Sallie jumpsuit

When Heather first released the Sallie jumpsuit I went crazy for it and bought it almost immediately.  However the summer was really busy and I didn't do as much sewing as I would have liked so I only got round to making it now.

I used a cotton jersey that I bought a few years back at Marche St. Pierre when I was in Paris.  I think that it's such a great fabric for this jumpsuit but I should have paid a bit more attention to pattern placement (as usual) as some of the circle bursts are highlighting areas that are not necessarily my best features.

The pattern is really well drafted and the instructions really clear, however, I need a giant post-it note to myself to me that I should not make garments that I haven't tried before on my overlocker.  I made a couple of really silly mistakes when sewing this up and unpicking overlocked seams is the worst!  In fact it's so awful that this poor jumpsuit got put in the naughty corner for a couple of weeks while I huffed and played favourites with other, non-overlocked projects.

This is my entry for the everyday casual contest over on Sew independent.  A jumpsuit is the perfect way of looking put together on a day when really what you want to wear is pyjamas.  However, I did take my Sallie out for a non-everyday outing with my family

 to Kew gardens.

Thanks to my sister for all the pictures of me!  I took all the pictures of ridiculous plants which amused me greatly! 

How great are these?

They had these great Palm/tropical plant houses at Kew which contained many pretty and/or fun plants!

Like this:

Or this:

Happy Monday folks, I hope the rest of your weeks go ok and that you all have secret pyjamas to wear!

A leather circle shirt

Hi all and happy Friday. As I mentioned in my autumn/winter planning post, I really wanted a drapey leather skirt since I saw this one made by Carolyn but I knew I wanted a fuller circle skirt.  I was planning on drafting it myself and then I remembered that Megan Neilsen had released a free circle skirt pattern and my natural laziness won and I decided to use the Veronika pattern.

I used a pleather that I had in my stash.  It was left over from a coupon I had bought in Paris and used some of for this bag.

I can't really comment on the instructions as I didn't use them but the pattern came together really easily.  Of course the whole thing was made a touch easier as I didn't have to finish any seams and I didn't bother to hem it!  I used a leather needle in my machine and it sewed up really easily, I don't know if all pleather is this easy to sew but if it is, I need to think of some other pleather items for my wardrobe.  *Edit* having worn this a few times now, I think maybe having an all pleather wardrobe is a less good idea-you are essentially wearing plastic, which in a hot room equals gross sweatiness!  Maybe I should stick to the 'everything in moderation' mantra!

This is the first item made from my fall essentials list.  I'm quite excited about wearing this with tights and boots and that snuggly cowl I'm going to finish knitting soon...hmmm better get back to that.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Autumn/winter wardrobe planning

The nights are starting to draw in and it's hit that time of year when the weather really has no idea what it's doing and I have no idea what clothes to wear.  Therefore it must be time to start planning an autumn/winter wardrobe!  I had been mulling over my plans when Sarah of Rhinestones and Telephones launched the Fall essentials sew along.  I've fit my autumn plans into the fall essentials sew-along structure although I may be getting a little overambitious and some may need to extend to winter plans as I won't get them done before the end of the Fall sew along.

Fashionable foundations for frosty weather

Pleather circle skirt, I've actually made a start on this so pictures will be appearing soon.

I recently received the Tulip Co-ord patterns with an order from fabric for sale and it's making me really, really want a pair of culottes.  I even have a grey wool in my stash which would work, so watch this space.

Chic chemises for cool climates

My wardrobe is really in need of some more tops.  If anyone has any pattern recommendations, other than the Belcarra and Renfrew, please let me know as I really struggle to find good top patterns.

I've just purchased the Dolores top pattern and will definitely make one in this fabric.

I've wanted a pussy bow blouse for ages and even have the perfect pattern/fabric combo but the fabric is super slippery so I've been putting it off.  Maybe this will be the push that I need to get it done.

I'm pondering another Mathilde blouse but after version 1 and my latest refashion, I'm just not sure if I need another blouse with buttons down the back.  I might overcome this feeling or I could investigate some hacks.

I have been dreaming of the sew over it Anderson blouse and I think the odds of it finding it's way into my stash soon is quite high but as I'm not meant to be buying any patterns it should really wait a while.  However, Heather's gorgeous version has really not been helping with my restraint!  I must keep reminding myself that I clearly have enough to be getting on with for the time being.

I have had the Agatha cardigan in my ravelry library for a while now and it's definitely next in my knitting queue but I knit really slowly and still haven't finished a Miette I cast on in June!  However, I do have the wool for the Agatha in my stash so if I make a start on it soon, I may finish at some point before spring!

Fabulous frocks

As I mentioned in my lady skater hack post, I really fancy a lady skater/renfrew mash up!  I think it might be the best cold weather outfit ever.  However, I have been stashbusting hard and I now have no suitable fabrics for this in my stash so it would involve buying something appropriate. I'm quite excited by the arrival of Girl Charlee UK and Europe so I may have to investigate some of their knits.

I've got this 1971 dress pattern in my stash which I love but haven't made yet, I've got a glorious silk crepe which I fancy making it up in but it needs some fitting work before I cut into my lovely fabric.  It would be another item towards my vintage pattern pledge too.  

