It’s too early for pruning, technically speaking. Purists would tut.
But I figured the rain was just about to decimate them anyway. It was a rescue mission.
Hi peeps; new blouse!
Amity of Lolita patterns emailed me a few months ago asking if I would like to test their new blouse pattern, the Olive. Thank you so much Amity! I lurve trying out new patterns! I finished it a little while ago and have been sitting on it; awaiting the go ahead to Reveal. And ta da! Apparently I’m part of a “blog tour”. This is a new thing for me. No, I hadn’t heard of a blog tour before either. It’s kinda exciting 🙂
The Olive blouse is a fitted blouse with a waistband, pleated peplum and elbow length sleeves. It has two variations; view A has a draped chiffon overlay, vertically aligned flounce and a rolled chiffon flower on the front, also with or without a little gathered frill on the sleeves too. View B is, literally, the no frills version. Closure for both versions is by invisible zip in the side seam.
So, I did make view A, with the overlay and flounce. Although I left off the flower and the sleeve frills. The sleeve cap is pleated into the arm scye with six teensy little pleats. Tres cute, non?!
My measurements put me at a size 6, however a quick recce of the pattern pieces decided me to size up to an 8, and I am glad I did. It is quite close-fitting. Linen is a fairly unforgiving fabric with zero give to it however, so I reckon if I was using something like a stretch sateen then the given size would probably be fine.
OK, so that’s what my blouse used to look like! It can be seen from the very top picture that it looks a little bit different now. It’s been de-flounced. Sadly I’ve realised I’m not a flounce kinduvva person. I de-overlayed it too. To replace the flounce I made shaped button- and buttonhole-bands for the left bodice seam. This is fully functional and fully button-and-unbuttonable but since I still use the invisible zip to get it on and off the button band is effectively decorative.
I really like mine with the button band, sort of casual and therefore more suited to my fabric choice; a fine-grade white linen from Fabulous Fabrics, the same fabric I used for my patchwork Zsalya dress, with white buttons also from Fabulous Fabrics. I think it’s still quite feminine looking with the sleeve length and the pleated peplum. but has a certain something else to it now, I don’t know what. Dentist? A rumpled one, after a long hard day at the drill. Yes. OK, I’m totally on board with that. A little known fact is that I do actually have dentist blood running through my veins.
Anyway, whatever it is, I do think it turned out very “me”!
But I jest. Seriously now the blouse is a classic style and so therefore quite versatile and would work with lots of fabrics. The jazzy style A in satin or silk would be a very pretty evening blouse and the plainer style B in sateen or crepe would make a very smart option for work.
Since I acknowledge that I do have about a zillion white shirts I am toying with the idea of dyeing it. Or maybe not. I’m dithering.
Details:
Blouse; modified Olive blouse by Lolita patterns, white linen
Skirt;skirt “m” from shape shape by Natsuno Hiraiwa, dusky pink linen/cotton, details here
Thongs; Havaianas
I am notoriously bad at tossing out old scraps of fabric. Particularly if I really really like the colour.
And I really really like olive.
So; after finishing my patched pockets skirt I still had some promisingly largish pieces of grey-green corduroy and olive-green moleskin leftover, and I unearthed from my “useful scraps” bag the remains of a different pair of grey-green corduroy pants that both my boys had worn at the age of eight to ten or thereabouts. Yeah, I keep stuff a long time. The knee areas were a bit thin in them all but there was still some nice sturdy fabric to be had there. And the colour!
So I’ve made a little skirt; just a casual knock around kinda of a thing. It is patched together from three different fabrics but it still looks quite plain I think since the colours are so similar to each other. I’m pretty chuffed with it! Of the pluses of working with old unwanted textiles; it’s green, it’s economical, you can sew to your heart’s content unfettered by fear of failure. If you’re reworking with the constraints of an old garment it exercises the ol’ brain cells a bit. And so a successful outcome feels like a mega bonus!
