Nettie Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Handmade by Carolyn

the incredible raspberry woman…

17/06/2016 10:56 am \ 18 Comments \ Carolyn

Haha! I lolled pretty hard at this outfit above, but decided to share anyway. I look like some kind of burgeoning superhero or something yeah? All I need is the cape. “NO CAPES!!” * (Edna Mode, of course)

Fear not, fellow fashion victims, I will not be wearing my new top and tights together like the above example, well maybe for fancy dress. Or, if facing the general, unsuspecting and innocent public, then not without a lot more garments layered over here and there to break up the expanse of raspberry pink anyway, woof.

aaaa, oh dear, calming down now. See here’s the thing… I wanted to make some more coloured tights. I really enjoyed my bright paprika tights, when I had them, even did a 6-different ways post on those things once! I wear black tights a TONNE, like everyone else, but have found it’s absolutely terrific to have a bit o’ variety in the tights department, to have some more colours for layering in my winter wardrobe. I’m embracing a small pink and plum trend in my wardrobe lately, so bought this piece of poly knit during Fabulous Fabrics recent sale with a view to some Intentional Wardrobe Matching and Planning… oooo so organised! Not like me at all 😉

yesterday’s outfit, wearing the tights

I laid down my custom-fit tights pattern and then of course discovered, as you do; that I had enough around the sides that I could probably squeeze a t-shirt out of it as well. Waste not want not!

For the tee; I used my Closet Case patterns Nettie, which I’ve also made tonnes of times I’ve fine tuned the fit over and over so much it’s barely the same pattern anymore. You could call it a vestigial Nettie.

So, the tights are fabulous, and I’m happy, yay! however the top is a so-so thing that I’m a teeny bit meh about. Stretch poly is excellent stuff for tights, but actually pretty horrendous for a top. It’s slightly thick and beefy, doesn’t press at all, and is that ultra slippery slinky stuff, that slips and slides over itself, and the whole two metres of it will slither right off the table in an avalanche of fabric if so much as a small corner starts to slide over the edge. grrr. I made up the tights, easy peasy. When it came to the top, oh god, horror story stuff. I’ve re-done that bottom edge three times… THREE TIMES. The fabric just wouldn’t take anything. Attempt number one; ye olde trusty twin needle. Except, no. It kept skipping stitches something awful.. so I gave up and moved to attempt number two, a small discreet zig-zag. It stretched out and looked disgusting, so I unpicked that with much muttering and growling under my breath. Attempt number three was to turn under twice and hand stitch it, which is usually a failsafe for me. I think this will be ok. If not, I’m going to move onto plan four, which will be a folded band all around the bottom edge, same as I’ve done to lengthen and finish the sleeves.

Essentially a extra-long, folded cuff.

Anyway, it’s done. I kinda regret not using the excess fabric for underwear now. I actually think it would have worked a lot better for lingerie, than as a Tshirt. Well, we live and learn!

Details:

1) above

Top; Pattern Magic twist top in charcoal ponte, details here Skirt; Paprika Patterns Jade skirt, in wine silk/cotton knit, details here Tights; own design, my tutorial for making your own custom-fit tights pattern is here
Boots, made by me, details here

2) below

Green top; Closet Case patterns Nettie, in green cotton mix stretch, details and my review of this pattern here
Paprika cardigan; my own modifications on the Closet Case patterns Nettie, details here
Raspberry top; Closet Case patterns Nettie, with sleeve and neckline modifications
Skirt; Vogue 1247, blue corduroy, details here
Tights; black poly, own design, my tutorial for making your own custom-fit tights pattern is here
Boots; made by me, details here

today’s outfit, wearing the Tshirt

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: Closet Case files, daily outfit, Nettie, own design, tights/leggings, top

some tops, and a collar pattern

13/06/2016 8:47 pm \ 33 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve been busy making a few tops…

