Monday 2 November 2015

Bridie: Vintage Inspired Dress


This project was another Sew It Yourself Meet Up Mini Challenge. This Challenge was to make a vintage inspired outfit, we could either use a vintage pattern, vintage fabric or both. So a lot of flexibility with this one!
To start with I wasn't sure what I was going to make! I had quiet a few vintage patterns but most were 80s ones I'd inherited which arn't really my style or the ones that were my style would have been far too small, but after a rummage through my collection I came across this little gem I'd forgotton I had! It was a bit of a star find at a vintage fair only £2, complete and in my size woo! 
So I had the pattern now I just had to find some fabric that would work well with it. 
I took a trip to Fabric Corner, where I found this lovely chevron fabric, I think the bold pattern and colours gives this garment more of a 60s feel rather then 70s which is the era the pattern was from. I decided not to add the sleeves as it was summer and thourght I'd get more wear out of it!
I decided to use a black cotton fabric for the yoke, I felt it needed a bit of contrast from the pattern fabric. I think they work well together! I added white top stitch around the collar and down the seams.

I decided to use red bias binding around the armholes and hem, partly because I hate hemming, partly to save me time on making facings for the armholes but mainly because I think it looks fab!
I managed to pattern match the chevrons quiet well down the front and back seams but struggled to get the side seams perfect! Practice makes purpose I guess, one day I will defeat the mighty chevron! Any tips though would be greatly appreciated though!!!
I am however very please with how neat all my seams are and these were the days before the lovely Ginger came along (my overlocker).
I love how this dress looks on, it looks prefer to wear it with a belt but looks good without to!
Plus whats more I actually won the SIY Meet Up Mini Challenge woo. 

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Happy Sewing!

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Bridie: Shift Dress


For one of the first Sew It Yourself Meet Ups I set a mini challenge to make a shift dress. I wanted to keep things simple for people who were just starting to sew and thought it was a flattering silhouette for most people.

I decided to push myself a bit and as I'm working towards creating my own range of patterns I thought drafting my own shift dress pattern and basically using it was a wearable toile, a starting point for a shift dress pattern I will be producing.

I'm happy with the style and look of the dress but it defiantly needs some tweeking.  
I love my combination of fabrics, you can't really see in the pic below but the fabric I used for the collar has a very subtle floral design, it's very pretty. I also sandwiched binding between the collar pieces the way you would pipping, I actually think it would of been better if I'd used pipping. It wouldn't of gone as wonky (technical term). I won't lie I rushed the zip, I've gotten a lot better at concealed zips since I made this dress, its true what they say practice does make perfect (well depending on how tired I am!)  

As usual I added binding to the hemline. I love this technique it adds an extra bit of colour and the hem doesn't warp the way a rolled hem can do, it's quicker to! 

I think next time I make this pattern I'll add darts in the back to give it a nicer shape. I'd also make it longer I miss judged how much fabric I would need thinking a meter would be enough (silly mistake). Needless to say a few inches were sacrificed from the length because I loved the fabric so much.
Still looks cute though!

The fabric is from Fabric Corner

I hope you enjoyed this post!

Happy Sewing X

Friday 10 July 2015

Bridie: The Delphine Skirt


This is a project I finished quiet a while ago and have only just gotten round to blogging about it. I think I need to start sewing project and blogging filing system! What I really need is Laura to come round and organise me like when we were back at uni. Unfortunately I don't think that's going to happen! 

One of the early Sew It Yourself Meet Ups mini challenges was to make an A line skirt, I thought this would be easy enough for those new to sewing and the more advanced sewers could go crazy with any little extra they liked. 

I decided to use to use Tilly Walnes book Love At First Stitch. I had gotten a copy for my birthday and was looking for any excuse to use it! The front cover just screamed "PERFECT" (in my head I'm singing this) for this mini challenge! 
    

I found the most beautiful Houndstooth fabric in a lovely mustard yellow almost gold with a slight sheen. It was from Fabric Corner, I believe it was a vintage piece so a limit supply and may have sold out but might be worth getting in touch with them if you're interested in it or something similar. They are really lovely and will go out of their way to help you, I'm so lucky they're on my door step. They are also moving to a much bigger shop very soon which means more fabric (she dances with excitement!). I think my bank balance maybe in trouble! That and my waistline as there will be a cafe along side to! Fabric and cake is a dangerous combo! 


