Home sweet home!

Well, we're back, and after two and a half weeks away I think the kids and I were ready to be home (not so the hubby - he'd live on the beach if he could!).

I had a couple of parcels waiting for me when I got back....

Gotta love getting fabric in the post!!  I made a couple of purchases before going on holiday - two from Favourite Fabrics ebay shop, and the other from a private ebay seller.  It could have been a disaster as the postman in his wisdom decided to leave the packages around the back of the house between the wheelie bins (and didn't leave any note to say he'd done so!).  I had a little panic when I spotted them, but thankfully they were both well wrapped in waterproof packaging (one of them only on the inside so the postman couldn't have known this!) so they survived two weeks sitting in the damp without mishap!

I love the funky jungle print with it's wintery colours (check me out planning ahead!).  I'm thinking I might make it into a Ginger Skirt unless I have any other ideas in the meantime.  The grey twill is a little lighter than I'd hoped, but might become a Moss [not-so] Mini.  The white is a couple of meters of viscose jersey I spotted on an auction listing.  I bought it to make a Pavlova Top to go with my [as-yet-unblogged] Miette Skirt, although I'm going to have a practice go with some (hopefully) less slippery jersey first.  I picked up the fabric below in a charity shop.  It's still a pretty fine jersey but I won't be so worried if I screw it up.  There was a big rust or paint stain in the middle of it, but I managed to work around it in the pattern placement.

I downloaded the pdf and stuck it all together (I love the immediacy, but the assembly is a drag!).  I really wasn't sure which size to cut out on this one.  I'm fairly petite around my top half but thought I'd play it safe and start with the larger size.  I can always go a size smaller for the next attempt.  I had to cut the fabric out on the kitchen floor but it doesn't look too shabby.  I'm yet to work out how to put it together, but I've got a couple of evenings coming up to work on it whilst Jon has meetings - yay! Sewing nights! 

I've also made up my Mathilde Blouse muslin finally.  I think I've been putting it off coz I'm scared of it!  I have a few fitting adjustments to make.  The neckline is too high against my throat for some reason.  I'm going to try and drop it by lengthening the shoulders as I don't want to have to mess with the neckline and facings.  I'm taking a little of the width out of the back shoulders, dropping the bust darts (perhaps a nursing bra issue - too much information?!)  and grading the side seams to be a little wider at the hips.  I've also got major sway back issues so I've got to try and figure out how to take some fabric out where it's pooling at the back without messing up the buttonhole placket.  Hmmm.....might be a bit out of my depth already!  

So, it looks like I'm back into the swing of things post-holiday.  You can tell because the sewing machine and selected accessories are firmly back in place in the middle of the kitchen table!

I'm so desperate for a little sewing area I can call my own!  I'm working on it and have my sights set on our bureau, currently in use as kid's artwork storage unit, but look -

aarrggghhh!  Definitely the worst corner of the house!  I've got a ton of planning, organising and moving to do before this dream becomes a reality!

I've still got Miette and Sorbetto pics to take and post, but I think that's going to have to wait till next week when school starts up again.  Looking after three kids in holiday mode does not leave much time for prancing around taking pictures of myself in handmade clothes!    

Quick summer refash - shirt to halterneck top

It's hot.  Pretty unusual for a British summer in recent years!  It was stiflingly hot yesterday and I couldn't find anything cool that I was happy wearing (post-pregnancy!) so I took a leaf out of the Refashionista's book and remodelled this shirt that I picked up at a charity shop recently (excuse the appalling photo - I really must clean the mirror if I'm going to take any more photos like this!):

To start with I went with a no-sew refashion - folding the collar in, doing the buttons up and tying the sleeves behind me.  I've only got one photo of it like this, but it's cute! 

Ahhhh!  My sweet baby!  Anyway, I decided that whilst this worked around the house, I was less confident wearing it out and about, so I got the scissors out.  First I cut off the collar and sleeves and unpicked the pockets.

I cut each sleeve in two lengthwise and made a long straight strap and a shorter angled strap out of each sleeve.

I was left with this shape for the body.  I ended up cutting off the two top bits as well leaving just the shoulder yoke (is that what it's called?) which I folded to the inside.  This is great as it adds a bit of extra thickness in the boob area!  

