Jumping on the bandwagon - Tilly and the Buttons Cleo Dungadress

Ta Daaaaa.

I finished my new Dungadress, and I think I am in love! The Cleo by Tilly and the Buttons is fabulous. It is the first time I have used dungaree clips, and the first time I have done any top stitching so I am still working my way through all my firsts.

I ordered a meter and a half of Denim fabric from Sew Crafty Online which was more than plenty! I still have quite a bit left and was thinking of projects to stash bust with some hard wearing denim. I already had some top stitching thread, which to be perfectly honest I had ordered a good while ago by accident as I needed some normal thread the same colour for my Daisy Dress and didn't realise there were different types of thread! This is how far I have come in the last year of so, yet this project taught me I probably needed a top stitching needle but I managed ok.

The denim was easy to work with which I was surprised about and it wasn't too thick so I used a normal need rather than a denim one. The hardest part I found was turning the straps the right way, so I got out my giant knitting needles and it did make it easier.

I only did one line of top stitching mostly because I ran out of thread, but also I think it makes it a bit more unique. I didn't even have enough thread to do the hem but actually I love the frayed look! I have done a line of zip zag in an inconspicuous black just above the hem so it won't fray too far.

Here is a picture of the whole dungadress with added Murphy dog the cockerpoo! He loves it too.

Winslow Culottes in crepe!

Two firsts for this project! First some kind of trousers, with a gusset and pockets and everything, also first type using a slippery material like crepe.

The beautiful Crepe was from Sew Crafty Online and the flow on it is lovely. There are so many beautiful colours on the fabric I had too many to choose from for my jacket! Please excuse hubby's stupid face! Doh!

I really enjoyed this pattern though as it has minimal pieces and I am beginning to love PDF patterns as I don't have to trace them out and they seem much easier to store than rolled up grease proof paper!

There are 4 pieces for the 'legs' and a waist band, two pockets and a zip. So a nice easy sew really. I've never really made trousers before that have looked suitable for wearing outside the house!

I struggled with the fabric really as I have never used crepe, it seemed to creep a bit whilst sewing as I think my tension was a bit too tight. After I had done a few seams I changed the tension and it seems to ease off a bit. I used my normal foot for this but I'm told a roller foot may have been a better option for me, so that's one to try next time!





I love these culottes as they were so comfy all day at the wedding, I could dance and move around not worrying about skirts exposure, and they still looked formal enough for the wedding.

I think I am going to make myself a long pair of these for the summer as the waist band hit me at a really nice 'high wasted' point perfect with baggy tops. Made in crepe they will lovely and floaty for the summer too. I think I may experiment in a thinker cotton too for some for work as the shape really suits the shape of my body.

I really do recommend trying out the Winslow culottes!

The Butterick Retro B6318

This was another project from the lovely people at Sew Crafty Online the fabric is absolutely beautiful and all my scraps have been carefully saved for future quilting and small projects as I couldn't bare to throw them out!

My Butterick Retro pattern has caused me a few headaches. Mostly in the boobage area! My first issue was my measurement didn't really fit the sizing. So I just made the on the was going to fit my top half with the hope the skirt would be floaty enough to survive.

As you can see even on the mannequin this appeared to be a strange shape but my hope was the waist band would pull it in a bit. Which it did beautifully on a real person, the mannequin doesn't do it justice.

I think if I were to make this again, I would take the top in slightly across the boobs as it doesn't have any dates to give the top any shape. I think they shape would be perfect for a the larger breasted lady though i'm afraid mine were a little lost!

Once the tie is around the middle you really can see the shape it is aiming for which is beautiful, though I think I have learnt to stay away from Kimono tops as they don't fit me properly. I found the tie quite hard to attache and the instructions weren't great but after some perseverance I think I cracked it.

But seriously whilst the fit isn't perfect on this dress it is absolutely beautiful because of the fabric. The flowers are so cheerful and wonderful it brightens up any day in the office! So all in all a successful escapade.

It's a bugs life...

I found this beautiful bugs fabric on ebay whilst hunting for something else and I knew immediately it would be perfect for my friend at works daughter, who is bugs mad!

