What next?

Although I'm knitting, I'm not sewing, there isn't even anything on my 'sewing table'. I'm just not sure what I want to make next. Possibilties include:

• A pink woolen picnic blanket skirt - much like these which I've stolen off pinterest. Surprisingly hard to find the right pink boucle/textured wool though. I've been looking for a while.

• A chistmas appropriate winter dress - my lovely boyfriend is in the army and that means christmas balls. Jingle Jingle Jingle. But what would it be made out of? Crepe? Silk? I'm tempted to make another Anna dress, that split up the front calls to me. Real loudly. Also theres a little tutorial for adding sleeves on the By Hand London Anna sewalong. Tempting.

• I also have the Charlotte skirt pattern. I'd like a few lovely pencil skirts. I also found when perusing the amazing Dolly Clackett blog that mixing the anna bodice and the charlotte skirt make a beautiful melange of a wiggle dress. I'm going to post her picture below and hope she doesn't mind. 

http://dollyclackett.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/its-like-im-not-even-camping-this-is.html

•  I'd also like to make a Lady Skater or two. Big 'but' though, I don't know how my little machine would handle jersey, it doesn't do anything other than regular old straight stitches. But ideally I'd like to make a couple like the dresses below, the one on the left is from Whistles and the one on the right is from M&S. 

•  I would include the tania culottes, but it's too cold these days for shorts. Next year! 

Anyhow. I'm lacking fabric. I might pop down the market this weekend, or I might find something in PARIS next weekend. *Rubs my hands together in glee*

By Hand London Anna Dress - the finished article

Well. It's been a while.

I have been busy and lazy. And putting off taking photos of the most beautiful thing I've made myself so far.

I had a crack at the By Hand London Anna dress back in August and used some fabulous Amy Butler Alchemy fairy tale voile in vanilla. I had two metres from my birthday trip to raystitch in June and bought two more when it was on sale at the small but charming elliemagpie. None left at either establishment now of course (raystitch does still have a weirder pistachio version).

I made it with the intention of wearing it to a late summer wedding in Anglesea. Nearly froze to death. Wedding was in a tipi.
At one point I was wearing fleecy owl print purple pj's underneath, a huge woolly cardigan on top and a considerable wine jacket. Still it was real pretty. I got cornered in the loos by a stranger who complimented me on the dress, then tipsily asked for my number as it "would be great to have someone make me stuff for free"... Charming mais non.

The wedding was beautiful but I took next to no sensible pictures. It was too cold to pose. I only had the strength to drink wine and gin. Thus there is only one grainy phone picture of me without the cardigan on, note that it is actually poised around my wrists to be pulled back on afterwards. The pj's aren't visible, but trust that they're there, it had also rained all over my hair.

I have just noticed a girl in the background with bare arms. Perhaps she had already lost all feeling in them?

 



This dress shouldn't be a lot of work as it's rated beginner, but it is, the cutting lasted forever. There are an awful lot of skirt pieces. I tried to make sure they didn't match, I didn't have enough fabric to ensure they matched and I thought it would look like I just got it wrong if they were almost there.

I made a full toile before cutting into my precious fabric and here are my alterations

• I needed to take the back in at the zip by an inch either side. 
• I also did a sway back adjustment by just pinching out the spare fabric which seemed to work just fine.
• I also cut four inches off the bottom of the pattern because I am not a giant. 

It's all finished with some pretty french seams although in the interests of speed I machine hemmed. You can't tell and I was too busy swishing the skirt and 'Angelina-ing' my leg outta that slit that I simply did not care. See, look how happy it makes me.  And indeed how twirly the skirt is.

It is of course now full on winter up North. My fingers are getting chilly typing and my feet are firmly ensconced in thermal slippers. So it's going away in the wardrobe till next year. Sob*    

A little catch up

A little 'where I'm at post' is needed I reckon.

Firstly in very sad news Jo H. was right. Tania culottes use up a whole lot of fabric. My dress had enough fabric to make either the front or the back or potentially just one entire leg. None of those options were appealing. I still love the idea of eyelet/broderie anglaise culottes, I'm just going to have to source more fabric first.