Love At First Stitch is a lovely is a lovely book to work it has clear step by step instructions with amazing pictures alongside . I also really liked the add on techniques, which is great for beginners who want to start out simple and the more advanced can add all the extra finishing touches they like! My only slight issue was that next time I might make a size smaller as the measurements add quiet a lot of ease for me this is however great when you're tummy is a little rounder then usual (we all have those days) and it hides it so well!



I decided to add belt loops and inserted pockets into the side seams, I wanted to push myself for the challenge. Secretly I wanted to win (sadly I didn't).


The fabric was a delight to work with! It did everything I wanted it to, I was a little worried it might be a little thick for the belt loops but it really wasn't!


I hadn't done it on purpose but I'm pretty impressed with my pattern matching! I do love a happy accident!


For the pocket lining I used a beautiful cotton lawn again from Fabric Corner, it looked like it could of been Liberty but half the price! Which is never a bad thing!

Oh I forgot that I also made a belt out of the pocket lining material which had a very cute bow on it. It is also in Love At First Stitch and really finished off the outfit! Sadly I completely forgot to photograph it, sorry!


I absolutely love this skirt it goes with so many things which I didn't really expect as I don't usually wear yellow. But it goes with things I'd buried in my draws because I had no idea what to wear it with (pre challenge days). I've worn it so much I'm even contemplating making a copy to give this one a rest!

Hope you've enjoyed this post! 
Hot tip White Tree Fabrics stock Tilly and the Buttons patterns and you can use our code
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for 20%off and free P&P

Happy Sewing x


Sunday 14 June 2015

Bridie: It's a Sewing Mashup


So it's been a while since I've taken the time to sit down and blog about my makes which I apologies for, my only excuse is that finding enough time to sew is hard enough with a small child let alone blog about it , plus there have been lots of exciting things going on. For those who follow our Facebook page you'll already know but if you don't I've started teaching a few sewing classes at Rock Paper Scissors which has taken a lot of my free time to plan my lessons, but now that they are going well I have more time to sort through the many back dated blog posts I have planned (I've still been sewing honest!). 

This is a project I did a few months ago, I set it as a mini challenge for the SIY Meet Up, I called it a charity shop mash up, but basically we had £5 to buy two items of clothing which we would take apart, cut into and pretty much destroy in order to mash them up to created a completely new outfit. 

These were the two items I picked, a very ugly pleated skirt which was a size 20 (that's quiet a lot of fabric to play with) and a pretty sheer blouse that was massive on me!  


 I started by pinning down the pleats (so many pleats) this took quiet a while and a few pricked fingers but it needed doing as I wanted to keep the pleats in my dress.

I then cut just above pins, I'd already worked out the length I wanted it to be and didn't want to touch the hemline, I wouldn't have a clue how to re hem it if I'd cut into it from the bottom.


For the blouse section of my dress I took it in at the sides and gathered it around the waist line.



I then pinned the skirt to the blouse after taking off any excess fabric from the skirt. I had lined up the buttons on the skirt and the blouse so that I could get into it like you would a shirt dress.   


 I sewed them together and tidied up any edges (seriously wish I'd had a over locker for this part sadly I do no) and that's it. I teamed it up with a big gold belt which I think goes really well with it, plus has the added bounce of hiding any little mistakes. 

This mini challenge was a lot of fun and shows that you don't have to spend a fortune on fabric. It could be an old bed sheet, curtains or a huge ugly shirt you found at a charity shop, if you love the fabric that's all that matters and no one will know where you got if from when you've finished! They'll just be impressed you made it yourself!
   

Happy Sewing x

PS sorry for the grainy pics I think these were taken on my old phone.

Thursday 26 February 2015

Laura: Burda Jacket

Hi everyone I've not posted anything in such a long time now. I have been making plenty its the writing part I find difficult, So this is the first of hopefully a lot of posts of what i've been busy making.

This is my version of the Burda Jacket pattern.(Bridie made one from the same pattern late last year) I chose to make the boxy jacket out of the two, which turns out boxy doesn't suit me so I ended up making it fitted by putting darts and more seams in.

