Sew Grateful Week - Day 4: Project

Hello again :) Yesterday's post (share a tutorial, pattern etc...) didn't quite happen, I'm afraid, so here's a bit of a token effort:

• If you ever need to de-mystify bound buttonholes, The Little Tailoress's tutorial is beyond wonderful.

• I've downloaded this but haven't yet made it up so can't personally vouch for it, but SBCC's (Skinny Bitch, Curvy Chick) Tonic T-shirt looks like a really promising basic fitted top pattern. And the PDF is free :)

Onto the Sew Grateful Project:

Thursday the 27th February: Sew Grateful Sewing Project Day.  Showcase your latest sewing project. Whether it's a project using up that pattern that was a present from someone or that you won in a giveaway or using a tutorial someone has prepared, or even a project inspired by someone in the sewing community... the possibilities are nearly endless!

My project is made using fabric I won in a giveaway by Fabric Tragic last year. It's a drapey wine-coloured knit with a bit of a crushed finish to it. I almost made it up as a top, then a skirt, then another top, but wasn't quite sold on any of the patterns I'd planned so it's been sitting on the desk since September. A week ago I was wearing my kimono/jacket/shruggy thing and it struck me that it could work in a knit. This one, while drapey and reasonably light-weight, is pretty stable, so it ended up working pretty well:

The indoor photos make it look quite purple, but the outdoor ones are a pretty good match. The construction was the same as last time (link is above if you're interested), except that since the last one was chiffon I used french seams. This time I did the whole thing on my overlocker, which is a first for me. I usually just use the overlocker for finishing.

Some very quick photos before we lost the light - just remembered in time!

 This one is little bit warmer than my chiffon one, so I'm hoping it'll work well during winter, given a few long-sleeved layers underneath :)

The only change I made to the pattern this time around was to sew bands onto the end of the sleeves. Last time I folded the raw edge under twice and sewed it down, but I like this as a finish for knit garments. They look quite nice folded up (half the width below) too. (Is that the way the Renfrew top is finished? I really must buy that this year.) You can see the crumpled look of the fabric here - it's not just my ironing aversion... ;)

Judging by the amount of wear my last version has has, I think this is going to be a very useful addition to my me-made wardrobe. Expect to see it in May quite a bit! 

Thanks, Sarah, for a fantastic giveaway! 

Sew Grateful Week 2014 - Day Two: Reflections

I think this is actually my favourite topic of the Sew Grateful Week. I mean, giveaways are great (have you seen some of them??), and projects are always wonderful, but I just love hearing people's stories and being allowed a little glimpse into other sewists' worlds. I'll let the Hostess explain:

Tuesday the 25th February: Reflections Day. This is the day to reflect on the role sewing has played in our lives, reflecting on those who have been supportive in our journey and reflecting on what the online community means to us!  What are you sew grateful for? 

When I started musing over this a week or two ago, a rant by one of my favourite comedians, Dylan Moran, on his Yeah, Yeah DVD came to mind:

"Now I'm not a feminist - I don't qualify. And neither do most women. If you women were serious about feminism you could have everything that feminists want you to have. Equal pay? You could have that tomorrow....IF women would stop bitching about each other for FIVE MINUTES. Which doesn't seem to be possible..."

That may not be verbatim (I have too many Sew Grateful posts to visit and read to spend time transcribing right now...), but that was the gist of it. And it's one of those laugh-and-wince-in-recognition things, isn't it? I can't imagine there'd be a woman alive and breathing who hasn't experienced the painful end of female cattiness.

And yet... In the hundreds of blog posts and thousands of comments I've read over the last year-and-a-bit, I've yet to read a single comment that's snide, belittling or snarky.

Posting photos for the world to see of your created work is a vulnerable thing. Actually wearing your created work is even more so. But this community understands that. Even more importantly, this community respects that.

Women championing women is one of the most beautiful, inspiring and empowering sights imaginable. And as women we have the capacity to do that so naturally and so very, very well. THAT'S what I see every time I click on a blogger's post, and that's what keeps me coming back for more of this amazing community.

This community brings out the best in women. That's what I'm Sew Grateful for :)

Sew Grateful Week 2014 - Day One: Giveaway

It's that time of year again, folks! Debi from My Happy Sewing Place is hosting the Sew Grateful Week, as an opportunity to give back to the online sewing community. Last year's Week was the first bloggy "event" I ever participated in as a brand new sewing blogger and I loved it. I met some wonderful people through taking part, and I was thrilled to see it was going to happen again.

