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.

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

Childrens Shirt, with left over superhero fabric

I can't bear to waste fabric... its probably not the best way to make a garment but I made this kiddys shirts out of scraps.

I used a free pattern I found on pintrest you can find the pattern here. I chose this one with the cute contrast in colours.

This is the first time I have done a collar and a yolk on a shirt so it was a definite learning curve for me.

I made sure whilst I was doing the contrasting colours on the back that I pinned really regularly so that the fabric couldn't move whilst I was sewing it.
The collar was easy to make but inserting it was a bit confusing. I think the instructions on the pattern tutorial are really good so check them out, but once I had worked out it needed sewing on the inside of the shirt sides.

It definitely wasn't perfect but the little boy it was for loved his superheroes shirt so it didn't matter !

Girls party dress, more scrap busting!

This is another free pattern from The Cottage Mama. You get the pattern when you sign up to her newsletter, and all the details are here.

I used the alternative bodice construction which has really good instructions the pattern download.

I used leftover fabric from my walkaway dress and the floral from the quilt I made. Luckily the two pinks matched perfectly.
The bit I struggled with for this dress was getting even gathers on the skirt. I tried I few times putting a long stitch and pulling the thread but each time the thread snapped.

In the end I used a method I found on pintrest. I cut a length of dental floss the width of the dress top. I then did a wide zig zag over the top of the floss. I tied one end of the floss to the skirt and pulled it through. It was so much easier this way!! One to remember indeed.

The end result is beautiful and perfectly twirly for the little girl to wear!

Simplicity 8065 another duvet cover dress!

 

I love a good 50's style dress. The tea dress style really suits my shape as it flares out at my waistline and hiding any lumps and bumps.

When I saw this pattern on the simplicity instagram I had to try it! It uses so much fabric though so I had to did out the other duvet cover I  bought from dunelm on the sale. It was a perfect colour for the summer wedding I was making this for.

The pattern was easy again because it is a wrap around dress. It is a full circle skirt so I didn't have enough table to cut it out so I had to cut it out the floor and so the dogs were desperate to help me... they aren't very good at helping!

Once I managed to cut it all out sewing it together was so quick! I was being a bit optimistic starting only the week before the wedding but I managed to finish it!

I got my beautiful flowery bias binding out again and it goes all the way around the back and the neck giving it a lovely finish. The back is a lovely crossover which is very low so I needed to get some kind of bra that wasn't so revealing.


Once I was wearing the dress it kept popping un done when I sat down. This is not ideal as its a wrap over I exposed my bum! I think I will upgrade the poppers I used to some cam snaps I have bought this week or some hook and eyes to help secure it a bit more.

I wore it with my fluffy underskirt and I felt fabulous! Perfect for dancing and making an entrance! It was lovely and plain but still made a statement, and it was talked about by the whole wedding party!

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! ;)

A less poofy much more wearable skirt, with elastic waist

 

 


This skirt was the result of a facebook post on one of the sewing forums asking for advice on the easiest was to make a comfy skirt.

I had this fabric from the Knit and Stitch show in Birmingham I had been to a good few months before but I was saving it for something I would wear so I risked it with this!

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I had 2m of this fabric and 2m of 1cm wide elastic. I measured the length i wanted the skirt to be, ie waist to calf. Then i cut two rectangles 1m wide by thr length i measured deep. 

I cut the same pockets as before and sewed one to each side of the fabric. I then sewed the two short sides together, following the edge of the fabric including the pockets. I then hemmed the bottom up all the way around, this would be easier if i didnt have an iron aversion so try ironing the seam first.

I then sewed the top in a very similar hem but i left a gap on one edge still open. This is for me to feed the elastic through. I cut the elastic to the size of my waist learning from the last skirt about stretching it a little. I then attached a small safety pin to either end of the elastic and attached one end to the fabric of the skirt. The other end i fed through the top channel all the way around allowing it to gather as I went along. 

When I had both safety pins back out the skirt i machined the two ends of elastic together. Then finished hemming the top of the fabric.

