Another Mélilot shirt and a Hudson hack!

Hello sewers!

I am back, a mere blink of the eye later, with another Mélilot Shirt! 

After my trouble with the Charlotte Skirt, and some fairly typical running-before-walking behaviour with regards drafting my own patterns, my first Mélilot was a real confidence-restorer. I've focussed mainly on dresses since I began sewing, but lately have been wearing separates much more. They are also easier for sewing in my limited space, and shirts will be an excellent way to use up some slightly questionable prints I bought earlier on in my sewing career.

Enter this new guy! I've even named it: it's The Big Top, AKA Send in the Clowns Shirt. I love it! 

Both fabric and buttons are from The Cloth House in London. The buttons are lovely glass with whorls in the middle. After a bit of deliberation, I used the "wrong" side of the cotton. The black is slightly more faded on this side, which makes this shirt feel more Barnum & Bailey than Cirque du Soleil! And I topstitched the pockets in red which I think looks jaunty.

I also made these trousers. I have seen lots of stylish women wearing short, wide legged trousers this summer. There was a pair in American Apparel which I really liked, made, I think, out of cupro. This fabric is sadly not cupro - I thought it'd be sensible to make a toile before spending more money - so this is some fairly foul synthetic fella from Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road. It clings like billy-o, all round my front, and I try not to think about what it's up to round my backside. 

The pattern is a Hudson Pant hack. Well, barely a hack, really - I sized it up two sizes from my size in stretch fabric, making it a 12, as suggested by Kelli in the tutorial for converting the Hudsons for wovens. Then I widened the legs from the pockets down in a fairly freestyle manner. Everything else was the same as regular Hudsons. I do like them though they are a bit bodge and the fabric is longing to burst into flames - given half the chance it probably will. Just before I'd embarked on these, Kelli released the Emerson Pants, which I really like the look of. So that may be a treat further down the line!

Thanks for reading! Until soon!

Mélilot Shirt and New Look skirt

Hello sewers!

I'm here to show off what I think might be my new favourite thing I've sewn! This is the Mélilot Shirt by Deer & Doe. I first saw this made up on Instagram a few months back, and ordered the pattern straight away. I love a mandarin-style collar and I LOVE short rolled sleeves. 80s goodness yum yum yum! I've seen some super versions of this shirt online, including Katie's and Just Sew Therapeutic's. 

I have pretty much nothing to say about sewing this guy - I sewed a straight size 38 out of the packet thanks to Just Sew Therapeutic's post suggesting checking the finished garment's measurements rather than my own. This saved me sewing up the 40, which would have definitely been too big. I made NO adjustments, and I love it just the way it is! It's lovely and long, therefore eminently tuck-in-able, which is how I'm liking shirts at the moment.

The fabric is a beautiful cotton by Atelier Brunette, which I won 2 metres of in the Sew Over It show off competition last year! Thank you again, Sew Over It! I've been saving it for the right project, and I feel this is it. Also, this version of the shirt is not at all fabric-hungry, so I have enough left for another shirt should I wish it!

I've already made another one of these shirts, which I will blog soon! That's how keen I am on this pattern. My most regularly worn thing are t-shirts with the sleeves rolled up to show off my guns/look 80s - this feels like a slightly smarter version of that look. Yaaaay Mélilot Shirt!

I'm also wearing a me-made skirt, which is New Look 6003, view E. I'm yet to resolve the baggy dart issues on my Charlotte Skirt, but it inspired me to revisit this slightly ill-fitting skirt I made a couple of years ago in the excellent Introduction to Dressmaking course at Ray Stitch. I took in wedges of about 1cm on the front and back side seams, and now it fits. I don't like the shape as much as the Charlotte, but I'm wondering if no front darts at all is the solution to my problems there... going to mash the patterns together and see!

Have super Sundays everyone!