Day One is Giveaway Day:
 
Monday the 24th February: Giveaway Day.  Host a giveaway on your blog or other social media platform to give something back to the sewing community.

Alrighty then!

I actually have two giveaways on offer, a sewing one and a knitting one. I had planned to buy something sewing-related, but since this year I'm really trying to cut down on consumption I hope you won't mind that it's actually out of my stash instead - I promise it's completely unused!

Sewing Giveaway:

The By Hand London Victoria Blazer pattern. I really love this pattern. But as I've been musing over the Wardrobe Architect series I've realised it's a style/silhouette I really love on other people. So rather than hoard it, I've decided that it can contribute to some other sewist's general fabulousness. :)



Knitting Giveaway:

A set of six Swarovski crystal stitch markers. I have a dear friend who makes beautiful crystal, pearl and beaded jewellery, and she's fashioned up these little lovelies for me, or rather, for you! I adore my set; bling really doesn't get more glorious than Swarovski! These comfortably fit on needles up to about 6.5mm or US 10 1/2.

If you're interested in either of these, leave a comment below specifying which. Both giveaways are open until Sunday 2nd March 2014. Good luck!

An Overcompensatory Muslin

Hello again :) You might recall that in my last (garment-based) post I confessed how I can often be slack or lazy when it comes to muslin/toile making. That thought must have been floating around in my consciousness ever since, because this time I've pretty much swung around to the opposite direction...

As part of my Make Goals this year I wanted to sew a collared shirt or blouse - particularly one that would challenge my finishing skills. I tend to be a little disappointed with my efforts on this front, but never really make the time to practise. Now I'd planned on making Style Arc's Safari Sam Overshirt for ages (bought the pattern just before I came across the Archer shirt...) So I thought - and I'm still not entirely sure I thought this through properly - I'd make up the pattern from start to finish without making any modifications as a practical exercise in shirt-making. An Overcompensatory Muslin, if you will! I used the chambray I'd bought with this in mind, and tried to focus on the "journey" rather than the "destination". And actually, it came out alright!

I'm going to go back and make a few adjustments - nip in the side seams a touch, reset the sleeves in (they're a bit long when unfolded) and make the shoulders just a little narrower - because it's almost exactly what I wanted. Although I'd wear it as is, for sure. Aren't Wearable Muslins such a bonus! But....can you pick the big mistake I made though in the photos above?? I'll get to it in a sec... ;)

As an exercise in finishing skills, I'm really proud of myself! It feels a bit funny or immodest to say that - but all you sewists know what I mean! Besides, we all spend plenty of energy pointing out every little flaw and failing - I'm going to take this moment to celebrate a little :)

CONFESSION: Generally I would rather eat my own hair than sink-stitch / stitch in the ditch. I loathe doing it - and it never, ever looks "good enough" to me. Mind you, I'm not very conscientious when it comes to basting, so I'm probably setting myself up for failure on that score. This time though I was scrupulous - see?

Apparently meticulous basting is a good thing - who knew?!

So, so happy with the finishing :)

I did run into a bit of a roadblock when I got to the sleeve placket however. I've never sewn one of these before, and didn't quite know how to do it. Here's the thing about Style Arc patterns: the designs are amazing, and the drafting is fantastic, but the instructions take a, er, "minimalist" approach. From memory, this step was "sew sleeves". This included pleat, placket, cuff, everything. And the placket was in two pieces.

I tried to look up tutorials on two-piece sleeve plackets, and found no joy there. ("Make a 'house' with the triangular upper piece..." - what??) Then I remembered there had been an Archer Sewalong. Ten minutes later I'd ditched the two pieces, cut a new single length, and thanks to the wonderful Jen, had me a pretty fine placket!

Wish I'd read her section on getting perfect collar points beforehand.... They're not too bad, but are a little bit rounded.

The only thing I'd do differently if I could go back in time would be to use a lighter weight of interfacing on the collar and pocket flaps. I used tailor's interfacing, which I love, but I accidentally used my medium weight one, and so they feel just a little stiffer than I'd like. They may soften up a bit with washing though. Hope so.

