Striped Skirt

I'm feeling the love for some black and white monochrome drama. You don't get to fade into the background wearing this skirt.

This bold stripe has been speaking to me ever since Ikea began stocking fabric. Yes, Ikea! I am certainly not too proud to get out and about in London sporting clothing made from Ikea upholstery fabric. Very Sound of Music!

In truth, I am really preparing for a coat. This was a test run to see how I like wearing something this bold. Horizontal stripes, no less. Verdict: Yes please! Wearing the outfit out and about today, I realised that I've made something that is a lot dressier than I thought it would be. The skirt is so full and stiff that it stands out by itself, even when I'm sitting down. I can probably take it to work but it is a bit too dressy for day, not dressy enough for evening. (Besides, I don't go out in the evening more than about twice a year.)

I spent a while thinking about how the trial run skirt should turn out. I even drew some sketches.

The sketches led me towards the pleated skirt. I wanted the pleats to break up otherwise solid hoops of horizontal bands. I love the way they become 3 dimensional inside the pleats.

I wanted to do a better job on the wide waistband than I managed on a previous skirt. To do this, I used a pattern that I recently purchased, New Look 6057. I bought this for the dress, but I do love the value of the extra patterns that often come with this type of pattern. I know I complain about the sizing of commercial patterns, but I really do think they are incredible value for money. I had a serious think about using the skirt pattern as is. But the pleat idea won.

How's this for a first? I made a toile! Just of the waistband, but a toile nonetheless. It was definitely worth it. I was planning to make the waistband/yoke of a different fabric, a white cotton twill in my stash. But the white in the stripe is not a pure white so the stash fabric did not match. That meant I had to piece the yoke out of the stripe fabric.  I took a bit of a risk, piecing along the stripe was going to take away the stretch component of the yoke, but I had to do it or the pattern would look awful.

I was looking forward to my first real attempt at pattern matching. If I couldn't get a 6cm wide single stripe to match, how rubbish was I? (Phew, turns out, I'm not too rubbish!)

The toile was necessary to find out how much I needed to add to the fabric to get the seam allowances  I would need to do the piecing. The whole band is made up of 7 pieces, each cut out individually. I found it essential to mark the seam line on the pattern pieces and match the pattern at the seam line.

The toile also showed me that the sides of the yoke did not meet properly, I took 1cm off the top at the side seam and added .75cm to bottom to get a smooth curve around the whole band.

I didn't piece the facing piece, I cut that from 3 pieces to get the bias component of the band. I moved the side zip to the centre back so the facing was 3 pieces, not 2.

When I use this waistband again, I will reduce the top and bottom seam allowances to 1cm to get a wider band. It could also be graded out within the seam allowance at the top which would avoid the need to make notches, or layer the seam allowance. I made notches for this skirt, preferring to keep the bulk in lieu of interfacing.

After I had cut out and pieced each section of the outside waistband, I used it to form the pleats in the skirt. I took great care to get the pleats to match up to the seams in the waistband. I am terrible at this kind of precision work so I really made myself try hard. I think I got it pretty right!

As I was cutting the fabric on the cross grain, I had the pleasure of being able to make the skirt from a continuous piece of fabric. I measured and pinned until the pleats were in place, then took a deep breath and cut with an extra 5 cms to spare. The total circumference is about 155cm.

I made 4cm inversions for each pleat. The front pleat is 15cm wide. I did a quick drape in front of the mirror to work out that I should stick to two pleats in the front and two in the back. The fabric was too heavy and stiff to handle the 4 that I originally drew. The finished skirt is heavy enough. I moved the back pleats to roughly where darts would be placed. I deliberately left the sides plain and smooth to reduce bulk. No seams, zips or pockets.

Once I had it pleated and cut, I pinned it to the waistband and joined them together. I cut the waistband facing after that, keeping it on the intended grain. You can see how the stripes change through the diagonal.

I had a black zip in my stash from Mood. I was pretty pleased with myself for even having this one but why, oh why, did I not stuff my suitcase full of their invisible zips? (Note to self: go back to Mood). My main pattern matching challenge came at the zip and then I had no excuses for not getting that back seam right. I think I got it.

The final step was getting the waistband facing sewn down. I was not going to manage stitching in the ditch. The fabric is surface dyed, not yarn dyed, and the needle punctures show in the black sections. I decided to zig zag the edges and leave them loose. I really should have bound them, maybe with ribbon.

I was pleased with where the hem finished up. I got to make the underside out of a strip of black - just like a ribbon hem!

Costs: Fabric:  £9.00
           Pattern: £3.61
           Zip:       £0.30
Total:              £12.91

Wool Pinstripe Pencil Skirt

I do believe that my sewing has reached the “big leagues” today. By that, I mean wearing a me-made garment to work. Proper work wear. What an achievement! My self-imposed standards mean a knitted hat or scarf does not count. Actually, I did wear this dress to my first day of the new job and I've worn this one too, but they are not office-only garments. This one is strictly office only.

