Scrap Sewing - Summer PJ edition.

I have documented my fondness of scrap sewing here plenty of times and I was  due another good scrap sew up , this time spurred on by the need for new summer PJs . It also allowed me to try out another new ( to me ) pattern from my collection.

First up the tops .
Kwik Sew 3232 is a sporting / golfing pattern for a skort ( shorts with a front skirt overlay , zip cardigan and tank top . ) I have never made a plain tank top like this before thus the need to break out a new pattern for such a simple and easy  garment. However Kwik Sew often have little details that belie  the simplicity of the pattern . In this case they have a built in dart at the sides created by the front being slightly longer than the back around the bust area . I made size Medium and this had a comfortable amount of ease without being overly huge . I used a plain blue pique knit given to me in 2010 and  from which I have previously made a Burdastyle Henley T shirt . Now despite the fact you could not get an easier pattern I mucked up . I only had enough fabric to cut the front on the fold and the back had to be cut out of two pieces . Yes , I cut the back on the fold and the front in two ! I rummaged around my trims bag and the best I could do was some lace with a central mauve strip which I sewed down over the front seam line .

Kwik Sew 2779 is a pattern for PJs . I used the V neck tank pattern which I thought would be an interesting variation on a plain tank . As per usual Kwik Sew instructions explain how to sew the V neck very well . I used scrap stripe knit again given to me in 2010 and from which I made a Knipmode dress  and ribbing dating from who knows when . The pattern like above includes a built dart . I  even managed to match the stripes ( except where the ` dart ` is  of course ) Like the plain blue tank it has just the right amount of ease.
I will definitely be using these patterns again especially since they take so little fabric.

Finally the PJ shorts I made using an ancient Simplicity pattern for a nightie set which includes a pattern for bloomers . I left out the elastic at the legs though . I used some Japanese cotton that my daughter brought home from Japan when she visited in 2010 ( there is a theme here ! ) . It was given to her by her host family and there was 12.5 metres of only 40cm wide fabric( There is still about 3 metres left ) . I have no idea what the kanji or hiragana symbols on the shorts mean ( or even if they are a genuine symbol ) . I ironed on a panda bear motif on the front so I could tell it was the front ! The cotton is very stiff but after washing softens up nicely . The shorts are very short and I think I need to adjust the elastic to be a bit smaller but they have been comfortable for the couple of hot nights we have had.

So all in all more scrap sewing done but ahem there are plenty more where they came from.

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 !

Sew Your Own Affordable Luxury - Silk and Liberty Lawn Shirts.

 More shirts ! No exaggeration , I love sewing them.
First up a cream silk shirt using Vogue 2634 , an OOP pattern .
I just wanted a very simple pattern to showcase the beautiful cream silk that has a self small chequered pattern . I bought the silk from the op shop last year  for only $2.00 for 4 metres but it is very narrow ( only 72cm wide ) . At the time I was trying to fabric fast so I kidded myself that the silk would be for my daughter who wanted tops made out of natural fibres for her travel overseas in 2018 . Ha ! cream silk must be the most impractical thing in the world for a student travelling on a strict budget.
Just in case she changed her mind though I have quickly made it up while she is still away.
The only variation I made to this pattern was to add vented cuffs from a Kwik Sew pattern. I did not do any top stitching , did not add the pockets and hand stitched the hems to keep the shirt details to a minimum.

 

I used the collar tutorial from Four Square Walls which she took from an old sewing pattern. I remember using this method to sew up a collar / stand when I was in my teens so I went through my old patterns and sure enough I found a Simplicity pattern from the 80s that uses this order of collar construction. It really does make a very nice collar . I can not recommend it enough. 

Next up a liberty lawn shirt . I seem to be the giftee of atypical liberty lawn. This is my second liberty lawn project ,both generous gifts and not a floral in sight !  This particular liberty was a Xmas gift from my husband. It`s funny because he bought this after a Xmas work party in Melbourne . He told his colleagues he was off to The Fabric Store after lunch to buy me a chrissie present. They were apparently horrified that he was making work for me ! On the other hand my sewing group friends were very impressed that he did this off his own bat and said he is a keeper ! 

The pattern is called Matt Madison and consists of diamonds with little scenes of bare branched trees and lakes etc . Very wintery fabric with its grey and olive based tones . Unlike my first Liberty Lawn project I didn`t take years to decide what pattern to make and sew it up. 

I knew I wanted to make a shirt ( well that is all the fabric I had anyway ) and since it is an unusual Liberty I wanted to make a variation of a standard shirt pattern. I used Kwik Sew 3620 another OOP pattern. I love the collar and like the addition of the front ties. Another poorly kept  secret is how much I love the old Kwik Sew patterns and the way the collar is constructed is so neat . I used my rolled hem foot to mainly successfully finish off the front ties ( use your different sewing machine feet - really ! ) 

So there you have it .Two very different but luxury shirts that feel sooo nice to wear but cost a fraction of bought ones .  ( PS I actually really like floral Liberty lawn - I would love to get the  classic Wiltshire pattern with the berries on it . )

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. 

