Category: tops

Frantic Displacement Activity.

I’m almost there with the Christmas gift sewing! Just a few pieces to finish off by hand in front of the television, and then I’ll be done.

Oh, and one complete garment to make from scratch.

I’m not sure why, instead of making that garment, I decided to make a little something for myself. Call it frantic displacement activity.

Reindeer cowl jersey top

This draped top is half of Butterick 4920, another from my collection of patterns I’ve been hoarding for so long that they’ve been discontinued!

The pattern is actually for a tunic or dress, with an elasticated dropped waist. I didn’t have enough fabric to make the whole thing, so I simply left off the skirt part and just made the top.

The front and back are grey cotton lycra, which I’d previously coloured using Dylon Antique Grey washing machine dye. It was white, but there was a dirty mark which wouldn’t come out. Thankfully the dye has covered that nicely.

The sleeves and inside front are made from a very lightweight cotton jersey. I bought this cute little reindeer print several years ago, but couldn’t find just the right pattern for it. I was shuffling some fabrics around this afternoon, and just happened to drop these two in a pile together. Aha!

Grey jersey, grey reindeer, red overlocked hems to match their little noses. Perfect.

I’ll be wearing this on Christmas day, with a pair of floppy white trousers. Very festive!

Two Top Toiles.

Simplicity 3503

This is the toile for what will eventually be Simplicity 5303, the long beige version. Only not in beige.

Jenny’s coming over tomorrow, to bring the not-beige fabric that she’s chosen, and to try on the top.

I’ve only made the top half of the dress because the only part that needs fitting is to make sure that the underbust seam actually does sit under the bust, and not half way up. If it fits, Jenny can keep it; if it doesn’t, I’ve got a new top!

 

Top toile

This one’s a copy of Miss Alice‘s favourite work top.

It’s cut on the bias, and has really pretty sleeves. Hopefully I’ve managed to adjust the bust darts and the length for a better fit.

All I need to do now is bind the neckline, and finish the pair of trousers that I need to send off in the same parcel.

 

I also need to do something about the lighting in the Shed. I’ve got three halogen spotlights, a standard lamp and a net of LED fairy lights blazing out in there, and it’s still too dark to see properly.

Pintucks and pleats.

I’ve been away from the blog recently on account of a Dreaded Lurgy, so I haven’t had a great deal to show you. Fortunately I have managed to drag myself out of my sick bed *cough* for long enough to make this:

Pintucks and pleats

which is eventually going to be the front of a shirt, in organic cotton lawn.

I’ve been looking through a number of books about historical clothing, specifically men’s shirts. I’m making one from the simplest shapes possible (basically four big rectangles and a collar!), and using pleats and pintucks to create the fit and style that I’m after.

I have lots of different plans for variations on this simple shirt, and I’m hoping to find the time to make several incarnations over the next couple of months.

I’d probably better make a start by getting on with this one…

Skull fleece hoody again…

Skull fleece hoody

In case you didn’t see Diane’s lovely pictures, here’s another glimpse of the pink skull fleece hoody on an Actual Person.

This one’s for Lisa who, being the same size as me, is doomed to having all of her clothes tried on and photographed before I send them out!

The scarf is this one.

The photo’s a bit grainy, but it’s pretty dark outside at 6:30 these days. Perfect time of year for a nice warm fleecy jacket.

Catching up with myself…

Here’s what I’ve been up to this week – two skirts and two jackets.

Skirts and Jackets

The two skirts are both made from Alexander Henry fabrics.
The left hand one is “Carnaby Stripe”, and it’s a knee-length skirt with an elasticated waist and broderie anglais trimming around the hem. The right hand one is “The Rose Tattoo”, and it’s an extremely full ball-gown style skirt, also with an elasticated waist. Both are made from my own patterns.

The fleecy jacket is one of a pair – the second one will be appearing later this week. It’s a dolman-sleeved hooded jacket, fastened with one enormous button! The pattern (Kwik Sew 3459) suggested leaving the edges of the fleece raw, which looked as though I hadn’t bothered to finish sewing, so I’ve added bias binding to all the edges.

The pink tartan jacket is my first foray into the adventure of draping on the stand, which I am learning about from Winifred Aldrich. I’m sure this doesn’t look very exciting from where you are (unless you happen to be a big fan of pink tartan!), so I really need to show you some photos of this one being worn. The nicest thing about it is how the fabric drapes and flows over the body, which is difficult to demonstrate on a static dress form.