I bought and let her parent chose which pattern I used from few free ones on Pintrest. The pattern they chose is the one in the picture to the left, if you click on the picture it will take you to the sewyourtv.com website too which the pattern and instructions if you want to make it yourself, please take what i'm about to say into consideration if you do want to.

This dress is not really for beginners, the concept would be great for beginners but the pattern is just pure awful. For example the front pattern peice is about 7 cm's longer than any of the other prices for no reason that I can tell, as I ended up slicing the excess off. Also there is no pattern piece for the bodice lining so I hacked it using the front and back pieces put together overlapping enough for seam allowances. I used bias binding around the arm holes as there was no was I could get the bodice lining to turn right way out once I has sewn this. I also didn't use the pattern piece for the skirt as the pieces didn't seem to fit together right, so I just used a straight rectangle and used my new gathering foot to make the ruffles. (ps gathering foots! genius!)
Once I had gifted this dress also, she couldn't get it over her head! Now, not having a 3 year old of my own and never having owned one I wasn't really sure how big her head was going to be, but I remember looking and thinking wow kids have small heads! Apparently not that small! So I have now had to slice down the back and create a button panel so she could wear it!

Anyway enough about the failures of this dress I does look super cute! The frills on the sleeves are a great stash buster, do you remember the turquoise from my simplicity dress and my Victoria jacket toil? I tried to french seam all the bits that had to be inside and I have done the skirt seam on the outside so it didn't irritate her, and the sash covers it nicely.

I'm going to retrace my pattern pieces into what needs to be used next time so that I can make another because once it's finished it is lovely, it's just a lot of brain work to get to that point.

My Project for the Refashioners 2016 challenge

What a great idea to reuse jeans in this way! I don't know about you but I had load's of jeans in my house desperate for re-use! I flitted around my ideas but finally decided on a bardot style off the shoulder top.

I looked around on pintrest and found Fabric Godmothers tutorial and thought this was a great starting point.

I started by making the darker jeans one big piece of fabric, mostly because at the beginning I was going to make a dress but I didn't have a big enough piece. This piece then became the top frill of my bardot top.

I then made sure I had enough of the lighter jeans. Now this pair of jeans were bought with 'designer' fraying already put in, which just got bigger and bigger of a hole! So I had to repair these holes before I could use it as the main bodice to my top and not expose myself too much! Once that was done I cut two rectangles one 40cm deep and one 20cm deep.

I used the jeans hem for the bottom of the bodice and I zigzagged in contracting cream thread for the frill which I think gives it a nice finish. One I had made two tubes of fabric, I attached them using the wonderful tutorial above.
I only had thick elastic in, and I'm impatient to wait to go to a shop, so I pushed that through the frill's tube opening I had made. Whilst we are on the subject of threading elastic through.. there HAS to be an easier way to do this?! this is what took me most of the time!tip and tricks most welcome please!

When I first put this top on my husband laughed at my soo much as I had tried it on over my t-shirt and put the frills on top of my shoulders like a vest top, once I rearranged it looked much better (shame about my tan lines though!)

There are so many great adaptations of using jeans to make something else so please check out the hashtag #therefashioners2016 and #jeanius and see what everyone has been making. I love how everyone has used it so different and I especially love the negative space removing the pocket gives you like on my shoulder details.

By Hand London Victoria Blazer, with extra sleeve space

My most recent make is quite possibly my favourite yet, and I haven't really stopped wearing it since it was hot of the sewing machine! This A-MAZ-ING fabric is from the lovely people as Sew Crafty Online as part of my design project working with them. It's a lovely fabric as it's quite light but sews easy like cotton, though it's a nightmare to get a matching thread colour!

I changed the fit of the sleeves in this jacket because I was worried they wouldn’t be wide enough for my arms, and then would leave the jacket looking a little odd and the style is so loose and relaxed. This is the first time I have altered the fit of anything I have sewn so with the help of the ‘Curvey sewing collective’ I managed to edit my pattern piece.

