New Look K6035, Vest top

Day 3! This was a prime example of spotting gorgeous fabric and buying it before having any idea what to make from it. My options were narrowed down by the fact this offcut from Abakhan's was only about a meter in length. Searching through my patterns I found a pretty vest top with central gathers that I could just about squeeze out of my fabric.

I was worried the gathers in the centre might sit a bit funny, so I faffed about with them for aaages before tacking them good and proper into place... I only found out after (when I actually read the instructions...) that I was meant to pull the gathering stitches to fit the length of the bias band round the neck and not just make a band to fit. Thankfully though, the amount of faffing paid off, and I'm really happy with the neckline.

Due to having minimal amount of fabric to play with, the bias band I made was out of two lengths and the shoulder seams of the vest top wouldn't line up with the joins in the binding. I don't think it notices when it's on though! I made sure the joins in the bias binding were symmetrical to each other. I'm quite proud of how neat it looks despite this.

I used french seams on shoulders and sides as the fabric is quite thin, and I turned the hem up twice, keeping it narrow. Another cute feature of this top is the little splits at the bottom of each side seam. Although not necessary for fitting purposes, they add another bit of interest to what was quite a simple pattern

x

Currently listening to: The Trap, Johnny Marr
Location: Milton Street Movie Park, Sheffield

New Look K6230, Raglan Sleeved Jumper

With the skills I'd learnt on Day 1 of my sewing holiday, Day 2 was a breeze!

Every time I'm out shopping I seem to pick up either a mustard yellow or an autumnal orange jumper, then put it back on the rack wondering if I'll ever actually wear something not black. This jersey fabric in Abakhan's jumped out as the perfect autumnal orange. I was immediately drawn to it's fluffy texture, knowing it could be just what I needed to keep my pesky chilblains at bay.

As luck would have it, the pattern in the current issue of Sew magazine was a long raglan-sleeved top which I knew teamed with my autumnal orange, could make a super cosy jumper.

I made a couple of alterations to the pattern. The first was to omit the centre back seam. I have no idea why it was there!?? Then I added a little to the seam allowances at the waist to add a bit of slouch-factor.
Inspired by my last make, I decided to draft a waistband and cuffs. I made sure the length of these were slightly shorter than the opening on the jumper, then matched up the midpoints as I overlocked band to garment.

The neckband situation was less stressful, perhaps as the band was thinner and the neckline was less baggy than that of the jersey top. Then my jumper was finished! It took about a day including tracing the pattern and cutting out. Using the overlocker to do all seams made for a very speedy process.

I quite fancy making a cropped version (Maybe adding the waistband on and not altering the length made this one a little too long?). Perhaps if I find some mustard yellow fluffy jersey I can get started on jumper number 2!

x

Currently listening to: Back In The Box, Johnny Marr
Location: Milton Street Movie Park, Sheffield

Love Sewing Magazine/Simple Sew, Jersey Top

Day one of my sewing holiday was dedicated to finally getting stuck in to the jersey top pattern that came free with issue 17 of Love Sewing Magazine. It's been on my to-sew pile for ages but have struggled to find the perfect jersey.
I struck gold on my recent trip to Abakhan Manchester, where I found they had some perfect stretchy off-cuts ideal for this pattern.

This was my first garment that included raglan sleeves. Armed with the overlocker, matching up the front and back with the sleeve pieces was a breeze, it was starting to look like a top in no time.
The instructions were a little bit vague, so when it came to finishing the arm holes I took my armband and attached it like a thick binding around the edge. The result was the sleeves were a bit too long and a bit too bulky. The armbands seemed a little too short and my stripes weren't matching up very well. With intention of revisiting this, I moved on to the waistband where I understood what I'd done wrong.

Again I found the waistband was a little shorter than the opening on my garment, and it clicked that I needed to sew on the bands the same way I would elastic- stretching it out and matching up midpoints on band and garment. Raw edges together, right sides together, I overlocked the folded band to the bottom of my top then turned the seam inwards. And yay! Perfect waistband! I hasity unpicked the dodgy sleeve ends and repeated the process.