I plan to develop this pattern, and make several different versions in fleece and jersey – and maybe some evening wear versions, using up some of the satins from my stash. I have some lovely aubergine charmeuse, which would drape beautifully.

Simplicity 2927 – black and grey

Simplicity 2927

Here is incarnation number two of Simplicity 2927, this time in black and grey. This one’s for Claire, (no, not me!) who left me a comment when she saw the one I’d made for myself.

It’s made using 100% organic cotton, from Bishopston Trading. I couldn’t find any grey, so I dyed a piece myself. I used Dylon’s Antique Grey machine dye, over the unbleached cotton that I used for my own version. It came out really nicely!

We made a couple of small alterations from the original pattern – the length is slightly longer than the tunic version, and shorter than the dress. The sleeves are also an in-between length.

All that this one’s missing now is a big black button, to give it that finishing touch.

Simplicity 2927 – up a tree!

Climbing a tree...

This is an action shot of Simplicity 2927 – up a tree!

The leggings are from a pattern that I drafted myself – something that I want to do a lot more of in future. It’s taken me a long time to find a UK supplier of nice fine organic cotton jersey, so I’d like to make the most of it! The jersey only comes in cream or white, so I’d probably fill the washing machine with Dylon dyes, to bring in a bit of colour. (The fabric shown was bought from The Cloth House, a long time ago.)

I’m currently coveting pretty much everything that Near Sea Naturals have to offer, whilst simultaneously agonising about the environmental impact of flying organic fabrics all the way over from America. It seems a bit daft to buy low-impact fabric and immediately add 3,000 airmiles to it! Although, as Miss Alice rather eloquently put it, “it’s not like locally produced organic cotton’s falling out of the sky”.

I’m still in the process of using up some of my stashed fabrics to make pretty corsets, so you’ll be seeing a few of those turning up as the weeks progress. Realistically it’s going to take me until next year to be really ready for doing something with my own designs and drafting my own patterns for them, but I’ll be working on it.

Simplicity 2927

This morning I had a very productive time drafting a pattern for a pair of leggings. By lunchtime I’d transformed a piece of lovely cotton jersey that I bought from The Cloth House several years ago, and in the afternoon I started on a simple tunic to go with them.

Say hello to Simplicity 2927:

Simplicity 2927

It’s not finished yet, mostly because I was taken by surprise at how complicated this little dress turned out to be!

It’s one of Simplicity’s Project Runway patterns. As it happens I’ve never actually watched the TV show, but I’d sort of assumed that the point of the patterns was to encourage young wannabe designers into sewing their own clothes.

We’d already discovered at work that the patterns are quite difficult to read. The back of the envelope is quite confusing in terms of being able to work out what you need (more so than normal!), and the instructions often seem unnecessarily complicated.

This particular design comes in a choice of two lengths, has three different sleeve styles, and optional pockets. Directions are also included for piping all of the seams. Throughout the pattern you’re sewing concave to convex edges to make the curved side front seams and the neck band. The sleeves are either faced or bagged out. The front facing’s rather fiddly, and the sleeves and neck band were a nightmare to put together neatly.

I sew three or four days out of every week, and I found this pattern rather difficult!

I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who didn’t already have plenty of sewing experience – and plenty of patience. It took me around six hours to get this far, and I was expecting it to take about half that time.

As I was putting this little tunic together, I was a bit worried that my choice of colours was going to make me look like a dental nurse. Looking at the photo though, I think the style is quite cute. Slightly sixties-looking, and I think the button makes all the difference. I don’t know whether that’s going to be my final choice of button – I need to see the colours in daylight – but I think whichever button I choose, it needs to be a big one.

All I need to do now is put in the zip, finish off the last few loose ends, and give the whole thing a good pressing. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t get it finished today, as I was planning on wearing it to work tomorrow, along with my new leggings!

Still, I’d rather do it properly, than try to finish it in a hurry and make a mess of it.

I keep going back to these little raglan tunic patterns, so I guess my next step is to draft one of my own. Whatever I come up with, I do know that it won’t have a neckband, and it won’t have such complex curves! I’m still in love with the pockets though.