I found the pattern sizes on By Hand London’s website and I wrote my measurements in the book like it asks, which is quite a nice touch, so you can remember what sizes you have made. As usual I’m all a strange shape compared to the pattern but the only bit I was worried about was the sleeves so I made it in a straight size 20 (apart from the sleeves)

For the sleeve alternations what I did was trace the piece of pattern as you would normally, then I found the centre point, and cut all the way down the middle leaving about ½” at the top should seam. I then spread the gap out so it increased by 1.5” along the cuff. Then I taped a bit of scrap paper in the gap of the pattern piece making my newly shaped pattern piece. If you pattern has cuffs like mine does down forget the cuff pieces will need to be lengthened 1.5” as well so that there is enough cuff to go around the sleeve.  It is so much easier that it seems and a lot less scary!

I made a toile of the jacket shell just to check the sleeves were going to fit into the arm hole after my alterations. I made this out of left over duvet cover from my Simplicity 8085 so it’s super light and almost lineny. The toile worked great and the sleeve fitted perfectly. Rather than pinning all the way round as you need to pin regularly to get the sleeve to fit in I used the quilters clips as I often do to save me stabbing myself as I was sewing round the circle. Without the lining you do have to have the collar a little bit, I use French seams to attached the lapels and collar on so that the seams were hidden but on the final product it was much easier as the lining removed the need for French seams.

Once I had made my toile I made the real thing! I cut my fabric outside as it was a beautiful day, if a bit windy for fabric but by that point I was outside! The pattern shows you the pockets on both sets of layout pictures, lining and shell, you don’t need both sets of these which it does say in the instructions but I was clearly too excited to get started and didn’t read that bit! Also if you want a contrasting cuff like I did, don’t forget to cut that out in the contrasting colour while you are cutting the lining fabric. I cut one of each because I couldn’t decide which to use!

The instructions are quite basic on this pattern but the’ sew along’ on By Hand London’s website is fantastic and very easy to follow. I got a bit lost when attaching the lapels and collar and the website saved me with the multitude of pictures for me to follow.

The darts are really easy on the pattern too as you don’t end up having to make out the lines etc the darts are cut out and you just match the pieces up and sew it along the edge to create the carts. I like how few pieces it took as well as it only took me an hour and a half to sew everything together (in between stopping for a cuppa!) and then I was out wearing it for my dog walk that evening!

It’s a perfect jacket for this time of year as made in cottons it is quite cool but gives you that extra layer in the cooler evening. I have even road tested it at the day job and it’s a perfect level of just smart enough but made out of some very me fabric! I think I’m going to make one in a light wool fabric for the autumn and maybe lengthen the sleeves but who knows what will entice me to sew by then!

All in all a very good pattern with lots of help and support around on the internet so don’t get put off by the intermediate skill rating! If you fancy checking out my Timelapse video of me making this have a look on my instagram @roodles_runique

Daisy Dress, from Simply sewing mag

I made this beautiful dress for our Christmas present to go see Phantom of the Opera (amazing by the way!)

It was a perfectly timed free pattern from the Simply Sewing magazine.

I used some vintage cotton fabric my grandmother had in her stash. It still had the label on it saying the cost of £2.80!! The total outfit cost me about £3 as I only had to buy the zips and the thread, my kind of outfit!

I traced out the size I needed and cut it all out and put it all together in just a few hours and it has so few pieces. Perfect for me as I hate the tracing out stage!

I really struggled in putting the facing around the neck area though. I sewed it all on then I couldn't turn it back the right way out. I had to unpick the shoulders and re sew them afterwards which left them a little frayed but now I know what to do next time.

I love the part circle skirt of this dress as its a perfect shape for me. And is really flattering. The fold on the neckline adds a beautiful touch and the dress would look even better in a plain fabric I think.

Beautiful dress which is perfect for work, Simply Sewing mag even included my version on their website!

Camp blanket, BADGES!!

When I went to visit my hubby family recently his little cousin told me about her Brownie pack holiday coming up. I decided she couldn't possibly let her go without her own camp blanket like mine! Well ok maybe not like mine as I have a few years up on the badge collecting but its a good start!