SO! Exhibits A and B; two Nettie tops,both made in a really gorgeous, pale cream knit from Fabulous Fabrics, given to me by Mum. Now, I know I’ve said a gazillion times before that I have SO MANY white tops I should never ever need to make another one, but you see; a full-sleeve-length ivory Tshirt was one of my most worn wardrobe items last year. So, I’m pretty confident that these two boring things are probably going to be two of the most worn things in my winter wardrobe this year too! #ivorytopaddict. I managed to squeeze two tops from out of my piece of fabric, yes! *air fist punch*

I’ve fine tuned my Nettie pattern now for my own figure, but I still have to sorta “start from scratch” with fitting when I’m cutting out a fabric with a different stretch factor than those I’ve used previously with this pattern; and this fabric has quite a low stretch. So to be cautious I upsized quite a bit, cutting approximately and roughly a size 20, and then pinned the sides in to fit me. Also; my fabric was just big enough for the two Netties, but only-just-and-not-quite-perfectly-enough!! you know how it is… you MAKE IT WORK. They both have long sleeves coming right down to my wrists, but I had to cut Nettie B (below) just a little shorter at the hemline, so that I could get the two tops from my one piece of fabric. It sits at my high hip; Nettie A (above) is longer, plainer, with a high crew neck, finished with a grainline-cut band, applied as for this method here.

Along the back edge only, I topstitched the seam allowance down to the top, just inside the seam line. In both cases, the raw edges of sleeve and lower edge are finished with the overlocker, than turned under once and invisibly hand-slipstitched in place.

Nettie B, below, is slightly cropped and has a wide, boatneck collar.

I had some interest for this collar/neckline on instagram, so I’ve drawn up a pattern for it… it’s kinda rough-looking and I do plan to improve the presentation but just wanted to get it up here for now. It does however, work! and so I hope it does prove useful for someone!

neckline:collar

The method is as follows:

This is a collar/neckline designed for a close-fitting Tshirt in stretch knit fabric; the collar is a standup folded collar, and the neckline is wide and shallow. The idea is that you use your tried and true Tshirt pattern just ignoring the given neckline and substituting this neckline/collar for the one in your pattern. I used the Nettie pattern by Closet Case patterns, although any Tshirt pattern would do. Align the pattern pieces so the line of the shoulder seams and the centre front/back lines of this pattern are correctly aligned with the shoulder seams and front and back centre folds of your Tshirt pattern, and cut the neckline accordingly. Seam allowances are 1cm (3/8″), so if the Tshirt pattern you are using has a different seam allowance, align shoulder stitching lines (dotted lines) lines of the shoulder seam, rather than the cutting lines.

Cut the neckband/collar, with the short edges on the grain line. Sew the collar short edges together, right sides together. Fold the resulting “ring”of fabric in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, aligning raw edges… pin to the Tshirt neckline right sides together; distributing the length of the collar evenly around the neckline. Stitch using a 1cm seam allowance, and finish the raw edges with overlocking or zig-zag, as desired.

If you use this pattern, then please do leave me a comment and let me know how it goes. I’m always thrilled to get feedback 🙂

Now for some more tops, hoodies…! Smug self back-patting for unselfish sewing commences right here, since neither of these are for me

Exhibit C; I made a grey hoodie for Sam, to fulfil his birthday request… this is the same self-drafted pattern I’ve used previously for hooodies for each of my boys; and the seventh and eighth time I’ve used the pattern. The best thing about these hoodies in my opinion is the rather nice combined collar/hood, and I’ve previously written a tutorial on how to make this collar, here. Sam wanted grey, and the addition of a bit of red was my idea. I just liked the idea of some little contrast and the red seemed cheerful and fun for winter, and a bit more interesting than if it had just been plain grey. The rather gorgeous warm, grey terry fleece is from Spotlight, and the red is cut from an old Tshirt from my refashioning bag.

aaaaand Exhibit D; a Rayman Hoodie for Sam to wear to ComicCon. The same pattern, and again to fulfil his specific request! I bought some warm purple Tshirt ribbing from Spotlight, simply because it was the perfect colour. The white circle and the red hoodie bit were both cut from two old Tshirts from my refashioning bag.

