They call me Unmellow Yellow

Hello sewers! 

Next up in my list of "Nowhere to go, so this fancy thing shall I sew" is this yellow dress! I originally bought this double gauze from Merchant & Mills with a modified Fringe Dress in mind - I wanted to copy Catherine's beautiful version. But giving it some thought, I realised that much as I loved the dress on her, I don't think it's a silhouette I'll wear. Whereas this tried and trusted hack has been a winner for me in both blue and white.

I haven't anything to add about this dress after my last two versions - the only difference I made was to round the neckline, which I think gives it a more 40s feel. I just love a button-through dress so much! Will I ever tire of them... Plus because I ran out of buttons the gape at the front matches the back, so it looks a bit jumpsuity from some angles - bonus! 

I also wondered to myself if another reason I reached for this pattern rather than tracing and cutting the Fringe Dress out was something particular to this time. Sewing is my favourite hobby - absorbing, stimulating and satisfying - BUT, I wouldn't call it soothing or restful. Do other sewers feel this - is it a hobby that becomes more relaxing as one improves? I find I'm sort of white-knuckled most of the way through the process, I think waiting for a mishap, even though they are almost always rectifiable... As well as joy and pride in finishing something I like, there's also RELIEF - is this a common feeling?

This was my first time working with double gauze - I'm mad about the colour but I didn't LOVE the fabric itself  - maybe it's not the greatest fit for a structured dress like this - it might prove a little lightweight. Only time and the million cocktail parties I'll shortly be wearing it to will tell. Oh, wait...

Thanks for reading! x

My Pomonas

Hello sewers!

It's been over a year since my last post. The first seven months was because I moved to Florida to do a comics course, and had to leave my sweet, sweet sewing equipment behind. And then of course the pandemic happened. Once I came back to the UK I started sewing a lot - it's definitely been a helpful hobby when I can't concentrate on other things (a fairly constant problem these days). I thought I'd start blogging the backlog - it's nice to keep track of the things I make, plus I still enjoy seeing other people's makes and blogs. 

As soon as I saw Anna Allen's Pomona Pants I was keen - I love an elasticated trouser! This is a lovely burnt orange needlecord from my new favourite shop, the wonderful Cousette. It works really well for these trousers - it's fairly light, but keeps its shape and I think it looks great. There are lots of other lovely colours on the website...

I opted for one front pocket and none at the back - I miss having side pockets although the line of these is lovely. I sewed up a straight size 10 with no adjustments. I guess there's some excess fabric around the crotch area, but I think it shows up more in these photos than in real life (also, I think I'm a weird stander!!?) I love these trousers and have worn them an absolute ton since making them a couple of months ago. 

Thanks for reading!

Another Charlotte Skirt

Hello sewers!

Here I am with another By Hand London Charlotte Skirt. Having fussed and worried over the creases and darts in my last version, that skirt is now one of my most-worn me-mades, so I've decided I like the pattern as it is and won't worry any more about it.

I've nothing really to add from last time; I used the same slight mods again - a few cm off the tops of the side seams, a split up the back and belt loops to show off my favourite belt, a triumphant Etsy find!

The fabric is a lovely medium-weight Indian cotton from Cloth House, always dangerously near my studio...

Next up is another Mélilot, this time with long sleeves for my mum. Till soon!

Simplicity 1880 AGAIN

Hello! I hope you are having good Easter weekends. I've spent the past two days sewing, and I'm actually feeling like I might have ODed a bit - I was having weird dreams last night about plackets (really) and feeling a bit antsy and rushed, so I'm going to give it a rest for a bit! 

This frenzy is a result of having three weddings and an 80th birthday party coming up soon, and wanting fun homemade things to wear to all - I may have to accept this will not be possible, and I may have to resort to *gasp* old ready-to-wear...

Anyway, enter another Simplicity 1880. And I promise I won't keep saying this - but I really don't like the finished dress! Sad really, as it turned out how I imagined, complete with with a Premo (a polymer clay like Fimo but I think less brittle) belt buckle and matching brooch, love-themed for the first wedding!

I've not much more to say about this pattern after my last two. The fabric was a striped chambray from Miss Matatabi, and lack of fabric meant improvising with some piecing on the front and back skirt, making the v-shapes which I was happy with. I'm not sure where the dress goes wrong for me - I think perhaps I hemmed it too short, and something about the pinstripe looks a bit formal. All in all, a bit blah... 

