nerida hansen Archives - Handmade by Carolyn

orange yoga girl

19/11/2022 2:37 pm \ Leave a Comment \ Carolyn

Remember my pink yoga girls dress? well I made an orange one too! I used the Nerida Hanson smock dress pattern.. only this one is made (almost) exactly to the pattern with no variations! shock horror, I know… how often do I ever faithfully follow the pattern #notever

The “almost” up there? well, obviously it’s substantially shorter than the pattern! And it is a bit shorter than the pink one too. Not much shorter in the scheme of things, only about 10cm or so; but this small amount has made quite a big difference, I think! I’ve worn it bare-legged just once, and decided it was too short to be worn without tights from now on. Am I getting … dare I say it… old? I’ve never really worried about dresses being “too short” before and now I seem to worry about it quite a lot.

I’m also a touch worried about the sleeves. I’ve never been a “big sleeve” sort of person, so I’ve passed this trend over, mostly. This time I decided to take the chance. I kind like them, they do balance out the skirt quite nicely.

But at the same time they make me a little nervous. I’ve worn this dress a number of times over winter… always with tights! and because winter is cold I’ve always worn it with a jumper or hoodie or something over the top, for warmth. That means the sleeves are hidden too. With summer coming up, I’ll see how I feel wearing this big sleeves on show, as I shed those warm winter woollies…

really love that little burst of orange with my broderie top and my denim jacket!

Anyway, the fabric is so cheerful and fun, it really puts a smile on my face. I’m going to enjoy wearing it for that reason alone!

have worn it multiple times with my terracotta corduroy hoodie; it just seems to really work well in this outfit combination

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, nerida hansen, NH smock dress

pink and blue magnolias

02/11/2022 12:44 pm \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello!

Here is another little sundress I made more recently actually… just in late July if I recall correctly. I was so excited and getting ready for spring and it seemed like the perfect little spring-time thing… little did I know that winter was going to continue to grip us in its icy cold claws for a further few months.

Even so, I happily managed to don it for a few random warmish days in there, hurrah! I’m so excited to wear this lots and lots as the weather warms up more, because I absolutely love it!

Firstly, the fabric; is super lovely. It’s a linen cotton, but feels a lot more linen-y than cotton-y; with a crisp hand that crinkles a little. The print, Nerida Hanson “Magnolia” in the blue colour way, is really beautiful too, cool sea-blues and a big splashes of pink.

I based my design on the Nerida Hansen half-sleeve top pattern, but of course added some very wild modifications to make the most of the 2m I had… fortunately it’s a very wide 2m and I was able to cut out quite a voluminous and flouncy dress in the end!

I really love how my mods turned out and am seriously thinking I would love to make this style into a pattern one day! I know, I know; I have so many ideas for patterns but so little time. It’s a little sad for me, because I honestly love designing and making patterns and would love to do it a lot more than I do at the moment. My dream career, if you will :/

It is actually two very wide and deeply “flouncy” flounces both cut on long curved, asymmetric angles across the body.

Hemming was fun of course (sarcastic font) because of the bias… I left it to hang for quite a while before venturing to cut off the hemline evenly. I had no room for error! partly because I had zero leftover fabric to play with, and I had only managed to get a fairly short version of my idea from the 2m. I cut super super carefully, and got a pretty decent hem, I think.

I did start out with the eponymous “half sleeves” but for balance sake eventually cut them off quite short … I think the very voluminous skirt looks much nice with the shorter sleeves.

My dress also has pockets, of course.

The flounces were just not possible with just 2m of fabric of course; so each is comprised of multiple smaller wedges, cut both up and down and joined around to make a multi-sectioned piece. Basically using every single scrap of fabric possible. The result is good, I think; for the randomness of pattern placement; the fact that you don’t get that slightly obnoxious pattern repeat that you do if you cut things out the normal way. A little bit of every-which-way in pattern placement does wonders for the a visually pleasing aesthetic sometimes; if you have an obvious pattern repeat. I often think when I’m checking out designs on Spoonflower actually; that designs could be improved so much if they had a larger scale repeat. I mean; I’m no visual art expert by any means, but this is just an impression I get.

Probably explaining myself really badly here, sorry. At least I know what I mean!

“winterised” … as worn on the plane home from Velassaru

Anyway, I guess the long and short is that I am really happy with my new dress.

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, half sleeve dress, nerida hansen, own design

pink Yoga Girl

09/10/2022 2:50 pm \ 1 Comment \ Carolyn

Hello!

So I don’t often wear hot pink but I am really feeling this one! I’ve been traditionally told I should NOT wear this colour, like EVER; and what’s more I’ve always agreed, and yet… somehow… here I am. I find myself just really enjoying everything about this dress. It just feels so fun and cheerful youthful and unashamedly kitsch; all awesome things that we could do with more of in our lives, in my opinion 🙂

I made this dress a few months ago, and while it’s been a very cold winter for us here in Perth this year I have actually managed to wear it a handful of times already!

It is a Nerida Hansen print; Yoga Girl, the lilac colour way, and the pattern I adapted is also a Nerida Hansen one, the Smock Dress pattern…

Yes, it doesn’t look much like the pattern, so please allow me to explain:

the bodice is actually the same, just cut longer…
the skirt is cut correspondingly shorter; ie voila, it’s now a drop-waisted dress … these both due to a paucity of fabric
I left off the sleeve cuffs and just hemmed the sleeves as is
I cut a V-neckline and finished it with a bias cut strip; I did start out with the higher, rounded neckline of the pattern but it didn’t look so nice; thus the re-shape…
I added slanted welt pockets into the front

Simples!!