And that’s it!… well; for now, mwahahahahahahaaaaaaa. *she twirls her cape and dramatically sweeps off to the sewing lair, maniacal laughter radiating in her wake*

Details of all clothing in this post:

Top; modified Nettie by Closet Case patterns
Skirt; Vogue 1247, yellow corduroy dyed caramel, details here
Tights; self drafted, details here and my tutorial for making your own tights pattern is here
Boots; made by me, details here
Cardigan; hand-knitted by me in Jo Sharp yarn, details here,
Cowl; my own design, mustard yarn, details and pattern here

Top; modified Nettie by Closet Case patterns
Skirt; Jade by Paprika patterns, details here

3) and 4)

Hoodie; self drafted pattern, my tutorial for making the combined collar/hood is here

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: Closet Case files, daily outfit, hoodie, Nettie, own design, pattern tutorial, top

set de la tree frog

15/01/2016 1:24 pm \ 27 Comments \ Carolyn

My new lingerie set is inspired by the red-eyed tree frog. Yes, really! and this is my “thing” for Jungle January, the fun yearly challenge set by Anne of Pretty Greivances.

Deja vu!! because last year I also made underdaks, also froggy-inspired.

photograph credit, Carey James Balboa; source

So, hello there, Agalychnis callidryas. This little cutie is native to the rain forests that extend from Mexico down through Central America to Columbia… and thank YOU, Wikipedia. Also according to Wikipedia, its name callidryas is derived from the Greek for beautiful wood nymph. So while I am wearing it I shall imagine myself as a … bwahaha, I’m joking of course, I cannot even type that with a straight face. Lol.

It’s an exquisite little creature, is it not? the colours are quite magnificent. So bright and vivid and with those eyes; big, round and true scarlet, with a vertically aligned pupil. I positioned my two-hole buttons accordingly, and used black thread on purpose to mimic that.

Well I reckon it’s the attention to the whimsical detail that becomes the most fun thing about making your own clothes!

Actually this was all a bit fortuitous… I kinda forgot about Jungle January, then Sue posted her dress and I was like doh! Jungle January! aaaaaagh! but as it turned out, I’d only just cut all the lingerie pieces of green jersey, like the night before. I’d managed to squeak these pieces out from the leftovers of a Tshirt… anyway, I looked at the colour and immediately thought “frog!”

So, with the perfect colour fabric (Fabulous Fabrics), plus it was already cut out and ready to go, I already had the blue fold-over elastic, navy blue underband elastic and the red buttons in Le Stash… so I just needed to dash out to Homecraft Textiles for some orange fold-over elastic; bob’s your uncle.

squeezing all details into one picture…

Patterns; both knickers are the Watson briefs and the bra is my favourite pattern, MakeBra 2610. This is hands down the most wearable of the bra patterns in my collection.

Oh, I mentioned the lingerie set was leftovers from a Tshirt? well, now seems a good enough time as any to blog about that too. Lime green jersey from Fabulous Fabrics, pattern is the Nettie byCloset Case patterns, my go-to Tshirt pattern. It’s actually way too hot for me to really wear it right now, it’s 37C phew! so this is like a 20 second photo shoot happening here. I bought this fabric at the same time as the black-and-white striped fabric for this recent skirt, because I reckoned they’d be kind cool together, Tim Burton-ish, in a good way.

Actually, this project is pretty funny to me; see, the Tshirt was really my primary objective, because I wanted more colour options in my Tshirt department… the lingerie was cut out just as a “oh, what the hey” afterthought because the fabric was already out. In all likelihood the pieces would have got shoved away like the three other unmade lingerie sets I’ve already cut out under the same circumstances…. oops! must make those too… *blush*

Then Jungle January breathed inspiration into those scrappy bits, and I got all excited and super focused and enthused about making the lingerie and it became a much bigger deal in my head… I almost forgot about that Tshirt!

Later edit; I eventually got tired of the Tshirt’s lime-green colour and dyed it brown, now it’s a delightfully sludgy shade of olive!

