Ottobre Woman Gorgeous Grey in Cream.

This is the last of my main sewing projects I have to catch up on . This is a raglan sleeve cardigan from the Winter 2015 edition of Ottobre Woman. I used a fine , thin cream woollen knit which although was not difficult to work with , I was a bit worried about . I thought it might possibly unravel or stretch out so I handled it very very carefully .

I changed the pattern by doubling the size of the long rectangular band , then folding this in half  rather than a single thickness band with a curled selvage front outer edge . I also eliminated the interesting pockets because I have never made this type before and I didn`t want to start on this fabric . If they went wrong it would muck up the whole cardigan . What I did follow on the instructions was to finish the seams and hems with a coverstitch type top stitch. I don`t own a coverstitch machine so I used one of the fancy stitches on my Pfaff . I carefully cut strips of tissue paper to stabilise under the seams before doing the stitching . Although the ` coverstitch ` is not obvious , the tissue paper made a big positive difference to how this went. The down side was carefully tearing away the tissue paper afterwards - a labour of love for sure.

A close up of the hard to photograph ` coverstitch ` top stitching . 

The cream cardigan turned out to be another good wearable basic which will hopefully see years of use.
Apart from this I have  made a pair of shorts and some pajamas for my daughters  ( I don`t have any photos ). I also refashioned a Liberty lawn blouse my Mum gave me by changing the puffy sleeves to fitted sleeves with a slightly gathered  elasticised hem . I am currently making up a Katherine Tilton shirt out of several scraps but I am having a holiday so  completion of that will probably be a few weeks away.

Sewing Stash from the Abyss .

My latest sewing ticks a few boxes -replacing old garments, using ancient stash and trialling new patterns.
The  above top uses a Vogue pattern 8982  by Katherine Tilton . I made view E .I  thought this was a pattern for a shirt but it is for a vest / jacket so I had to make a couple of modifications to  make this work. Many reviews stated that it runs large so  I cut out size 10 instead of my usual 12 . Looking at the photos on the front cover I could see the arm hole is very low so I raised the  bottom by about an inch. The result is a top that still has plenty of room but won`t flash my camisole.

I used two pieces of navy and white ditsy floral cotton that Mum gave me 10 years ago . Turns out the fabric was really skirt pieces . I had no idea. I managed to just squeeze the main pattern pieces onto the fabric. I did not  have enough  fabric  for the armhole facings but I like the bias binding better anyway and not enough for  the bottom hem facing which wasn`t necessary as well. The small print covers up all the interesting seams of the shirt but it looks lovely on the inside. The shirt was quite easy to sew  and all the pieces came together really well. 

I am really happy with the fit and the style. Despite the interesting seams being lost in my fabric it still has the shaped and lovely hem line . I will have to make this again and try emphasise those curved seams (  my list of to do one day projects is getting  impossibly long ) . 

My next project was to make a much needed long sleeved winter PJ top  ( I only have one other ! ).It was a perfect opportunity to trial an unused pattern with another piece of 10 year old stash . Nothing to lose. The pink fabric is that old fashioned polycotton interlock with not much stretch or recovery . 

I used this T shirt pattern from Ottobre Spring /Summer 2016 . It appears to be fitted around the shoulders and bust and flares  out at the waist and hip . I obviously lengthened the sleeves and had a bit of fun practising some machine embroidery. 

The top is easy to make but I have the same criticism that it is hard to trace Ottobre patterns because there is no distinction between the different sized pattern lines. My top did not seem to flare as much at the bottom as I was expecting but it still makes a very comfy PJ top which I  have worn heaps with our cold weather. I am not sure if I will make it again though . 

Now for some reason I always get a bit worried about sewing with really old fabric. Sometimes I have thought so much about what it will become that I think I will be sick of the garment before I have even worn it. But so far I always get double the pleasure from wearing them and satisfaction of using the fabric . Silly and a bit weird I know. 

Now with these garments finished my sewing room is actually looking a bit tidy . Using the Katherine Tilton pattern fulfills my personal sewing challenge to use my unused patterns. A couple of years ago I blogged about my pattern piles and looking back at that post my piles have definitely shrunk. The patterns below are what I have left to make but that will keep my busy for a long time . I have cut out the paper pattern pieces for the Marcy Tilton Vogue  bag pattern 8407 ( all rectangles ! ) and will have a play around with some fabric scraps I have . 

The magazines in the picture above are a lucky gift from my eldest daughter travelling around the world in her gap year. These are magazines I could not get in Australia . My favourite is the Patrones but I have picked out something from each magazine to make . So what is the oldest fabric anyone else has used and do you have reservations about sewing it ?