As for the eyelet topshop dress? Well, I ripped it apart.  The picture below was the only one I could find of it, foolishly I didn't snap it before I snipped it. Good lord there was a lot of stitching. Topshop evidently believe that if it's going to have a seam you might as well do it 5 times. Anyhoo, it's not going back together now. 

This photo was taken in Moscow where it was about 40 degrees and I was not dealing well with the heat. I had tiny blisters and I was just getting over shingles. Nowhere had air conditioning. So a dress this insubstantial was appropriate. Looking at it now I miss it. But that's only because I know what it has become... (that sounds a bit unnecessarily over dramatic)

I decided to turn it into a sorbetto, which being both free and requiring little fabric seemed like an excellent idea. However, I didn't make a muslin, I have no idea why, I have perfectly sensible muslin fabric just sitting around. And it's a little off, the bust darts need to be fatter and the neckline is a bit weird, but that's because I tinkered about trying to get the shoulders to not be so crazily far apart. 
It's nearly finished, but I can't decide if I want to add sleeves, which isn't the point of a sleeveless top I know, but something is needed to improve it's looks. There's a sleeve pattern for the sorbetto over at sew-incidentally that I might have to have a little look at but adding sleeves seems to be fairly common.  

So all in all I feel a little disheartened. However, excitement lurks around the corner because I have a plan for something beautiful. Tania culottes will have to wait because my new and exciting plan needs to be finished before the first week in September and I am going to make a proper muslin!

My datura styled differently

I presented at a conference last month and I wore my datura wearable muslin. Styled differently I loved it. I've recreated the whole outfit (without the name tag or nervous sweatiness) just for the blog. My housemate might think I'm going a bit bonkers.

I'm even considering moving on and cutting into the liberty fabric to make the 'proper' version. Although looking at the view from the back, I will definitely cut the shoulders a little slimmer. 
I've even included an actual picture of me at the conference, not that you can really tell who it is up there. In my lovely photographers defence, it was taken on a camera phone in the semi darkness.

Tucked into a high waisted pencil skirt I think it works a lot better. Proof if needed that not everything looks best with jeans.

Tilly's picnic blanket skirt - The finished article

Ta Da!

It is finished and I like it a lot.

Climbing up was easy. Falling off not so much.

The pattern itself wasn't really a pattern, it was just maths and an excellent step by step guide. Which was fun. To start with I didn't have a metre ruler, but I've *acquired* one since (think skip diving).
I learnt how to apply interfacing, ruching, hand sewn buttonholes and applying snap fasteners / poppers.
I did not make a muslin, but I didn't need one for this project. I did however do everything properly, I tacked the skirt to the waistband before machine sewing, I practised button holes before cutting into my skirt and I did a lot of finishing by hand. So it took a while but I like it all the more.

One of the things I like best is that the skirt is nice and full, but because of the shape you don't have to worry about the breeze exposing anything. 

I compromised on my buttons versus poppers situation and added one button at the waistband and kept the rest of the placket button free. I'm not that sure about the styling, I felt a little bit like I should have been on my way to Sunday school, but I'll have a think about it.

Tania Culottes - they're here!

Look what arrived first thing Saturday morning!

Very impressive backstitch. Bravo. Bravo.
I was running out of the door Saturday when I picked up my post so I didn't get to open the envelope till I was sitting in the pub later with some friends. I don't want to name names, but there was open mocking of a grown lady wanting to make herself culottes. Not by everyone, but I definitely heard snorting.

Are culottes so bad?

I mean personally I haven't had the best experiences, I did have to wear a hideous poo coloured pair for brownies. And actually there was a red woollen embroidered culotte suit when I was about 6 that left some mental wounds, (I would say scars, but I've just been thinking about it and they haven't healed yet). But hey, that was the early 90's and bad things happened to good clothes back then. Also, six year olds are not known for their sartorial taste.

So these culottes will be just fine. However, just to make sure I googled them. And there are some really pretty versions out there, I like these and these and these. Consider me reassured. Now I just need to pick apart my old broderie anglaise dress and hope I have enough fabric.