My problem came when I came to do the same with the neck band. I found the same technique just resulted in the neck bunching up off my shoulders and the band standing up too proud. I unpicked and instead, overlocked the neck and folded under. The shape of the neckline was improved, but the result looked a little homemade.
My final attempt was to make a longer band which folded over and sandwiched the neck inside and didn't have to stretch to fit. Where the neckband meets the top looks much better, but i'm still not over the moon with how the neckband sits on the shoulders.

Overall, I love the fabric and the techniques I learnt (raglan sleeves/stretchy waistband), but I'm still not happy with the neck. I was scared to try anything else incase unpicking another time would start to show. If I make another I think it might be worth trying a thinner band to stop it from poking out on my shoulders.

x

Currently listening to: Sick, Duff McKagen's Loaded
Location: Milton Street Movie Park, Sheffield

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 Sewing Magazine/Simple Sew, Velvet Skater Dress

This pattern is a favourite of mine! I have worn my black jersey skater dress I made back at the start of Autumn loads (did I mention how versatile it is?!), so fancied making a slightly glitzier version in black velour, ideal for gigging.


I flicked back through my last two posts about this dress and remembered the fact I needed to add an inch or so onto the bodice length, and on my last version (due to stretch-factor), side seam allowance was 2.5 cm. I applied these changes to the pattern but somehow the bodice length is still much too short! The skirt should start on my waist but instead starts much too high. I attempted to attach a kind of waistband to the dress but it added an awkward layer of bulk around my midriff which I definitely wasn't going for! I can sort of disguise the bodice length with a craftily placed belt, but it's still a bit of a bummer.

What I lacked in bodice length though, I made up for in sneakiness elsewhere. I completely omitted the zip or any kind of fastening from from the dress! The velour is really stretchy so can get away with pulling it over my head no problems!

I made one other main change to the pattern, and that was cutting the circle skirt in four separate bits instead of two. Due to the nap of the fabric (it only goes one way, other wise the touch makes everyone criiiiinge), cutting on the fold would have made the velour lie at a weird kind of diagonal angle. Instead I opted for 4 panels, all with correct nap. I wish I could recite some kind of mathematical formula for how I altered the pattern (I'm sure there is one?), but it was just good old trial and (hopefully not too much) error. I was determined not to have a seam up the centre front of the skirt, so the front panel lines up exactly between the front darts. The side panels on left and right go between front and back darts and the back panel between the two back darts. The fabric I had wasn't quite wide enough for full circle so I took a little off of each panel side. Like I say, all trial and error- I'm still surprised myself I didn't end up with four misshapen skirt bits good for nothing!

Skirt length would be fine if I'd made the bodice a little longer! It hangs a little on the short side- but hey, that could work in my favour. I'm toying with the idea of maybe adding a black lace trim to the bottom? I'm hoping Aimee is reading this as I know she will give me the best advice!

x

Currently listening to: Please Don't Call, Chris Isaak
Location: Fulwood Old Chapel, Sheffield

Burda Sewing Vintage Modern, Frank Button-Down Shirt #6073

Finally! I've got round to making a proper man-make. An early xmas prezzy for my Brother. I found this pattern in a Burda book full of projects and pattern hack ideas. The Frank Button-Down Shirt didn't require any changes to the paper pattern supplied so seemed like a good place to start.
I've heard mixed things about Burda patterns so was expecting the worst. The only tedious part of using this pattern though was having to draw on all the seam allowances after tracing the pattern out. Very time consuming! The book says to add 1.3 cm to each seam allowance but I used a 1.5cm to make life much easier!