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: Closet Case files, cloth habit, jungle january, lingerie, makeBra 2610, Nettie, top, watson

tie-dye cardigan

03/12/2015 1:50 pm \ 28 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made another little cardigan… the last, I promise! for at least a little while!
I didn’t really need another one but I said I’d thought of yet another little way the construction of this design could be improved? naturally I just had to try it out…
Fabric; a toss-out from Mum, a cotton or something or another jersey, original provenance unknown. I barely had enough for the cardigan but just managed to squeak out the pieces; the tie is a little on the short side and is pieced in several places but no biggie, I still got it out! and the joins are lost in the print. I rather like the tie-dye print and my only concern was to avoid situating a bulls-eye in the boob-al region when cutting out. Mission accomplished!

Pattern; the Nettie, by Closet Case patterns, modified to be a cardigan with a loose extended neckband that hangs down in a shawl-y type of a way. The neck band on this, third, version of the design is a little short to be tied in the front like the last two iterations, so I’m planning to only wear them hanging loose like this.

My desire for a super-clean finish is finally satisfied with the insides on this last version… they are super neat and tidy! with no exposed seams or stitching, barring inside the sleeve/armhole. *happy sigh*

I’ve written my order of construction to illustrate how it all went together… it’s a little more fiddly than the previous methods but perfectly doable.

Cutting; cut the fronts on a centre fold so they are double layered. Same picture as the previous cardigan because it’s identical. I sized up a couple of sizes to get that looser cardigan fit, rather than the tight bodysuit-fit that the pattern is designed for.
NOW; the first step is to sew fronts to the back at the side seams, right sides together.

Now, fold the fronts in half, right sides together, and stitch the front facing to the back at the side seam over the previous stitching, enclosing the seam allowances within the front and front facing. You will need to pull the pieces inside out a little to make this step possible, basically you are sewing the front piece in a tube with the back piece encased between the two side edges. Grade seam allowances, turn out and press.

Cut the lower band to fit and stitch to the lower edge, keeping front facings free. You will need to stitch each front section and the back section of this seam separately to each other, stopping and starting at the side seams; fiddly? yes, but worth it in the end. Press open then down onto band.

Fold the band in half lengthwise and stitch the short edges, right sides together; trim and grade seam allowances, turn right sides out.

Snip all layers of the band seam allowances at the side seams, and also the lower band facing seam allowance at the same point.

Now, from the shoulders/top; reach inside the front/front facing “tube” and pull the lower edge where it’s stitched to the lower band through along with the loose facing edge and band facing edges. Align all raw edges, taking care to make sure corners are sitting tight and accurately together because with a stretchy fabric it can be all too easy to stretch them out of place! and stitch the whole shebang together in one seam. Trim corners, grade seam allowances, pull it all right sides out and press.

Voila! yes it is a fiddly business but it look at that lovely absence of exposed seams on the fronts!

That last remainder of the lower band facing is turned under, pinned and hand-slipstitched in place. Hiding those seam allowances, too 🙂

Now stitch the shoulder seams, front to back, enclosing the back between the two fronts as for the previous version of this cardigan, here , in fact the remainder of construction is exactly the same… stitch sleeve seams, finish; set in sleeves, finish likewise; sleeve cuffs, as per this method; neckband, as per this method described for my previous cardigan.

Details:
Cardigan; the Nettie by Closet Case Patterns, modified as stated
Tshirt under; another Nettie, white jersey, details here
Shorts; Burda 7723, details here
Location; Bunker Bay, Dunsborough… we had it completely to ourselves! so lucky

photos courtesy of Craig

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: cardigan, Closet Case files, daily outfit, Nettie, own design, Sienna, tutorial