One project at a time though. The picnic blanket skirt is merely a hem and a press from completion.

Tilly's picnic blanket skirt - buttoning it up

Well, I have been busy. I feel a bit like I haven’t been home for ages. I’ve been all over England and a fair bit of Europe, but I’m back at my sewing table and I’m content.

So I’ve returned to the picnic blanket skirt and after it spent so long as huge squares of fabric it’s really taken shape. The side seams are finished with mock french seams, the waistband is painstakingly slip stitched on and the pockets are floral and awesome. In fact the fabric I used for the pockets has come from my Mum’s stash and used to be the curtain fabric for my room when I was tiny.

Many many button options. No ironing.

Next I have to work out how I want to fasten the front of the skirt together. The pattern stipulates buttons, but I'm not sure. With the pale blue/grey colour all the buttons I’ve looked at look too cutesy. Instead I’m envisioning giant snaps, so that nothing shows. However, having never sewn with them before I’m a bit unsure of how well they’ll work, do I use plastic or metal? How big is ridiculous? And will the waistband pop open too easily? I don’t want to be standing up and leaving the skirt behind on a bus seat.

A stitch disaster.

I am crazy busy. In the words of Kanye, my life is cray cray. I doubt he was referring to endless fluorescence microscopy, but watevs.
Last night I was so tired and annoyed (who on earth dismantles part of a microscope when nobody remembers how to put it back together?) that I just ate beans on toast and read my new running book.

And why couldn't I face my sewing? Well I was avoiding my picnic blanket skirt until my brain was working better. My sewing machine did not like sewing two layers of fabric and a layer of interfacing. It threw a strop and the tension has gone all strange and it keeps missing stitches. Whatever I did Monday night only made it worse. Frustrating.

Anyhoo. This evening I reattempted it. And now it's frankly just a disaster. The weatherman says summer is on the way and dammit I want to wear my skirt, but I can't if I cant sew anything.

This is what it looks like:

You can see missed stitches (on two very different fabrics) and dreadful tension problems. The dark thread (underneath) shows through whilst the pale blue thread on top just lies on the fabric.

I feel like I've tried everything. I've tried different bobbins and different spools of thread. I've re-threaded. I've turned the tension dial from one extreme to the other with no effect. I've removed the throat plate and dusted underneath.

I'm torn between continuing to fiddle or taking it to be serviced. Suggestions welcomed. I'm off to find chocolate.

Tilly's picnic blanket skirt - on my sewing table

I needed something a bit different to sew and this little beauty caught my eye way back when I first started looking at sewing blogs. (The skirt that is, rather than Tilly, because whilst she is very pretty I'm not that weird.)

I stole this photo from Tilly's blog

I've cut it out in a lovely soft denim type material which I bought from the very same man at the market who claimed that thick cotton was lawn, so I shan't pretend I know what this is. I would stop buying things from him, but he's so cheap and apparently so am I. Besides, sometimes a surprise works out just fine and I do like to live on the edge (this is a lie).
Anyhoo, it's drapey and pale blue and rather summery. This weekend I'm off to a family do, undoubtedly in the rain, but next week I hope to be merrily sewing button holes and because I live in the dark ages they'll all be sewn by hand. Excities eh?

D&D Datura - The wearable muslin

Well. To be honest, I'm not that keen. It looks really homemade instead of handmade.

Lots of that might be to do with the fabric. It's too stiff for a top like this really. And I hate it a little bit. You might be able to tell by the right grump I have on in the picture above, that was probably down to noticing it had creased whilst I bent down to fasten my shoes.

But I've also had sizing issues. I made a size 40, but I then cut a lot out round the hips and waist to avoid huge flappy empty bits which has led to some oddness at the back (above). And I reckon the shoulders are too wide. So should I cut a size 38 or 36 and do an FBA? (I would actually need to find out what one of those was).

However, it's not all bad, it looks quite acceptable with a jacket. So I'm keeping it.

(Apologies to my lovely housemate/photographer who was trying to learn about diabetes in pregnancy when I hauled her off to take these at 10pm last night.) 




