An oldie but a goodie

With this make I've returned to an old pattern that was everywhere in the blogosphere at one point and I've already made several versions of, a couple of versions here and here.  It is of course the By Hand London Anna dress.  Despite having made this dress a number of times, I have never made the V-necked version so it was nice to try something new while still in the realm of the familiar.

The fabric I used is one of a pair of sheets I picked up in a charity shop a few years back.  I used one of them to make this vintage shirtdress.  Unfortunately as it was my first version of the shirtdress, it was a bit short in the torso and while I loved it I was never that comfortable in it so eventually donated it.  On the plus side I had plenty more of the fabric which I loved so time for dress number 2 from a sheet!  I started my dressmaking journey with a lot of refashioning projects and while I now buy a lot of fabric, I love when I am able to return to some refashioning and to pursue my hobby a bit sustainably.

I always feel like the Anna bodice is a bit short on me (spot the long torso theme) so I lengthened this one by about 5cm.  It may have been a cm too much but I'm not going to get too picky about it.  With my last Anna dress I had made some alterations to adjust for gaping in the back which I did again this time.  I also decided to add a pleated skirt for a slightly different look and while the calculations behind pleats always defeat me (and I'm usually good at maths!), I got there in the end and really like the finished look.  Despite the pleats, this was really a very quick and satisfying make.

It was really nice to make something up that I'd made before and could be fairly certain was going to work well.  While it's always lovely to get a new pattern and try out new things there is something wonderful about returning to a TNT pattern. 

Jazzy embroidery

I bought this top in a charity shop on a trip to Bristol a last year. It fitted well, had a decent proportion of wool and cashmere in it (important for perpetually freezing people like me) and was only about £3.

However, when I got it home I found it just a bit boring so I decided to update the look a little.  Lots of people who's skills I really admire like Elisalex and Sally having been posting great makes that they have embroidered (although weirdly when I went to look for photos of their makes, I couldn't find any, so actually maybe it's just my imagination conjuring them up) so I thought I would give it a go too. Ta da...

I went about this in my usual gung-ho manner and basically launched in!  I decided that I wanted a peacock design so went online and printed off some line drawings and basically just pinned them onto the top and started stitching through the top and paper.

I forgot to take a picture of the main design pinned to the front but this is essentially what I did with the main design too.

There are loads of embroidered garments around at the moment and ok, they will have been machine embroidered but there is no way these things should be being sold at the prices that they are, EMBROIDERY TAKES FOREVER!!!!  I had been stitching for weeks, with more time off than on, but still, a long time and this was the point at which I found myself:

Luckily I thought that the design was starting to look awesome, otherwise this would have been a seriously upsetting point; lots still to embroider or a lot of unpicking to do!
To achieve the gorgeous peacock effect, I  just used a selection of all the blues and greens and I knew that I wanted to include some gold thread to give the peacock a bit of that vibrant sparkle which makes them so attractive.  I'm really pleased with the effect but man, that gold thread was a serious pain to work with!  It shredded and split so easily, even when I kept the lengths that I was working with quite short.

Anyway I hope you're all enjoying your bank holidays (if you're in a part of the world where you're lucky enough to have the day off) and have a great week to all.

Me made May 16 days 1-8

Two posts in one week!  It must be May!  I'm going to start this week's round up with a refashion, partly to save those of you who follow me on Instagram from total boredom and partly because I love it. 

I started with this jumper; a men's Asos  lambswool jumper.  It had a couple of moth (or something) holes and was too big. 

I started by pinning to bring the arm holes up to what might approximate my shoulders and pinning in the sides. I also put in bust darts which for future reference is a mistake in a fabric like this. 

I wanted a copped jumper so removed the ribbing, took a chunk off the length and then reattached the ribbing.  I found that serging the ribbing back on resulted in a very wavy join so I then topstitched the seam.  It's not really visible as the fabric absorbs the stitches but makes the whole jumper sit more pleasingly.

 I also wanted to try out the hi-low thing which is everywhere and I've never been a big fan of but thought might work well for this jumper.

The next step was to darn and embellish. I knew I wanted a bit of excitement on my jumper. One of my friends has a great jumper with similar gems on the front and I shamelessly ripped it off. The gems were from simply sequins and at £10.95 for a bag, they added considerably to the cost of my refashion. However I still have loads left for other projects.

You can just about see the darning in the above photo.  I feel like it's seriously overshadowed by the bling and this was exactly what I wanted.

