Tilly and The Buttons, Bertha Cardigan

Make It Simple is the third book from Tilly and the Buttons. Love At First Stitch, her first was published around the time I began sewing- with her Parisian/nautical/vintage inspired vibe, Tilly played a vital part in learning to sew for myself and many others.

Make It Simple is what it says on the box- a series of easy-to-sew patterns that shouldn't leave the maker feeling frustrated! I think it's important to instersperse easy or at he very least, less time consuming makes into the wardrobe to keep positivity and productivity high.

The Bertha Cardigan certainly comes together quickly. The blocky pattern pieces are great for well, colour blocking - the sleeves are such a big chunk of the pattern, using contrast fabrics creates a really bold visual impact.

This Art-Deco inspired Lurex textured knit fabric from Minerva is everything I hoped it would be. The black and gold gives an immediate touch of glamour and the geometic pattern reminds me of 1920s architecture. The fabric has a glorious stretch to it, and although descibed as a heavy-knit on the website, it desn't weigh the garment down at all. There is a layer on the underside so the lurex isn't itchy on the skin at all despire it's sparkles. I had orignially planned my Bertha to be in full-deco fabric, but on cutting out my pieces I found that a contrasting sleeve realllly bought this pattern to life. Sadly with the fabric shops still closed for lockdown I had to plump for some stash fabric for my sleeves, which didn't have as much stretch as I'd have liked. The lack of stretch makes the cardingan a little more jacket-y but I think that works in it's own way.

I hadn't prepared myself for how much my overlocker was going to HATE my contrast fabric though! Attaching the front band was a battle- It was way too bulky and my machine really struggled. Luckily you can't see the seam from the outside, but it's baaad! I wish I'd been more patient and ordered some black sweatshirt fabric.

To get the most out of my deco fabric I was really really careful with my cutting out. I made sure that the two front pieces were as symmetrical as possible so the pattern would match horizontally and veretically, with the precision really adding to the jazz-age architecutural forms I had in my head. I wanted the linear gold stripes to run up along the outside of the neckband, I got it bang on!

The pattern is so speedy, once I have all the right supplies I will definitely be whizzing up another one!

x
Location: University of Sheffield
Currently listening to: Fire, Kasabian

Love at First Stitch, Megan Dress

I got a new job 15 months ago, and with that I found I ate much less on a day to day basis. That, teamed with my post break-up work out regime after John and I parted ways last January has left me a totally different shape to how I was a year and a half ago. I was sad to find my first Megan Dress from Tilly Walnes' book Love At First Stitch is no longer as flattering on me as it used to be.

With this in mind, and a lot more sewing experience under my belt, I decided that if I spotted some dishy fabric while I was out and about, there would be nothing wrong with making a 2016 Megan Dress, made to measure. And would you believe, I fell head over heels for some red and black, almost tribal in design, jersey fabric I found at Huddersfield market. With a new overlocker for Christmas and an ever increasing love for stretch fabrics I knew this was the material to make the cut for Megan 2016.

First things first, I re-traced the pattern a size smaller (perhaps should have done two sizes smaller? Who knows!), and found I had JUST enough fabric left over from my first black skater dress to make a bodice and sleeves. Bearing in mind the stretch of the fabric and my borderline measurements, I used a 2.5 cm seam allowance on the bodice side seams.
Shoulder seams were stitched at 1.5 cm and the facing looked dead neat (don't shoot me sew-ers, but I didn't use an interfacing, just a layer of jersey and I think that is fine!), understitching was very neat and the neckline looked very tidy.