I folded the top over to make a band out of the surplus fabric on the front section.  I pinned the shorter angled straps behind this band and sewed it all down.

I cut the back panels down and hemmed them just above what would now be the top buttonhole.

I put the top on inside out, took the sides in and sewed them up, catching the long straps in the new side seams.

And that was it!  Here's what it looks like:

I love the halter - it feels very fifties, and the back strap means I feel secure knowing that it's not going to pop open if the button fails!  It also means I can tuck the halter straps in and wear it strapless if I want to.  

Of course Jon doesn't like it - he thinks I look like I'm wearing a tablecloth, but you can't win 'em all!  Jacob doesn't seem to mind though...

Enjoy the sunshine folks!

Coming up...

Well I'm sorry to say I haven't had much time for sewing lately.  Or blogging for that matter.  I'm being kept rather busy by these guys -

They're cute, but they make a lot of mess!  I've been itching to sew but I've had to be sensible and do housework.  Blah!

I have got a couple of things in the pipeline.  I have a couple of charity shop refashions to blog about, including my reworking of this delightfully hideous flouncy dress:

 

I couldn't help but strike a pose!  This dress is no more, and the refashion is complete but we just haven't had the weather for me to get outside and take any after photos.  In fact I've been returning to the comfort of my jeans and hoodies!  

On the sewing front I've finally got as far as cutting out the pieces for my Sew Liberated 'Esme Top' and I'm keen to get stuck in.

I went for a tiny floral pattern inspired by Lauren of the Great British Sewing Bee.  Hopefully it will hide any mistakes I make!  So the Esme Top may turn out to be my first proper garment made from a sewing pattern, unless I knock out a quick Sorbetto in the meantime.  I picked up a remnant of fabric from Coventry Market which might just stretch to a Sorbetto:

I've no idea what it is but I loved the colour and the pattern and it's lovely and soft (although it will probably crease like crazy!).  You can also see the denim fabric I bought to make a Miette skirt, another pattern from Tilly and the Buttons.  I think these fabrics look great together, a fact which may encourage me to sort out my differences with the Sorbetto Top pattern in the near future!  

So, watch this space - I'm hoping to return to sewing and blogging really soon!

Sorbetto Top FAIL!

So, I guess I ought to blog my failures as well as my successes, and boy was this a failure!  How can anybody get the Sorbetto Top wrong you may ask (if you're familiar with the pattern) - it's just two pieces sewn together with two darts for shape.  How hard can it be??  Well....

I had decided to try and make a top from the material recovered from the linen mix M&S skirt I picked up on last week's charity shop spree.  I wasn't sure how this would work, or whether there was quite enough material, but spurred on by my trousers-to-skirt success I thought I'd give it a go.

Not having a stock supply of my own patterns yet I trawled the blogs and decided to try the Collette Sorbetto Top pattern which is available as a free download.


Having duly printed and pasted my pattern together I read the instructions and measurement guide to decide which size to cut out.  The instructions give this suggestion:

FIND YOUR SIZE 

Use the size chart to determine your size.  Colette Patterns have less ease than many other patterns to provide a closer, more tailored fit.  If you are between sizes, choose the larger size. 

Hmmm...... I had been tempted to cut out the 10, but after reading this I decided to play it safe and go for a 12.  This was my first mistake!

When it came to cutting out the pattern pieces I was a little short of fabric for the back, but managed to piece it together with reasonable results.  For the front I omitted the pleat - also to save fabric.  I sewed the pieces up following the instructions.  It was nice and easy - all went well.  Then I tried it on.

It was a sack.

There's nothing more to be said.  I wish I'd taken photos at this point, but I was so horrified that I whipped it straight off, put it back on again inside out and proceeded to fill it with pins in an attempt to make it fit.  

It was huge at the sides, under the arms, and the back gaped - I mean REALLY gaped!  I tried taking it in down the side seams, and I also put two very long darts down the back, but really it was beyond salvaging.   Here are photos taken after all my alterations:

Bleurgh!  Not good.  The fit still isn't great, the front kicks up for no apparent reason, and those back darts look really amateur.  I gave up, knowing that I didn't want to go through the whole palaver of making bias binding to finish off this monstrosity.  Too bad linen-mix-M&S-skirt-top, you will not be joining me on any outings in the near future!

