Scrap Habits - A Tilton Butterick 5891

  Scrap Habits , I can't help myself ! I keep almost all my scraps so this blouse has been years in the making . There are five different white remnants involved ranging from one to 25 years old. As a bonus I got to use some lovely vintage mother of pearl buttons which I have had for ages too.
They were a perfect way to trial a new to me pattern , Butterick 5891 , a Katherine Tilton pattern as there are lots of smallish to medium sized pattern pieces .

I really like the end result but it is worth checking other reviews as the pattern is not without issues. The main omission are missing stitching lines ( which create a kind of pleat ) on the right peplum pieces which didn`t bother me as I elected to leave the peplums plain. As others have noted the collar pieces are unfaced showing inner seams . It is simple to cut out a collar facing from the collar pattern if you prefer a clean finish . Also the pattern says to make buttonholes on the left front and sew the buttons on the right side ! Oops .
Despite these errors it was fun sewing this shirt with all the details of the peplum and double collar .The instructions were very good ( except for the mistakes ! ) and it all came together really well.  I was worried it would be very loose fitting and overly large but it isn`t at all .

The back view is just as interesting as the front with a slanting hem line and peplum . ( And I'm really pleased with my little crab apple tree in the background which we only planted last year . Covering one of our water tanks in the background are some kiwi fruits hopefully to bear fruit soon . )

Since coming home from our road trip to Townsville I have managed to sew up quite a bit. I loved our trip away although it is bit depressing to drive through severe drought affected areas which actually seemed like most of the country except Victoria . I did miss having a creative outlet so when I came back I hit the sewing machine hard finishing a new nightie out  of very soft cotton lawn bought at an op shop in Montville Queensland and a pair of track pants since I haven't  owned a pair for a couple of years and missed wearing them . I`ve also made a new handbag which I will review next time.

back view 

front view

Sewing Ups and Downs.

A sewing ` up ` was this T shirt using my favourite pattern Kwik Sew 2965 . I think this is my 6th version now.  I only had a mere scrap of stretch panne velvet so I had to cut the back with a centre seam. The pattern is quick , easy and only uses small pieces of fabric. Win.

Another sewing `up ` was my first ever refashion ! I wish I had a before photo but years ago I made a jacket from some blue polar fleece . I paid full price for the Butterick  6835 pattern and full price for the polar fleece which wasn`t particularly cheap.  I wanted to make the shorter version and bought fabric according to requirements listed on the back of the pattern envelope. This turned out to be way too  much so I had enough for the longer version. The end result was a humongous ugly short coat / long jacket . But because I had actually invested some money in this I wore it - in public ! ( Amazing my daughters let me do this ) After a couple of years I came to my senses but put the jacket away in my cupboard to do something with.  Several years later I finally got around to it. 

I unpicked the jacket and because it was so huge it was easy to get new fronts , sleeves and a back on the existing pieces. I used another old pattern, this time  Burda 8881.  This pattern is much better sized but the instructions are  weird. It says to hand sew in the front zip !! What the heck !! No way. Apart from that little bit of Burda madness the pattern was very easy. I left on the pockets from the original jacket but they were massive too in keeping with the whole over sized thing  . I unpicked them but you can just see the impressions where they were. Still this is much better than the original garment and I have worn it many times . Win. 

But what goes up must come down . 

Sewing down . 

Down . 

 OK I think I have found a worse fabric to sew than silk chiffon . Really. Loosely woven sweater knit . Ravelly . Poor stretch recovery . Curly. It looks so pretty with its raspberry ripple appeal and so soft . It lured me in but what a devil to sew. I did try really.

I cut strips of bias cut interfacing and stabilised all the seams as directed. I treated the fabric like a new born baby , handling it so gently. I mean look how nice my collar looks . It was the hemming that led to my down fall. I measured where I wanted the hem but ahem,  cut a great bit honking hole in the main body of the pullover. I cut this off and overlocked the edge and it was all downhill after that . I tried to rescue my pullover by adding a wide band to the bottom but the seam line hits right on the fluffiest bit of my stomach and looked just terrible. I took a photo and chucked in the bin.
I am wondering if this failure is just not sewing karma because I used an old Burda magazine (August  1993 ! ) and cut out the pattern . Yes , I didn`t trace the pattern , I cut it out . After looking at the magazine several times I realised that I would never make anything else . Despite all this I really like the pattern and will try again . In a more cooperative fabric . And I won`t cut a hole in the front .
Hope your sewing is all up , up , up !

Casual , Comfy , Cozy Dresses.

 

First thing I do when  I get home from work is get straight out of my good clothes . It protects them from me but also gets me out of the being at work mental  zone  . During winter my favourite down time uniform is a pair of trackies .You just can not beat trackies for comfort and feeling relaxed and dagginess ! My last pair had bagged out so badly at the bum and knees that even Saggy Baggy Elephant would have felt sorry for them so they are in the gardening clothes pile now. With no trackies  left this was an opportunity to significantly up my casual clothes style. 

Pattern combo for the purple stripe /spot dress. 