I could then wear my new skirt for the family BBQ! Fabulous!

Poofy skirt with elastic waist

Another make from a sewing mag this time Love Sewing!

I followed the instructions in the mag for this one, which was issue 15. It basically involved 2m of fabric and some wide elastic.

I drew round the pocket template in cream and sewed one on each straight edge of fabric. I then put the straight edges together and sewed the up either side, going around the pocket edges also.

I hemmed the whole thing up in a loop. Then I zig zagged the whole top of the skirt, then did a long stich all the way around which I pulled on the bobbin end to gather it.

I then attached the elastic without stretching it.

If I did it again I would use less elastic so that it needs to str3tch to fit and it will lie much nicer.

Kimono style jacket

This was the first thing I had made for myself properly. I used a rough pattern that was in Simply Sewing.
I bought 2m of jersey floral fabric off ebay as usual and set to work.

I folded the two meters in half right sides together and sewed 1" seams either side leaving 15cm for arm holes. I apologise for my mixture of metric and imperial my brain works in cm by my sewing machine works in inches!
I then cut all the way up the middle and across the top in a T shape. The top of the T was  20cm but it could have been much smaller.

I then put it on an felt like I was wearing a dressing gown, so I trimmed the bottoms about 30cm on each side to make it the length it is on the picture.

Ta daa! easiest and quickest make ever!

The wedding gift continues!!! Basting

So I have it all stuck together with minimal glue (remember use lots!) and it has been moved upstairs ready for me to sew it all together in some the hottest days of the year! yay!
I decided to use a swirly random patterns as it was supposed to look random so it wouldn't show any mistakes I made along the way.

I watched a few videos which said if you have spray glued your 'sandwich' you can start basting anywhere in the quilt so off I set in the top right hand corner. I wouldn't recommend this as because I hadn't used enough glue I ended up with some squiggly bits with extra fabric in the middle like this.

 I made sure my feed dogs were down and just swirled the fabric around trying desperately to keep it taught and at an even stitch rate. I had real issues holding on the fabric whilst keeping it taught so my lovely husband whilst on a trip to Wickes bought me some building gloves with gripped palms. This made life sooo much easier as I could push it through with very little effort. Good job hubby!

I managed to sew right through my free motion foot though which bent my needle and got it stuck into the foot. This was because I was going too fast with the material I think and pulled it whilst the needle was on it's way out.

 It's quite hard getting a big quilt through the 'throat' of a home sewing machine. So I started rolling up the bits that needed to go through. As you can see. This left me spare to work on the square I was working on at the time whilst everything else was rolled up. I worked on a panel at a time in a patterened fashion, so I started with the top right, then I did one down and one across working my way diagonally across the quilt ending in the bottom left corner.

Hopefully you can see the difference in this picture between the bits that are basted and the bits yet to be done. It just shows you what a lovely texture it gives the finished product.


 Whilst doing this I caught the backing in my stitching a few times which left it rucked. I would recommend that once you have used plenty of glue to stop it moving always check your edge spares are hanging over the edges or they may get caught in the mix. I then cut all around the edges leaving the topper, wadding and backing all the same size.

The wedding gift... once the blocks were done!

So after a small eternity I had 9 sets of blocks. I sewed all these together by pinning the long side and doing a 1/4 inch seam. This wobbled slightly due to the extra fabric from the long panels that I wasn't counting on but it looked ok! It left me with the rather large piece but still not quite a double!


I had promised my self it would be a normal size but I couldn't bring myself to make another set of squares or 3 so I decided to make a cream border for round the edge which will frame the panel. So I made strips of cream 30cm wide and 1m long. I sewed two together then sewed that the the edges. This made it almost the right side and framed the lovely fabrics really well.