tie-front cardigan from a Tshirt pattern; a brief tutorial

18/11/2015 6:09 am \ 30 Comments \ Carolyn

Remember recently I made a little paprika cardigan? and I wasn’t super happy with my construction technique of the fronts and could visualise a far better method of getting that front edge nice and neat … well, of course I could not rest until I had seen it through.
Voila; new, stormy-grey-blue cardigan
Essentially, the gist is to cut each front piece on the fold through the centre front; meaning the fronts are double thickness, with one half acting as a facing. The fold at centre front is its own neat finish with no further need to do anything at all to it. Also, the front plus facing enclose the lower band between their two layers. For this reason, this technique works very well with very thin knits.
Fabric; thin blue/grey marl cotton jersey, leftover from Sam’s hoodie and originally a remnant bought from the Morrison sale, although when I say remnant there was at least 5m of it! Morrison is tres generous with their “remnants”, to say the least! I still have quite a lot left.
Pattern; I used the Nettie from Closet Case patterns, which is my go-to basic now for form-fitting Tshirts/bodysuits, however any tried and true Tshirt pattern could be used for this same modification.

I cut my pieces like so: top parts; fabric folded along the right hand side; with the top two horizontal bands being the “rough cut” lower edge band and the sleeve cuff bands respectively; underneath are the back cut on the fold, the sleeves and at the left is the long neckband. This last is joined right sides together along one short edge to make a double length band on the grain.
After cutting these: the fabric is then re-folded in from each edge so as to cut those two fronts (below) on a fold, with the centre front laid on each fold. Cut from the inside shoulder edge out to the CF fold at bustline level on a straight diagonal line, to create the V-neck opening edge.

front piece at left is folded in half, front piece at right opened out along CF fold

Construction details:
first, stitch fronts to back at shoulders. Sandwich the back between the two fronts so that the seam allowances get tucked away between the layers. You have to twist it around it in a weird funny-looking way but it does work out.

Stitch front to back at side seams, keeping the front facing free.
Then trim the cardigan to the length you want it to be, taking into account the width of the lower band. Measure the around the lower edge to determine the length of the lower band and cut it to fit; allowing for a 1cm seam allowance at each end.
Pin the band to the lower edge of the cardigan, again keeping the front facings free. Stitch, between the seam allowances, right sides together.

front facing free

Turn the band up in half, lengthwise, right sides together, and stitch the short edges closed, ceasing stitching at the end of the previous stitching. Turn bands right side out and press.

Now fold the facing to the outside, laying it over the lower bands and keeping raw edges even, and stitch lower edge seam through all layers, keeping the stitching just a whiskers’ width outside the previous stitching. The reason for keeping it just outside is so that the previous stitching does not show through on the right side of the band.
Now when you pull the band out and turn it all back right side out, the seam allowances are nice and neatly hidden away out of sight. Yay!

outside of cardigan? inside? impossible to tell which is which!

To anchor the front facing to the side seams, I opted to simply lay the front facing down to the side seam allowances, aligning raw edges, and top-stitch from the right side, 6mm away from the seam. The raw edge won’t fray, and it looks reasonably neat stitched down, also the top-stitching also accomplishes a sort of faux-felling of the seam allowances too. However this is definitely not ideal and I have to admit I have since thought of a different and better way of doing this bit too! so there may well have to be yet another little cardi in my near future… to see that thought through too… eeek! am I getting a bit obsessive or what? hmmm could be could be… 😉

Sleeves; same technique as for every other Tshirt/cardigan ever invented. Namely, stitch the sleeve seams, set sleeves in the armhole and stitch. The raw edges can be finished with overlocking if desired.
Attach sleeve cuffs, for this I nearly always employ this method, which gives a nice neat finish I think.
Last step; the neckband: pin the long neckband to the raw edges of the neck edge, including the facing, keeping raw edges even, right sides together and stitch.

Fold the ties in half along the length, right sides together and stitch the long tie ends together, starting at the endpoints of the previous stitching. Stitch the short ends in a diagonal point, if desired.

Trim, turn the ties right sides out and press.
Turn under the seam allowances of the remaining raw edge of the neckband, press, pin and slip-stitch closed by hand.

Finito!