I bought 1 metre of fleece fabric from Peterborough market. I then squared it off and rounded the edges. Then I used floral bias binding all the way around the edge. I cut a straight slit in the middle for her head and binded those edges too. The edges of fleece don't need binding as it won't fray but it looks beautiful for a little girly girl.

 I cut out her name with my die cutter and appliqued this onto the back. It was a bit wonk but very Alice and wonderland!

I then zigzaged the badges I bought for her along the bottom ready for her to start collecting her own.

Sewing Bettine - Tilly and the Buttons pattern

I'm a bit behind in blogging so I've made Bedtimes since I last blogged.

I love this pattern as its super comfy and really easy to sew. This one I made with contrasting pockets and sleeve bands. I feel super punk in this dress!

The pattern has only a few main pieces and the instructions are really clear. Plus at the end you are instructed to drink Prosecco!

My only problem with this pattern is the sizing. My first bettine the armpits were a bit tight so lifting my arms became difficult and it was very tight across the bum.

I made mine in the largest size on the pattern size so perhaps I needed a size up. I'm normally a size 18 so perhaps next time I make one in non stretch fabric I'll  make some adjustments to the sizing as soon as I work out how!

I made another one in a size 2 for my friend who is a size 10 bad I think it fits her much better so perhaps its me that's a funny size! I made he's in Marvel superhero fabric and it was a perfect pattern as there wasn't any bust darts to cut out bits of characters.

My next Bettine will be in a stretch jersey as I think it will be a fab comfy dress and as I know the pattern well it will be a good test for trying out sewing with stretch knits.

Another wedding gift, with hearts and a single this time!

This quilt was made for my beautiful pretend cousin, who was sharing her wedding day with her even more beautiful daughter and her christening. The brief was she wanted a blanket for the sofa to snuggle under, the more colours the better (my kind of blanket) and she likes cath kitseny type fabrics.
 

I saw a picture on pintrest of a blanket with hearts all over it and pinned in, then she liked it too so I thought we must be on to a winner! As i'm still practising with shapes and applique I thought I would do some kind of paper piercing as another challenge for myself. I wanted the hearts to be large so I made each square 30cm tall. I used the table to size my squares up on the blog link here.

I picked which fabrics I wanted to use and set about cutting the shapes out. Cutting is the bit I hate the most so I cut everything out at once. I had one large rectangle of patterned fabric, a large square of plain fabric and two small plan squares. The sizes for these are on the blog link above.







Once the sections we all cut out I set about making the heart panels. You need two sets of what's in the picture above. if you place all the squares right side facing the patterned fabric you can then sew a straight line across the diagonal of each one. Once they are sewn you can fold the fabric over and iron it leaving you half a heart as below.

You repeat the process for the second half but make sure your diagonals go the opposite way say they match up and look like a heart together. You can then sew down the middle of the heart and iron that seam open at the back so it lays flat.

I then repeated the process I uses for the other quilt as I then had a square panel ready for joining together. In order to make the hearts stand out I used mostly plain fabrics so that it really became the focal point of the quilt. It also meant that I didn't need to make as many hearts as I could bulk out the quilt with plain fabric.



Once the topper was all complete I quilted it together with one piece of backing fabric. I free motioned quilted the patterns onto the plain fabric pieces using Guttermans thread that changes colour as it goes through, you can't really see in the pictures but I gave the free motion quilting a nice edge to it as it all changed shades of purple. The pattern I used had hearts in it too. I didn't draw the pattern on as this made it too hard for me to follow the plan, so I just quilted as I went along. I also did their initials in quilting on one side for a bit of a personal touch. I binded the quilt with some extra wide hessian floral print, which added even more floral patterns on and I think really finished the blanket.

After I managed to finish the final touches the morning of the wedding I made them open the blanket while I could see them and I think they loved it!

Poppy covered oven gloves

So I made these as a gift for my poppy mad Grandma, but now she thinks they are too pretty to use! Typical! Anyway i made them like this...


First I laid the patterned fabric out on the table and measure it with my current over gloves for width and length. I bought a meter of this poppy fabric and I have plenty left to make Grandma the apron to match she so subtly hinted about for Christmas.

