Belated Christmas!

At the beginning of January I thought I would post about my sewing related presents but of course time has moved on and I thought I should do it before the end of January!

I had some lovely gifts: The Camber Set from Merchant and Mills, Bowline Sweater from Papercut Patterns, Entomology pins  which are for fine fabrics and are the thinnest pins I have every used – they’re amazing!

The two brass buttons I have used for my Tilly and the Buttons Cleo dungaree dress – yet to be blogged.

My next project will be the Bowline Sweater which I am hoping will be a quick sew on my overlocker.  It’s a real treat for me to get proper paper patterns and I tend to by PDFs which is fine but of course I have all the printing and taping together to do before I even start sewing!

I’m back to my college course on Wednesday and need to put all my alterations into a new toile so I better get cracking!

 

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“In The Clouds” Roberts Jumpsuit

Another Roberts Jumpsuit from the Marilla Walker pattern, the third item I have made from the pattern and it still won’t be the last – this is absolutely the best pattern I have ever bought! (And I’ve bought A LOT!!)  You can buy it from her shop on Etsy.

The fabric is a very soft rayon I bought on Ebay which was a real bargain and I washed it twice just to make sure it was properly pre-shrunk!  I love the clouds and the blueness of it (please note my new blue shoes that go very well too!)

The photos are taken in Venice where the lovely Mr took me for my birthday at the beginning of June.

This time, to make it look different I put in a chunky white zip instead of buttons and had to take away the overlap and seam allowance for the button placket.  This tested my maths ability for a while but I got my head round it.  I also took 1″ out of the crotch length and 2″ off the leg length as I didn’t want these to be turned up.  I made it all with the overlocker except the hems and zip, I then top stitched all the seams down.

The zip looks really great but as it is a chunky zip and the rayon is very light weight, it did slightly pull the v-neck down a bit and I was conscious of too much cleavage so I wore a camisole underneath but I’m happy with that.  Standing up straight it would be fine but I was worried about what would be on display if I bent forward.  I actually wore it to breakfast at our hotel without the camisole and the Mr said it looked fine but I lost my bottle and quickly put a camisole on before going out for the day!  It must be a sign of my age because when I was 21 I wouldn’t have cared at all!

It looks like my left leg is a strange shape but it was just a bit breezy!  I’m very pleased with this make and I’m sure it will get lots of wear this summer (I’ve already worn it a lot as I made it a month ago).

I would love to hear your comments!  Next up Marilla Walker Mercury Trousers ….

Dungaree Dress

First of all, apologies for the photo quality in this post, my little photographer was having an off day.

I love my new dress, it’s another Marilla Walker Roberts collection (that pattern just keeps on giving)!  I used some Hugo Boss linen I bought from Ebay, it’s a medium to heavy weight and I thought it might be a bit too heavy but it hangs really well.

I cut a size 4 skirt and waist and size 5 bib as I didn’t want it cutting across my nipples!  Not that it would have, the pattern is really well drafted.

I wore it with boots as it’s still a bit chilly but in the summer I can wear it with sandals or flip flops.  I like the shaping on the back and of course it’s got pockets which is always a win!  I lent forwards as this photo was taken and it looks like my shoulders are massive – they’re not really that big!

The pattern suggests using flat felled seams or French seams which I did on my jumpsuit but this time I just overlocked the whole thing. I used left over fabric from a top I made for the back facing and to line the pockets.

It took me ages to decide which buttons to use but in the end I went for some painted wooden buttons that I have had in my stash for quite some time, bought for a knitting project that never happened!

I am pleased with how this turned out and it will get a lot of wear, I’ve already worn it 3 times and I only finished it last Saturday so that’s a good sign!

A Holiday Wardrobe!