Details:
Cardigan, the Nettie, by Closet Case patterns with my own design modifications
Tshirt (under); another Nettie, white jersey, details here
Shorts; Burda 7723, pinstripe linen, details here
Thongs: Havaianas
Location; Coode St jetty, South Perth

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: cardigan, Closet Case files, daily outfit, Nettie, own design, Sienna, tutorial

paprika cardigan

04/11/2015 4:09 am \ 35 Comments \ Carolyn

I took some time out from making something far more time-consuming and complicated, ahem Alabama Chanin, cough cough…. ooo did I once say I would never get addicted to Alabama Chanin??? yaas, going back on my word, guilty as charged!! Anyway, I took a day to put together this simple little cardigan from some scraps. It’s a light and nothingy-to-it sort of a thing with no closure except for a necktie at the bust level. A little something to throw over a summery ensemble on cooler summer evenings, or to cope with air conditioning.
It’s mostly made from scraps; a piece of paprika stretch knit from Fabulous Fabrics, leftover from my paprika Nettie bodysuit and I bought a little extra to get out the pieces for this cardigan. Once again I used the fabric wrong side out, because I prefer the duller, deeper, richer colour of it.
Speaking of Nettie, I actually made this using the Nettie pattern too! just with a touch of ad-libbing. Such a good basic pattern and a fantabulous springboard to a lot of other variations. I can honestly see myself making like a tonne of these over my lifetime, with slightly different additions, subtractions and/or bits and bobs going on.

Changes to the pattern:
I cut size 18 which is a coupla sizes bigger than my usual, so as to get a looser “cardigan” fit rather than the skin-tight bodysuit fit; cut it to hip level with a wider shoulder, a low V-neck, and split the front up the middle. I added a wide band all along the bottom edges and wide cuffs to the edges of the sleeves, a long wide necktie, which is basically a very long skinny rectangle sewn along the top edge and with the “tie” edges sewn right side together, with pointy points on the ends of the ties, then turned right side out. The remaining gap of the necktie is slip-stitched closed to the cardigan on the inside.

The front edges I finished with strips of red crepe, itself leftover from my infinity dress here. This was sewn on to the front edges, turned inside and topstitched down along the outside. It’s a nice stable edge and the crepe takes away any tendency to stretch out, but I’m not wowed by my efforts here and in the making of this thing I conceived a much better way of doing the cardigan fronts. I’ll probably make another one of these pretty soon, incorporating my imagined improved way of finishing the edge, but I’ll need a lot more fabric than the scraps I used for this one.
Hmmm, that’s all I need; an excuse to go fabric shopping!

Project happiness factor; front edge satisfactory but I’m a bit meh about it and I’ve thought of a better way of doing it… otherwise it’s not too bad and I’m happy. 9/10

Details:
Cardigan; my own design modifications to the Nettie bodysuit, by Closet Case patterns, paprika stretch
Dress; Vogue 1194, floral stretch, details and my review of this pattern here
Thongs; Rusty
Sunnies; RayBan

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: cardigan, Closet Case files, daily outfit, Nettie, own design, Sienna

snuggly chocolate-y ensemble

03/09/2015 7:25 am \ 32 Comments \ Carolyn

True to form, right at the beginning of spring I’ve made a rather wintery ensemble for myself. Typical! 😀
No, actually Mari from Seamster Patterns contacted me again asking me to take part in the second and last part of the SewIndependent month and as luck would have it Paprika Patterns Jasper sweater dress was one of the patterns available. I’ve had my eye on this pattern thanks to Megan’s and Sue’s versions. We’re all Perth girls so how fun would it be if we all met up wearing our matching Jaspers, hehe. For my Jasper, I decided get some of this lovely chocolate-brown marled knit from KnitWit, which I have also had my eye on for some time but been unable to justify the purchase. It’s gorgeous stuff. Soft and springy and slightly fluffy and ever so snuggly. With yet another little bout of luck, I discovered it was on sale for half price. The advantages to shopping at the end of the season! Booyeah!! *does an almighty air fist pump, although only mentally because the lady in the store would have thought I was bonkers*
I made up the dress version with collar, and left off that buttoned placket thingie. I was a little doubtful about how the curved-in nature of the skirt would look on my pear-shaped self, and so I cut the pegged portion edge of the pieces from hip level down to flare out straight and slightly A-line, rather than curving inwards. I think this silhouette is far far better on me.