Did you pick my big mistake? I honestly didn't notice I'd done this until I started photographing the details:

 Look at that lovely back pleat....on the inside! Grrrr.... Mind you, the sink-stitching is pretty nice ;)

But, niggles aside, I have sewn a button down shirt!

So of the Make Goals, just a Ziggi jacket, blazer, trousers/jeans and underwear to go for this year! Piece of cake... ;)

How are your sewing goals coming along?

Liebster Time :)

Last week I had the lovely surprise of being nominated for another Liebster award by Siri of the Pinhouse Playmate. She makes and knits absolutely beautiful vintage-inspired garments; if you haven't come across her blog before, go and check it out immediately. I'll wait...

Welcome back! Now the Liebster award rules seem to vary a bit from blogger to blogger, and from what I've seen, people adapt their responses pretty freely too. So the "guidelines" this time around are as follows:

You must answer the 11 questions set by the blogger who nominated you.

You yourself then pick 11 blogs who in turn have under 200 followers.

You must then think of 11 questions for the blogs you have picked and also tell them.

You must link back to the blog that nominated you.

Write 11 facts about yourself.

So - on to the questions!

What do you find most challenging about blogging?

Without a doubt - being photographed. I far prefer being behind the camera. 

If you could choose any super-power, what would it be?

Invisibility. (Which strikes me as a definite introvert's answer...) 

What is the most important thing in your life?

Family and faith. That's a sneaky two things, but for me they go hand in hand. :)

Which object/tool could you not do without on a daily basis?

Sewing tool? Quick-unpick (seam ripper), sadly. Otherwise, a toothbrush. That's an unglamorous but honest answer!

What is your favorite movie of all time?

Oh, that's hard to narrow down! Love Actually, all three Lord of the Rings films and Shaun of the Dead. But it feels rude not to mention the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and North and South also.

What is your dream destination for travel?

Definitely the UK. I was there 5 years ago and loved it. 

Which wild animal do you find most fascinating? 

Kangaroos. We moved out to the country nearly three years ago and often see them on our property at dusk or dawn. Natural suburbanite that I am, I still find it amazing that such enormous animals can just wander around freely. And they really are beautiful animals.

What is the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for you?

My husband put together a tribute photo album for me with lots of beautiful notes from him, family and friends. That was pretty wonderful!

Who do you admire the most, and why?

It's a tie between my husband and my mum. He's fearless, loving, funny and loyal. And he makes me popcorn without being asked :) She's gentle, perceptive, serene, and always sees the funny side of things.

If you could make a living doing anything, which profession would you choose?

In a perfect world, reading would be a profession. 

Describe yourself in 5 words.

Calm, content, creative, daydreamer, homebody. 

After going through my bloglist I've only got six new blogs to nominate, sorry. But they're all lovely and very worth becoming better acquainted with! 

Lady Sewalot

Ariation

A Good Talking To

Where is My Instruction Manual?

Seams Odd, Louise

The Somnolent Dachshund

And my questions for them are:

What was your best holiday ever?

What is something that comes easily to you?

What is your favourite thing about your home?

Early bird or night owl?

Who was your first crush?

What two things do you want to do before you die?

What makes you laugh?

What was the best decision you ever made?

What are you most afraid of?

What three wishes would you request from a genie?

What is the most essential thing you've learned so far?

Looking forward to reading your answers!

And lastly, eleven random facts about me:

1.  I love rainy days and thunderstorms

2.  The bravest thing I've ever done is skydiving.

3.  When I was 10 I had arthritis and couldn't walk.

4.  I loathe the feeling of nailpolish.

5.  I generally have at least two books on the go. Apparently I'm noticeably irritable when I don't have a new one to go on with.

6.  I can't do blood. I once fainted in a first aid course when the instructor started talking about wounds.

7.  The only trophy I've ever won was for a performance in a play. But I did once get a ribbon saying "I Ran In A Race". ;)

8. I can't go to a gym willingly.

9. I love cooking dishes from scratch.

10.  I once accidently broke my little sister's finger.

11.  I'd love to take painting classes and violin lessons. 

Until next time, then :)

Danielle oxo

Refashion: Part 2 - Dress to Top.

