Who sews Su's clothes....?

Further on from my last post, The Great British Sewing Bee has given me a nudge, not just to get sewing again, but to try my hand at making clothes.  So, I've finally ordered some patterns - how exciting!!

Since this is my first attempt at clothing I'm going to take it slowly, and I'm sure I'll make lots of mistakes!  I have been reading through Tilly's Learn to Sew course on Tilly and the Buttons which is just brilliant, and full of lots of useful information on using patterns and constructing clothes.  Particularly useful was the post on How to select your sewing pattern size which I was reading before I received my Sew Liberated Esme Top pattern, only to discover that the pattern doesn't list any measurements!  Since I have no idea what size I am post baby, and had heard that the pattern comes up large, I got out my tape measure and worked it all out using Tilly's instructions on calculating seam allowance and allowing for ease, etc.  I'm glad I did too, as I will now be making a top 2 sizes smaller than the one I would have picked going on dress sizes!  I hope I've got it right!

Tilly's own pattern - the Mathilde Blouse - comes as a printable download, so I've been having fun fitting it all together.  It's a bit like a giant jigsaw with the 'can-you-guess-what-it-is-yet' factor!

I couldn't resist buying the Vogue pattern [V1799] as well after seeing Karen's version on Did you make that?  It's very like a dress I bought a while ago that I love.  It's very flattering even on 'fat' days!  I had actually been considering drawing round it to try and replicate it, but this should be safer!  I won't be making it for a while though as it's not really compatible with breastfeeding and also I'd like to lose some baby weight before I start attempting dresses.

Having acquired some patterns it followed that I'd also need to do some fabric shopping - what a shame!  Unlike many members of the sewing blog community I have no stash-guilt, as I'm yet to develop much of a stash!  How I long to join in with stash-busting sewalongs and stash swaps!  It does mean though that I am totally justified in making a few purchases! :-)  I have restricted myself to fairly inexpensive fabrics for now as I don't know whether these first few garments are going to be disastrous, in which case I will have to chalk them up to 'experience' and consign them back to the sewing pile never to be worn!  I bought a tiny floral polycotton for the Esme top, and a red and white floral cotton lawn for the Mathilde blouse (which is actually really soft and lovely and which I am a bit afraid of ruining, but hey ho!).  I'm still humming and hawing over which top to start with.  I expect I'll go for the MB as Tilly's instructions are so comprehensive that I expect I'll learn some new techniques/terminology/etc that will come in handy with the Esme too.

All in all I'm excited by the challenge and raring to get going, but as of this moment I have yet to put scissors to fabric or thread to machine!  Come on free evenings, where are you when I need you?!