New Look K6217 T-Shirt

This pattern has been sat in my to-make pile for ages after it came free with issue 69 of Sew magazine back in March. After having a couple of weekends away from sewing- mainly due to lack of inspiring fabric, I thought it was about time I knocked together one of these tops with some leftover fabric from my Mimi Blouse.

What initially attracted me to this pattern was its versatility- sure it is described as a 't-shirt' but in the right fabric it definitely has a blouse-like quality. With that in mind I knew I wanted to extend the pattern by 1.5 inches so that there would be enough fabric to tuck into work trousers comfortably. Despite getting into a bit of a mess with the cellotape (ahem), extending the pattern was quite simple.

Assemblage was quite easy and the top was made in an afternoon. The only thing I wasn't happy with was my very poor pattern matching on the centre back seam! In fact I am going to admit it didn't even cross my mind to try- I guess I'm just not really used to tops with a centre back seam? Hmm yeah any excuse! Next time I will keep an eye on this!

The sneaky feature on this top is the gap at the top of the centre back seam fastened with a button. This is really just a feature as the neck is really wide and easy enough to get over your head without undoing. The neck is finished off with a strip of bias binding- I made my own from the fabric... It looks neater from the outside than inside, that's what matters right?

I'd like to make a few more K6217s- Maybe I'll go for block colour next time to avoid pattern matching! Being made up of only three pieces (2 back, 1 front) makes this top a good one for using up left over fabric. No pesky interfacing, no button holes and no zips. I should be able to knock out quite a few!

x

Currently listening to: No, Ryan Adams
Location: Crookesmoor Park, Sheffield

Simplicity 2447 Sleeveless Misses' Shirt: Denim

As promised, another Simplicity 2447 in denim!

The denim I found in Direct Fabric Warehouse is the perfect quality for shirtmaking, soft and comfortable and it presses beautifully! I also picked out some yellowy gold thread for topstitching and the most cowboy buttons I could find on the market. The sneaky surprise with this garment though is the paisley patterned inner neckband- fabric courtesy of my prize fabric from Minerva Crafts, when I was featured Star Make in Love Sewing Magazine. I won quite a wadge of lovely fat quarters and am going to try my upmost to fit some sneaky little bits into future makes as I go along.

I used the same pattern my college tutor altered for me- making the shirt the same fit as my last. Again this fabric was a dream to sew- for once the inside looks as good as the out! No dodgy stitching to hide. The hardest part I found again was when sewing on the button plackets. It can be really difficult once folding under the band to the inside to tell how close your stitching is to the edge. As you are looking at this from the rightside I find it can be really easy to discover you are sewing miles away from the fold on the reverse, or just as likely you won't catch it at all! Any tips on this would be great?
Same applies to stitching the neck band down from the right side- I'm so tempted to do this by hand in the future- though maybe I should just work on my stitch-in-the-ditch techniques?!

Where I have sewn the yoke to the back I seem to have deviated from my 1.5 cm seam allowance. I'm quite certain it was more like 1 cm which has made the back of the arm holes a bit baggy. But I think it could be one of those things no one really notices unless I point it out. So maybe just pretend I said nothing!


The shirt is a great fit and really comfy to wear. I think next time though there are no excuses not to have a go at shirt sleeves...

x

Currently watching: Wimbledon, Ward vs Pospisil
Location: Botanical Gardens, Sheffield

Simplicity 2447 Sleeveless Misses' Shirt

Inspired by the wonderful Laura Oakes' stage outfit when she played with Ward Thomas at Sheffield Plug earlier this year, I have been chomping at the bit to make myself a country shirt. I cheated a few months back and customised a Primark denim shirt with some tassels...

... this kept me going for a little bit, but I was so full of ideas on what I wanted to do with my own that I couldn't wait much longer. I decided to make the most of my last classes at college and focused on learning how to attach a collar properly to my toile so that I could knuckle down and get on with making myself some cowboy shirts!

Construction
I was surprised at how swiftly I seemed to make my toile. Granted I didn't overlock a thing, did no hems and didn't faff around with interfacing, buttonholes and buttons, instead I wanted to focus on two things- construction of the collar and button placket and the overall fit.

The practice run gave me a good taste for topstitching and I learned not to get too close to the edge when attaching the placket. I followed the collar instructions step by step and found that is wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. The most accuracy was needed when stitching around the curved corners at the top of the neckband. These need to be 100% symmetrical with no pointy bits! But if you sew everything together in the right order and make sure you have right sides/wrong sides together when necessary then there is no real reason that it should go wrong! Sewing down the band from the outside around the neckline is a bit fiddly but It didn't get the better of me.

Fit
If you recall my post about my Ruby Dress that I made at college, you may remember me saying I wanted to use these classes to help learn how to fit garments. Once the main bits were done on my toile it seemed like a good time to try it on. There were a few changes my tutor helped me make as I described it as being a bit 'boxy':

1- We took in the two seams down the front of the shirt.
2- We took in a little off of the side seams.
3- We Took a little off of the arm hole opening.
4- We took a little off of the collar.
5- We took OUT the box pleat at the back all together.
6- We put in two darts at the lower back.