Hello all! Back again with Part 2 of my dress refashion. You may remember from last post that so far from this dress I've gotten a blouse I'm pretty darn happy with:

But I still had all of this left over:

Since I already had a metre of cream rayon in my stash drawer (intended a few months ago for a refashion using By Hand London's Polly top pattern, but it didn't cooperate...), I thought the two might combine nicely to make something a little bit textural.

For Christmas last year I was given a voucher for Style Arc patterns. (insert happy dance here). I decided on the Ziggi jacket, the Camilla blouse, and the Annie Cami:

I remember reading on a blog somewhere - I want to say A Fashionable stitch, but I honestly don't recall - that it's a good idea to build up a stash of basic patterns that you can easily adapt or rework, rather than having hundreds of slightly different versions of essentially the same design. I thought this pattern for a woven tank fit the bill nicely.

There was quite a lot of broderie anglais there, once I'd unpicked the gathering stitches and ironed it flat. I started by marking where the final hem would be on the front piece, and then laid a length of lace across it so that the scalloped edge just overlapped the hemline.

I sewed this down close to the upper edge of the lace, then positioned another length so that it just overlapped the top edge. I sewed this down the same way, then kept layering lace until it covered the front. From the back it looked like this:

I pinned around the edges, sewed close to the edge right around the sides, armholes and neckline and then cut away the excess:

Then I sewed the rest as per instructions; front darts, sides, shoulders. Normally for this pattern I think I'd French seam, but here that would have been too bulky. I didn't have enough rayon over to make bias binding, so just used a polycotton pack that I had. Not lovely, but serviceable! I did find the line of securing stitching I did around the edges showed in places, so I had a little bit of unpicking to do there...

The pattern calls for the side vents to be mitred, which is quite a nice finish (although I'd like to try folding the edges under rather than overlocking next time). I could only do that on the back though;

For the front, I sewed just the hem, not the vertical/side stitching. The lace was already secured to the main fabric at the outer edge of the side vent, so once folded back into the finished position it just needed a few hand stitches to secure it in place.

 I finished up with this:

I'm quite pleased with it! Not too shabby for leftovers, anyhow :)  I don't know why the original lace ruffles made me irritated while these flat lace layers make me happy, but there you are!

It turned out a little boxier in shape than I expected or am used to wearing, but I'm ok with that I think. Since it only has a hook and eye closure at the back of the neck it has to be a loose enough fit so that you can actually get it on. Plus the lace makes it a bit stiffer than it would otherwise be. Next time I use this pattern I might nip in the side seams just a little bit. I think I'll also reshape the back opening to more of a keyhole shape and bind it, because the slit opening tends to sag a little.

 The other main construction change I'd make is to lower the darts. They really are a bit high (which we'll chalk up to nursing three kids...;) ) I think I can get away with it on this top, because the dart itself just catches the outer edge of a lace layer, and then that lace sits over the end of the seam, but I know it's not quite right.

This actually shows up a sewing weakness of mine - I almost always do a muslin, but sometimes it's a bit of a "token" muslin. For this one I really only checked that I could get it on and off... I'm not entirely sure, because the lace adds a fair bit of thickness, but I think it pulls a little across the bust. I've never had to do a FBA - never thought it would remotely be a possibility! - but I may research that for next time too.

This sounds like a bit of a catalogue of flaws so far, but it's really not so bad! It's had its first outing for the day and I was really happy with how it felt on. There's something so summery about broderie anglais, isn't there?

There was one other step I'd planned for this top, but stopped short on, thanks entirely to the Top 5 Reflections exercise. I'd intended to try dip-dyeing this to get an ombre effect (I was thinking coral or maybe aqua) but changed my mind. I realised that although the dye idea would - I think! - look good, it would actually limit how useful this top would be in my wardrobe. As it is it goes with lots of things, so I thought I'd forego a slightly more "impressive" blog post/item in favour of functionality. We're sewing a wardrobe here, after all!

In other news, the lovely Siri from Pinhouse Playmate has nominated me for another Liebster award! If you haven't come across her blog before, make sure you check it out - her sewing is amazing and her knitwear sublime :) Thanks Siri! I'll have a think over my answers and post soon :)

I've almost finished all my planned summer sewing now - just four more items to go :) I'm finding my mind starting to drift though to cooler weather projects, but that could just be the hankering for autumn that I get at this time every year - a kind of "if you build it, they will come" ;)

Do you sew according to a plan? Which do you prefer making - warm or cool weather garments?

