Being a fangirl

Sometimes I feel like this blog is basically becoming the place where I express my love for Sew Over It patterns.  Some days I feel like I should mix it up but, I warn you, today is not going to be one of those days!

I've had the silk cami pattern pretty much since it came out.  I even got round to printing at the time and then it sat in a my pattern drawer for ever, not being made up.  When I caught the end of the Liberty sale and picked up a couple of single metre offcuts, I knew it was time to break out this pattern. I cut out a size 14 overall even though at the bust the sizing showed that I would be a 12. However, I have had problems with the arm scye on a number of patterns so I decided to make the 14 overall. Turns out this was a mistake. At the top there's too much fabric. I love this top but need to decide if I can be bothered to remake the top, taking it in a bit so there's not quite so much excess fabric. 

Last month was the monthly stitch's fourth birthday and as I'm a sporadic contributor, I thought I'd like to enter something.  As the theme was 'four' so my cami with it's four pattern pieces seemed like it fit the bill perfectly.  However, in my current late to the party style, I missed the deadline so I'll have to post it as an amnesty make at some point.

I made my first pair of Mia jeans  back in April and while I love them and have been wearing them pretty consistently, there are some fitting changes I wanted to make for the next version.  There's lots of chat in the sewing world about how sewing helps with body confidence and while I love being able to make clothes that fit me properly and suit my shape, I would argue that actually sewing has made me more aware of how my body differs from others.  For example, i now know that while I have a long torso, it's the length from my neck to my waist that's longer, whereas the length from my waist to my crotch is actually proportionally short!  Hence the first alteration that I made to the jeans, which was to remove some of the length from crotch to waist.  The other alteration that I made was to make the trouser legs considerably longer as my last pair came up seriously short on me.

While I'm pleased with the alterations that I made, I did make some errors which I will need to rectify on the next version. I forgot to move the marking for the zip end so I have one very short opening to my jeans which means that they require more shimmying than is elegant to get them on and off. I forgot that my sizeable rear end needs quite a bit of fabric to cover it so I think I took a bit much out of the pattern at the back when adjusting. Also I think maybe the pocket placement could do with being moved down a smidge. 

These items have pretty much been on me or in the laundry since I made them. These photos were taken on a trip to the Isle of Wight and stood me in good stead and I'm heading off to Japan in October and I think these are going to be the base of my holiday wardrobe!

A pretty take on London transport

When I spotted this liberty fabric a few months ago in Simply fabrics in Brixton, I knew I had to have it.  It combines some of my favourite things in a fabric print; bikes, flowers and stylised London transport, how could I resist?  From the beginning I knew I was going to make another Mathilde blouse with it, it just took me a few months to get round to it.

Like my previous version I made a straight size 4, which fits fine, however maybe next time I make it I will narrow the neckline slightly as my bra straps are often on show with both versions.  I love the huge sleeves and really enjoy how they showcase this fabric.  I've worn this top a few times now and have got so many compliments on it, it's clearly one of my most popular makes.

I used some buttons from my stash which Kristi had sent me as part of a thrift swap we'd been partnered in a few years back.  They are a really unusual colour and they match some of the flowers on the fabric perfectly.

As I was making up this Mathilde, I realised how much progress I've made in my sewing skills in the last couple of years.  I remember struggling with some of the instructions last time and this time it was a doddle.  It also helped that I was making this on my new sewing machine!  The buttonholes, which my old machine struggled with, are a thing of beauty.  Sadly I couldn't get detailed enough shots of them, so you can't see but you can take my word for it.

I took these photos on a trip to Whitstable with my cousin this weekend and there were all these beach huts which made such a great backdrop for the photos.  We went for walks which gave us views like this:

We even managed to sneak in a little sewing related tourism.  I spotted this industrial Singer in a sewing machine shop on the high street:

And I bought these patterns and notions.  The dress came from a charity shop and the lingerie pattern and buttons came from a vintage shop.  The lingerie pattern is one I've been searching for on ebay/etsy etc for a while and it was in my size, it was very exciting! 

I'll leave you with this photo of the cutest houses ever.  I hope you all have a good week!