Sewing SOS - Kwik Sew 2943 to the Rescue.

Usually I am OK at matching patterns to fabrics and vice versa but lately my brain has been in a funk and nothing was working . I washed up several fabrics . I traced out a couple of Burda Style patterns complete with lots of hassles which I don`t usually encounter . But I could not get the fabrics and patterns to work - not enough fabric , not wide enough fabric or way too much fabric with useless sized leftovers . I couldn't  face tracing out another pattern so I turned to my trusty Kwik Sew Patterns . I had a couple of small   remnants from  projects from a few months ago  littering my dresser with the idea to make some tanks trialling a new to me pattern . Well higher up forces were obviously telling me now was the time to make  them.                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                         
This is a really old Kwik Sew of the white pattern paper variety . Like my other Kwik Sews it proved to be reliable but not totally without more hassles . This was all down to the fabric choices though.
I used the leftovers of the burnout velvet that I made a kimono with - the fabric is so pretty I could not waste it . What I did not think about was the  nap of the velvet  so the tank fabric is cut different to the kimono - my astute sewing friend noticed this when we went out for tea ( Hello Kelly ) . Also I used the leftover silk from the kimono bands to make my own bias binding instead of using the facings supplied with the pattern. My bias bindings were wibbly wobbly and at one point I did not sew them properly onto the fabric so I had to cut them off and start again ( no way I was unpicking this fabric which frays easily where the burnout part is ) .But overall the tank top  was a success and has made up a nice `twin set ` .

The other fabric was some crinkly georgette I made using another Kwik Sew pattern for an interesting tunic. This time I did use the facing patterns but boy were they out with this shifty fabric . So I used bought bias binding which is really a bit too stiff for the georgette but since I intend to mainly wear this camisole under the see through tunic it doesn`t matter and I know when to quit and not worry about perfectionism . The bust darts  are  a little low with this pattern . I tried to correct this with the georgette but they are still too low perhaps because of the shifty fabric factor ?? Anyway overall this pattern turned out a winner , great at using up small scraps and for ( mainly ) restoring my sewing confidence.

Since sewing the tanks   I have managed to match up the couple of burda patterns I traced with different fabrics and the paired the fabrics I washed with other patterns so I think I just had to step away for a little bit to sort it all out . Here`s to tanks of the peaceful kind .

                                                           

Overthinking Sewing.

Sewing is my main form of relaxation and my only form of creativity ( unless you include 100+ different ways to use zucchini in Summer and pumpkin in Winter ) . Now thinking is of course very important but overthinking or rumination  is a whole different matter . I bought this small remnant piece of knit from the Clegs Remnant Xmas sale a few years ago thinking I could combine with another piece in my stash for a top  but the colours were way out . Then I tried to combine it with some other fabrics to make a pullover but the pattern was a wadder . Earlier this year after making my Burda pullover I thought I had the answer but there was not enough material . Garrghh! Enough ! There is only 70cm of this knit which is a light weight jumper ( sweater ) knit so I pulled out my trusty TNT Kwik Sew 2965 and just sewed it up before I overthought  any more .

And in another case of overthinking sewing I present my new skirt .

This red polka dot fabric is deep deep stash being left over from making a pinafore dress for my then 10 year old daughter ( 20 and a 2nd year medical student now ! ) . It must have been already quite old by the time I acquired it because it was only 90cms wide . It is a really good quality cotton with a smooth tight weave but it just positively screams Minnie Mouse so it has sat in stash all those years . I have thought and thought what to do with it from getting rid of it , to making a Minnie Mouse costume and to making something as unMinnie Mouse as possible. In the end I have made a `wearable` muslin of a knipmode skirt from May 2013.                                                                                                                                                              

   

A plain straight skirt with the front divided with a centre piece and narrower sides . I made the shorter version with cargo pockets .

One thing I don`t overthink with my blog are the pictures .I brush my hair , put on lippy and then convince someone to take pictures . The whole photo bit takes a few minutes . This time though took longer and I used several props to get photos .

Above my camera is resting on a bookshelf and magazines.

Camera propped on the back of a car with a turtle emerging from the ground .

Camera propped on the back of another car with an attractive compost bin in the background.

Up a ladder with the camera on a nappy bucket on the washing machine .

The best photos were the camera resting on the upside down old nappy bucket on the dining room table - must remember that one for future.
I have promised myself that I will wear this skirt for the remaining warm weather and if I still feel like a middle aged Minnie then the skirt will go.
Sometimes I feel a little bit crazy with how much time I think about these things but somehow if you are reading this blog then I know I am not alone .