You're not getting to see this jumper on as obviously the second I finished adjusting a lambswool sweater, the weather upped its game and I didn't fancy wearing it in the 20+ degree weather we've been experiencing.  I'm totally not complaining, even if I do have to wait a while to wear my new jumper. 

So on to the daily round up:

Day 1: lady skater dress. I've not made one of these for a while and I think it may be time for another! 

Day 2: feather plantain t-shirt (unblogged)

Day 3: Ultimate trousers and thrifted top

Day 4: refashioned jumper skirt, Angelica top

Day 5: Sleeveless maxi lady skater (unblogged) This is the point at which I started to fail at the photos.  Seriously it took 5 days!  I'm sure this will pop up again this month though as wearing it made me remember how much I love maxi dresses.

Day 6: My Jade skirt and a Dolores top, complete with photo bombers who are apparently better at posing for photos than I am.

Day 7: Carolyn pyjamas
I was super hungover this day so did not fancy getting a photo but I enjoyed having my lovely pyjamas to feel sorry for myself in!

Day 8: ultimate shorts (unblogged) and vintage tie top

Right, thats my week-see you all again next week.  I'm loving seeing everyones round ups.

Me-made-may pledge

It's that time of the year again, when sewists put their thinking caps on and think up their personal resolutions to take part in Zoe's Me-Made-May challenge. 

For anyone doesn't know about the challenge, the details are here and you can sign up here.   

I love this challenge as I really feel it helps me to think about my wardrobe and gaps in it and how to fill them best rather than just sewing up my latest sewing fancy.  When thinking of this years challenge, I looked back at what I did last year. My pledge was to wear one me-made item every day but also to mend one item or do one refashion each week. I was impressed with this challenge and so have decided to repeat it again this year,, last year I didn't quite manage it but lets see what happens.

Part of what I love most about this challenge is taking part in something with so many other sewists and seeing everyone's outfits and the conclusions they make about their wardrobes.  Are you taking part?  Can't wait!

From one extreme to another

My last post was about the most summery of summery dresses and I was dreaming of summer sewing but the freezing UK temperatures got to me and the first thing I sewed once I got back was a pair of gloves! 

These gloves are a refashion and I've made them before here. However I wore them to death and now wanted some more warm snuggliness to wrap around my icy fingers. 

Having made them before I knew how to construct them and there were none of the two-left-handed issues I'd had last time. Also boy do these things come together a lot faster when I could run them through my speedy overlocker. 

As my plentiful supply of moth eaten/shrunk in wash jumpers were all pretty plain I decided to embellish them with buttons and embrodery thread from my stash. 

These were such a welcome addition to my wardrobe last weekend as I went back to Ireland for a wedding and in the truest Irish tradition the weather was apocalyptic! Luckily the weather in the UK has perked up a bit so hopefully I won't be needing them again for a while. 

Vintage summer

Hello and happy Easter/Spring/something! It's been a while since I posted as I've been off enjoying some well deserved sunshine after a manic month or so of work. Today I have a very summery dress to show you. 

Last year I bought this 1976 Style pattern and used it to make a halter top as I didn't feel like a dress like this would be useful in the British climate, however when my lovely boyfriend booked us a holiday in Caribbean (!!!) I suddenly had an excuse for a dress like this.

The halter top didn't really get worn as the bodice was too loose and I was worried about potential flashing!  However at least making that version meant that I knew what alterations I needed to make for my holiday dress.  I shaved off a good 6cm around the bust, grading out to the pattern sizing at the waist. I also added some length to the bodice. 

On the same thrifting trip as I found the sheets for my Vintage Shirt Dress, I found this duvet cover for £2.99.  The second I saw it, I thought it would be great for a 'floating around in the sun' type dress.  Match made in heaven for my vintage halter dress, no? I lined it with some white cotton that I had in my stash.

Turns out this is the perfect floating around in the sun dress. However when I was actually in the sun I was having too much fun to get decent pictures so you're going to have to put up with shots of the dress modelled by my mannequin Rosie. 

Not only is this a sunny weather win, it's my first make for my vintage pattern pledge! I love the 70s and have quite a few 70s patterns that I want to make up. However, apparently they were very into the midi skirt in the 70s but I am not! I much prefer my skirts firmly above the knee or floor length, so I chopped a good 10cm off the bottom of this (although some of this excess length was caused by my lengthening the bodice). 

The pattern suggests a hook and eye closure for the halter but I wanted something a bit more secure and decorative and so used this cute button from my stash. Actually to be extra safe I'm going to add an extra hidden button to the halter as it did slip a little while wearing it.

Sunny selfie!

