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Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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Simplicity 1803 / Handmade Wardrobe

May 22, 2019 Leave a Comment

Handmade Wardrobe: Simplicity 1803. Sometimes stash-diving results in a fun dress that teaches you a thing or two about ease and fit. Click to check out the pros and cons of making Simplicity pattern 1803, and get some practical sewing advice from Grandma while you're at it!

A flurry of sewing enthusiasm coincided with St. Patrick’s Day this year. When I was selecting fabric for a new dress, a perfectly kelly green cotton jumped right out of my fabric drawer and onto my cutting table alongside a long-stashed Simplicity pattern. (Must have been a stash leprechaun. 😉🍀) In this edition of our new Handmade Wardrobe series, we’re going to unpack Simplicity pattern 1803.

About the pattern

Handmade Wardrobe: Simplicity 1803. Sometimes stash-diving results in a fun dress that teaches you a thing or two about ease and fit. Click to check out the pros and cons of making Simplicity pattern 1803, and get some practical sewing advice from Grandma while you're at it!

Simplicity 1803 was published in sizes 4-20 (as far as I can find). Not currently for sale, I bought my copy at a local JoAnn’s in ~2011. (If you’re interested, you can find it on eBay.) At least nominally inspired by Project Runway, this pattern allows you to sew a dress with your choice of a few bodice, sleeve and finishing options. The pattern comes with an awkwardly-branded page for your “designer notes” and, as far as I can tell, sketching? Ultimately unnecessary, it’s kind of cool if you’re wanting to live the designer fantasy as you sew… from a pattern. (Not trying to be shady, but I can’t be the only one puzzled by this, right?) Anyway, there’s your choice of cap, short or no sleeve. There’s also a tie belt option, and 3 bodice variations to choose from.

The pockets

As I looked for others’ takes on Simplicity 1803, I found several standout blog and forum posts:

The Disaster Dress at Lladybird / Finished! Simplicity 1803 at Gertie’s Blog for Better Sewing / Simplicity Misses Dress 1803 at PatternReview.com / Gnome for the Holidays at Cassie Stephens

Handmade Wardrobe: Simplicity 1803. Sometimes stash-diving results in a fun dress that teaches you a thing or two about ease and fit. Click to check out the pros and cons of making Simplicity pattern 1803, and get some practical sewing advice from Grandma while you're at it!

A common note among many 1803 makers was the odd pocket placement. The skirt of this dress has two seams at the front of the dress, basically running along the top of the thigh. The pockets are placed in those seams, so your pockets are kind of just in your lap. They don’t bother me all that much, but several folks have adjusted their pocket placement because the existing placement really wasn’t for them.

Handmade Wardrobe: Simplicity 1803. Sometimes stash-diving results in a fun dress that teaches you a thing or two about ease and fit. Click to check out the pros and cons of making Simplicity pattern 1803, and get some practical sewing advice from Grandma while you're at it!
Done is better than perfect. ;)

Ease-y Street

For a dress that should definitely be fairly fitted in the bodice, it weirdly has a lot of positive ease (extra room). My bust measures 37″, putting me very often between the available 36″ or 38″ sizes. I was feeling lucky, so without realizing there was a lot of positive ease built in, I lucked into a pretty well-fitting dress throughout my torso. This was the first start-to-finish dress I’d sewed in 10 months, so I dove right in. I didn’t adjust the pattern during the cutting process, and didn’t worry about pattern matching. The former meant that my finished dress is a little big in the shoulders, as all of my ready to wear clothes are. The latter ended up being no big deal.

Handmade Wardrobe: Simplicity 1803. Sometimes stash-diving results in a fun dress that teaches you a thing or two about ease and fit. Click to check out the pros and cons of making Simplicity pattern 1803, and get some practical sewing advice from Grandma while you're at it!