This is before hemming... rats! Now I see the pics near each other, seems obvious that the longer length was better... CURSES! Live and learn... or, as I prefer to do, live and NOT learn!

But on a positive note --->

I was really happy with my belt buckle and brooch vision! I can see myself wearing the brooch a lot, and I made some more shapes to paint up in the future. I'm going through a brooch stage at the moment!

This is the white Premo after it's been in the oven for an hour. Then a few layers of acrylic paint and a couple of coats of clear nail varnish (haven't yet found a satisfactory gloss water-based varnish yet... any steers would be most welcome!) and it looks super, I think!

Hearts and smooches. Happy Easter all!

Gingham and dungs

Hello fellow sewers! 

I'm here to show a second dress made from the same pattern as the last one. The top is a hack of the Anna bodice, with a gathered rectangle skirt again, this time in nice gingham from The Cloth House. 

I didn't really make much in the way of changes after the last version, bar taking a 1/2 cm wedge from the shoulder seams on both front and back bodice. Also I remembered to stay stitch the neckline this time - I think the combination of these two moves eliminated the small bit of neckline bagging that the last dress suffers from.

I also added a long tie made with the remnants from 1.5m of fabric - wrapped twice round I think it adds a nice touch. I tried out buttons but they didn't seem to work for this dress, so the tie was a way to add some interest. 

Next up are these dungarees from the excellent Marilla Walker's Roberts Collection. I cut a size 3 on the top tapering to a 4 for the bottom half. I think this was an error, and next time (I'd like to make the jumpsuit for summer) I will cut a 3 throughout.

I used a nice medium weight cotton from Goldhawk Road, and these chaps are very comfortable, though they are also a little big. But I think they'll come into their own in summer, and I was excited about my first go using snaps - a pleasure to get hammering with those. 

The thin straps and high back are a particular feature of this pattern that I love!

I finally took the plunge and ordered some fabric from Miss Matatabi, so I'm looking forward to making something with it - there are some weddings coming up and I'd really like to sew some special things for them... the top dress pattern was made with that in mind, but I'm not sure it's dressy enough for a wedding... plans plans plans!

March Sew Over It Show Off competition!

Hurrah! I won the March So Over It competition - 2 metres from their beautiful fabric shop! I loved the course at Sew Over It with Julie, and can't wait to make something new!

Thank you Alex!

Two pairs of strides and a curtain shirt

A little bit of soothing sewing for a hungover Sunday post!

First up is a second pair of Hudson Pants. My first pair is the most worn item that I've made, and my mum was keen for a pair herself. She chose this lovely "Shroom" fabric from Fabric Godmother. I didn't make any changes to the pattern apart from leaving out the twill tape I'd bought as drawstring and leaving off the ankle cuffs. O let Mum's ankles be unconfined, Shroom trousers!

They look great on her, and Mum says they're very comfortable (though she didn't want to pose for lots of pics - not the absolute veteran har har I am at this). We are planning her next pair, with an extra 2" in length to compensate for the no cuff look.

Shroom with a view.

Meanwhile the Cigarette Pants course at Sew Over It in Islington has just finished. I loved the class, and Julie was a wonderful and fun teacher - I always learn new things in these evening classes, from better ways to cut patterns, to making a fly front zip.

I'm going for a sort of Marcel Marceau thing here.

They're a nice green wool fabric, which is amazingly unitchy, thank goodness.

Weird side view.

 Weirder back view.

 I was happy with these as a practical success, but I'm not sure they're super flattering on me. I foresee little trouser sewing in my immediate future - there are so many tempting tops and dresses to make; trousers feel like too much faff!

The last bit is a pattern I've been trying to draft myself, based on a beloved old Jaeger shirt. I had a go at it once before when I'd just started sewing. It didn't look great on me, but happily found a home with Mum.

I made some adjustments to this pattern, taking in about 6cm at the sides, lengthening the arms, and making a 1cm adjustment at the shoulders so that the neckline didn't gape (does anyone know what this particular problem is called? I'm finding that I'm having to do it on most bodices.) 

I sewed this guy up while watching the Great British Sewing Bee on repeat - bliss!

Not tucked in - it's a bit tight round the bottom, so works less well this way I think...