The boys’ old cords had kinda cool, oversized patch pockets on them that I’ve always liked and kept because I thought they might come in handy one day. I used these pieces with the pockets still in situ. Some of the leg fabric of these pants had previously gone into making the Green parliament, here. I also added some oddly shaped patch pockets to the back of my new skirt too, just because the back was a bit boring-looking without them.
Technically speaking; I used the upper skirt pattern pieces of Vogue 1247 to cut the waist to hips part with the waist-shaping darts but the overall shape of my skirt is more A-line than the pattern. This is pretty much my favourite “little skirt” silhouette at the moment.
I used an invisible zip in the back, an old button harvested from something else long forgotten, long ago, and plain white cotton to face the waistband, I made a bias strip of the same plain white cotton to finish the lower raw edge, turned up the lower edge once and stitched in the ditch by machine to hem. I reckon this is the best hemming method for thick fabric since bulk is minimised by only turning up once and a bias strip looks a lot neater and prettier than overlocking. Also if you are short on fabric you can still get a nice deep hem without losing length off the skirt. .
Details:
Skirt; my own design based upon Vogue 1247, made from three old pairs of jeans
Shirt; my own design variations upon Burda 7767, deep olive linen, details here
Thongs; Mountain Designs
Hello! I’m wearing a new dress. The cool fingers of winter are tickling at the edges of our days so obviously I had to make a light and fluttery, floaty white linen thing for myself. It was only logical * 😀
Actually, the truth is that I made it a while ago now! when we were still getting very hot weather and I have worn it several times already. The pattern is the Zsalya from Kate & Rose patterns. Kati emailed me to ask if I would like to test one of their lovely new range; thank you so much for the opportunity Kati! It was so hard to choose just one! The Zsalya is a dress or top pattern with two sleeve variations, and I made the dress with short sleeves.
I knew straight away I would love this design. It has no closure, you just slip it on over your head and it is easy breezy, and as cool as. In all senses of the word. 🙂
The sleeves are quite cute. I like how they are tightly gathered in at the top which lends them a sweetly pert and boxy shape, and they have a pretty petal-shaped hemline.
The neckline is so clever. I think it’s my favourite feature of the dress. When I first looked at how open it was I considered putting in a little rouleau loop and button closure, but you know what? there is absolutely no need. Gape-age just doesn’t happen, thanks to the clever design. The crossover yoke is open so you can get your head through quite easily, but once the dress is on it all sits nicely flat and closed with a safe and demurely high neckline. Clever!
I edged the neckline with a patchworked strip of bias cut cotton scraps; this was simply sandwiched between the yoke and yoke facing before stitching them together.
I added in-seam side pockets 🙂
Really, even though it looks blustery as all get-out in these pictures and it was, it was also quite insanely hot and muggy on the day I took them. So a loose little linen number was actually just what the Fremantle doctor ordered! I was getting bored with all my summer dresses so it was nice to have an excuse to make a new one. Summer dresses are such fun, both to make and to wear. And even this late in the season it’s always nice to have a fresh and new-ish summer dress waiting in the wings of the wardrobe over winter 🙂
* Mr Spock, of course
Details:
Dress; the Kate & Rose Zsalya dress, white linen with patchwork details
Thongs, Havaianas
The very clever Heather of Closet Case Files has released another pattern, this one is a must-have basic, the bodysuit, available here. Named Nettie, after the totally gorgeous Nettie of Sown Brooklyn.
Of course, I say “must-have” and I didn’t actually have any. But I’m rectifying that now since everyone knows that bodysuits are super useful and way superior to a tucked in tee when it comes to winter warmth. So good to have that thermal layer underneath everything else. I used to have a few bodysuits years ago which did hard duty all winter long but I don’t know if they’ve gone out of fashion favour? or what; because they are pretty darn hard to come by nowadays. Even patterns for bodysuits are pretty few and far in-between.