Whilst I'm not that keen on the finished garment, I can't be rude about the pattern. It is a beautiful thing and it does say it's not for beginners, I just chose not to listen. Some of the instructions had me scratching my head for a while and it doesn't hold your hand through every step. So common sense/imagination or experience is necessary.
The way the yokes are joined together at the shoulders was a bit of a surprise. I can't even think of a sensible way to describe it, however, once I'd worked out what they meant I did think it was rather clever.

So, will I be cutting into my beautiful liberty tana lawn that I've earmarked for a 'proper' version? Eventually yes. I just think maybe I need to get a bit better first, at pretty much everything.

D&D Datura - on my sewing table

Taken from http://boutique.deer-and-doe.fr/9-sewing-patterns-datura-blouse.html

I've mentioned it before, but I really love Deer & Doe's Datura blouse.

I was bought the pattern from the lovely ray-stitch in London town when I was down for my birthday along with many many other things. I was spoilt and I just don't care what anyone thinks.


So far I have

1. carefully traced all the pattern pieces onto pattern paper 
2. ummed and ahhed over what kind of muslin/mock up to make
3. washed and ironed my mock up fabric
4. lost one of my pattern pieces
5. found it in the bin
6. cut out all my fabric
7. made some bias binding
8. started joining bits together
9. been very confused

I will have a finished item to show fairly soon I think. Mind you it will be made in fabric sent by the devil himself. This fabric is awful. It hates being pressed. It hates being sewn. Every pin prick or misplaced stitch leaves a hole. It hates being bias binding. However, at least it doesn't fray.
The man who sold it to me claimed it was a lovely cotton lawn. I think he lied. Firstly as I've mentioned, it isn't lovely. Secondly it isn't much like lawn. Its thick, opaque and not very soft at all. This is what happens when newbies buy fabric from markets, you don't come away with what you expect. Meh.

Butterick 5317 - The Finished Article

*Trumpet fan fare*

The dress is finished! And I got to wear it last week in Italy!!

 
I didn't make it with pockets - or else my hands would be firmly stuck in them in the photo above. I read other reviews that said to leave out the pocket on the side with the zip to reduce bulk. Only one pocket? What's the point?

The back of the bodice is the only place I made any alterations and I think they worked well. I redrafted the pattern reducing the width of the scoop back and trimming some excess from each of the edges after looking at how a muslin mock up looked on me. 

The only downside? It crumples a bit. The photo above was taken straight after breakfast and just look at the skirt. Hmmmmm.
However, I love it sooo much that I shall forgive it. I might make it a little less low cut if I make it again though. I felt a bit busty all day, however nobody complained.
All in all a massive success for dress number one.
What next?...

Butterick 5317 - Seams

In many ways my fabric choice was perfect. It is navy, but it's also polka dot - I don't like my clothes to take themselves too seriously, after all I don't. Its a lovely heavy cotton which holds a crease and hangs beautifully, great for the more tailored aspects of this dress. It was less than £8 a metre and did I mention the polka dots?
However. It's a bit unstable, if you look at it the wrong way it slowly starts to unravel. Which was a pain and a half, especially when you consider I don't have a serger/overlocker and my lovely old machine has no attachment to allow zig zag stitch.
So I turned to the sewing bible (and google) and discovered all sorts of alternatives.

• Pinking shears! Apparently finishing an edge with tiny little zig zags reduces the amount a fabric can fray. However, it's not really extreme enough for really self destructive fabrics like mine. Didn't stop me trying though.

• Mock french seams. They look like french seams, but they aren't. Neither are they easy to explain with words, I would show you a picture of my attempt, but I'm a bit ashamed of it's wonkyness, so look at this. My fabric was really too bulky for these though, which then rulled out lots of other seam finishes.

So instead I tried binding. By encasing the naughty edges in another layer of fabric the fraying is limited. I bought some cotton bias binding, but I may also be buying some rayon seam binding which is thinner and so better for areas that shouldn't be bulky. I used this for seams and also for hemming.

And this is how I did my hems; first I stitched the binding onto the cut edge of the fabric (1), then I folded the fabric to the correct length and did a line of stitching close to the fold (2) and then I stitched down the binding (3) which encased the unraveling edge in-between two rows of stitching and underneath a layer of bias binding. Hopefully indestructible!