Sadly the whole thing looks like a weird 70s curtain refashion. Not much about it is appealing - it kind of works open, as a jacket... but also not really. The fabric seemed so pretty until it became this chap - and the off-white buttons add a certain je ne sais pourquoi to the whole thing that tips it into downright depressing... never mind, I learned from it - maybe the main thing being to wait to draft my own patterns until I'm a lot more experienced!

Fabric Design competition shortlist!

My fairies fabric design has made the shortlist of the By Hand London fabric design competition! By Hand London are a really super indie pattern company who are now printing their own fabrics too. Their Anna Dress is one of my favourite patterns I've made so far. 

There is a vote on their blog now - the pattern with the most votes by this Friday, 13th February will be the winner! And then their fabric will get printed - too super!

If you have time and the inclination, it would be lovely if you could go to the 

By Hand London blog

to vote. 

Thank you! 

Two Darling Ranges Dresses

I love Megan Nielsen's pattern for the Darling Ranges dress - I'm really liking button front dresses and blouses, and now that I have a new sewing machine with a one-step buttonhole stitch, it's a breeze as well. I liked the slightly old fashioned look of the Darling Ranges, and figured it might suit me and be a useful day dress. But my first attempt was fairly hopeless and frustrating - I messed up the neckline somehow, perhaps partly it being my first go at self made bias binding - I don't know. Either way I got furious with it, and left it unfinished and hanging up by my desk, where it could think about what it had done.

Deciding to tackle it again marked the first time I really bothered unstitching long lines of sewing, which felt like crossing a mental barrier for me. I'm trying to slow down with my sewing, and take time to get things right or correct things that go horribly wrong. And Megan Nielsen's detailed sewalong on her website really helped to break down the bias binding steps, so that the next attempt worked far better. 

The first dress is in a shirting cotton from Goldhawk Road, which I think was about £5 a metre, so I didn't feel too scared about using it. I had to make a couple of adjustments, taking 1cm off the shoulders and putting a small dart in the back - my first alterations! 

I transferred the changes to my paper pattern, and made up a toile of the bodice to check I'd got it right before making the second dress in a more expensive shirting from The Cloth House on Berwick Street. I also added 2" to the hem, as I'm all about the knee-length skirt these days.

These buttons are handmade ceramic chaps from my button box - I think made by my grandmother. I tried to grade the colours as they went down, which I think was more or less successful! 

I'm learning, slowly, how different fabric looks once it's in finished form to what you imagine when it's on the bolt. I loved this shirting, which is quite rich in colour and textured like soft elephant skin - but made into this dress I think it just looks like denim or chambray. Which I love, but isn't the look I was going for. Learning learning! I'm starting a short trouser course at Sew Over It this week, so I'll share the results of that if all goes well!

Thank you Els for the photos!

Fabric pattern

By Hand London is running a competition until tomorrow midnight, to design a fabric pattern for their new pattern line. The theme is Once Upon a Dream - it's pretty dreamy to combine illustration and fabric! I think this went too kiddy really - might be nice for a child's shirt or dress? And I was trying to make it adult, darn it! I was thinking of toile colours and patterns... anyway, here it is. Wish me luck!

Sewing Round-Up

Happy New Year!

I wanted to share two new things that I've sewed in the past few weeks on my new sewing machine.

First up is the Anna Dress pattern from By Hand London. I've seen a few lovely ones of these made up, and wanted to try one in chambray. It's not very seasonal, but it fit pretty well straight away. My fitting knowledge is currently fairly non-existent, and it is the big sewing thing I want to work on this year. But in the meantime it's good to have things that don't need adjusting.

22" invisible zip down the back, worked a treat

Nice flared skirt

Next project was the Hudson Pant by True Bias patterns. I'm SO INTO THIS ONE! Really comfy, really easy to put together (and ahem no seam finishing because I'm imagining this jersey won't fray??!) Lovely spotty ponte roma fabric from Fabric Godmother. 

I want to make more of these for sure.

Dancin' pants

Radical spot close up

I am starting to realise that I need to sew things I actually want to wear often, and I'm trying to work out how to do this. I'm still far far away from being able to look at most of the pattern photos and imagine what I could make from them that would suit me. Which is why the wealth of wonderful sewing blogs out there is SO great. I think I want to work a 40s-comedy clown-rock-Molly Ringwald-Jersey wives-wearing lots of "T"s for Tor Look. So that's my sewing plan for 2015!