Purl and Seam

Simplicity 1886…almost

August 26, 2013

The Simplicity top is finished and the review is written. I just needed pictures to add to the post and I was good to go.

Today we have had glorious sunshine which seemed to present a perfect opportunity to test drive my lovely new top at a local food festival.

Or not!

Blasted iron was too hot (obviously nothing to do with me having it on the wrong setting)!

My immediate reaction was “thank goodness I have enough of this fabric to make another”.

Well, actually, that was my second reaction. My first involved my expletives of choice.

Then I realised that a strategically placed design feature could probably save this top…and several hours work for me too! So I’ve got it all pinned and ready to sew and will get back to you soon with the finished article.

Simplicity 1609 winner

August 19, 2013

One man’s meat is another man’s poison, or so they say. The same can be said of sewing patterns, no?

Although Simplicity 1609 is not a style I could ever carry off, it’s proved a popular giveaway, and all of you had very stylish plans for this pattern.

Thank you all for entering, but, sadly, on this occasion there can be only one winner, and that, according to Random.org is……

Debby

who is planning to make it up in a lightweight wool for winter. It think it will look gorgeous.

So congratulations Debby. Please let me have your postal details and I’ll get this pattern out to you.

And don’t forget, I’ll have another pattern giveaway very soon.

Simplicity 1609 – Jiffy shift dress – Giveaway

August 12, 2013

I was recently thrilled to be approached by Simplicity to try some of their patterns, post a review, and host a giveaway. I think it would have been ~~foolish~~ churlish to refuse.

So I didn’t. Tra la laaaaaaaa!

I’m currently working on the top I’m going to review, so the proper giveaway will come when I’ve finished that and can share it with you.

You know how it is with school holidays…sewing is the last thing you get to do! 😉

However, when I received my patterns I found that I had been sent 1609 by mistake and in the wrong size (it’s a 6 – 14), so the lovely folks at Simplicity are sending me the right pattern (woot!) and have said that I can share 1609 with you.

Thanks, Simplicity. It’s so kind of you.

So, whilst this dress isn’t my thing, it’s certainly an adorable pattern. The wonderful Gertie has made 5, yes five!, versions of this. That’s one hell of an endorsement.

image from www.blogforbettersewing.com

Check out Gertie’s blog for the other versions…they are all really cute. Although you wouldn’t expect anything less, would you?

To win this pattern just leave me a comment on this post before midnight GMT on Sunday 18th August. I’d love to hear what fabric you’d make this up in.

I’ll be happy to post this anywhere in the world.

Bonne chance, mes amies!

A Gardener’s Journal Quilt – FO 17/2013

August 5, 2013

I suppose that should be FF0 17 – finally finished object!

I posted the first completed stitcheries for this quilt on 11 July 2010.

We’re now in August 2013…so just over 3 years to finish this quilt.

*hangs head in shame*

But finished it is.

And, having fallen out of love with this project halfway through, I’m thoroughly besotted with the finished object.

The backing is just some inexpensive polycotton sheeting from Abakhan.

I quilted around the edge of each patch and then straight lines around the borders using the edge of the foot as a guide.

Although I suspect I could be pushing the limits of the Trade’s Description Act by calling them ‘straight’ lines as I swear there isn’t a single one of them to be found on this quilt. But that’s OK. It’s turned out far better than I’d envisaged. And I’m just really, really relieved to have it finished and out of the sewing loft.

That said I think it’s only fair to clarify that the my tardiness with this quilt is no reflection on the pattern.

It was purely a case of having started to sew I realised that, whilst I absolutely love machine sewn quilts, they aren’t something I particularly enjoy making. But this was the first quilt I ever attempted so I didn’t know. I also knew nothing at all about quilting in general, but it turns out that didn’t matter…Anni Downs knows plenty and she makes it really easy to cut, embroider, piece and finish this quilt.

I just took it step by step and here I am, so I highly recommend this pattern.

And, after all this time, I’m really happy I made this quilt…I just don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to start another machine sewn quilt.

Back to the hexies I go!

Dance relief

July 31, 2013

Wow these holidays are flying by.

We are managing not to completely murder each other, although my two are full of beans and yummy treats!

Yesterday they spent the day at their dance class summer school. 2 whole days of activities and dancing. Yay! I think they were as relived as I was for the break! They certainly came home very tired and, after a bit of grumping, they zonked out in bed nice and early.

So, after catching up with necessary chores (apparently they insist on me having food in the house) I got some time in the sewing loft and set to finishing the quilting of Gardener’s Journal.

Of course, as is the way, with only 4 lines of quilting and the binding to sew, I ran out of thread. So I took the time to cut out a toile for a top I’m making as part of the current wave of Simplicity pattern reviews.

Which means that soon I’ll have a new top to share with you and a lovely giveaway too!