I also did a bit of hand stitching using overcast stitch, which is just a little diagonal stitch over the edge of the fabric which catches the unraveling edge and stops it getting worse. It's almost invisible on my fabric so a photo is next to pointless.
   
Actually there's a whole host of potential seam finishes suitable for different fabrics. If you look on blogs lots of people seem to only mention sergers/overlockers. Apparently they are both fast and easy. They trim the fabric and neatly encase edges all in one. Well, I laugh in the face of such time saving methods, mainly because I can't afford them. If you can't afford them either don't worry, find yourself a nice big book and find a fancy seam you like the look of. It'll only cost you thread and an extra evening or two.

Lessons learned:

1. I must not kid myself that it's ok to buy cheap fabric because I'm "still learning", I'm going to be learning for a real long time and I will go mad if all my clothes fall apart after one wash when they've taken two weeks to make.
2. Seams take a realllllllllly long time. But, I'm a very happy camper with a needle in my hand, so it doesn't matter too much. (p.s. not actually IN my hand)

Butterick B5317 - The muslin

I have been working on the bodice muslin of my very first dress. It is all very exciting, my room is covered in red and cream threads and the ironing board has officially been hogged.
For the first attempt I cut a size 14 - not what I'd pick up in a shop, but I was following the measurements. I cut the outer pieces and the lining both out of the muslin fabric and slowly assembled them into something resembling a sports bra. I was inordinately pleased with the finished piece until I put it on. Sadly it was too big, so big in fact that I had to pop a pin in the middle of the back piece for the photo below.

 

However, I liked the shape, so I ripped it all apart (spreading even more fluff and thread everywhere) and trimmed the pattern down to a size 12. When I re-made it I didn't bother with the lining in the interests of time and so the pictures of the size 12 look much worse. 

The good news is that generally it's a better fit. The bad news is that the back is a bit of a disaster, I think the scoop is a bit low and wide. It looked much better in the 14 when I took some width out between the straps on the back, so I'm toying with altering the pattern. Is it a bit ambitious to make pattern alterations on your first time? 

The bit I found really awkward has actually been the cutting. This fabric has such a loose weave that it pulls apart and stretches making cutting exact shapes difficult, so I'm pretty sure everything is a bit wonky. However, apart from the neck ache I got from hunching over sewing away, I've really enjoyed it so far. I've got some fairly difficult bits to come - I'm imagining inserting a zipper is no walk in the park, but I shall keep you updated. 

Lacy Daisy Peplum Top of Dreams

I'm merrily sewing away on my butterick muslin - pictures to come soon. But in the meanwhile I thought I'd stick up a picture of a top I really really really want.

Photo courtesy of http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/

It was from a feature on Glamour magazines website on what to wear to a spring wedding. (I don't have a spring wedding to go to, but it'd sure brighten up a trip to morrisons). Glamour claimed it was from Dorothy Perkins and so I haunted the DP website like a hopeful little ghost for ages hoping to find it. But alas it never appeared. 

So instead I decided I'll make it for myself! Probably not in beige either, because I don't actually want to be washed out like a little ghost. What I've got to work out now though is how to construct it and in what fabrics. Any thoughts?...

Butterick B5317 - Not a great start.

I've started my first garment!

Butterick b5317 by Maggy London

It's a little more advanced than I thought I'd begin with, but I was lulled into a false sense of security by the "very easy" emblazoned on the envelope. Equally persuasive was the fact that I already owned the pattern so no extra expenditure needed.

I got all the paper out of the envelope and read the instructions carefully. A lot of it made no sense, but I figured it'd all make more sense later, probably after wine. I carefully cut out the pattern pieces according to the sizing of my widest point and pressed them all with a warm, dry iron to get rid of the packet crumples. So far, so good.

Then I got out the fabric I was going to use for my muslin or practice dress. I'd been to purchase it the previous day from the fabric shop in town, where my inexperience positively radiated off me. I had a little browse until I found the least intimidating member of staff. Turns out she didn't work there. Awkward. So I found someone else instead and told her I needed to make a muslin and that I needed something cheap and easy. She suggested actual muslin, so I bought the two metres required by the pattern and skipped off home.