It's become quite hard to believe that this time last week I was floating around in the 30 degree sunshine.  The U.K. Weather is turning it in to a distant memory, which is problematic as my brain is firmly in the summer sewing camp so there may be some weather inappropriate wear in future posts! 

Let's talk vintage

I was really excited when Marie and Kerry announced the third Vintage Pattern Pledge.  I loved the 

idea behind this challenge, which Marie set up to challenge herself to use some of the vintage patterns that she was accumulating faster than she could sew.  As I am in a similar position, I also feel it's a good idea to challenge myself.  I've taken part in the vintage pattern pledge for the last two years although the first year I spectacularly failed to meet my pledge.  Last year I did manage it.  I have been thinking hard about what I should pledge.  We all put pressures on ourselves and so in my deliberations my internal monologue was telling me that I should 'pledge more, pledge bigger' however, I also know that the next year is going to be busy and stressful and I don't need to put extra stress on myself.  So for that reason I'm going to make the exact same pledge that I made last year, which is: to make five vintage patterns from my stash in the next year.  This is the the initial pile I have plans for but I guess we'll see how many come to fruition.

Now on a vintage note (which I know doesn't count as part of the pledge) I have a Sew Over It Vintage Shirt Dress to show you.  It's also a refashion which makes me a little bit happy.  

I was lucky enough to receive the Shirt Dress pattern from my aunt for Christmas and when I spotted this sheet and pillowcase set in a charity shop, I knew it was the perfect match.  I found it in the British Heart Foundation shop in Gillingham and at £1.95 for 2 sheets and 2 pillowcases it was a serious bargain lot of fabric.  Also I really loved the lily print.

This became:

I made up the dress in size 12 grading 14 at the hips. Usually with Sew Over It patterns I have to do a broad back adjustment but I'd read a few reviews of this pattern which mentioned that it comes up pretty loose so I risked it and didn't make any adjustments. I found that it really was too loose round the waist so I took it in by a couple of cm and I could probably do with making a size smaller on top as I do feel it's a little large, especially when I have my hands on my hips like this:

I slightly goofed one of the buttonholes-the one at the waist-it's a bit too small which is a pain a as its a struggle to open and fasten this crucial button and due to its placement I can't avoid undoing it when putting dress on. Oops!  It's not a massive problem but it is a touch frustrating.  The buttons are some silvery vintage ones I had in my stash.

Overall I have a lovely new dress I'm excited to wear. It had its first outing to a Vintage fair at Alexandra Palace but it was so cold and seriously windy so taking outdoor photos was a challenge. Luckily Ally Pally has a great entrance with a domed glass ceiling which meant that we could take photos in the warm. However, my photographer was much more interested in going to look at antiques than she was in taking photos of me/the dress.  Although she did get this one with good skirt action.

How about you?  Have you decided on your vintage pledge yet?  Made the Vintage shirt dress pattern?

Jumper refashion

I love this refashioned skirt that I made from a jumper last year and find it really practical to wear for work as I can cycle in it and its a decent length. However, as the weather got colder I was struggling to pair it with any of my cardigans or jumpers. I really needed a cropped jumper to pair with it. I started looking at different patterns, the coppelia cardigan and Bonnie sweater were both contenders. The problem was that I also had no appropriate fabric in my stash. I suppose to be stash busting and I've fallen off the wagon a bit lately so I was reluctant to do this. Then I remembered this jumper that I had in my stash. I had 'rescued' it from my boyfriends charity shop pile at one point. Potentially the same rescue mission that I had acquired the jumper for the skirt.

I loved the pattern and the colour was a perfect match for the trim on the skirt. However it was too big and too long for what I wanted so it was time to get altering. I started by putting it inside out on Rosie. I cut off the bottom ribbing and pinned the sides to get the shape I wanted. Then I (carefully) put it on and pinned the arms to slim them down as well. Then I ran all the pinned seams through my overlocker. Sorry I should have taken some photos of this process but I was on a roll. 

The next step was to try the jumper on with the skirt and adjust the length and then reattach the ribbing.  And ta-da one new cropped jumper.

I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to get my boyfriend crouching down to take some photos of me from a better angle and while I did mange it for this photo, it was so cold outside that we took a very limited number of snaps and headed back into the warm.

Most of the photos had me looking like this:

Shivering and with my eyes shut!

Sadly the eyes shut look is one I sport a lot, honestly we sometimes have to take about 50 photos just to get a couple of decent ones with my eyes open!  Just as well I never had aspirations to be a model!

What about you? Do you end up with lots of ridiculous reject photos?  Have a lovely weekend all.