And, if I get some thread today, I’ll also have a quilt finished.

Finally!

Green Bee Amelia – FO 16/2013

July 25, 2013

After the success of Button’s dress and the coming together of the quilts, its time to share a big fat fail with you.

Before I get to the photos in all their hideous splendour, I’ll share my review of the pattern with you. I think that’s fair. I’ve waited a while to post this because I didn’t want my review to be coloured by the results, so I’m happy that this is now a considered opinion, rather than a rant over yet another fail.

First up the pattern is printed on lovely study paper that makes tracing it a dream, and it’s well drafted with all the pieces going nicely together.

I did, however have some issue with the sizing. Namely, it turns out not to be designed with us bigger girls in mind, and I think this was half the cause of my problems. As well as the usual adjustments to accommodate my height and bosom, I also needed to grade the pattern up all over.

In Green Bee’s defence, they do publish the sizes, I just got all swept up in the excitement of the loveliness of this dress and didn’t bother checking.

My bad! Not the pattern’s.

Lesson well learned.

I also had an issue with the pockets. I sewed them as drafted and they are teeny tiny. I can’t get my hands in them properly, never mind a phone. So if you do decide to sew this dress, please do yourself a favour and add some size to the pockets.

And finally, I found the instructions to be so densely crammed onto the page as to be more hindrance than help. I think I’ve been spoiled by the likes of Elegance and Elephants and Cake Patterns, who produce clear well spaced instructions with photos or diagrams to illustrate the point. Amelia’s instructions are effectively just a typed list. Thankfully I’m at the point in my sewing career where I can toss the instructions and still get a garment to work, but I think a beginner would find these directions lacking. It’s a shame.

For all that, and for the resulting catastrophe of a dress, I still think Amelia is a pretty dress. It didn’t work for me for 3 major reasons:

I foolishly didn’t check the sizing before ordering the pattern. Shiny squirrel syndrome kicked in. A rookie mistake. I should know better.
Like the Washi dress, I don’t think this works on my figure. And that’s not the fault of the dress, the pattern, or my figure. It just is what it is.
I was rushing to get this finished because, as always, I needed something for an event and was doing this at the 11th hour. Hence, I ran out of time to keep tweaking the fit. Though, to be fair, I don’t think I would love it even if the fit was better. It just would be a better fitting shambles!

Do you want to see it? Those of a nervous disposition may want to look away now.

Ok…you still here?

Don’t need smelling salts?

Let’s look at what’s going on.

A shows the problem at the bust. I added a 3 inch FBA. In the muslin it looked OK. In the dress fabric, not so much. Because the darts are French Darts, I had a problems actually working out the FBA as I’d never attempted one before…and it shows. I need more room to accommodate The Ladies.
B shows the problem around the sleeves, which are little cap sleeves all in one with the bodice. Again these are dragging…I think linked to the lack of room in the bosom.
C shows what happens when you fit to your natural waist knowing you have a longer torso and really need to fit the waist a little higher to create a better waistline illusion.
D is the one that caught me completely unawares. The dress is cut on the bias. The fabric is a chambray…red threads one way, white the other. When you cut it on the bias as a double with the fabric laid on the table right sides together, you end up with a harlequin effect dress.

I can’t even show you the back. I have waaaaaay to much pride for that. I know it’s a sin, but lets just say the back is even worse.

And I’ve lost 5lbs in weight since I made this dress…

It doesn’t bear thinking about.

But, there is hope in this.

I was talking to one of the other mums at dance class at the weekend. She is learning to crochet and was saying that in time she’ll look back on her first attempts and laugh that she could be so thrilled with such a small accomplishment.

I reminded her that even if she crochets for 50 years, she’ll still be learning something new and increasing her skills. It’s the nature of the crafty beast.

This dress is a timely reminder of some basic rules of sewing that, in my haste to get a garment into my wardrobe as quickly as possible, I conveniently forgot. Namely:

Always, always, ALWAYS check the pattern size. If you are competent at grading patterns, or have the time to do it slowly, learn the new skills and make it work, then of course you can ignore this. If you’re in a rush…don’t. Buy a size that only needs minimal alterations.
Don’t rush the prep. This would have been a much better garment if I’d taken the time to work out the fitting kinks and make more than one hasty toile before cutting the fashion fabric.
Don’t rush the sewing. If I’d have allowed myself more time, I could have double and triple checked the fit as I sewed.
Work with the fabric. I’ve got to admit that I never even considered that this lovely fabric would trip me up with this shading. It’s tantamount to the fabric having a nap, such as velvet. This would have been much more suitable for a garment cut on the straight grain.
Work with your figure. I know I don’t have a waist and need to create the illusion of one. I should have raised that waistline.

This dress is a cautionary tale to all of us.