With all my paper pattern cut out I started trying to arrange it on the fabric according to the suggestions on the pattern guide.

They didn't fit.

Fine, I'd obviously read it wrong.

Nope. Could I blame the fabric? 

At this point the tape measure vanished and I still haven't found it. The only option was a tiny ruler last used in the 90's. The fabric turned out to be 5 and a half lengths of this ridiculous ruler, roughly 99 cms. It was at this point I realised I didnt know how wide it was supposed to be in the first place. Quick google. Quick check of the back of the packet. Sixty inches. Sixty inches is not 99 cms, sixty inches is 152 cms.

I had to have a tea break.

Feeling slightly less murderous after the tea, I decided to cut my loses and the fabric and cut enough to make and line the bodice whilst I waited to get hold of more muslin.

The next problem? Muslin is too drapey. Too soft and billowy. This dress needs more stiffness and I need sharper scissors. All in all not a great start. But it's all experience right?

Running before I can walk

I got a bit carried away. I bought patterns. I can't sew in a straight line, but I have dreams.

They are beautiful and I get them out and stroke them a little. Lets hope they're still my style in 3 years eh?

The first is the beautiful Butterick 5882, one of the retro "Patterns by Gertie". (Everyone has seen her blog right?) I get to go to a few formal events every now and again and always struggle to find something interesting to wear, so at some point I'm going to be brave and make this very slowly.

The second is also a Butterick pattern, Butterick 5884 and by Suzi Chin for Maggy Boutique. Admittedly it was probably the gorgeous fabric I noticed first, but who doesn't love a non-clingy wrap dress? And view A on the pattern leaves out the sleeves if they are a little too outré.

What next? Well, the very lovely Tilly (also from the Great British Sewing Bee) has a lovely blog and makes her own patterns with rather excellent looking online tutorials. I might have a go at her miette skirt which she recommends as a nice easy first project. Or possibly the hollyburn skirt from sewaholic. Choices choices...
I'll will certainly be making a muslin and posting everything right here. 

I have to be honest...

I have to be honest. I might have sewn a few bits before. 

1. Some rather sensible cushions in a lovely Laura Ashley floral. (My mum held my hand)

2. Some rather ridiculous but really brilliant bear outfits.

The cushions were beautiful. When they were finished I was a little bit in love, they were so neat and pretty and that was entirely down to my Mum. I made them in response to the new enormous brown leather sofas in my rented flat, which when unadorned looked suspiciously like giant piles of poo.

The beautiful fabric and my newspaper pattern.

The final product at two years old + a bit of poo sofa.

Apart from the piping, they were fairly simple. One large square for the front and two rectangles for the back to form an overlapping opening for the stuffing. I drew the pattern all by myself, but drawing rectangles isn’t very hard. The piping was another matter. I’ll do a separate post on it later as describing it is a bit wordy and I really want to talk about bear outfits. 

I look a bit miserable here. Also I didn't imagine I was going to write a blog about this so I didn't think to take a nice full length photo of just me. But you get the idea, we all looked daft as brushes.

The bear costumes were originally for a festival in Kendal, there were five of us going and originally I was only going to make two of the bears. However as the date loomed I found myself making a panda, a koala, a brown bear, a black bear and a slightly different brown bear (I ran out of ursine inspiration). There was some very frantic sewing. Some actually on the campsite. URGH. 

Each costume consisted of a hat with ears and a strapless minidress of sorts, a tube roughly the circumference of each bear’s widest point (hips or bust) in stretchy fleece. The dress had a little fat tail and a contrasting faux fur belly. The belly was only attached along the top and bottom and made a great, if wildly unflattering pocket or muff. 

The sewing wasn't top quality, I did it by hand in a hurry and faux fur and fleece are not summer fabrics, even up north. However they were so much fun to make and wear! And that's how these two projects planted a seed (quite a slow growing one) that I'd quite like to get better at this sewing malarkey, so here goes nothing...