Last of summer sewing

I took these pictures on a recent trip to Hong Kong where my clothes were totally weather appropriate but now I’m back in the UK they feel totally out of sync with the weather and the autumnal sewing that everyone is doing now.

I’ve got a duo to share today. When thinking about what I wanted to wear when away in hot and humid Hong Kong I knew I wanted to make a sew over it silk cami in a breezy fabric and some more Megan Nielsen flint shorts.

The pair of flint shorts that I made last year got so much wear that I definitely wanted a new pair this year in a slightly more neutral colour to go with everything. This pair are made from some black cotton that I had in my stash and were perfect for sightseeing in and going with everything else I’d brought with me. I made the tie closure version and made no alterations. Basically I have nothing to say about these, this is maybe my 6th pair and I can just crack them out and fall in love! A couple of previous versions can be seen here and here.

The silk cami is made from an old Hobbs linen skirt that my mother donated to my stash a few years ago and so is also a refashion.  The skirt was cut on the grain so could basically just be used as a length of fabric. I harvested the zip for my stash too.  Have you all been keeping track of the fabulous refashions happening as part of the refashioners series?  While it's nice to be doing a refashion alongside the rest of the community, this one is no where near as inspired as the other garments in the series.

I’d made a couple of silk camis before but found the fit a bit odd. It’s got quite a loose fit but was tight across the bust. With my decidedly average C cup I’d never had to do an fba before but being no time like the present, I consulted the blogosphere for the knowledge.  I found this post and this post helpful but since neither of them quite covered what I was doing, I'm not entirely sure that I've done it correctly.  I wanted the final top to have a bust dart so that the top didn't end up too shapeless, however, with the adjustment I have ended up with a much roomier top, so for my next version, I will take it in at the sides.  It does fit much better across the bust now though.

 

What's kind of mind blowing about refashions is how little is left over when transforming what seems like a bigger garment into a smaller one. There were really only a few scraps left over from the skirt when I was finished with this.

For more outfit and Hong Kong photos, please follow me over on instagram @almostahippy.  Have a good week.

Sweet as honey

I really loved the honeycomb shirt and dress by Ana from Cocowawa when it was released but I attempted to resist buying it as my sewing output has reduced and I’m so I’m attempting (and failing) to reduce my fabric and pattern buying too.  However, there were so many gorgeous versions popping up on my instagram that I couldn’t help it.  I love a shirtdress, they must be among the most worn items in my wardrobe so the fact that this pattern offers a dress and top versions is a real bonus.

This was my first Cocowawa pattern, while I love some of her other patterns, they are a bit too casual for my mainly work wardrobe, although the Chestnut gives me all the heart eyes and is seriously calling to me.  I was really impressed with the pdf, it seemed to have be planned with economy of paper (and sticking time) in mind and is only 28 pages for all the different versions. 

I made up a size 4, grading to a 6 over the hips, as per my measurements and found it to be pretty accurate but this is a loose fitting top.  I used the remnants of an old duvet cover that I had bought in a charity shop and used to make my vintage halter neck dress.  I found the instructions for the most part really good.  Everyone has been raving about the burrito method for closing the yoke but I wasn’t paying attention at this point and so just stitched my yoke shut and finished it in the way I would any other seam so mine is not so pretty on the inside.  The only thing I struggled with was buttonhole on the mandarin collar, I was struggling to get a neat buttonhole on the collar because of the fabric bulk and then I realised that it wouldn’t close over the other side properly even if I got one so I simply decided to sew buttons on both sides of the collar and call it a feature.  I had a little look on instagram and there seems to be a mix of buttonholes and no buttonholes on the collar so I don’t know if that’s something I fluffed or not.

I love the bow details and can’t wait to make a winter dress complete with the sleeve bows too!  When we were taking these photos, I realised I have a gaping problem between the buttons.  It’s not going to bother me enough to do anything about on this version but on a future one, I think I’d add in more buttonholes, I have space for them as I lengthened the bodice so I could definitely get away with one more.  I used these super cute little strawberry buttons from my stash, I bought them on a market years ago but I don't remember which one. 

Although my face seems huge in this photo, it's probably the best photo of the top so I'm just going to have to deal with looking like a bobble head doll! 

I really recommend this pattern and am looking forward to future versions becoming part of my shirtdress wardrobe!