I also left off the lower band and simply hand-hemmed the lower edge instead… this gave me a little fabric leftover, and so I decided to use this to make a kind of mini-slip to wear underneath the dress, so it’s like a set. My “slip” is the simplest affair; comprising a “skirt” cut from the chocolate brown knit attached to a “singlet” cut from cream-coloured poly stretch knit. I vaguely used the Nettie bodysuit pattern for this bit; cutting it wider and looser, the armholes quite a bit deeper and wider, and gave a random mid-point scoop to the neckline, to get more of a singlet shape at the top. I finished the armhole and neckline edges using a self-fabric band and hand-hemmed the lower edge of the skirt.

I originally had high-flown ideas of adding a few faux leather details to my ensemble, thanks to a quiet ongoing little love affair with pleather detailing; and so I did the tunic welt pockets in pleather. Also partly for the extra stability it lends to the welt. I think they turned out rather well, and aesthetically I LOVE how the shiny smooth pleather contrasts against the fluffy softness of the knit.

To visually tie the two pieces together, I then proceeded to finish the lower edge of the slip skirt with pleather binding. I cannot stress enough how hideous this turned out; the pleather was so stiff and structural compared to my soft and super-flowy chocolate knit that it made the hem of the skirt flare stiffly and super-duper-unattractively. No sooner had I finished it, put it on and laid eyes on it in the mirror than I seized the scissors and cut that bit off; ahem, taking absolutely no pictures to assault the eyes. Trust me, it was just too awful for words. So now, the welts are the only lonely bit of pleather appearing anywhere on the ensemble; nowhere else to balance it out. I’m a little disappointed, but think it doesn’t look too ridick. Maybe a bit. Anyway, it’s done, so yeah. There’s no point in getting too upset after the fact.

LOVE this collar. This colour, too.

Fortunately, I adore it and can see myself wearing it a tonne. Besides being warm and comfortable and cuddly like wearing a blanket, it’s absolutely my winter style. I love minis for winter, and I love loose drapey tunic tops, and double-decker love the combination of the two together. It’s also “my” colour. Sorry to yammer on about “my” colours, but I’m lately on a bit of a thing about autumnifying my wardrobe, colour-wise.
Adhering dutifully but very happily to my resolution to be more mindful in my sewing 🙂

Details:
Tunic dress; the Jasper by Paprika Patterns, chocolate brown knit
Slip; Nettie bodysuit modified; chocolate brown knit and cream poly stretch knit
Tights; my own pattern, black poly stretch knit, details here It can possibly be seen from my pictures; these have HAD IT. I’ve worn these to sags-and-bagsville and back; and desperately need new ones! but with spring here I’m trying to hold off until next year 🙂
Boots; Roberto del Carlo, from Zomp shoes

Funny coindidink; I’ve only just now realised that I mindlessly plucked the Nettie pattern out to eyeball for my slip because I already have this pattern; however it’s actually another one of the patterns on offer in sew indie month!

As mentioned, the pattern is part of the Sewing Indie month. I received the pattern free in order to help spread the word, but chose it myself, paid for my materials, made it myself and am very happy with the pattern. Please note that as always, there are no affiliate links on my blog and never will be.
The Paprika Patterns Jasper sweater dress, along with the Nettie bodysuit and eight other patterns, is part of the Indie pattern bundle on sale from Monday 1st September until Thursday 10th September.
As with the first pattern bundle there is a charitable component to the sale, with 20% of pattern sale proceeds to be donated to Women for Women, which helps women dealing with violence, marginalization, and poverty due to war and conflict.