 

I have made several things for our up coming holiday – only 1 week to go!!  First of all these Hawaiian print trousers.  I made these using the jumpsuit pattern from the Sewing Bee book (a fantastic purchase – so many patterns from one book – and great information about fabric choice etc). This is the pattern hack of the jumpsuit which you can make into trousers by tracing off the lower waist line.  I LOVE this pattern, for lots of reasons.  A) It fit me right from the pattern with no adjustment at all (I usually do a FBA (I know this stands for Full Bust Adjustment but for me its a Full Bum Adjustment ha!).  B) It has no zips or pockets so is quick to sew up. C) It has an elastic waist so no fitting issues there and the design is loose and roomy so no worries with fitting at the hip either!

I love the fabric too, which was a cheap find on ebay, about £2 per meter I think, and I used it as a toile to check the fit but they are totally wearable! I tried to take a back view myself in the mirror which was not easy! I wanted to show the back as I think the fit is really good.  I’m a RTW size 14/16 and I cut out a 14 which was perfect, the waist band was a bit loose so I just cut off 2″ of elastic and redid it and it’s fine.

The top I’m wearing is yet another Scout Tee!  Made from a white cotton/poly mix with some stretch.  I wanted a couple of basic tops for the holiday that I can just wash and wear easily.

 

Not the best photo but I had no photographer that day!

I also made a pattern hack of the Coco Dress by Tilly and the Buttons with a flutter sleeve pattern that I got from Muse Patterns – they sell a Knit Sleeve Pack that can be used in knit garments, its excellent value at $3.

 

 

 

 

I look a bit odd in this photo but it was about 34 degrees and I was feeling hot and bothered!

 

The flutter sleeve!  I also made a Coco Dress in a fabric with trees and sunsets but don’t have any photos.  Hopefully I can get some pictures of all my outfits in action when I’m on holiday!

 

Just love this fabric!

If you’re going away, have a great time, if you want to comment, click on “comments” at the top of the page, it would be great to hear from you!

Misty Jeans – Style Arc

I know this is not the most flattering photo, who wants to see a photo of my larger than average arse!  However, I thought, in the interests of fitting, I would show you what I have done. As you can see there are some lines down the legs which disappeared a bit when I attached the waist band and  I managed to improve the fit on the second pair.

As I have a rounded bum, I had to add in some extra fabric to accommodate the curve.  There are two ways to do this and I have tried both.  I previously made some wide leg summer trousers and added a triangular wedge into the top part of the pattern.

This is a good way of adding extra space to the curve but it displaces the grain line and the waist band edge which you need to be careful about when drawing back onto the pattern.  I always used this method, until I recently found this method:

I cut inside the seam allowance, along the stitching line and pivoted the pattern to create space.  At the waist band I cut the thin seam allowance strip away from the main pattern and moved it out, adding a 1/2″ which created an extra 1″ to the seat area (fabric is folded, so 2 pieces cut).  Then I just straightened the line of the new pattern edge up to the top of the waist band.

I also added 3cm to the length of the rise from crotch to waist as I am a bit taller than average and I didn’t want to be constantly hoicking them up, nothing worse than bum cleavage!

The fabric I used was a black stretch denim with 2% lycra bought from Fabric Land in Salisbury, when visiting my parents. I used an overlock stitch on my Pfaff sewing machine for the side seams

and a triple stretch straight stitch especially for the trouser crotch seam – I love my Pfaff!  As these are jeggings and not jeans, it was an easy waistband with 2″ elastic.  I made two bands of elastic and attached the first to the waist and then the second one on top so that the fabric edge is enclosed.  I just used a zigzag stitch and stretched the elastic out as I sewed.

 

All in all, I am pleased with how they turned out and I have already worn them a few times and they are soooo comfy.  I will definitely be making more!  The only thing I would say with Style Arc patterns is that the instructions are a bit skimpy so you probably need to have had some sewing experience before tackling one of their patterns.  Also, when you order on line you need to give the size you want and they just send you that size so it’s harder to grade between sizes.  However, their patterns are very contemporary and have a stylish look and I am a big fan of them!

Please leave a comment by clicking on “leave a comment” at the top of this page, I would love to hear from you!