So yes, this is a very short and sweet blog post, but sometimes that is all that is necessary. If you’re reading this then I hope you’re having a great weekend!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, nerida hansen, NH smock dress

millennial holiday

30/03/2022 6:00 pm \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

I made a new dress for myself.. using this super cute cotton … it’s called Millennial Holiday, which I have to confess gave me a real laugh! But isn’t it beautiful.. those happy, sunny and joyful colours, gorgeous girls wandering about under palm trees in their trend-tastic outfits, walking their dogs, drinks in hand… such a fun and happy print!

It’s another Nerida Hansen fabric – and yes, I’ve been extremely naughty adding new fabrics to my stash whilst not having “consumed” the promised 30m from my stash yet. I just don’t feel like getting upset with myself over it though.

The pattern is also another Nerida Hansen one; the Half Sleeve Dress… by the way, the links above lead to the products but they are not affiliate links and I am not getting paid for these posts. I wish! haha.

I did a slight modification that I that I thought gave it a nice little extra visual interest… the sleeve hem is finished with a facing; I cut 4 of these and made a “cuff” for each sleeve instead of putting the facing invisibly inside. The cuff has the seam inside between the sleeve and the cuff, and I hand stitched the cuff to the sleeve in a few spots to secure it in place. I love how this looks!

I used my circa 2022 on the sleeve this time, because it seemed like a better spot than the back of the neck I’d used for my previous 2022 makes. I felt like it would be a bit invisible in that location, in this print.

I’m very happy with this super sweet and cheerful dress! As well as the fact that the colours are absolutely gorgeous, the girls make me smile, and the shape and style is so perfectly suited to my current beach/dogwalking lifestyle. What more could one hope for in a dress 🙂

I’ve got several things to blog here, immediately, because I’ve been shamefully neglectful of my poor little blog. Life has just got so busy lately, I know I know… I hate excuses too; however, the thing is I’m babysitting my two beautiful grandchildren (separately) on two, sometimes three days a week, while Cassie and Kelly work; which is absolutely lovely although also quite tiring. But I want to catch up here too… time to embark upon a blogging onslaught. You have been warned!

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: Clara, daily outfit, half sleeve dress, nerida hansen, sleeve

hand drawn check

03/03/2022 1:08 pm \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

Isn’t this fabric totally gorgeous?!! I love it so much! I still have a huge affinity to pink, despite that I’m not “supposed” to wear it, whatever that means.. well, if it makes you happy! And this little group of colours really does.

This is the Hand Drawn check by Nerida Hansen fabrics, colourway Navy Pink – yes of course they had me at “navy” plus “pink”; one of my all time favourite colour combinations! and I used one of their patterns, the Summer dress to make this too! btw way, yes those are direct links to the things, but rest assured they are not affiliate links 🙂

goes so nicely with my teal clogs!! #bonus

and yes I made those too… details here

I’m totally over the moon with the gorgeously pretty and floaty result… it’s a really lovely combination, if I say so myself 🙂 The design is very simple; it just slips over your head with no closure needed, my favourite sort of thing to wear, especially in summer 😉 and the beautiful cool slipperiness of the tencel linen sliding over your body as it goes is an absolute delight.

The Summer dress design has massive pockets, ahem; not that that is in any way important, of course! 😉 and a slight oversized-ness that feels happily up-to-the-minute in the fashion stakes. I wasn’t sure if I should go down a size, but in the end decided to trust the size chart. And actually I’m in love with the loose fit. I really like the midi length. It’s not a length that I’ve been wearing a lot over the last few years but I feel it sneaking back into my list of “wants”; as in things that my mind feels lately are all of flattering, comfortable, and a little bit of a refreshing change. They say that hemline lengths are the barometer of the fashion world? well who knows, I often just think that anything goes in fashion right now, but it is nice to have a variety of things to choose from in the wardrobe.

I was careful to match up the checks at the side as best I could; even though I sometimes rail against the rigidity of this mindset, and I feel like it can sometimes lead to more fabric wastage too… I still do it myself most of the time! It does look a lot nicer when you go to the effort of making sure the print is nice and consistent all around. As it turned out; the skirt length was just about perfect that there was almost no wastage through pattern matching; which was a nice outcome. And I managed to cut the huge deep pockets from the sides, so I actually have a small amount of leftovers for … something.

Of course I fell in love with that print first and foremost, but actually the quality is superb as well. It sewed up beautifully; very soft and supple, but has a very nice amount of body too.

I cut some of the leftovers into bias strips and made bias binding; which I used to bind the front and back facing. I love the look of this! and of course it’s a much more comfortable finish to wear than if you just whizz it around on the overlocker; which can be scratchy. Of course I also added a circa 2022 label. These are so cute! and the novelty has not worn off at all for me 🙂 Probably going to put one of these on each and every thing I make for myself this year!

And I made a mask. As you do. However, just something about the print – which I love! – well in a mask I felt like it turned out a little bit … Hannibel Lector-ish? Yeah, I know; once you see it… The dress itself doesn’t trigger that for me at all… but in a mask? hmmm!

Why yes, I did indeed made my hat too. One of my all-time most worn garments! Details here

Now I have to confess this fabric was new to me this year, so I can’t really count it in my #use30 metres fr0m stash. In the process of testing our new pattern lately I have used another 4m of fabric from my stash, but I really should ADD the 2m I used for this gorgeous dress in there to be fair! So; I think I can subtract the balance of 2m off my tally; bringing me up to 15m used, and 15m to go? sounds kinda about right? I know; it’s getting a bit dodgy in the accounting department but honestly I have zero regrets. I absolutely love this fabric and it makes me very happy, so I’m definitely not beating myself up over the whole thing. I will use 30m from the standing stash in the end, however long it takes, and I’m content with that.