My fellow seamsters participating and making their own version of the patterns are:

Please do check them out 🙂

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, jasper, Nettie, own design, Paprika Patterns, top, tunic

a bobbly little top, and some others too

27/09/2014 11:52 am \ 42 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made a few new tops…
Top un; a cosy little pom-pommy top, using pattern 111 from Burdastyle magazine 04-2014 in a bobbly stretch fabric the colour of whipped cream from Fabulous Fabrics. The design has quite an interesting and unusual shape already and I further toyed with the proportions, shortening by about 15cm at the lower hem and lengthening the sleeves by 3cm. This was only like, the easiest thing in the world to run up and I think it’s rather cute too! The oversized floppy neckline manages to be all of comfortable and even a little dramatically designer-y too.
The design, while a very easy project, still fits happily into the interesting category for those of us who like that sort of thing… The body is a one piece tube with one piecemeal seam down the right side. The sleeves are have different shaped sleeve caps from each other and their positioning and individual insertion methods creates a slightly skewiff shape to the top when worn. Cool! Completed, it reminds me a little of my Pattern Magic twisted top, which is illogical since this one is both boxy and has the oversized cowl and is cut on-grain, and… well, technically speaking is different in just about every respect, really. OK, forget I ever compared the two.

And to pre-empt an inevitable concern; yes, the sleeves do feel different to each other but it is not uncomfortable.

Tops deux and trois are the Nettie pattern, by Closet Case Files, my now go-to tshirt pattern. I upsized to an 18 from my usual 12, because a slightly more relaxed fit is desirable in a summertime thing. The fabric is a fine, off-white jersey knit from Fabulous Fabrics.
One has short sleeves and a fun little pocket. The pocket looks like a cute design decision but is actually covering a hole that I had accidentally snipped right in the middle of the fabric oooops!! Thoughtless, overconfident me, snipping away wildly and with carefree abandon! It was in a REALLY awkward, unavoidable spot, so I sewed the hole shut and reinforced it underneath with a bit of scrap, but it still looked way too obvious and ugly. Rats. So when cutting out I cunningly managed to finagle it in breast pocket position, plonked the pocket on top, and then had to cut short sleeves for the tee. Hmmf, but well, at least I managed to get the two tees out of my fabric piece, in spite of the snip. No one will ever know!
The other is completely unremarkable, apart from that all the seams and hems sit on the outside and are simply overlocked with navy blue thread. Why did I do this? *shrug* dunno, something different from my gazillion other white tees.

Oh, this old thing, tshirt quatre. I’m taking the opportunity to finally blog this one I made about two years ago. It’s annoying that I never blogged it, because when I’m wearing it in a daily outfit and linking to my blog posts it’s not there. So here ’tis! It’s beige and boring, and therefore incredibly useful. Made using my own custom fit Tshirt pattern, which apparently I seem to have chucked out at some point. Double rats. Yes, I’ve been doing a lot of careless silly things lately.
So, while stuffing the new creations into my Tshirt drawer last weekend I spontaneously embarked, as you do, upon an epic wardrobe spring clean-out. As in, I emptied every single one of my drawers and took everything out of my wardrobe. And went through methodically trying on, sorting, assessing and sifting out only the things I really truly wanted to keep. Discovering forgotten treasures! New, cool, outfit combinations! Tossing hideous things into big rubbish bags! Purging!!! It took a few hours but man, it was great. Felt SO GOOD.
This house, is clean…
OK. My first, same old conclusion; I have a LOT of clothes. And I love most of them too. I have very few unloved things and those have been weeded out now. A few undecided things are going to be worn on a trial basis and assessed over the next few weeks.
Second conclusion, and slightly surprising, to me at least; I do not need to make nor buy basic Tshirts for, like the rest of my life, probably. Why is this surprising? because after my first and second me-made months four years ago, my biggest conclusion was that I severely lacked basic tops and tees. Well, obedient little me has diligently been making basic tees ever since and has rectified that lack very adequately now. Thank you, me! This is good, because while I don’t mind making Tshirts, lets be real, they are bread-and-butter. Without the butter. Not the most inspiring things. Obviously instantly gratifying projects can be fun and fulfilling in their own way. But my last couple of more in-depth projects have been a hugely more satisfying to me, on every level. So I’m pleased that a full complement of basics means that I can relax about Dutiful Wardrobe-Building, and just happily spend my time and energy on the kind of more complex, involved, longer term projects that are truly enjoyable.
So, yay!!
Now on to something more interesting… 🙂