Thank you so much Heather, for asking me to test the pattern, and for filling this gap in the sewing pattern world! 🙂
Hmmm, seven Netties… seems excessive for one person? well they’re not all for me. Occasionally I make things for other people. Occasionally 😉
The instructions stipulate to size up if you are tall or if you think your fabric is a little firm; and yes indeedy; this. My first version was in a mystery black knit with just a medium stretch, bought in the Morrison remnant sale, and it turned out a little er, bottie-baring for me! Fortunately I have a petite daughter who can absorb into her wardrobe everything that is too small for me. 🙂 And then I went up a size for me.
The red, orange, green, pale taupe and white coloured Netties are all in a super stretchy viscose/rayon knit from Fabulous Fabrics; and for this stretchier fabric I didn’t need to lengthen although I did cut the sleeves at the size up. The fit is snug and fabulously comfy.
The white long sleeved tee is for my niece; her measurements matched the smallest size on the size chart and so I just ran it up quickly to test the fit. It was on the tight side for her too; so when starting out I do recommend erring on the side of too big, just to start with. You can always shave a bit off!
For the crotch closure I used strips of black snap tape; leftover from my Issey Miyake tucked dress. Obviously it would be every bit as quick to hammer in a coupla snaps though. Really, the Nettie is a wonderfully quick and easy project, the kind of thing you can run up to wear an hour later. The hardest part of making the body suits is finding scraps of woven for the crotch bit to match your fabric! I had nothing matching my green so used self fabric stiffened and stabilised with fusible interfacing.
I did something a bit different with the sleeves on my green one; I made them super long and put in a little thumb hole, finished with a band just like the neckline. Built-in hand warmers!
The pattern comes with multiple variations; a high, mid and low back neckline, and a high and low scoop front neckline, and with long, elbow-length and short sleeves, and a body-con dress. And obviously you can slice it off at hip level too and just have a tee. So much choice! If I’d had the dress option earlier I totally would have made one of these too…
I made some with elbow length sleeves and some with long sleeves, and some high neck and some scoop. I made them all with a high back neckline just because winter is around the next corner here, but I think a high front neck/low scooped-back neck Nettie would be an absolutely stunning summer evening option; worn with a huge oversized flouncy skirt, hair up in a bun. Imagine!
Also, I reckon if you made it with a closed crotch and a scoop neckline wide enough to allow you to step into it then the Nettie would work beautifully as a dance or workout leotard too. The sides are quite low-cut allowing for full bottom coverage and minimal chance of a wedgie wardrobe malfunction.
SWAP!
I have had a mammoth dressup-and-selfie session. Aaaaagh! How do models do it?! Please excuse any grim, loopy, vacant or otherwise weird facial expressions that pop up randomly amongst the following pics.
The good thing is that I am even more confident now that I have made a fairly cohesive collection and everything goes together pretty much as it should: and most importantly, I actually like it all and know I will enjoy wearing everything. The former is never a foregone conclusion, so that was a particular relief. 🙂
To summarise: the eleven pieces comprise three 3-packs; that is, three sets of three items that go together; and two wild cards. My three packs each have one skirt and two tops, and my two wild cards are a dress and a coat.
All the things: and each is linked to their original construction posts.
The Alabama Chanin 3-pack:
1) a fully embroidered mid-length skirt;
2) a fully embroidered fitted tank and
3) a plain fitted tank;
The first two are hand-stencilled and -embroidered and all three are completely hand-sewn, and all patterns are from the book Alabama Studio Sewing + Design, by Natalie Chanin. The midi skirt was the most major and labour intensive item of the entire swap, the embroidery alone taking hours upon hours of my time. I couldn’t even tell you how many … LOTS! just about sums it up, I think! The embroidered fitted tank looks deceptively little but was also quite major, coming in second place in time consumption. I’m almost too scared to wear these two pieces! but I’m pretty stoked with them. The little white fitted tank was a spur of the moment decision, a substitute for a different sleeveless white top that I had initially planned for the swap. It was relatively quick and easy, and I’ve already worn it a few times.