Lou lou dress.  I was lucky enough to be given a copy of this when Charlotte released it but haven't got round to making it yet.  However I have just bought a lovely navy, wool crepe which I think would make a lovely version.

There are some gorgeous autumn/winter patterns being released at the moment. Both the Deer and Doe arum dress and Sew over it Joan dress are really calling to me me but I'm going to make myself make some progress on the rest of this list before giving in to temptation. 

Baby its cold outside

I really want a big thick snuggly cowl to wrap up in, in my freezing cold lecture hall.  I actually made a start on this at the end of last winter but got bored of it once the weather warmed up.  I'm so excited by the idea of being able to cuddle up in it that I could almost wish the weather to get cold sooner.

I loved these refashioned mittens that I made a couple of years ago but I wore them to death and another pair would make me happy.

My big project for this autumn/winter is a coat.  I have picked out a pattern already and have the fabric but the pattern needs significant alteration so I'm putting it off.  This is going to be a major challenge to my sewing skills but I'm kinda looking forward to a slow and steady challenge, it'll be very very different to my regular sewing. 

The chances of me getting this done before the end of the sew-along are slim.  In fact my personal goal is Christmas but it's good to keep it on the radar so I continue to plod on with it. 

These are my priorities so I'm not going to make anything from the 'Underneath it all', 'Tender tootsies' or 'Those cosy nights' categories. This is quite a lot to be getting on with so it's time to get started I reckon!

Shirt refashion

Hi all, happy Tuesday!  Today I've got a refashion to share.  This refashion is basically a mash up of two tops; a green mens shirt that inherited from my dad when he decided that the collar had become too worn to be respectable any more and a failed McCalls M6604 top that I made at the same time as the first one which was frustrating as they both had the same fitting issues.  I loved the peacock fabric though, so I hung onto it to use for a refashioning project.  

I decided to use the Belcarra pattern as it lends itself well to mixing two fabrics. I have used this pattern several times before but oddly none of them have made it to the blog. 

I cut the sleeve and neck binding pieces out of the failed top.  You can't see terribly well in the photo above but the shirt had a pocket which I removed, before cutting the body pieces for the Belcarra from the shirt. I wanted to make a feature of the shirt placket on the back of  the top so I cut the back piece of the Belcarra with the placket running down it.  The shirt buttons themselves were boring so I got some self cover buttons (in 2 different sizes)  and covered them with the peacock fabric and stitched them where the original buttons had been.  I also created a little bow to decorate the back with.

Sorry about the massive crease but I had been wearing it around town.

It a party in the back but the front feels a little boring when I can see both sides.  My sister kindly took these photos and she's great at getting creative with shots like this.

We took these on a lovely afternoon out together looking at a boats.  The boats were part of a show, I'm a little sketchy about what the point of this was but there were were pretty old boats that I could look at so I wasn't complaining.  I get a little geeky about old transport.

One of these little boats took part in Dunkirk and has been redone and is still sailing the seas, how cool is that?

This wheel was purely decorative, clearly put there for goofy people like me who like to play with stuff without having to do anything difficult like be outside in the cold and rain or learn to sail.

I thought you might like this totally confused out-take.  I'm not sure what my sister was asking me to do here but it made my face do this:

There are still a few more days left on the giveaway if you want to take part.

A blogiversary and a giveaway

Today is my two year blogiversary!  I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who comes by to read and to the whole online sewing community, I have so much fun being part of it and learn so much.  While I have gained loads of sewing knowledge I also find being part of this community spurs me to learn other things too.  In a not too crazy step, in the last 2 years I have learnt to knit. However, a much bigger step is that as a life long technophobe, I now have a blog, an etsy shop and as of this week I am also on instagram and twitter (although I'm still not sure how to work my twitter account so bear with me).

To say thanks to you all, I thought I'd host a little giveaway.  I have a number of items below which normally would be due to be sold in my etsy shop but I thought I would offer some of them up for a giveaway.  The plan is (assuming enough of you are interested) is to pick 2 names to win 2 prizes, I'm slightly hammering the '2' theme here but it's my blogiversary so I can do what I want.  To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is follow me on instagram (if you don't have an instagram account just let me know in the comment, I won't discriminate) you can find me @almostahippy.  Once you've done this just leave me a comment below telling me which two items from the list that you would pick.  I'll pick the winners on the 19th Spetember.

What's up for grabs?

1982 trouser pattern for knits.  Size 18.

1984 A-line skirt pattern.  Size 18.

1.5m of brown, polycotton broderie anglaise

1m vibrant orange rough silk

1975 dress pattern, size 10.

1974 tunic, dress and trouser pattern.  Size 18.

1950s dress pattern.  Size 18

1970s pattern.  Size 12.  I love the elegant French Riviera style of this one.

1970s dress pattern, size 14.

1m navy stretch lace

90cm x 1.5m wool tartan

1976 dress pattern, size 12

1971 dress pattern, size 18.  I love this dress and actually have another copy on my to-make pile at the moment.

Good luck everyone, and have a lovely weekend. After an unexpectedly gruelling cycle commute today, I'm off to the pub for a well earned drink.