s out of my sewing comfort zone, for sure, because I don’t tend to choose projects that are complex like this. I love a quick sew. That’s, like, why all of my patterns are pretty straightforward. I like things that are a little bit more casual, everyday wearable. I am not getting super dressed up a lot, so I don’t tend to go for things like this, especially when I’m sewing. Like, I was quite intimidated by this project. I’m like, there’s the bust pieces and gathering and then there’s, like, these little loops down the center with little buttons and all these like kind of fiddly details that I don’t tend to gravitate towards with my sewing. So in that regard, it was definitely outside of my comfort zone. And then, style-wise, yeah, it’s just a little bit more dressy than I usually go for on the day-to-day. But you know I love a spaghetti strap. I love a tank top. And I like a dress, you know, I definitely wear lots of dresses, so it’s adjacent, for sure. It’s in my wheelhouse.

Caroline: Yeah. It feels kind of similar, in some ways, to the other True Bias pattern that you’ve made, that you wore it to Frocktails with, like, the wrap.

Helen: Oh, the Calvin? Yeah.

Caroline: The Calvin Wrap Dress. ‘Cause it’s got a similar sort of, like, busty, like…

Helen: A V.

Caroline: Yeah. Like, a presenting…

Helen: A presenting bust?

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I literally never heard that before. I don’t know why I said it like that, but.

Caroline: It really works, though. I was, like, painting a picture. I present to you: my breasts.

Helen: It feels that way, for sure. And I’m relatively comfortable with that. So that’s not an issue. But it is just, like, something you think about when you’re getting dressed to go somewhere.

Caroline: Yeah. I actually feel similarly about the original Les Perlines Sundaze Dress that I made to wear to that wedding. ‘Cause it is quite boob forward, you know? And like, I remember thinking, like, “I would love to wear this to work, but it feels like a little bit much.” You know, it’s like, it’s, it’s just, like, one notch up. So I’m like, I actually think I’m gonna bring that dress on my trip this summer, but like, I’m gonna wear it to, like, dinner. You know? Not for a day of sightseeing. Yeah. We’ll see.

Helen: Yeah. Those, that style with the gathering on top of the bust and then the gathering below the bust, it really does, like, accentuate everything.

Caroline: Yeah. Totally.

Helen: Yeah. How about you? This feels pretty much in your wheelhouse, I would say.

Caroline: Yeah, yeah. It feels pretty comfy for me. I mean, I will say, the, like, puff of the sleeve is pretty intense and, like, it’s, like, very gathered and voluminous, but I guess I do wear gathered and voluminous things, so…

Helen: It kind of reminds me of your red block print top that you wear that’s very, like, ’cause it sticks out from the body and kinda has this fun movement around the waist and, yeah, it looks great on you.

Caroline: Yeah, yeah. No, I’m really happy with it and it, I can see it integrating so well into my wardrobe. I actually think it would be so cute with the white eyelet skirt that I have, paired together. So, yeah. And it looks great with…

Helen: Real Canada vibe.

Caroline: Yeah, I’ll be wearing that on Canada Day. But it looks great with jeans.

Helen: For sure.

Caroline: I think it would look really cute with, like, a little elastic waist pant in a complementary color.

Helen: I was considering a styling of my dress, like, just buttoned down to the waist and then jeans underneath the dress, like, could be kind of cool. I don’t know.

Caroline: I mean, dress over pants, that’s in, right? We didn’t talk about it in our Trends episode, but.

Helen: That’s an easy one to play around with styling.

Helen: I also think that, as I was making this, because the fit was so good, I thought it would make a really cute top. Like, you could just hack it off and sew a top, especially in the eyelet. It’s very romantic and that kind of romantic, camisole style from the aughties tops are really popular right now. And so I thought that would be a fun way to, like, play around with the trend even further and just do, like, a touch of eyelet.

Caroline: Mmhmm. Yeah, really cute.

Helen: Okay. Caroline, if you could go back in time and give yourself a piece of advice before you started sewing your garment, what would that be?

Caroline: Honestly, I wouldn’t change anything about this. I had a really fun time sewing it. It didn’t take too long. There wasn’t really anything frustrating about it. I enjoyed the, like, mystery of how this is gonna come together. Like, I knew it would work, but I didn’t know exactly how, and I really enjoyed that. So I think my advice would be like, “Forge on. You got this. Have fun.”

Helen: Yeah, I was so confused. Like, “for John.” I thought you were like, “Dear John.”

Caroline: No, no.

Helen: I’m like, who’s John?

Caroline: No, forge on, like, like, don’t, don’t worry. You, you’re, you got this. It’s not really advice, it’s more encouragement, but the peace of mind knowing that it would work out would’ve been nice. So, yeah, I don’t know. Future me telling past me, “It’s all gonna be great.”

Helen: Yeah, that’s similar to what I would say about mine, which is just that: “It’s not gonna be as hard as you think it’s gonna be.” I kind of had built this project up in my head as being a quite challenging sew and it really wasn’t. So if anyone else is interested in making the Lora dress, go for it. It’s not that hard to sew. It came together really quickly, actually. There’s lots of little, like, the little loops down the front but, you know, you just make one long loop and then you chop it up into pieces and you slap ’em on there. It’s, like, not that complicated, but I had definitely built it up in my mind as being a hard project and it wasn’t. So, yeah, that would be my advice.

Caroline: I feel like, yeah, this is like a take your own advice situation. ‘Cause it is just a series of small steps.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: I’ve heard you say this many times, Helen, like, “You can totally do it. Just break it up into small chunks.” And I feel like it is quite relatable, as a sewist, to, like, look at a garment that you’ve never made, with techniques that you’ve never tried, and feel, like, almost that paralysis of like, “Oh gosh, I have to do all these new things.” New things are hard, but they can also be really fun and satisfying. And then you have, like, a new technique in your arsenal.