But it’s not all bad news. Apart from the kick up the backside to remember the basics of dressmaking, I’ve also discovered another silhouette that doesn’t work for me. This is A Very Good Thing. Years and years ago I used to work in sales and sales training and our mantra was if a prospective client genuinely has no requirement for you product or service, then it’s a good “no”. It’s one more out of the way to a “yes” and a sale. It’s the same when you’re working out your personal style, as I am. Every time I make something that has the Fashion Police banging on my door, I’m one step closer to establishing my own Look.

And, of course, I can always chop it up, destroy the evidence, and make pretty things for Button out of it.

Cut on the straight grain, of course! 😉

PS…if you’d like this pattern, do shout.

I’ll be happy to stick it in the post for you. It’s a pretty dress, just not for me.

Quilting

July 23, 2013

Unusually for these parts we have been having glorious sunshine and temperatures as high as 32 degrees. Very odd, and really rather lovely.

In such weather as this it seems unlikely that I’m focussing on quilting!

There are several reasons for this:

It’s simply too hot to knit.
The Gardener’s Journal quilt has been winking at me for quite some time, begging to be finished.
I have a bag of hexies that are equally demanding.
Did I mention…it’s too hot to knit?
It’s picnic season and the GJ quilt has long been earmarked as our picnic quilt.
I only have teeny pockets of time for sewing this week as the kids are on summer holidays now. A few lines of quilting are just the ticket.
The hexies are the perfect handwork for evenings with the husband and a movie.
And, of course, it’s just too darned hot to knit.

So I am currently machine quilting like a fool trying to get the GJ finished.

It’s my first outing with a walking foot and I managed to snap 6 needles before I got the hang of it. Not cool. But I’ve completed all the left to right rows and am well under way with the up and down rows. The border will be 1″ cross hatching and therefore a great deal quicker. I’m aiming to have it ready for the binding by the end of the weekend…although that may be a tad unrealistic.

I’ve also sorted out all the flowers for the hexie quilt into stacks of 10, with an interesting mix of light and dark colours in each stack.

Each stack is then bagged up and I’m working through one bag at a time as each represents one row of the quilt.

I’m finding the machine quilting isn’t the most fun I’ve ever had with a sewing machine. With each row I admire more and more the skill of quilters who put together a top in no time flat, and quilt it even faster. I may have mentioned it before, but I’ve actually learned a whole load from trying different types of quilting. I love sewing quilts by hand, not machine. Hand sewing a quilt is a lovely social activity. Hexies are a fabulously portable project. I also find hand sewing tremendously soothing. If I’m sat at the machine I’d much rather be dressmaking.

This, for me, is the joy of developing our skills as needlewomen. You can explore your craft and find what works for you. For me, when it comes to quilts, it’s going to be hand sewing all the way in the future.

But still, I’m getting there with Gardener’s Journal. I don’t think there is a single straight line on this quilt but it is looking lovely. And hopefully will soon be finished. Perhaps in time for cooler weather…and a return to the knitting needles.

Dotty New Look 6881 – FO 15/2013

July 21, 2013

New Look 6881 is my go to pattern for party dresses for Button. The lovely purple satin version I made her last year was not only unsuitable for the warm and sunny weather we’ve been having of late, but also it didn’t fit her any more. So when a birthday party invitation arrived recently, we high-tailed it off to our local fabric shop, The Buttonhole in Chorley, and I turned her loose.

She skipped around the shop pulling bolts of fabric off the shelves, finally settling on some gorgeous red and white dotty Michael Miller cotton.

It was, of course, some of the most expensive fabric in the shop.

What can I say??? Our girl has taste!

I made the age 4 size, but added an inch to the bodice and an inch and a half to the hem, which means there is plenty of growing room in this one!

The dress is lined in cotton lawn (I know! But it’s so beautiful it seemed a shame not too!). There is 4 metres of broderie anglais trim gathered around the hem, and 4 metres of net gathered onto the petticoat to give the skirt some twirlability. Which surely is the raison d’etre of any party dress!

This is, without a doubt, one of my favourite makes, ever!

Strike a pose…

And, more importantly, Button loves it too!

Pavlova out-of-the-envelope – FO 14/2013

July 18, 2013

It is many, many years since I made anything except children’s clothes from a pattern pulled right out of the envelope. But as I explained in my earlier post, I ran with Pavlova without any alterations.

I don’t regret it one little bit. And this is going to be possibly the shortest pattern review in the world ever.

I cannot rave enough about this pattern. It’s brilliantly drafted. The instructions are clear and very easy to follow. Did I mention I didn’t need to make a single alteration to the pattern?

The resulting top is just lovely. And it’s sooooo comfortable to wear. I’ve already worn it twice, on both occasions to full day meetings where it’s stood up to long train rides, stiflingly hot meeting rooms, and me bending and stretching, without the faintest hint of a paparazzi moment with my bosom.