I made the bottom one. (photo stolen from Bridie sorry)

The pattern was nice to work with very simple instructions, I'd say one for a beginner. I altered the pattern quite a bit actually, I made the sleeves puffed and 3/4 added bust darts and seams in the front and back to reduced the bulk to it and make it fitted. I made the collar all in one and missed out the collar stand (my attempt at making it casual)


So the first photo I took was of the jacket bodice made up. The fabric I used was white cotton with a faint white swirl pattern, which you can only see when close up.


The collar top stitched on without the stand. (looks a bit dirty in this picture but I assure you its not)


I then top stitched the patch pockets on, i'm loving top stitching recently. I then set to work on the sleeves which I altered so that they were slighty puffed & now 3/4 length



Setting the sleeve in is pretty fiddly 


And finally the hem, which I ended up machine stitching because my hand stitching is just awful.


so here it is the finished jacket it looks so much better on...


See I told you looks better on, Styled with a pair of dark skinny jeans, black vest top and leopard print heels and done.

This photo just shows how long ago I made this for 3 reasons;

1, I  have a tan because it was summer then
2, I have a fringe which has now grown out which I am now tempted to put back in.
3, I no longer have that phone in fact I upgraded it in September

I promise I won't be this lazy in writing up posts in the future.

If you fancy making this jacket Or the one Bridie made the pattern is from


Thank you for reading 

xx

Monday 23 February 2015

Bridie: White Tree Fabrics Pretty Pajamas Part 1



So these have been a long time in the making, I decided my first project as part of the White Tree Blogging Group would be to make some Pajamas as I'd never made anything like this before! Needless to say life has gotten in the way of me making them until recently. That is the only downside to the challenge, when your jeans get holes in them and you need to make a new outfit, that comes before pretty pajamas that I defiantly shouldn't go outside the house in!
     The pattern I picked was Vogue 7837 I loved design and the amount of options available to make. The pattern gives you a few fabric suggestions but decided to go with Crepe Back Satin after receiving some samples from White Tree and liking the quality and feel of them. I was in two minds between the royal blue and navy or the peach and white. In the end I went for the Peach and White, I thought the blues would was me out. I also had some cream vintage lace trim that would work really well with the Peach!  


I decided to make shorts and cropped top first I'm not sure why I just thought they looked really pretty and a far cry from the flannel pajamas or huge T shirt I'm used to!   


I read through the instructions a couple of times and found them easy to follow, I'm dyslexic so always appreciate clear diagrams! I also liked the fact that the lay plans use up all the material with little wastage.



So here we go, I'd not used Crepe Back Satin before so wasn't too sure how it would handle but I didn't have any issues cutting it out. This might be because I pinned the pattern pieces to the wrong side (its not silky so didn't slip when cutting) of the fabric.


I decided to use a french seam on the side seams and shoulder seams this isn't in the instructions but I don't have an overlocker and wanted a neat finish plus I do love a french seam! They look really professional but are really super easy once you know how!





Then came the binding, now I won't lie bias binding in Crepe Back Satin is a slippery sucker that does not want to do as it's told, but be patient it's worth it I promise. You'll need a lot of pins to! 


Then came the finishing touch of the lovely vintage lace trim lace which was a lot easier to apply then I thought it would be! You pin it to the right side of the fabric, sew it in place then cut away the excess fabric underneath. I am glad i picked a lace trim with a straight edge though it did make life simpler! 



Top done and I have to say I was pretty pleased with it!



Then came the bottoms, which have no binding so were so much quicker to make! Like the top I french seamed the side seams but couldn't use a french seam in the crouch seam ( I wish you could use french seams every every where but sadly you can't ) so used my pinking sheers instead.
The waist band was simple enough to! That is until it came to threading my elastic through, I had made the waistband a little narrow so it took some serious, pulling and wiggling along with a lot of perseverance to get the elastic through but I got there in the end!  
The final finishing touch was the lace trim, I had run out of the lace trim from the top but found some that was a pretty much spot on colour match, just a little narrower but I think that works well on the shorts!


So these are my pretty pajamas all finished and I'm really happy with them! I would usually post a pic of me modeling them but I'm not that brave this time! I will say they look lovely on! 
I'm going to be making another set soon with the longer pajama bottoms in white so I can mix and match so keep an eye out for those.


Hope you enjoyed my post and here's a little something for you.
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Happy sewing folks x