Have a wonderful week :)

Danielle oxo

Refashion: Part 1 - Dress to Blouse

I realised the other day it's been aaages since I've done any refashioning, so here's the first refashion project of 2014. The best part was that in the end this dress yielded two garments. Win!

This was passed on to me by my sister, with the tags still on it. I was immediately struck by the lovely print and how beautifully it was made. I hadn't heard of the brand Ti Mo before so I looked it up. Here's an excerpt from the web site, regarding the founder Tine Mollatt:

For Tine truthfulness and honesty are also guiding beacons. She does not believe in exploitation of any kind to reach her goals. Not towards the people involved on the way, nor towards the animals that provide materials or towards mother earth. She believes in sustainability on all levels. She believes the time of mass consumption is soon to be past. She believes in high quality clothing that’s long lasting. She believes there is a right way to approach the calculation of costs, without cutting any corners. She believes in the value that lies within the garment and she believes in the masterful skill that lies in tailoring. 

I thought that was just wonderful, and it's an approach I really want to support. Unfortunately for me:

This is why I don't wear A-line or trapeze style dresses. 

There was plenty of potential though to make it more me-friendly. The three rows of broderie anglais ruffles are sewn to a "skirt" which was attached to the main body. The clever thing about those ruffles was that they gave the hemline enough body to stand out to create the A-line shape; while this doesn't work for me in this particular instance, I'm definitely filing it away in my head as a technique to remember.

My first thought was to make it into a simple blouse by removing the "skirt" (because I know I'll never wear a dress that short), and creating more shape through side shaping and front and back darts. The original dress had a button placket at the back, and I didn't want to change this. Nor did I want it to be so fitted that it required an additional closure. 

First things first: removal of skirt. You can see the A-line shaping pretty clearly here.

Next, I tried it on and marked where the front and back darts needed to be. I also marked where I wanted the sides to be.

After sewing these steps I tried it on. And, well, it was a bit blah...

The more I looked at it, the more I felt it was too "undecided" - too blousey to be a successful fitted top, and not blousey enough to be a proper blouse. Clearly more thought was needed...

Luckily, I still had the skirt. I unpicked all the lace and put that aside. From the bottom edge of the blouse I cut two 2cm strips and one 4cm strip. These were still large loops of fabric, so I cut them down one sewn side. The two 2cm strips I sewed together to make one long one. With a 0.5cm ( 1/4") seam allowance I sewed it into a cord and turned it in the right way. I always forget how long turning cords can take... I folded each edge of the wider strip under 1cm and pressed it flat. They ended up like this:

Then I  trimmed the same amount off the sides of the skirt that I had cut from the sides of the top. Actually, I think I cut all the excess from only one side. Then I sewed the skirt back to the top. Having marked the centre front, I sewed the pressed strip over the fabric join, folding the edges under, to form a casing. You can see where I'm going with this, I'm sure!

Once that was done I just needed to thread the long narrow cord through the casing and tie knots in the ends to keep them from fraying. Voila! A blouse I'm much happier with:

 No extra closures were needed, because it still slips over the head and shoulders easily. The front and back darts which weren't working in the first attempt give the blouse just the right amount of shaping here.  And I love that there was almost no fabric wastage - just the little I trimmed from the sides!

I saw an idea on Carolyn's blog that impressed me; she kept a notebook for a year detailing which handmade items she'd worn each day, so as to have an accurate overview of what actually got worn and how often. She actually drew beautiful "paper dolls" for this; it's a really lovely record! Now I know that if I decided to do something similar it would be a meticulously detailed record... for about one week. Then it would be shoved to the side and forgotten about till the next Top 5 Reflection Lists. But I thought I'd take a slightly more basic approach, because I love the idea. So blutacked to my sewing cupboard is a scrawled list of handmade items and a running tally. This blouse is outstripping the field by three to one already! It's proving to be really versatile - I've even worn it to work in 45 deg heat (that's 113 for farenheit people). I've got cardigans that go with it perfectly too, so I think it'll see me though autumns and springs very comfortably too. I'm really thrilled with this one. :)

Next time, Part 2 of the refashion. After all, I still have all this broderie anglais.... It's the dress that keeps on giving!

What's on your sewing table at the moment?

Have a wonderful week :)

Danielle