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Denim skirt and edged cardi

Just look at what you can create when your husband leaves a pair of jeans lying around in the wrong place!  Ha!  You snooze you lose!

Only kidding - they were on his 'to chuck out' pile of things that won't fit in the drawer anymore, and I did ask before I cut them up.  You wouldn't think it now though as he keeps looking at me accusingly saying, "My jeans!".

Too bad though coz I love love LOVE my new skirt.  It's perfect for the weather, and soooo quick to make.  I didn't take pics of the process, but I literally just cut the legs off at the point where there were holes in the knees, opened the inside legs and crotch, and stitched it all together using triangles of denim (taken from one of the cut off legs) to fill in the gaps.  

I managed to get it done in about half an hour this morning whilst Jacob napped (and his naps are short!) so I could wear it when we went out after lunch.  I did go back to reinforce some of the seams later on, just to make sure.  This gave me a chance to try out my new double needle too.

I bought this needle for knitting jersey so I shouldn't really be using it on denim, but it worked fine and was exactly what I needed to secure the back seams which were fray-tastic.

So, onto the cardi.  I have been looking in my wardrobe for clothes to refashion, and maternity wear is an easy choice.  It's big enough to allow adjustment (and to fit my post-natal figure!) but I don't plan on wearing it again for it's original purpose!

Most of my maternity clothes have been recycled over three pregnancies or inherited from friends, but I did acquire a couple of new items this time.  One was a pair of jeans which I lived in, but which are sadly of no use now due to the fabric maternity belly - they would be too low cut without it.  Then there was this super soft angora mix jumper which is another matter.

It was a birthday present and I loved the colour, the soft knitted texture and the shoulder and cuff detail.  However, I hardly wore it after my mum informed me that it "looked as if I had no boobs"!  Clearly I wouldn't be wearing it as is post pregnancy either as it really doesn't flatter my pear-shaped figure, but I had a plan!


First off I cut off the back tie thingy and used an existing cardi to determine how long I wanted it to be.

Then I hacked it into bits, cutting off the bottom and slicing up the middle to make my cardi shape.  

Of course, there was now a question of what to do with all those raw edges, but I trawled ebay until I came upon this paisley binding with just the right colour combination.

I pinned the binding all the way around the raw edges and sewed it in place.  It was actually easier than I thought it would be.

And that was it.  I didn't add any catches or buttons as I wouldn't want to wear it done up.  So here it is...

 It's pretty cute and definitely wearable now - although not at the moment coz it's just too darn HOT!  All in all another successful wardrobe refashion - hooray!

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!

Esme Top Completed!

That's it!  I have finally completed my first ever wearable garment!  Woohoooooo!

I managed to squeeze in some sewing time over the last week, mainly in the evenings when all the little darlings were asleep.  I did occasionally manage to sneak a little extra in after school (between making dinner, feeding an infant and doing the bedtime routine!) and at these times had a little helper:

Chief pin sorter!

She's keen to get involved, and we're thinking of starting a little project together soon - perhaps a pinny or a little skirt.   I wish I'd started sewing from a young age!  I'm sure my mum would have gladly shown me how (she sewed all the time when I was a kid) but I think I was probably a little too impatient in those days!

Anyway, back to the Esme Top.  In the end I cut the pattern out in a size 8 as I'd read that it comes up big, and I'm certainly glad I didn't go any bigger.  It's quite an airy, blousey top which will be lovely and cool for summer wear.  I love the bib detail on the front, and the sleeves are wonderful!  I'm really pleased with how it went together, and for a first attempt I don't think I did too badly.  I'm sure I'll be able to pick holes in it later once I have more experience, and it's not that tidy inside, but for now I am very happy with it.  

I'm really pleased with how it went together, and for a first attempt I don't think I did too badly.  I made a couple of mistakes in the initial cutting out which I will chalk up to experience but I had plenty of fabric so I was able to resolve these without difficulty.  I did make one glaringly obvious error when I chose to use a biro to mark my gather lines thinking that the end result would be hidden in the seam allowance - doh! 

I'm hoping this will come out in the wash, but I intend to wear it in the meantime anyway - after all, I made it dammit!

Celebrating with a Pimms!

 Happy weekend y'all!

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 2: Adventures in pattern fitting.

So, I've decided to learn how to make my own clothes, and I have a long way to go, but I'm not going to let a little pattern-fitting setback stop me!  

I went back to the Sorbetto Top pattern a second time (getting back on the horse, or whatever analogy might be more appropriate!).  This time I cut up an old bed sheet to practice with the fitting.  I initially thought I would just cut out a smaller size, but here's the thing - even dropping two dress sizes was only going to reduce the shoulder width by about 4mm max.  What is it with this top, or is it just me?  My shoulder width is 34cm, and a size 10 on the Sorbetto measures 40cm!  No wonder I had a problem with it!!   

What I did in the end was reduce the size of the back by cutting 2cm off the inside edge of the back pattern piece, so reducing the width by 4cm overall but between the shoulder blades!  Unorthodox, but I couldn't see any other way of doing it.  The front neckline had fit ok so I just cut the pattern down to a size 10, although this time I included the pleat.

It was better, but still not perfect, and this time I did take pictures:

The back was far better, but look at those armholes - I just seem to have shifted the problem around!  Here's a closer look:

How do I fix this without just adding more darts?  Also, I just have to admit that the straight up-down shape of the Sorbetto is not flattering on me at the moment!  There, I said it! I think I need a little more ease at hip level!  

I resorted to a time honoured course of action - if in doubt, google it!  My search came up trumps and I found this tutorial on the Burda website for adjusting dodgy armholes, and decided to give it a go.  Oh, and guess which pattern she's hacking in the tutorial....

Collette 0003 - otherwise known as the Sorbetto Top!  I feel so much better now!  Here's my little montage of the steps I went through to make the adjustment:

Hmmm....looks a bit odd now, but I decided to withhold judgement until I'd cut it out and made it up.  At least it looks a lot like the one she made in the tutorial.  

So, I cut out another front, put in the darts and sewed it up.  I did find that I needed to redraw the armhole again but other than that it went together pretty well.

And here's the result:

A definite improvement, although I think the bust dart could still do with being a bit lower.  I may try out this tutorial to lower the dart, or else I could use this one to do a Full Bust Adjustment (FBA).  Phew!  I can't believe how much tinkering it is taking to make one simple top fit.  It has made me realise that I will need to make a muslin for any future patterns that I decide to make - a step that I would gladly have skipped but, let's face, I clearly don't have average measurements so no pattern's going to fit as is.  But hey, I guess that's one big advantage in making your own clothes as opposed to buying off the peg.  

I sense I have many more pattern fitting adventures to come before I work out what's right for me!  

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!