Both fabric pieces came from Clear It bought at the end of last year . I used Butterick 6883 for the blue and grey argyle knit dress . This is a really fantastic pattern that also comes with pants , a sleeveless vest and the dress shortened into a top. The pants are definitely a contender for upmarket trackies too ! I love the front angled seams with pockets , the curved neckline with an interesting collar and dropped sleeves . Even the upper back has a curved inset piece. This makes for a very comfy dress with lots of design possibilities. I sewed this dress during a very busy period . Sometimes I only had time to sew up one seam at a time but over a couple of weeks I managed to complete it so it is a relatively easy pattern as well. The only changes I made were to lengthen the dress and I added piping to the neckline . The piping is woven  so the neckline is a little bit tighter but luckily I can still get it over my head easily enough. 

 The pockets bag out a little bit  but the pros of having them greatly outweigh that factor and after all these are just trackie replacements so I am not fussed by that. 

The purpley striped and dotty knit dress was made using a collaboration between a Kwik Sew 2900 top , Vogue 2101 dress  and a pocket from an old Burda WOF mag. Although I have made KS 2900 many times it has been a few years now but it was always my go to pattern for T shirts . I like the shaping of the vogue dress being slightly pegged  and knee length. I did double the width of the KS collar piece so it was a rollover collar rather than just a turtle neck. This was also a very easy make although attempting stripe matching required a bit more care. 

  

I used some of the dark purple stripe knit to bind the pocket edges and make it just a bit more interesting. 

I am pretty happy with my new dresses ( now just have to wait for the cool weather ) . Such a step up my usual casual outfits . I won`t be embarrassed answering the door now to unexpected visitors ! 

Selfless Sewing Series - Linen Knit and Are You A Sewing Hoarder ?

MERRY XMAS .

This is the next top I have made my daughter using the linen knit we bought during our Melbourne Shopping trip. Oh my goodness this is wonderful stuff. It is soft and has a slight stretch with good recovery. It has the subtle texture and variation in colour like its woven counterpart . It is easy to sew and iron . And I am told that it is very comfortable to wear. 

My daughter was very easy to please when it came to choosing patterns to match up with the fabric . She really liked the top part of my recent swallow print dress- Butterick 5975 . She didn`t want to go through my other almost countless patterns or magazines . 

I just lengthened the top by about 9 cms and she was happy with this length . 

I ordered 1.3 metres and after washing measured the length ( I didn`t measure prewashing ) and had about 1.37  metres . I was told to prewash the linen knit as it shrinks. So either it didn`t shrink or I was given a generous 1.3 metres or it stretched. Either way I had enough to make up another top when I had finished with this one. 

I used my Kwik Sew 2695 pattern - this is now the fifth time I have made this. I really really like it as do my girls who stole one of my versions. This top has gone to my youngest  daughter . I will definitely be going back to  The Cloth Shop to buy more linen knit for my middle daughter who lives in tropical Queensland . It will be perfect for her. I want to add the colour does not come up true here - it is like a eucalyptus green , a bit richer in colour that the khaki showing up here . The shop had quite a few other colours available. 

Now I have lots of patterns - just over 250 envelopes and many many pattern magazines. I also have a bit under 170 metres of fabric now . Lots of lace and ribbons some of which I can not even recall where it came from and more buttons than I will ever use . But the one thing I really have not accumulated much of is threads and especially overlocking threads.

This is the sum total of my overlocker threads bar two pale blue  ones where the plastic has distintegrated badly . The medium gray ones at the bottom left hand corner are only new purchases too. I manage to make do with what I have by combining the colours so for my dark green tops above I have used my single medium brown with dark grey. It seems to work for me. 

Ever hopeful for a play with his fluffy ball pillow .

I store it all in a medium plastic bag which fits in well under my sewing desk .  Do you hoard sewing stuff or get creative with what you have ? 

 Janine. 

The Choosing Prints Dilemma . How Do You Decide ?

Some people have a real skill at choosing prints and making them into something incredible. I dont`t have that knack of seeing the bigger picture so I almost didn`t buy this fabric . But now it is sewn up I really like it . I often favour smaller prints in more muted colours but this can translate into a bland , faded even frumpy   look from a distance even if the print itself is beautiful .
The fabric is a rayon type with birds in solids and outlines on a black background. I`m not sure if they are swallows or swifts.
I really wanted to make the Rebecca Taylor Vogue Pattern 1395 but it wasn`t available but my brain slowly ticked over and I realised I could get the look combining a couple of patterns I already owned.

I combined a Butterick See and Sew  dress pattern 5975  with the front ties from  Kwik Sew 3620 . Not exactly the same but  similar look to the Rebecca Taylor Vogue 1395 as below. I got a bit over confident and didn`t follow the pattern instructions for the dress as I was trying to do the burrito method for the yoke construction . I realised too late it would not work for the dress so I had to fudge things and add bias binding strips for the arm holes and then applied them the wrong way so they show on the outer side . I applied them neatly so it looks OK and since I sewed the dress a couple of weeks ago my mistakes already do not bother me. Apart from my own self induced errors  the construction was straight forward but I am not quite sure that the pattern is as simple as See and Sew implies.