The changes to the pattern looked like this:

And it really made all the difference! Although it is difficult to tell how a finished garment is going to hang before you have even bought your material, let alone started sewing with it, I was fairly certain that I would be happier with a more fitted shape. The changes were subtle really, with the most change being made to the back. I knocked together another toile with these changes to the pattern and was happy so set to getting some suitable fabric for my actual shirt.

I already have a denim sleeveless and a gingham sleeveless so thought I would go for a plain black fabric that I could do contrasting stitch on and hopefully later embellish is relevant places. My choice came from Hillsborough Fine Fabrics and was a joy to sew with. It seemed to be pretty fancy (wool blend!) and I could really tell it wasn't cheap crap while I was sewing with it.



I used a strip of bias binding (pre-bought, who can be bothered with the faff?) to Country-up the back- especially after having taken out the box-pleat from the pattern. I think this works pretty well with the white topstitching I chose.

Then it seemed I did have to whip up some bias binding! I hadn't finished the sleeves on my practice runs, so had completely forgotten that they would need binding when I was in the shop buying supplies! Not to worry though- I probably needed the practice! And it seemed to go very well for something I had never really done before. Tick bias binding arm holes off the list!

I went for quite a subtle button choice- probably because Hillsborough Fabrics isn't really at the top of the button-choice league, but I surprised myself and went for gold as opposed to silver. I applied the 110% concentration needed for button-holing and got the job done, I found that at 100% concentration I still almost stitched the holes into the wrong side of the shirt... Saved myself in the nick of time!!

Overall I am dead happy with my shirt! I followed all the steps in the pattern very closely as not to cock it up and I think it's come out quite professionally. The only thing I am desperate to do is sew some patches on the the shoulder/chest area. Ideally I want some rockabilly swallows or possibly some kind of over the top flowery embroidered Dolly-style patches- so as it stands I'm keeping my eyes peeled for such!

Next up I fancy a denim one!

x

Currently listening to: Power and Control, Marina and the Diamonds
Location: Broadfield Road, Sheffield

Love Sewing Magazine/Simple Sew, Skater Dress

What comes first, the pattern or the fabric?

Well, in this instance, when I saw this red and black stretchy houndstooth fabric I knew I needed it in my stash. I flicked back through a few patterns I had kicking around that I had not yet had a go at, and thought after the success of my Simple Sew Ruby Dress from issue 4 of Love Sewing, I would have a go at this similar skater dress from issue 8.

There a few differences in the pattern- The obvious one being the Skater Dress has sleeves- so less interfacing to worry about! The bodice darts are placed differently as well, which I think maybe works a bit better for my smaller bust. The full skirt uses the same pattern as the Ruby Dress, so there was no need for extra cutting out. Yay!

Making up went pretty smoothly in terms of fit, but the stretchy quality of the fabric seemed to send my machine into sporadic states of meltdown. I had my stretch needle in place which seemed to be fine for straight stitch, but zigzag stitch turned out to be a nightmare. So much so that to save completely destroying areas of seam, in places I abandoned zig zagging my edges altogether... Thankfully I didn't have to worry about fraying using knit!
I was excited about using my (stretch) twin-needle for the hem, but again it was not to be. No matter how much I twiddled with the tension dial my stitches were a bit loose and wobbly.

If I was making another skater dress, I would definitely make the bodice pattern longer. I really should have listened to blogging buddy Shauni at Magnificent Thread as she said just that when she made her festive Skater Dress a few months back. Thankfully I don't think the dress turned out too short- the drape in the fabric making it hang pretty well and stop me from feeling too leggy (is there such thing as too leggy?).

The dress looks pretty good on- I have some handy accessories that look pretty neat with it too! If my machine hadn't been acting up it would have been a joy to make, despite the pattern instructions not being totally clear. Some bits were printed in the wrong order and I'm fairly certain that the seam allowance wasn't added onto the facing pattern. Thankfully this wasn't the end of the world for me as I ended up doubling the seam allowance for fit at the zip, therefore the neckline matching up with my too-short-interfacing. Phew!
The pattern suggests buying 2.4m of fabric- and I have some remaining! Hopefully I'll be able to find a suitable pattern to make good use of it!

x

Currently listening to: Roland Garros final, Djokovic vs Wawrinka
Location: Home Sweet Home

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

Me Made May 2015

Here's what my month looked like!




It's been fun! Though I'm sure everyone on my Instagram is now sick of the sight of me!
I have managed to wear something homemade everyday for a month. It has been a challenge, and there have been a few repeats- but that just shows these things are versatile, right?
One of the points in doing the challenge though is to find out where the 'gaps' in your self-made wardrobe are. I found casual wear to be a bit tricky sometimes. I think I could do with more tops that aren't work blouses. I suppose the same applies to skirts that aren't work skirts. I need to crack on and make some weekend-wear!

May is a bit of a benchmark for me as it is a year since I started sewing! I've come a long way, so I am incredibly pleased with how well MMM15 has gone. I'm really looking forward to seeing what the next year brings!
Well done everyone! Have loved seeing everyone's posts :-)

x

Currently listening to: Social Enemies, Orgy