A long time in the making!

Today I have two projects to share that have been a really long time in the making.  The first up is a Sew Over it Vintage Shirt dress which is my latest Sew Crafty Design team project.  However, I ordered the fabric for this months ago and have only just got round to making it.  It's been a super busy few months and I'm happy I can now celebrate the end of them with a new dress.

This is made in a dashwood quilting cotton from the altitude collection at Sew Crafty.  This is a really gorgeous range of cottons which are perfect for a dress like this.  For years I mainly bought cottons like these as they are so easy to work with and come in amazing patterns and colours.  Then I moved away from them to other fabrics as I expanded the range of what I could sew and my stash was surprisingly low in this kind of fabric.  I really must rectify this as I do really enjoy working with them.

This is my fourth version of this dress (I really love this pattern) so I have the fit changes sorted by now, although I did have a few other changes that I made. I hadn't ordered quite enough fabric so I made a couple of adjustments; I made the shirt a smidge narrower and made the sleeves short rather than 3/4 length with a cuff.

I then ventured out into the rain to take some photos which was much rougher on my photographer than on me, so thanks Nini.

The Julia cardigan was circling the blogosphere a few years ago and when I checked my harddrive, I've had it stored for 2 years without ever getting round to printing the pattern and making it.  Part of the reason for my lack of action was the difficulty in finding the right fabric.  I really didn't want a polyester cardigan which ruled out a ponte or something similar.  Also as I really feel the cold, I wanted something with a wool content rather than just cotton.  Anyway, a few weeks ago I found the perfect black wool jersey in my local fabric shop and as my trusty RTW black cardigan has started sprouting holes, it felt like fate!

Cardigans and jumpers are still the items that I've made very few of and don't see all that many patterns for, but I'm so excited I finally found the right combo!  This is such an easy pattern to put together and so speedy, I cut it out one evening and by lunchtime the next day, I had a new cardigan.  The only thing I don't like about the instructions is that is isn't clear that so much extra fabric is needed for the doubled over cardigan and I did not have enough fabric to do this.  It's not a big deal in this black fabric as very little is visible but in another fabric I think I'd prefer to have the doubled over collar.

So although the weather in the UK is grim at the moment, its still too warm for this cardigan really, which is perfect as it means the wool is doing its job.  Winter Alexa will thank me.

These items are my entry for one of the monthly stitch indie pattern month challenges  and I'm so pleased with my outfit.  

Jeans!!!!

Hi All.  It's been a little while but I've been completing my doctoral thesis and when I needed a break, the last thing that I wanted to do was to stay at my computer writing more words.  Also, trust me, none of you wanted to see pictures of me during this period!  However, I was doing a fair amount of sewing in my breaks, so have a bit of a backlog of stuff to show you.

First up are the Mia jeans from the Sew Over It capsule wardrobe ebook. I bought this as soon as it was released and any of you who follow me on Instagram may have seen that I made the Alex shirt, but found it way too oversized, although I like the concept so I may make another one in a smaller size.  I've just spotted that the petite passions has had the same issues with this shirt and they have been resolved by making a smaller size so I think my plan is made. However, one of the main reasons that I bought the ebook was because I wanted a fairly easy intro to making jeans.

The pattern really didn't disappoint.  While most of the instructions are really clear, Lisa's video for the fly front really aids with this step, although I still didn't get it spot on.  These came together really quickly and easily and I couldn't recommend the pattern enough.  I'm made up with having made my own jeans.  I'm particularly happy since I went shopping this weekend and when trying on trousers had my regular issues with them not even remotely fitting me.  It was so nice to put my properly fitting jeans back on again afterwards.

The denim that I used was this one from Sew Crafty and it was perfect for the job.  In fact since this version is perfectly wearable but far from perfect, I'm going to order some more to make a better version.  They have it in jade and pink too which are tempting, maybe I need jeans in all the colours! I love the red topstitching on this version and I think I'll repeat on a future version.  The topstitching was no where near as difficult as I thought it would be but it's not totally straight everywhere and I had this irritating mismatch where all the legs seams meet.