I have included this photo as proof of the ties existence and a closer shot of the print ( BTW I just learnt today that vogel is the German word for birds - just trying to reinforce my learning ! ) The dress is very comfy with an elastic waist but the ties conceal this at the front so I won`t need to add a belt . The top is a blouson style and the skirt is gently gathered. I was worried that the dress would be huge going by the finished measurements so I cut a size 10 instead of my usual 12 .

This dress has got me rethinking my print choices and also that I should probably have a bit of a dress clean out.The dress started as a UFO from several months ago and now it is finished my sewing corner is all sorted. I can hardly believe it but my dress form is clear , my dresser top is empty and my little sewing basket has only one project in it which is a WIP purse which is being slowly made at a sporadic sewing group I attend so no hurries there. I am now considering finally making a patchwork table runner for the coffee table and perhaps even an entire patchwork quilt with garments in between. 

Does anyone have any hints on how they successfully chose prints ? 

Happy Sewing and here`s to completed UFOs and fresh starts. 

Japanese Inspired Modern Crazy Patchwork Handbag.

I finally sewed my bag ! I only started this at the end of 2014 ( or was it 2013 ? ) when my old handbag was breaking . But then I purchased a new bag a few months later  and this got shoved aside. But then the ` new `  handbag was starting to perish AND I was in a cleaning up the sewing corner mood so I finally buckled down and tackled the project. The sticking point was the how to make the bag flap.

I was inspired by this project in a very old Handmade magazine from the 90s. I have never sewed crazy patchwork before - the actual sewing is very easy but trying to get the right fabrics in the right positions is sooo hard. I picked out my fabric scraps and after lots of mucking around I realised I  just had to start sewing  but it was all looking a bit bland until I added a small scrap from my Mum that had a bright flower and gold highlights .

The actual bag pattern I used was Butterick 4247( long OOP )  , a really good basic bag pattern if you can overlook the quilted examples on the envelope cover.

I used plain navy suedette left over from sewing my Mum an outfit in 2000. I interlined this with left over fleecy so the bag is more substantial. I added an extra  pocket to the back but had to piece together scraps to make  it  large enough  so I covered the seam with narrow velvet ribbon. I added a magnetic clasp which I had removed from an even older handbag. 

 To the inner lining I added one zippered pocket which was not included in the pattern. I followed the book The Bag Making  Bible to create this but it is very easy to do . I wish now that I had added a zippered pocket on the other side of the bag . Next time !

I love the tassel decoration on the my original inspiration and perhaps I might even make one one day but instead I added a large etched shell button that I pilfered off the back of one of my cardigans .

There is plenty of room for my wallet, keys, phone , glasses , reusable shopping bag and bits and pieces that are absolutely necessary to carry around. Honestly how do men get away with just a wallet ! 

I am insanely pleased with my new handbag . It definitely won`t be the last one I make. I have a couple of Marcy Tilton patterns that I will try  next. 

This is what I have to contend with while I am taking photos !! 

Pattern Review Sew Stylish Sew Along - New Cardigans.

 
Hello ,  these are the initial results of my attempts at following along with the Pattern Review Stylish Sew Along .
Note I am interpreting this as becoming more stylish not being stylish . So believe me these two cardigans are a whole lot better than what they replaced because even I realise that these cardigans are not what you would see on the best dressed lists!

The first cardigan is made from Butterick 3461 ,  a Kathy Ireland Lifestyle Wardrobe pattern from 2002. It is a long line slim fitting cardigan with a V neckline and gentle side seam shaping.It is such a basic pattern that I can't see any reason to but a newer pattern.  The fabric is a white stable  knit with a herringbone pattern. The recommended fabric is a knit with moderate stretch but this worked out fine.
I actually bought and made this pattern when it was first released from a caramel coloured fake suede which was the worst fabric I have ever sewed with even though it looked really good. I'm glad that I have revisited this pattern despite my bad memories . I was so pleased with the end result that I  actually hand stitched all the hems rather than my usual machine hem job  . I think it  looks much better and  I should just consider doing this all the time.

The cream cardigan on the left uses Kwik Sew 2875 which I have made several times but using  the hoodie version and also the great little camisole that comes with it.
I used my paisley embossed fleecy which is really lovely fabric but impossible to photograph . I only had one metre so I was really limited in what I could sew and in the end  this was the only pattern I could use . I actually wanted to make a raglan sleeve windcheater . There are pros and cons to op shop fabric and this is one of them. Finding great material but just not enough of it. From now on I will just have to leave these pieces behind .

Anyway end result is that I got rid of a couple of old cardigans and used some old stash to make replacements- a win-win situation .

The Stylish Sew Along has also inspired my next sewing projects. I am finally going to use some Liberty lawn given to me by a friend 4 years ago and am making up a couple of new tops which will match as well.
I highly recommend reading this sew-along/ discussion  . There are all different sewers , from different parts of the world , with different sewing needs but with the same common goal - trying to lift style game and get out of a rut. Happy Sewing Janine.