I’m wearing it with the ties at the back, simply because I don’t need any more bulk at the front. I like the way I can arrange the ties to create a cummerbund effect. I also love the way the pattern on this fabric flows around the garment.

Now if you’re wondering why I’m standing like some demented wannabe superhero, it’s because I’m desperately trying to draw your attention to the sleeves.

They are a little loose, no?

I stand by my original assertion of Steph’s genius. This isn’t a problem with the pattern…nope, the reason that the sleeves are loose on me is my shape. I hold my weight around my middle but have proportionally slimmer arms. The pattern is drafted for someone whose limbs are as slender or plumptious as the rest of their body, not like twigs on a snowman! 😉

So I am going to take them in a little. Just because I prefer a slimmer fitting sleeve.

Other than that…this is pretty darned perfect and I’m a very, very happy girl. I cannot wait to make another version of this and highly recommend you make it too! I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Burda Plus Spring/Summer 2013 – Skirt 407 – FO 13/2013

July 7, 2013

Thank you all for you lovely comments on my last post. Apologies for not responding to each one but it’s been a very busy few days. I know I’m a terrible tease…so I today I managed to get photos of the new skirt to share with you.

Please excuse those front creases…my hands are pushing the fabric! Doh!

I LOVE this skirt.

It’s so comfortable. I doubled the width of the waistband and it sits so much better on me. Waistbands are the bane of my life. I usually find them hideously fidgety and uncomfortable, but this one is a joy!

Also the stretch denim contributes to the comfort and wearability of the skirt. This is from the Cloth House on Berwick Street in London. I scored it on my last visit and at £12 a metre I really couldn’t leave it behind. It’s wonderful. It’s quite a heavy weight but has great stretch and recovery, meaning I can bend and stretch without restriction. As any mum knows this is a critical factor of any garment!

The back has a walking vent which means that even though the skirt is slightly pegged, you can still chase around should you need to!

This is a better representation of the colour.

The pockets were cut on the cross grain. Mainly because I didn’t have enough fabric left to cut them lengthwise. But lets call them a design feature, shall we?

Even with the topstitching this is a really, really quick make.

I know from the comments that some of you have reservations about sewing with denim, but I have to tell you that I find it an absolute joy to work with. It’s a very well mannered fabric. It behaves on the machine, presses beautifully, and holds a very crisp topstitch. Even with the stretch this was a pleasure to sew. I heartily recommend it.

My only caveat would be to use a jeans machine needle.

It’s a thicker needle with a sharper point designed specifically to punch cleanly through all the layers of fabric. It makes life so much easier and they are readily available…not remotely exotic.

I also think it needs to be said that there is no mystery or witchcraft around topstitching. I lengthen my stitch to at least 4.0 and work out what I’m going to use as my guide for the line of stitching. Sometimes its the edge of the foot, sometimes I use a specialist foot such as an edge-stitching or 1/4 inch foot. It all depends on what effect I’m looking for. I always make a note of what I’m doing because I can never remember which stitch length or guide I’ve used, and the note ensures all seams get the same treatment.

Then I simply take it slowly. I’m very lucky as my machine has a slider on it which slows down the speed of the machine no matter how heavy footed you are. But I was doing some topstitching for a friend the other day and her machine doesn’t have this function so I just kept a light touch on the pedal and got a great result.

The moral of this is that if I can do it, so can you.

But back to the skirt. I have just a couple of reservations…

should I raise the hem a bit? I don’t want to be flashing my underwears* to the world, nor am I thinking as short as the Washi dress of doom, but I am wondering if it wouldn’t look a bit better a hem width shorter than it is.
Should I peg the side seams a little more? It’s a very comfy fit around the waist, but I’m suspecting it could stand just a little more tapering to the knee. I’m a classic apple shape, so I’m thicker around the waist with slender legs…perhaps a little more tapering would offset that imbalance somewhat.

I’d be interested to hear what you think…you guys always give the best advice. And, as I’ve ordered a sample of some red stretch denim from Ditto fabrics…

image from dittofabrics.co.uk

…I could always whip up another version with the alterations and compare and contrast. 😉 As this only takes a metre of fabric, it’s a pretty inexpensive experiment.

I think with a little tweaking this could become my TNT skirt pattern. Its quick and easy to make, and economical with fabric. I could easily draft some diagonal pockets for the front. Or a fly front to give it a more classic jeans skirt styling. And, of course, there are the front welt pockets already on the pattern. Endless opportunities to experiment…all resulting in a very useful wardrobe staple that will get lots and lots of wear.

* underwears = under garments. This word was coined by Button and has stuck. Generally used in the phrase “Mummy, I can see your underwears” when I’m getting dressed in the morning and accompanied by much chortling . I’m running with the explanation that it’s the fact that I’m only in my underwears that causes the chortling, not how I look in them! 😉 You never know with a 5 year old!

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