Once the paper pattern was drawn out and cut out, I knew that my next challenge would be tackling the pattern matching of the plaids. Despite the pattern not telling me so, I decided to cut what I could on the bias. This included the cuffs, button plackets, pocket flaps and yoke x2. Cutting these pieces diagonally meant that these seams didn't have to be pattern matched. For the pieces that did- the two front pieces, the back and the sleeves, I opted to cut on a single layer instead of on the fold then match up the mirrored piece by laying my first cut piece on top of the fabric and making sure plaids matched exactly. I lay my back paper piece on top of the front fabric piece and drew on the dominant plaid lines at the side seams so that I could line these up on the back fabric piece. This meant my horizontal stripes run straight across the front and back of the shirt, as well as on the sleeve seams and quite importantly the pocket placement.

Although cutting like this requires patience and accuracy (and also takes up twice as much space as cutting on the fold!), I found it made actual assemblage of the shirt loads easier! Instead of matching up notches, I made sure I was matching up checks. I used a red vertical column (? I'm sure there's a sewing name?), as the centre back and made sure this matched at the collar and the centre of the diagonal plaids on the yoke. Precise cutting out made stitching all fall into place.

There were only a few small problems I ran into- The first that the fabric was very heat sensitive! I managed to scorch my collar when applying my interfacing- Thankfully plenty of fabric left to cut another! Ooops.

Check out the pattern matching on that side seam!
-My cuffs seemed a little longer than the end of the sleeves when it came to attaching them. The only thing I could think was that they had stretched out a little as they were cut on the bias. Better too long than too short- I made the seam allowance a little bigger and it was fine. I was worried then that the cuffs would be too small, but after a try-on found there were no problems at all.

-The main problem I found was that sewing on button holes where fabric was bulky around seams was a nightmare. Does anyone have any tips for this? The buttons on the placket were a dream, but the cuff buttons were horrible! My machine really seemed to struggle when it met a bit of bulk, particularly where the sleeve pleat and sleeve slit facing and cuff all met.

I was glad I'd had a few practice runs when it came to attaching collar/collar band, though Burda suggest doing it a little different. In the past I have attached the band to the neckline then the collar and inner band, however this time I put together all 4 pieces (collar x2 collar band x2) THEN attached to the neck line. I was surprised to find I found this much better as it was much easier to get a neater curve on the collar band when it wasn't already attached to the rest of the shirt.

Burda rate this pattern a 3 out of four on the difficulty rating! I think I did pretty well!

I'm very excited about getting an overlocker for Christmas so I can maybe actually start enjoying hemming. Either that or completely destroy them..... Time will tell!

x

Currently listening to: Magic Hour, Franc Cinelli
Location: Wyming Brook, 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 Sewing Magazine, A Line Mini Skirt

I was dubious from word go at the idea of having a centre front seam. Sure I've seen them all round town and on the rails in Topshop, but I can't help but feel that having a seam down the centre front of your skirt always looks a bit... not quite right.
But you know me, always keen to do as I'm told, so my first attempt at the A line skirt from issue 18 of Love Sewing magazine features a big fat seam down the front. Admittedly it may have been slightly more attractive if I'd thought about pattern matching before cutting out my pieces and not just hoped for the best. I learnt three things-

1. Winging it when it comes to pattern matching rarely results in success.
2. Follow my instincts! If I know I'm going to hate something- a design feature or a fabric or a cut- Don't do it!! (Infact, it's finally sinking in that this doesn't just apply to sewing) And,
3. Although learning the technique at college, this was my first shot at an actual semi-concealed zip... And I love it! I found attaching the two back pieces and inserting the zip before tackling side seams particularly helpful when it came to fitting.

It's a shame- My black and white checkered mini skirt could have been super cute. The black and white is super 60s especially with my new love for roll neck jumpers, but I can't help but feel annoyed everytime I think about that CF seam! A line mini #2 was going to be my way or not at all!

I was looking for something seasonal at Direct Fabric Warehouse, that would make an autumnal-looking mini. The first fabric I went for was this woollen (but not heavy) plaid affair. The skirt only requires 1 metre of fabric- so I couldn't go wrong!

Before getting stuck in I read up pattern matching tips on a few blogs and made a note of a few things I wanted to change construction-wise after my first attempt.