Grandma’s practical school for fit-fretters

I brought this dress with me to my grandmother’s on a recent visit to celebrate her 90th birthday. (This is the grandmother who taught me to knit, earning her an extra-special place in my heart.) She’s an experienced garment sewist and has always been petite. When I showed her this make, and my concerns about how/where to take it in, she grabbed two pins off her dresser and said, “Turn around.” Reaching up from her 4’10” vantage point, she pinned it up for me at the back of each shoulder in about 3 minutes flat. I asked Grandma if I’d have to take apart the whole shoulder/sleeve, add a seam to the bodice, and remake the sleeves, and she responded, “Heavens, no!” “Well Grandma, what do you think of this not-so-invisible zipper?” “I wouldn’t worry about that, Heidi.” This was followed by the most delightful speech about not ripping apart perfectly acceptable work and the importance of something being done rather than perfect.

Anyone who knows me well will read about this interaction and laugh because it’s something I almost always need to hear. With any luck, I too will become wise about where to spend my making time by the time I turn 90. ☺️

Handmade Wardrobe: Simplicity 1803. Sometimes stash-diving results in a fun dress that teaches you a thing or two about ease and fit. Click to check out the pros and cons of making Simplicity pattern 1803, and get some practical sewing advice from Grandma while you're at it!

Overall

If I were you, I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to get my hands on this pattern, particularly since there are some funny fit issues for a lot of people. On the other hand, I have already used half of this pattern to make a skirt because I dug the shape and length of the dress, and several folks have beautifully combined parts of this pattern into dresses of their handmade dreams (for example / for example). If this dress is extremely your sh*t as the kids say, I’d say go for it, but keep the positive ease and pocket placement critiques in mind as you plan your project.

I’ll do a handmade wardrobe post on the 1803 skirt another time, but since you’ve already gotten a secret peek at it, I feel fine sharing which skirt it is:

Hey hey hey! It's Me Made May! - Read about one maker's Me Made May-inspired handmade wardrobe plans and goals, and how she plans to leverage a modest sewing skillset into a well-fitting, sustainable wardrobe.

Filed Under: Handmade Wardrobe, Sewing Tagged With: fit and flare, handmade clothes, handmade wardrobe, me made may, sew, Sewing, simplicity 1803

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad (she/her) is a craft book author & designer specializing in yarn crafts. Her work combines vintage and modern design elements, prioritizing color and graphic motifs. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), and I’ve been helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010. I got my start here, as a blogger, and since then I’ve shared more than a few tutorials here and on YouTube as I’ve grown as a pattern designer. 🧶 

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Heidi Gustad 🧶 knitting & yarn crafts

handsoccupied

Knitting & yarn crafts designer 🧶
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Stay up-to-date 💌 & shop new patterns ⤵️

POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern POV: Showing you how my new Bevelled Tank pattern fits with no ease vs. 4” of positive ease. There’s a bit more length to the cotton (brighter color) sample, but both are cropped and feature shoulder seams designed to sit an inch back onto the shoulder instead of on top, giving it a little swing. Length is easily adjustable for folks looking for less of a crop. 
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Pattern: Bevelled Tank by @handsoccupied for @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn summer 2024. Available for free from Hobbii at the 🔗 in my profile.
Yarn pictured: @kelbournewoolens Skipper and Camper. 
Dress form is adjusted to a 36” chest and ~5’3”ish in height. 
Human has a 40” chest and is 5’5”.
Both skirts are vintage.
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #handsoccupied #intarsia #handmade #knitting #colorwork
Let’s talk about fit and ease! . During the Beve Let’s talk about fit and ease!
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During the Bevelled Tank design process for @pompommag, I knit 2 samples using 2 different @KelbourneWoolens yarns. One was in Skipper (100% cotton, second photo) and the other was in Camper (100% 2 ply wool). The Skipper sample was knit for a 36” bust, which measures in at 40” with 4” of positive ease. And I knit the Camper Sample for my 40” bust with a 44” finished measurement. (BTW, I’m 5’5” for folks that find that measurement helpful in visualizing fit.)
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Based on the size chart for the Bevelled Tank, that means I knit one size 3 sample and one size 4. As designed, I conveniently fit a size 4 as intended with 4” of positive ease. When I wear the 3, there is no ease at all because the garment and my body are both 40” in size. Comparing the 2 garments, you can see how the fiber content (cotton vs. wool) and fit (no ease vs. 4” of positive ease) makes a difference in the look and feel of the finished garment. 
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These samples are a great way to compare what ease looks like on different bodies. While I can fit both a size 3 and 4, the garment with no ease feels more like pajamas or a bralette when I wear it. On the other hand, when I wear the one with 4” of positive ease, I feel comfortable enough to wear it to work, even as a crop top. Plus, it leaves me with enough room to layer it with a nice button down if I’m not feeling the cropped look one day. 
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I’m curious - how would you style this tank? Would you modify it with a few stockinette rows for added length? I’m so curious now that this pattern is finally out in the world. :) 
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #bevelledtank #handsoccupied #knitting #intarisa #handmade #kelbournewoolens #croppedsweater #summerknits
After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m ba After a 6 month hiatus, I am happy to say I’m back with a brand new pattern in 9 sizes, and it’s FREE as part of @pompommag x @hobbii_yarn’s summer design collection! (Link is in my bio.)
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In my December newsletter, I announced that I was soliciting test knitters for a pattern that had originally been selected for the summer ’24 issue of Pom Pom Quarterly magazine. However, the magazine ceased publication after its spring ’24 issue, leaving in-progress designs unpublished. (It happens.) As a result, I’d begun the long process of editing, testing, and photographing the pattern for independent release through the Hands Occupied pattern shop and Ravelry.
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Before I was done with that process, Pom Pom Quarterly’s former editors reached out with an exciting proposal for the pattern. Post-magazine, they’ve begun to partner with yarn companies to produce high quality pattern collections. They wanted to include designs from the would-be current issue of Pom Pom Quarterly in a new collection for Hobbii yarn, including my Bevelled Tank. I worked with the same technical editors I would have for the magazine on this one, and as you can see from the photos, Pom Pom’s team did an amazing job of styling the garment to the beautiful standards they’re known for.
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You can learn more about the pattern on my blog and get the free pattern from Hobbii yarn - links to both in my profile. I’ll post sizing info in the comments for quick reference too. 🧶
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#pompomxhobbiisummer2024 #knitting #intarsia #sponsored #colorworkknitting 
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Photos: @dianascarrunz 
Model: @angel.jade_
Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vi Here’s a nice throwback for you: my take on a vintage knitting pattern from 1938 called the Fernlace Pullover. A pattern so nice, I knit it twice.
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Yellow version 💛: knit with Despondent Dyes’ Vintage Vixen Sport after attending a @squidneyknits vintage knitting retreat in 2019 & learning *so much*. Paired with a self-drafted circle skirt pattern. 
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Blue version 💙: knit with @eweeweyarns Ewe So Sporty in Sky Blue. Paired with the 1940s Boardwalk Duet sewing pattern from @decades_of_style 
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Head to my stories for 🔗🔗 to the handmade wardrobe blog posts I wrote about each take on the Fernlace Pullover, working with a vintage pattern, where to find vintage patterns (including the one I used), & some thoughts on sizing. 
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Image descriptions available in alt text. 
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#handsoccupied #handmadewardrobe #fernlacepullover #vintageknitting #vintageknittingpatterns #knitting_inspiration
Frogging is a word in the knitting world that mean Frogging is a word in the knitting world that means to rip out your knitting. It’s called frogging because frogs say “ribbit,” and when you’re tearing out your knitting, you will “rip it” out, and that sounds like ribbit. No really. 🐸 Did you know this fun fact? 
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P.S. I did like this design concept, but to make the pattern more knitter friendly as well as more wearable, I am making some tweaks to the construction. Excited to share when it’s ready! 🥰🧶
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Yarn: @blueskyfibers Woolstok North in Morning Frost & Highland Fleece 
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#handsoccupied #knitting #frogging #blueskyfibers #knittersofinstagram #blueskymakers #knittingvocabulary #bsfmakers #knitdesign
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