I made a size 14, grading to a 12 at the waist and essentially it fit me perfectly with very few adjustments.  I had to let it out slightly at the calves (clearly my running and heel wearing has built up some hefty calf muscles) but the generous seam allowances make this really easy to do.  I should have lengthened these jeans as they've come up too short, while they're fine worn with boots, I'm going to get chilly ankles if I wear them with shoes and I have very strong feelings that no part of me should ever be chilly.  I'm trying to decide if they are just a smidge too high waisted and there's some excess fabric which I think would be removed if I cut out cm or 2 from the length between crotch and waist.  Feel free to chip in with your thoughts.  I'm going to wear them a bit more to decide before the next version.

Anyway, it's good to be back chatting about sewing again. See you soon! 

Sometimes you just need to geek out

I was so honoured to be asked to be part of the SewCrafty design team and when browsing their selection of fabrics a few of them jumped out at me.  It was so hard to select what I wanted to make first.  In the end my first order looked like this:

The dark fabric is for a slightly more complicated make that will feature soon but when I spotted the sewing machine fabric and tape measure ribbon, I knew that they had to be paired in some way.  Although I love bright colours and patterns, novelty clothing is a step too far even for me so this pairing was made into a pair of pyjama bottoms.

I'm a little bit obsessed with the Ultimate pyjama pattern from Sew Over It.  I made about 5 pairs before Christmas (mainly as gifts) and decided to bust it out again for this fabric.  As I've made so many of these, I know that I can squeeze them into a meter and a half, so this was the amount that I ordered.  However, clearly I haven't made these in a metre and a half of directional fabric as I struggle to fit these on and in the end just had to ignore the grainline, but realistically they are pyjamas, who is going to know (apart from you guys) or care!

I love the combo of this fabric and ribbon (although it was surprisingly difficult to photograph) but I'm very aware that this is probably the geekiest thing that I've ever made!  I'm struggling to care though and these pyjamas have been in heavy rotation since I finished them.  I whipped up a Sewaholic Renfrew, minus the hem band, as a coordinating top.  The fabric for the top has been in my stash for ages and I now have no idea where it came from.

For Christmas I made some of these pj bottoms, with matching eye masks and lingerie bags for my sister and some friends.  They were really pleased with them and if I say so myself, they were pretty cute sets.  A little inspiration for you, if you're looking for some lovely and speedy gift ideas.  They can be luxurious in a silk or satin or fun in a printed cotton like these pjs.  When I've made eye masks, I've used this pattern and tutorial from Tilly and the buttons.

Thanks so much to Sew Crafty for the fabric and I can't wait to show off my next make.  See you soon.

Embracing the colour

Months ago I ordered this stretch cotton from SewCrafty with the express purpose of making a pair of Sew Over It, Ultimate trousers.  However, when the fabric arrived I got it into my head that I hadn't ordered enough (no idea why, as it was the perfect amount) so the fabric got relegated to my stash.

However, recently I pulled it out again and came to my senses!  I sewed it up really quickly into another pair of Ultimate trousers.  I don't really have a lot to say about this as I've made a number of other versions before here and here.  I love that I now have a pair of well fitting trousers that as an added bonus, come together really quickly.  

I really needed some more trousers for my wardrobe and while these are fun and fill a gap, the next pair should maybe be in neutral colour!  Although I think the next pair of trousers I make may be a pair of Mia jeans.  I've had loads of compliments on these when I've worn them though which is always a bit of a boost to my confidence.

 Most of these photos were taken by my flatmate in our extremely messy garden (thanks Grace) and she managed to catch one of me picking the only apple my little apple tree produced this year.

I hope you're all enjoying preparing for Christmas and I look forward to seeing the wonderful outfits that pop up on your blogs.  I'm off to finish some last minute Christmas presents.