So once I had two of those, I cut out the special heat proof wadding I had bought to be sandwiched between the two at the same size. I then with my matching thread just run straight stitched down the length of the sandwich and at four points side to side to quilt it all together.

I then used 1 fat quarter of red fabric and made the pockets. I copied again the size of my current over gloves but made the corners square. What I did was I doubled the length required of red fabric so I could fold it over the wadding and not have a seam at the opening. So I cut two sets of the red and sandwich that with heatproof wadding again. I'm not sure if you needed to use heatproof for the pockets but as it was for my Grandma I wanted to be safe. I quilted these together with a row or two of the fancy stiches my machine does which hopefully you can see on the top picture.
Please note a basted these with the spray glue left over from my quilts but there wasn't much left so it got a bit gloopy and left marks on the fabric where it settled. I won't use it near the end again as it left greasy marks on my red fabric.

I then sewed the two pockets on by doing a square all the way around the pocket attaching the pocket to the poppy sandwich I previously made.

I the trimmed the edges and put red bias binding all the way round to finish it off, and popped it in the post! The best bit was when the post office lady asked what was in my parcel... oven gloves! What a funny look I got!

The infamous 'Walkaway dress' Butterick B4790

After seeing this dress on The Great British Sewing Bee I instantly fell in love! My personal style is very retro and flared dresses like this flatter my curves well.
I bought the pattern on a whim when it was half price thinking I'll get round to it when I'm a bit more skilled, but no I decided to go head first on this one!

I was a bit daunted by the amount of fabric I needed to make this, so I thought if I mess it up it's going to be a huge waste of money. So whilst in Dunelm I saw that their plain block coloured duvets and sheets were on sale! I bought a bright pink and a bright turquoise double duvet for the grand total of £9! Perfect for messing things up I though!


I started by Ironing out the pattern pieces as this was my first go with a proper pattern so I was following all the things I had learnt watching plenty on YouTube! Once I have ironed them, I taped them to our living room floor then taped tracing paper over it. I copied out all the lines for my size then cut it out. I carefully folded my pattern back away and from then on only used the tracing paper and the instructions that came with the pattern.

Now as I was using a duvet the normal pattern placing on my instructions didn't quite work as my fabric wasn't the usual width or length. I made sure the folds were in the right places and I cut out enough of every piece.

Tia wasn't very helpful in this stage!

So after I cut all my piece out. I followed the instructions in the pattern to the letter, and I ended up with something that resembled a dress! Please keep in mind I am a beginning so I didn't move any of the darts or change the pattern in any way and I have since learnt it definitely needs to be done on this dress as it's a vintage pattern which doesn't fit modern bodies as well.

I then had the task of the miles of bias binding! I decided rather than buy a specific amount which I would probably end up messing up and needing to source more, I bought a 20m roll from ebay as the fabric was very plain I bought some polka dot bias binding to jazz the dress up a bit. I bought extra wide binding, half because I wanted to make life a bit easier and less fiddly and half because I wanted it to stand out.


I watched a tutorial on ebay about bias binding on clothing as I have only put it on quilts so far so there is much more of a sandwich involved. The video suggested ironing the binding in half reading to be slotted over the dress edges already ironed in place. I ironed about 4m of binding and started to put it around the dress starting on the corner of the piece that is at the back and covered by the skirt. I used my quilting clips rather than pinning it as it stopped it from being a bit too fiddly. This also helped me just keep moving the clips further down as I went the whole loop around the dress. make sure you leave extra binding along the back to tie the back panels together. I let about 20cm on either side which is enough to leave a small bow under the skirt.

I started by putting buttons in the front, but because I hadn't tweaked the pattern at all it didn't quite close properly in the middle and it wasn't very comfortable. So instead I took the buttons off and replaced it with some extra bias binding which I tie in a box at the front making it much more comfortable, and perfect for going out for a meal and overeating as it expands!

Ta daa! A very awkward looking me in an unruly looking garden!! As you can see the top it really baggy about my boobs and you may not see by under may arms is quite low and shows my bra so I would need to tweak the darts next time I make this. I'll have to learn how to do that first though! ;)