Next up, while my Huddersfield fabric was drying, I decided to tack in the sleeves. I had flashbacks of just how POOFY the sleeves in the pattern are and decided not to machine them until I could see them in the context of the rest of the dress.
Skirt fabric dry, I put in my darts, only to find the stretch in the fabric meant they didn't quite line up with the bodice darts. Agh! So, with it in mind the dress wasn't going to be too small, I took a little more fabric in each dart at the top so they would line up. This was probably cheating! A true profesh would have taken them both out and moved them in a few millimeters. But hey, my way worked and if I hadn't told you, you'd never have known. Darts re-aligned, I stitched the skirt pieces to the bodice- Leaving skirt side seams. I know this isn't the best way to do things, and was aware it could be a right pain to then sew up the side seams later and potentially have lumpy bits where all the seams met... But I did have a plan! Before sewing these seams I stitched up the centre back.... No zip! Cheating AGAIN!! Well what's the point if you're using stretchy fabric? I used quite a generous seam allowance on the centre back, but made sure to match that skirt pattern at the back.

I know right? What seam?
So the plan was, was that I could alter the fit much more effectively at this point by messing with my un-sewn side seams than I could have if I'd left the centre back seam until last. I learnt this when I made my (not quite) A-line skirts back in autumn. And I still stand by it. Though I know you're probably just thinking Angela, if you'd just make a toile for once in your life you could have done all this fitting business already. But who has the time?


Side seams sewn and pattern matched best I could, I'm finally trying the dress on in one complete piece and I'm thinking my lower back looks a bit.... Baggy. this seems quite a common occurrence so I wanted to tackle baggy-back head on. I pinched the dress back in the dart area at my thinnest point and pinned. Dress off, and I took in equal amounts in the back dart area. Tired on again and it was a million times better. I'm gonna admit it felt like a bit of a fluke. I'm hoping I can map this change on to my paper pattern effectively so I don't have to rely on guess work next time. One thing still to change though, and that was taking in the bottom of the back bodice dart to match. This was all a bit fiddly and obviously had to unpick the joining seam between skirt and bodice. But it was so worth it!

Happy with the fit, I knew I had to tackle the poofy sleeves. I took one out and squinted in the mirror, trying to decide if I preferred with sleeve or without. The answer was yes to sleeves, but no to them being quite so... voluminous. I also found that sleeves were super handy for avoiding any gaping at the back neckline.
Unsure how to de-poof the sleeves, I took them both out and compared the shape of the sleeve paper pattern to that of the sleeves of my skater dress. I found that with a few snips I could make a much more subtle sleeve that still incorporated the gathering stitches where it met the shoulder. So note to self- Use the skater dress sleeve pattern next time!!

Quickly hemmed the bottom of the dress- quite wide as I remembered liking this feature on Megan 2014. Almost finished! My finishing touch was making my first cover buttons. I absolutely love the process of covering buttons! I had to be careful using patterned fabric to make the patterning central to the button, and to make the pair match. Oh and it took a few attempts to get them sewn on perfectly symmetrically, but once I did I was finished!

Sew happy! Mwah!

x

Currently listening to: White Riot, The Clash
Location: Broomhill Car Park, Sheffield

Love at First Stitch- Margot Pyjama Bottoms

The last time I saw my ex boyfriend he told me he'd broken the pyjama bottoms I'd made him. Admittedly on the list of dreadful things he's ever said to me, that isn't in the top 10, but either way it was still not great to hear. I've had a meter or so of the same fabric sat in my stash ever since I made them with one leg actually already cut out. What with my new found pattern matching skills I thought it was about time I made my own and really paid attention to matching those plaids.

It was a bit of a squeeze as I didn't have an awful lot left- the pattern matching on the bum is all about the horizontal and less about the vertical- but it's not bad! Side seams match up pretty well and the CF seam is a dream!

I thought to test my skills a bit I would give putting a pocket in a go. The result was neither success or failure- It's true I have a fully functioning pocket on the right hand side, but I put it in a little low and certainly didn't insert it the way you were meant to! Definitely something I can add to my 'to practice' list.

