Purl and Seam

When I scored this pattern from the lovely Clio I had just the fabric in mind from my stash

It should have been a match made in heaven, and to be fair the finished top is really lovely.

But it’s just not me.

So much so that I’m not even bothering photographing it.

I like the top but not on me.  It will very much suit a friend of mine, so it’s going to be parcelled up this week and sent off to a new home.  One where it won’t just sit at the back of the wardrobe in a forlorn fashion, but will actually be worn.

I know I should be really miffed that this didn’t work, but I’m chalking it up as all part of the learning process.  I’m still trying to work out what styles are good on me and even though this style and fabric just didn’t cut it, the top is well put together so my sewing skills are developing.  All good stuff.

However, I have had a win this week

This used to be a skirt of mine that was just too big after the weight loss.  Amazingly the little Chloe cardigan already in her drawer matches perfectly.Again I utilised the skirt lining to line the dress.

I’m so pleased with this. I love these little dresses.  They are so simple to make and look so cute on her.  And they’re modest, which a lot of RTW clothes for little girls aren’t.

So the stash is dwindling, and next up is a pair of black trousers for me. This weekend I’ve been sewing up Mr S’s Whitfield jacket and blocking 3, count ’em, 3 shawls knitted by Ma from my stash yarn.  Photos to follow.

This used to be a skirt of Ma’s that she never wore.  Waste not want not, I say!

There are a gazillion tutorials on the web for these dresses so I won’t bore you with the details (unless you’d really like me too then I’d be delighted), so straight to the pictures for the first of 3 shirred tops/dresses currently being made.

This one was cut down from a dress of mine that whilst I loved the fabric always felt indecently short.

I kept the pintucks from the original dress at the bottom

and did 12 rows of shirring at the topTie shoulder straps give plenty of growing roomThe little cardigan is from Asda last year and the butterfly sandals are in Next now.

More of the stash has been used up this week, this time for linen shorts for The Boy.

He’s abed at the moment (though not asleep, the little beast) so I’ve taken pictures of just the shorts so I can post about them today, and wrap up April as well.

I used Simplicity 2907:This is well drafted pattern and set of instructions, although you’d hope so with just 3 pieces for the shorts, but you never can tell!  I’ll definitely be making these again, and wouldn’t mind making the other pieces as well. These shorts are great for beginners as they are so easy to construct, and if you’re a little wary you could leave off the pockets and cut down on the top-stitching to make them even simpler.

I used left over pieces of linen from making lounge pants for Mr S quite some time ago:The lighting is atrocious but the pair on the left are a heavy black linen and the ones on the right are an olive/grey lightweight linen.

I’m loving the top-stitching detail, which I think gives them a nice finish:

So, all in all, despite the bunnies-that-weren’t, this has been quite a successful month…1 interlined Linton Tweed cape and 2 pairs of linen shorts, and the stash reduced even further.  Squeeeeee!

I can’t believe it’s May already.  As the weather is still lovely here, top of my list are 2 sundresses and a top for Button, followed by a top and a pair of trousers for myself, which will reduce the stash even further.  The items for Button are just shirred at the top so no pattern there.  The top and trousers….I haven’t decided yet.   So watch this space.

Merry Christmas, Alice-who-isn’t-a-cat.

Finally, the Linton cape is finished.

It’s been a bit of a bear to sew.  The pattern itself is really straightforward and the instructions are clear, but, as always, I made a bit more work for myself by interlining it.

I don’t mind telling you that Linton tweed and lining fabric do not make for simple sewing.

If I’d been making this for myself it would never have been finished, thats for sure!

But the result was worth the effort:
The self fabric covered buttons were super easy to do as, even though I lightly interfaced it, the loose weave of the fabric gave the teeth of the button something to hang on to:The only thing I wish for this is that I’d had enough fabric to really match the checks, but I think because they are a broken check, I can just about get away with it.  Let’s face it, it’s only us sewers who are so hyper critical of our projects, and I’m not going to be stopping passers-by, pointing at Alice and saying “look how those checks don’t match”.

Honestly. I won’t. Pinky promise!