The Ivory 3-pack:
4) Vogue 1170 skirt in ivory leatherette
5) the loose drapey top from the book Drape Drape by Hisako Sato, in ivory rayon/linen knit and
6) Tao blouse, by Tamanegi Kobo, white silk/linen dyed pale cocoa brown
I’d originally planned for my big baggy pockets skirt to be the “bottom” in this group but changed my mind in favour of this twirly little leatherette skirt instead. I swapped out my swap, haha! Reason being that I ended up making the other skirt a quite long midi-length skirt, so it has a very similar silhouette to the Alabama Chanin skirt; this one is very different in length and style to my other two swap skirts and so I decided it adds a bit more variety to the mix. OK, I admit I realised that only, like two days ago; when I wore it together with my brand new cardigan! Revelation, and last minute change of plans! Fortunately I made it within the swap time-frame so it fits in with the rules. The ivory cowl neck top; I’d originally planned a long-sleeved Tshirt but the fabric was so thin I made the decision to make a double-layered, sleeveless top instead. The pale cocoa blouse was initially planned to be made with patched-together pieces, all dyed in slightly different shades of brown, but I decided that would be a bit too OTT so I made it plain. So retrospectively, this is rather colourless and undramatic little group, but y’know what? I’m very happy with all three pieces, and even more at how they will work beautifully with, like every single thing else in my wardrobe.
The Autumnal 3-pack;
7) patchwork skirt adapted from Vogue 8363, made from old jeans
8) hand-knitted Miette cardigan, a design by Andi Satterlund, in aran tweed yarn and
9) top X from the book Stylish Dress Book, by Yoshiko Tsukiori, white broderie anglaise
The sludge-coloured patchwork skirt, well yes, it is pretty eye-catching and more than a bit weird I admit that, but man it’s so comfy and I feel pleasantly kooky and a bit avant grade wearing it too. The white broderie anglaise blouse; from the very first I’ve loved wearing this nice summery breezy thing! and something like this can be a nice transitional item, worn with more wintery skirts just as the weather starts to cool off just a bit. I really like the contrast of the delicate white broderie anglais against rough, sombre, rustic patchwork of the skirt. The mustard cardigan was supposed to be a jacket, but I’m relieved I went for it as a cardi instead.
The wild cards;
10) (out of print) Vogue 2438, an Issey Miyake designed dress, chocolate brown pin-striped cotton, and
11) McCalls 5525 trench, charcoal check wool with ivory leatherette piping.
Both made entirely to plan. I’ve worn the chocolate dress a few times; it’s a simple and comfy, and quietly unusual. I like it more and more each time, and think it’s going to be a long-term favourite 🙂
As well as the 3-packs, I took some photos of other combinations just to show how everything goes well together. I only took the one photo above with the coat, but that’s OK; it’s a coat and so it will just get tossed over everything when it’s cold. Otherwise, I think I’ve covered many of the possible wearing combinations of everything. I might have missed one or two, but yah, I’m OK with that. I kinda OD’ed on playing dress-ups yesterday and so I can live without photos for a while. Phew!
So! This swap is finished. Please imagine that spoken in the same tone as Poltergeist’s “This house is clean”.
A post mortem… Well, probably it was good for my self discipline to be sensible and methodical, instead of my usual habit of haphazardly and whimsically making whatever my flighty self desires on the spur of any random moment regardless of whether or not it goes with anything else in my wardrobe, ahem! And I sure do have plenty of autumn/winter things to choose from now! 😉 I really like all the things, and so it’s funny to me that some of them I probably wouldn’t have chosen to make without that plan. Meaning, maybe it can be a good thing to force yourself to plan and add “usefully” to your wardrobe.