1- Cut waistband double width and fold over instead of sewing on a lining piece
2- Cut waistband on the bias to avoid more pattern matching
3- Add 1cm seam allowance around hips, and an extra 1cm to hem
4- Cut both back pieces separately- laying the first piece on top of the fabric and matching the plaid so it looks camouflage.
5- Cut the front piece on the fold! No centre front seam!!

The 'cutting the front piece on the fold' played hell with my grainline on the pattern- changing the angle of my pattern piece meant my grainline was no longer parallel to my selvedge. I wasn't too sure what else I could do to avoid a front seam though so thought I would just go for it anyway.
It didn't seem to have any real detrimental effect to my front piece, but what would have been a good idea would have been cutting the two back pieces at the same angle as the front. I think it's only noticeable to me, and maybe you now you've read this (are you still reading this?), but the pattern lines from the back meet the front lines at a bit of a funny angle at the side seams. I'm sure this is all to do with the grainline thing but I would take that any day over that front seam! I was more eager to get my horizontal lines to meet nicely at the side seam than my vertical lines- so was actually pretty pleased with my matching.

Talking of happy pattern matching- I couldn't be happier with my centre back! Don't worry, if I catch anyone looking at my bum in this skirt I know it's because you're checking out my spot on pattern matching. It turns out paying attention while cutting out is actually very helpful!

After stitching up and fitting, I found I wanted to take a little out of the 'A' shape. I don't know if it was something to do with those dodgy angles on the side seam, or if maybe I've never actually been convinced by an A line before, but something about it made it look as if there was just an extra angle of fabric that wasn't necessary, so I chopped it out and stitched back up. I think it still passes for A line though?

Worst bit of the construction was the fastening at the waist band. I ended up just wishing I'd bought a longer zip and zipped right up to the top, but there was no I way I gonna take it out and risk messing up that back seam! Basically the magazine suggests the waistband overlaps and is fixed with a hook and eye but it really wasn't cutting it for me. Instead I rooted around a bit and found some of my Gran's old sew in poppers to hold down the overlap. I loved the poppers but think the fastening is visually the weakest part of the skirt. I always seem to battle with waistband bulk!

A line #2 was much better than A line #1 and using less than 1m of fabric a time, when the weekend rolled around I was eager to get stuck into A line #3!

Number 3 it made from a feltier fabric that I have been eying up for ages! This was almost the fabric I chose for the matching skirt and dog coat back in spring, but didn't think Marble would be too keen on the pink stripes. The pin stripes gave me another opportunity to practice my new found pattern matching skills. I think I excelled myself this time! On realising that the back pieces were very similar to the front piece- I folded my cut out front and did the camouflaging thing to make sure the sides would line up and hopefully avoid dodgy angles that occurred on #2. I took a little out of the A shape at the cutting out stage to hopefully avoid faffing about later when I inevitably decided that I'm still not sold on A shape.

The centre back seam was another dream come true, the centre front seam didn't exist and thanks to careful measuring and matching and holding my breath, the side seams matched up perfectly! I tried on and realised that I really really wasn't down with A line, so cut off the corners and made A line #3 distinctly... Straight. So much for avoiding faffing! I think if I pick a fabric that isn't quite so linear in design, and maybe isn't so rigid (or perhaps more rigid?) then I could make an A line skirt that I would be happy to wear. It's nothing personal A line- On this occasion, it's me not you.

Again, I found very little enjoyment in the construction of the fastening but knew I needed a shorter overlap on the waistband than last time (but not too short!) and a couple of strategically placed poppers. It's better, but not perfect.

The sneaky icing on the cake for both skirts is my blind hem! Completely invisible from the front and makes me smile every time I catch sight of it, or rather every time I don't catch sight of it.

So there you go! A bit of a long post today, but I haven't posted for a while and it's sort of three blogs in one. I'm loving these thick fabrics with boots and tights before the Winter really kicks in.

Happy Autumn everybody!

x

Currently listening to: EST, White Lies
Location: Crookes Cemetery, Sheffield