For the waistband I actually attached a length of ribbon to either end of a piece of elastic, allowing the elasticity to hold my bottoms up, but the ribbon peeks out and ties like a drawstring- best of both worlds! I think the use of red ribbon looks a bit festive- I am looking forward to snuggling up in them during the winter months!

x

Currently listing to: Not Guilty, Bryan Adams
Location, Home Sweet home, Sheffield

Love At First Stitch, Mimi Blouse

Anyone who knows me knows I am a fan of getting a bit nautical, and I've been after some fabric with anchors on for a while now. I have also been on the search for something I was inspired to make Tilly and the Button's Mimi Blouse out of. So I felt like I'd hit the jackpot when I found this anchor-print fabric in Abakhan in Manchester. Found in their offcut section downstairs at about 3 meters, it still cost me under £10 with the houndstooth I bought for my latest Lottie Blouse!

I'd been putting off this pattern for a while as it seemed to have a lot going off- facings, gathers, tucks, sleeves, buttons and a collar... Seemed like a lot could go wrong. So I set aside my Bank Holiday Weekend so I could have three solid days so blouse making. Only to find I had it finished with a whole day to spare!

I was worried that the collar wouldn't lie flat, as I ended up cutting each half separately and sewing together instead of cutting on the fold so that my anchors were facing in the right direction. In the past this has spelled match-up disaster, but I was very careful with my seam allowances and tried extra hard to be as accurate as possible. Tilly's tip of cutting the under collar a smidge smaller than the upper collar was great! This helps pull the seam where the two are joined to the underneath of the collar so it is less visible. Will definitely be using that one again. If I make the blouse again I think I will alter the collar to a peterpan shape and possibly make the back of the collar a little wider. I feel much more confident in making and attaching collars and their facings than I did a few days ago.

The pattern is pretty keen on gathers- I am particularly fond of the gentle gathers in the back piece attached to the yoke. I have considered maybe making the yoke longer where it attaches to the front bodice and having my front gathers a little lower- maybe adding some piping to the seams and adding some yeehaw country and western patches/embroidery(!!) to the shoulder/chest area. One of the great things about this pattern is it is just so versatile! There are plenty of little tweaks and changes that would be relatively simple to make that could completely transform the whole style of the blouse. Thicker fabric could make it a bit more shirty- I've already taken to knotting up the front and wearing it like a 50's work shirt (that didn't take me long!), I imagine that would look pretty cool as a sleeveless version. Also, with a button opening at the front, there is quite a bit of allowance for taking the side seams in a bit If I fancy something more fitted. So many ideas!

Knowing that I was likely to be tucking the blouse in quite a bit, I omitted the last button at the bottom to save me from being lumpy under my work skirt. I realised this was an even better idea when I tried on for the first time and needed another button on the top to a) stop the collar sagging and b)protect my er, modesty. I'd only bought six buttons so was pretty lucky I hadn't used them all! My mother looked pretty horrified that I was going to add another button hole to the top- I think she would have prefered me sticking it with blu-tack as that would be much less risky! But I'd done five already that went very well indeed (110% concentration there- almost forgot to breathe...) so was prepared to add another. She was concerned that just bunging on another button to the top that wasn't the same distance apart from the others was a bit of a dodgy idea. I said that two at the top wouldn't bother me, made a 'keep out' joke and I seemed to talk her round. It definitely looks better with a button at the top than it did before. Next time I make a Mimi I think I will play around a bit with the button placement, with this in mind!

Big thanks to Tilly for such an amazing pattern! I had such a great time making this and realised I had come such a long way from when I first bought the book and was terrified just by the idea of interfacing! Can't wait to make more Mimis!

x

Currently listening to: The End, The Doors

Margot's for Men

After making some shorts for myself using Tilly's Margot pyjama pattern, and seeing Lazy Daisy Jones's fantastic men's pyjamas I decided it was finally time to make something for someone other than myself.