Helen: It’s true. Yeah. You’re building up your experience. Totally. Yeah. Yeah, it was definitely fun to sew. I enjoyed it.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. Helen, how did you feel about eyelet before making this episode, and how do you feel about it now? Have your feelings changed?

Helen: I think my feelings have changed. I don’t think I had a strong opinion about eyelet beforehand, so I guess it’s more just that my interest in sewing with this fabric has definitely increased. I would like to make more eyelet projects in the future. And I do feel like I have more experience under my belt working with this fabric, now that I’ve done a project that includes lining and the inter, the whole interfacing situation. I have a lot more experience now, I feel like, so I’m excited to sew more eyelet in the future. How about you?

Caroline: Okay. I don’t think my feelings about eyelet have changed too much. They’ve strengthened because… I feel like I’m on The Bachelor. My feelings, I’m, I’m not just falling in love. I’m, I am in love.

Helen: What? But it’s only week five!

Caroline: I love eyelet.

Helen: Too soon!

Caroline: Uh, no, I already did really like eyelet a lot. And now I’m just, I’m even more into it and I’m really excited to work with it more. I just think it’s such a fun, exciting fabric to work with and it, it adds texture and interest and there’s just something really, like, romantic about eyelet and I think it just adds a little something something to a project. So I’m excited to work with more eyelet this summer. I already have ideas brewing, so, yeah.

Helen: Ooh, wait. Tell, say, say more.

Caroline: Ooh. Okay. Well, I wanna do our new pattern, the Daphne Top and Dress. I want to do just a simple top, like the, not with a peplum, but just the regular top version. And I think I wanna try keeping it sheer, like, keeping, I guess it’s not really sheer ’cause, you know, it depends on the size of the holes, right?

Helen: Keeping it transparent?

Caroline: Yeah, a little bit more transparent, so, not lining the main part, but then I can line the, like, yoke and the straps with the matching cotton. So I wanna try that. I’d also really love to do something in, like, a white, like a top with a white eyelet, like, very feminine, with the broderie anglaise, like, trim and, like, lots of, like, frilly gathers and something that feels, like, really a little bit out of my style comfort zone. There’s a lot of inspo from the brand Doên. I think that’s how you say it. But if you look that up there, they do a lot of this kind of, like, white and some black eyelet, really, like, girly, romantic pieces that are quite pretty and unique.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: So I want to experiment with something like that.

Helen: Ooh, that all sounds amazing.

Caroline: What about you?

Helen: I love the windowpane eyelet. So I’m probably gonna be getting that one. And I really love it in the black.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: It’s so pretty. And I feel like black eyelet has the romance, but it also has the drama. You know, it feels dark and mysterious and moody and I love that. And I’m picturing, like, a gathered elastic waist skirt with a gathered tier but, like, having the lining just be short so that it’s very sheer around the bottom. Or maybe even just wearing it with, like, black bike shorts underneath, you know? So it’s, like, sheer all the way around. Yeah, something like that is what I’m picturing in my mind for my next eyelet project. I do have another eyelet in my stash that’s like Barbie pink, but I don’t know what to do with it, so maybe I also need to figure out what to do with that one.

Caroline: That sounds really fun. I have some eyelet, like, inspo boards that we put together when we were designing our collection. Maybe I’ll send them your way if you wanna see some, like, different examples and iterations of, like, what you could do with eyelet. There’s just so many possibilities.

Helen: So many possibilities. I mean, I love your top. I wanna copy that now, too.

Caroline: Yeah, you are welcome to.

Helen: Thank you.

Caroline: Yeah, no, I’m so excited that we did this episode. I kind of wanna hear from our listeners. Well, one, let us know your eyelet sewing experience and if you have a favourite eyelet garment. If you have experience or, like, advice on seam finishes with eyelet. What did we miss? Let us know.

Helen: Yeah, tag us in your eyelet projects. If you wanna share on social this week, tag us and then we can reshare. That would be really fun.

Caroline: Yes. But I also wanna hear what you think our next “We Sew” episode should be, ’cause we have an idea for next season, but I feel like we’ll probably do more than one, so. Yeah. Let us know what you think would be fun.

Helen: Get us out of our comfort zones, too. I’m having a lot of fun exploring different styles, different fabrics, so I’m loving that element of this. So if you have something you’d really like to see Caroline and I try, let’s hear it.

Caroline: Yes, absolutely. Alright, Helen. Well, I’m gonna go dream about my next eyelet make. Gotta go.

Helen: Me too. I’ll let you go.

Caroline: Oh, okay.

Helen: Get it? Get it?

Caroline: Yeah, I get it. I get it.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Helen, at Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co. and Caroline at Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: You can support Love to Sew and get access to bonus content by subscribing on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. You even get access to the back catalog of bonus episodes. That’s over 75 hours of Love to Sew. Go to patreon.com/lovetosew or check out our podcast page on Apple Podcasts for more info.

Helen: Head to lovetosewpodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. Lots of pictures of our makes, if you wanna see those right now. If you’d like to get in touch with us, you can leave us a message at 1 (844) SEW-WHAT. That’s 1 (844) 739-9428. Or send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com. And we’re on social media. You can follow us on Instagram and Pixelfed @lovetosew.podcast and on Bluesky @lovetosewpodcast and on facebook.com/lovetosewpod.

Caroline: Thank you to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant and Jordan Moore of The Pod Cabin is our editor. And thank you for listening. We’ll talk to you next week.

Helen: Buh-bye.

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