And how did I deal with this disappointment?  Did I rant and rave or throw the offending pattern pieces out the window?  Thankfully no.  I thought it over for 24 hours then decided to try again.  This time I cut up a bedsheet - my first toile!  I figure working out how things fit me is a crucial stage in making clothes, so I'm going to spend a bit of time experimenting.

Stay tuned for the Sorbetto rematch coming soon!

Rags to riches

Or at least trousers to skirt...

So I started my refashion plans with the stretchy purple cords.  They're actually almost burgundy - not vibrant purple as they appear in these photos.  It was a bit of a no brainer to try and make them into a skirt.  I had decided that in the shop, and I must admit that I didn't even try them on as there was no way I was going to wear them as trousers!  Also, I had a baby strapped to my chest, so I just held them up to my waist and decided they'd probably do.  They have a good waistband already, a short zipper, and inset pockets, and most importantly they fit me at the waist so I can keep all that.  

To start with I unpicked the inside leg seams then cut the bottom half of the trouser legs off.

I guessed with the length as I wanted the cut pieces to be almost as long as the skirt to make sure that I ended up with enough spare material to 'fill in the gaps' (technical term!).  I'm quite short, so this worked out fine for me.


I laid the 'skirt' out flat and measured out some triangular pieces to sew into the gaps.  I pinned them in and sewed it up on my machine.





I ended up with this.....

Not bad!  In fact I think I was very lucky that the triangles went in so well - particularly the front.  It could easily have been a fiddly mess!  Beginner's luck I guess!  Anyway I wasn't happy with it yet as I was aiming for more of an A-line shape, and trying it on confirmed that I was right - this shape didn't flatter me AT ALL!


So onto stage 2.  I unpicked the side seams this time up as far as the widest part of my hip.  I folded over my two remaining cut pieces lengthwise and inserted them at an angle until I was happy with the A shape.  Then I pinned them in and sewed them up.



This is what it looks like on the wrong side after sewing.  I'd love to say that my seams are neater now but that's not true. I don't have an overlocker so I tried using my overlocking foot on the sewing machine, only to find that I'd cut the seam allowances too short so that the foot kept sticking or slipping off.  That meant that I had to pull the fabric through which caused the stretchy fabric to ripple.  Eventually I gave up and left my seams 'au naturel'!

Here's the skirt before hemming:

I used my overlocker foot again (this time more successfully!) to finish the edges and first tacked then hand sewed the hem.

And TA DAAHHH!!  An A-line skirt that I am VERY happy with!  I'm sure it could have been executed better, and certainly tidier, but I love the shape, and the material is so soft that it's a joy to wear.  I can see this becoming a wardrobe staple, at least until I lose weight or it falls apart!  It could do with a lining (to cover up those unsightly raw edges!) but I don't have any lining fabric at the moment.  I shall make a mental note to keep my eye out for something suitable on my next charity shopping outing!

S'all for charidee mate!

I spent the evening browsing sewing blogs yesterday and was inspired both by MMM'13 (Me Made May - in which sewists wear only/mainly/some of the clothes they have made throughout May) and Miss P's The Refashioners (a challenge issued to a number of sewists/bloggers to refashion a charity shop garment sent to them by Miss P).  Those folk have created some seriously lovely items by hacking up old clothes - I'm loving the make do and mend vibe!

I have been known to source my sewing fabrics from charity shops before (such as the bed sheet/duvet set I used to make Emily's Tee Pee) and this gave me the itch to get browsing again.  So, without delay I  dragged hubby off to have a mooch about Earlsdon high street.  Actually it didn't take too much dragging as he's partial to a bit of charity shop browsing himself, although he's generally on the lookout for books and records rather than fabric!  The double bonus was that we got to have not one but two cafe stop offs - made necessary by the demands of a rather hungry breastfed baby!  I have to just pause here to give a shout out to Loaf in Earlsdon, Coventry - an artisan bakery and fine tea shop - such a delightful and friendly place with a fabulous 1940's theme, bone china teacups and scrumptious cakes!  I'd def recommend it!!

So, back to the shopping, I spent about £13 and bought...

...a size 18 linen mix brown patterned M&S skirt, a pair of Anne Brooks Petite stretchy purple needle cord trousers, a men's Red Herring tiny floral print shirt with front pleats, and a pair of jeggings!

So, if you're interested to know what they will become then watch this space...