Now comes the time to 'sandwich' it. What they don't tell you is you need a bloomin' big space to be able to do this comfortably! I had popped into the shop Sew much to do and asked for help in how to baste my quilt as I had watched so many youtube videos I was confused! She suggested spray glue and helped me pick some wadding that would be best for my project. I would have to say Sew much to do is my favourite fabric shop so far as the staff are soo helpful and friendly and they are always willing to answer my silly questions! So I came away with a spray can of glue, 2.2m of wadding and 1m of muslin (for another project!).
I was looking at the extra wide fabrics everywhere for the quilt back but I didn't want anything to detract from the lovely fabric on the front, plus it was all very costly just because it was 'extra wide!'. So I bought a king size plain cream flat sheet from Wilkinsons which was lovely and soft and will do the trick just nicely!

The key was to have the bottom backing slightly bigger than the wadding, then the wadding slightly bigger than the topper so you can see what it's all doing.

I laid the sheet out on my kitchen floor, there wasn't really enough room and my puppy's were very interested in what I was doing so they were relegated to the garden! I then sprayed the top half of the sheet with the glue and laid the wadding on top. I smoothed it out then sprayed the wadding with glue and laid my topper onto it. I then folded the wadding and topper back on itself and sprayed the other half and repeated. I later learnt I didn't use enough glue as it started to come apart after a while so don't be frugal, spray away!

I then carried it upstairs very carefully ready to be basted on my machine.. I'll save these tips for a new post!

My biggest project pre sewing machines...!

As I mentioned in my introduction I am heavily involved in Girl Guiding. As you probably know us guidey types LOVE to collect badges! Then we like to put them in little piles and hope the badge fairy comes and sews them onto our blankets....
Sadly this rarely happens!

My blanket is my pride and joy and the little history of my guiding life, all 22 years of it and I'm only 27!

My blanket started as a little pink fleecey thing I bought cheaply in dunelm as a guide, before I really realised how much I enjoyed guiding. It soon ran out of space and it infuriated me how all the badges were out of date order that I had earned/gained them so I set about making a new one.

I borrowed my sisters sewing machine, which I know now the tension was all out and that's why it kept getting in knots, and a fair amounts of wonder webb was involved and 3 meters of orange fleece fabric from Boyes near where my grandparents live.

I cut a hole in the middle like any good ponchos and decided I wanted to make a hood for it. please bear in mind this was at least 6 years ago so I had very little sewing knowledge despite having all the books... So after some reading and googleing I made a hood! I then couldn't work out how to attach it to my blanket as I couldn't get the blanket in to sew it, so I wonder webbed it and hand sewed a sort of fleece collar around the edge to keep it neat. Suprisingly it's still attached! but at least now i'll know how to fix it!

I then hemmed all the edges, which was pointless as it's fleece and won't fray, but who was I to know! and made a pocket shape and ironed that on too.

Then I had the monstrous task of re-sewing all the badges back onto my blanket! Luckily, if you look at it that way, I then lived on my own in a 1 bed flat and I couldn't afford the heating so one winter was spent hand sewing each badge back on whilst it was on my lap. Nice and toasty I was too!

Waiting for the badge fairy.....!

These days its a panic rush to get it all up to date before going on a trip! This last time (before taking the girls to sleepover at the sealife centre!) I tried putting them on  with my machine!

The square ones are easy with a lovely zig zag though badges are getting all shapes and sizes now! So I started using my free motion foot and just wiggling around the edge of the badge. No where near neat, but stays on my better than my hand sewing! Though the main issue is shoving my huge blanket through the machine!!

Now just to re-sew all my dodge hand sewing/wonderwebbing......!

A slight aside from sewing - My singer sewing table!

Shortly after the last make I moved house, so I finally had a dedicated area for my crafting!

So I sourced on ebay this stand and restored it for use as a sewing table. Just thought I'd put a post up with all the different stages!
This is how it arrived

 
 
 

As you can see, caped in dirt! I got it for £20 on ebay and it had clearly just been in the garden for goodness knows how long!
















So we pressure washed it...



And re painted it black to keep the rusty bits at bay

Then my husband painted gold on the wording to make it look beautiful

Don't you think it looks great? I then attached an ikea table top to it and it's perfect! I'll take a picture when there isn't so much creativity going on in my craft room... aka mess!