Thursday, February 25, 2021

Very velouring!

 Hi sewing friends!

I'm repeating silhouettes now - sorry to be boring while I'm caught in a puff-sleeved shirt/Pomona Pants frenzy which I have no desire to get out of. 


A few months ago I was alerted via Instagram that Rainbow Fabrics Kilburn had some affordable cupro for sale, and bought three metres. It's beautiful, and I love how it feels, but it's the shiftiest fabric I've worked with yet. I spent longer cutting out than usual, and once cut all the pieces looked dismayingly wonky and different in sizes. But a bit of wrangling, and lots more pinning than I'm accustomed to, and they all fit together. I made exactly the same shirt as in my last post, minus the frills round the collar. 


I love this shirt - it's very comfortable, and looks quite smart with some jewellery to jazz it up. I think it'll get a lot of wears.


My other recent fabric purchase was this mint green jersey velour/velvet from Fabric Godmother. Having not read the description properly I'd taken it for a woven velvet when I purchased it, so was a bit sad when it arrived that it wasn't as fancy as I'd imagined. But it's beautiful in its own right, and after a little fear that I'd actually made myself Juicy Couture pants when I made these Pomonas, I think the high waist and shape keep it out of that danger zone! I think they look kind of 40s and sophisticated - or they did before I bagged them out and got them grubby by wearing them every day since I finished them two weeks ago.


As it's important to embrace those things which we fear, I decided to lean into the Juicy Couture thing and make a matching t-shirt. I had to do some piecing at the back as I was almost out of my two metres. But I quite like this look in the end. I think it's sort of Carmela Sopranoesque.


Absence of "Juicy" writing on the bum - far too sophisticated for that!

Thanks for reading! And thanks to my friend Steve for taking these pics in front of our shared building - a bit of natural light to sparkle on my velour.

Saturday, February 6, 2021

A puffy frilly shirt and a SCARF!

Hello fellow sewers!


It's me, on repeat with these puff-sleeved shirts! I'm really enjoying making different iterations of a shirt whose basic fit makes me feel really good. Maybe I've gone too far with this version, I'm not sure! Very little to add to the last three, apart from the ruffles on the collar, which I almost enjoyed making, and am proud of the result of!


More lovely Merchant & Mills cotton, such a lovely feel to this fabric. 
And more buttons from Textile Garden!


And two pictures of the scarf I finished this week! My sewing feed was getting full of wonderful enviable knitted content, and I was suddenly struck down with a severe case of FOMOK. After some practise and helpful lessons from Sheep & Stitch, I spent a soothing week or so knitting up this scarf, and I absolutely LOVE it - it's the warmest scarf I've ever owned. But I'm not in love with knitting, and still feel massively intimidated by the idea of anything more complicated, much as I love the idea of wearing my own sweaters... will see!



Ready for the Brighton seafront!!