I found this fabric for £5.99 p/m at Direct Fabric Warehouse in Sheffield. I was looking for something fairly neutral and this seemed to do the trick.
I made a few changes to the pattern, firstly by adding an extra few cm's onto the top so that the crotch would hang a little lower.

After the first fitting I found the legs looked really baggy, so I tacked in some new seams and gave them another try before machining them and cutting off the old ones.
I reached a bit of a problem when I came to turning over the waistband as I had tapered the extra cms I added to the top, meaning that when I turned over the fabric it was smaller than the fabric I wanted to sew it too on the outside. To rectify it, I turned the waistband over a little less... Then I found this meant that the hole I'd left for the drawstring was in the wrong place.
I'd intended on using elastic and inserting a pretend drawstring, so I still did this, but the drawstring pops out a little lower than initially planned!

I think they look pretty good! I've tried them on myself and they fit me too! I have enough fabric left over to make myself some....
Thanks to my lovely BF for modelling!
x

Currently listening to: Haydn, Clock Symphony

Love At First Stitch: Margot Pyjamas

I was eager to make something simple after spending a couple of weeks on my Megan Dress, so I flipped to the front of the book and eyes up the Margot Pyjamas. Having already made a pair of tartan trousers before I got Tilly's book (they are much too big and currently sat in my wardrobe waiting for alterations...) I decided to make a pair of shorts. This decision was confirmed even further when it transpired that there was only 3/4s of a metre of the fabric I wanted left at the market!

They were pretty easy to make, I was particularly proud of my neat drawstring and drawstring hole! The drawstring was basically just a long strip made the same way I'd made bias-binding threaded through a fold at the top of the shorts.

I attempted to put some turn-ups on the bottoms as they were a bit too long, but it was a lot of messing about to get the stitching in the right place to have the right-side of the fabric showing. Not to worry though, I didn't mind having a simple hem along the bottom instead.

Tx

Currently listening to: 'Let's Jump The Broomstick' Brenda Lee

Love At First Stitch: Megan Dress

Gulp! This was the first time I had to trace off a pattern! I followed Tilly's favourite method of using a tracing wheel which worked well until I had to get my yellow carbon paper to show up!

After getting all my bits cut out I did my usual thing of thinking that my garment was going to be too big and played it close to the edge with the seam allowances. As I result I had to change the angle of the shoulder seams but that seemed to go okay.
This was the first item I'd put some proper dars into, which was a bit scary, I didn't want my boobs to look dodgy! Without paying enough attention to the instructions I rushed into putting my darts in and sewed them on the wrong side! What a fool! I soon learned to take my time with it though and was much more careful with the rest of the seams.

When it came to putting in the zip, I had quite a bit of left over fabric (But hey, over-estimating is better than under-estimating right?) so turned under quite a bit of fabric when pinning in the zip. I got it fitting quite snugly until I re-read the instructions and found it was meant to be a CONCEALED zip, not a normal zip. Then after going out to buy a concealed zip I read I needed a concealed zip foot for my machine... and then also a standard zip foot! I didn't really mind spending money on these though as I knew they were things I was going to hopefully be using time after time again. And it made for a great result on on dress! the zip is completely concealed! Yay!

I was a bit of a wimp when it came to doing the neckline-facing the way Tilly suggested in her book. After getting on so well with bias-binding on my past projects I decided I would make quite a thick neck out of the same fabric as the skirt. Stupidly I didn't really consider how much taller it would make the dress and the back and as a result meant that I should have put the zip in a little higher. Not to worry though, I made do with a sneaky hook and eye to stop my neck flapping around. The neckband I sewed in also has a tendency to pull at the bodice on one shoulder a bit, but once I've had the dress on for a little while it seems to settle onto my body a bit better.

I learned loads and gained a lot of confidence from making the Megan Dress. So far I've worn it out to dinner with friends who couldn't believe I'd made it and also on a Saturday night date :-)

Tx

Currently listening to: 'Above As Below' Nicole Atkins