However, since sewing is my creative outlet as well as a purely practical means of clothing myself, then wild, thoughtless sewing maelstroms are kinda balm for my soul. And so I reckon it’s OK to indulge occasionally. Within reason, of course. 😉
I have knitted a cardigan. And weeeeeeee! this is the final thing in my eleven piece swap. Finished… hurrah!
The Miette is designed by Andi Satterlund, and is available as a free download here.
Such a great little pattern. Clearly I love it a bunch since this is my second version in less than six months *blush* and I used the exact same wool too; six balls of Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran. This time in colour Gold, 360036.
Actually, the truth is that when I went in to buy the wool for my first Hunter/Forest green version I dithered and agonised for ages between the two colours. Like, for so long it was embarrassing. I loved them both. Finally I chose the green, obviously; but the golden mustard kept haunting my thoughts. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. And I knew that it hated being left behind. It really wanted to come home with me too. Really, it did.
In my original swap plans I had proposed not a cardi but a jacket; in a really nice mustard, open weave fabric which was a Christmas gift from Tim. But the closer I came to Cutting The Fabric, the more doubt crept insidiously in. The fabric is really very nice. I was bound to ruin it. And thinking about it; I really prefer wearing knitted cardigans to jackets, most of the time. I remembered the Gold wool. The colour is identical, and perfect. Aha! Swift justification for an acquisition!! I raced joyfully, but hastily, to the wool store. What if it had sold out? But there it was, patiently waiting for me. Clearly, it was meant to be. Thus; I made a cardigan instead of a jacket.
And I still have my lovely mustard fabric, which I think would rather be a skirt. Some day when I get up the courage to take the scissors to it. 🙂
Details:
Cardigan: the Miette, in Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran col. 360036 Gold)
Top: the loose drapey top from Drape Drape, in rayon/linen knit, details here
Skirt; Vogue 1170 in ivory leatherette, details here and my review of this pattern here
Shoes; Bronx, from Zomp shoes
Meggipeg alerted me to the fact that today, 24th April, is Fashion Revolution Day; thank you Megan! and it was lovely to finally hang out together, in person  🙂
So I am wearing my dress and my cardigan inside out for the day.
A year ago today the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1133 people and injuring over 2500 more.  Fashion Revolution is suggesting that out of respect and acknowledgement we wear our clothes inside out to display the hidden inner workings; the labels, seams, hems and bindings that seamsters labour over.  If you bought your clothes readymade there are more things you can do; outlined here.
Generally I stay away from political and social conscience opinions here on my blog, although in person I can be quite the bore on a subject once I get going!  Don’t get me started! However the issue of ethical manufacture of consumable goods, particularly clothing; is dear to my heart and one of the primary reasons why four years ago I started down this rather bizarre path of eschewing ready-to-wear clothing entirely and of making with my own two hands just about every item of my clothing that I possibly could.  I don’t know if it was a sensible or reasonable decision; but it felt like a good idea at the time and years later it still does, so I’m going along with it, still.  I can make my own, so I do.  It was my own decision and I know not one that another person would or could make.
Wearing your clothes inside out for a day may not seem like much at all in the scheme of things, but may make more people aware of the questionable ethics of “fast” fashion.  A day of tweeting to brands may make a difference, and I hope so.  People may treat it like an amusing distraction in an otherwise uneventful working week, but any action that makes people think twice is a good thing.  For me, I do think about the ethics of clothing manufacture a lot but the reality is that the greatest hardship I will undergo today is going without the use of my pockets.  Also, maybe someone will point out that my clothes are inside out, but probably not.  People are quite polite around here  🙂
Details:
Dress; dress M with minor modifications, from the Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori, red cotton, details here
Cardigan; knitted by me, Jo Sharp fitted cardigan in Soho Summer dk cotton, colour Calico, details here
Scarf; a strip of cotton jersey
Shoes; Bronx, from Zomp shoes