The wool-blend fabric was the inspiration behind the skirt. I spotted it on Clothspot about a year ago and ordered a metre. It was always going to be a pencil skirt. It was a great price and has turned out to be a great fabric to sew. The colour is one of my go-to colours. Rather too much actually, at one stage in my life, I realized I could put together an entire outfit in this colour, including my underwear, shoes, coat and lipstick. Enough is enough and I’ve tried to cut back since then.

No cutting back on the wool pinstripe, although I did refrain from making a matching jacket. The fabric is soft and stable and the stitches disappear into it perfectly. It frays a bit, but nothing too dramatic. The pinstripes make following grainlines and matching seams easy peasy. I loved drawing on it with chalk, I pretended I was a real tailor! I am thinking about what else I might make (it comes in turquoise!) No! No, step away from the fabric.

I have a selection of pencil skirt patterns to choose from. All of them purchased for the jacket patterns. I ended up going with Burda 7135 in view C. The double vents at the back were the winner; a side zip and no waistband helped seal the deal. I was a bit doubtful about so many seams breaking up the stripe but in hindsight, the princess seams are better than darts in a bulky fabric. 

I have a few fit issues with the skirt, some of the seams are not sitting right. But my biggest issue with this pattern was the sizing. I’ve read that the big pattern companies sizes run large, but c’mon! This is a pencil skirt, it is supposed to be fitted! I could have cut two sizes smaller than my measurements and still had room for a big lunch. I was so careful to grade the pattern, cut and fit the lining first and it was still miles too large. If I have to unpick because I’ve made a mistake, fair enough. If I am unpicking because the fit is way off, that’s just annoying. I could have finished this in half the time if the sizing was better. I had to take in 5 seams at the waist and the side seam all the way down.

Zip? What zip?

The result is that the skirt is actually unbalanced. I did such a magnificent job of installing the invisible zip - first go, check it out! - that there was no way I was going to unpick it to take that seam in. Ditto the back vents: they were so fabulous that I wasn’t touching them either.

In the end, I decided to enjoy the process and get on with resizing it, rather than bemoaning the extra work and resist re-doing. I did love working with this wool (blend). I still think I should take in both side seams below the hip. But I never get around to remaking or mending stuff that I consider finished.  Why do that when there are always new projects in the queue?

I modified the pattern to eliminate the above-waist finish of the skirt. I have a very short waist and all my skirts already look above-waist. Another 5cms and I could have tucked it into my bra. Instead, I attached the skirt to the lining at the waistline and folded the extra centimetres in, as a facing.

My lining was also from Clothspot. I love a loud lining on a conservative garment. I’ve got some work to do to learn how to attach the lining to the vent openings. In the end, I made it up and hand stitched the linking down through the vents. It doesn't sit flat and there is some slight puckering around those vents. For some reason, they are not well fitted. I hope I get away with it as a pressing issue, rather than a home-made skirt.

I'm proud of my understitching and hand stitching the lining down against the inside of the zip.

I wore it to work the day after it was finished. I didn’t even wait to take pictures first. (I was extra careful not to spill my lunch on myself that day!)

Costs:   Fabric:    Clothspot £7.98

              Lining:    Clothspot £5.78

              Zip:         Mood        £0.30
              Pattern: Burda        £4.63
Total:                                    £18.69

Knitted Wrist Warmers

These were knitted from a kit that came with a knitting magazine.

I reversed the colours and made the background in the darker colour. When I do any stranded colourwork, I find the dark floats show through the light background, and I thought dark might show dirt less!

The opening for the thumb is dissappointing. I would have liked a more sophisticated finish than just leaving the seam open. I expect the mag and pattern designer were trying to make it less complicated for beginners. I've never seen a pattern that offers different methods by level of experience, but that would have worked well in this pattern.

They took me about a month to make but that was over a holiday period and we were travelling. They were a nice, portable project to take with me with minimal thinking and counting to stop me from being sociable while knitting.

Doll Cardigan

Finished just in time for Valentine's Day.

I took two tries to knit this doll cardigan. But it was fast so worth it in the end.

It would be a good pattern from which to make a doll coat. I've been planning one for Emily Bennet for some time now, but at least she has something to keep her warm now!

Detailed Ravelry notes here.

Knitted Doll Dress

Finally, the doll has a winter dress to wear - I've been so worried about her!  (Kidding. I still think she's a bit creepy... )

I am very pleased with the dress. The pattern is free from ABC Knitting Patterns. They have so many free patterns and they all look great. I'll definitely be making more from this designer. The yarn was a cheap acrylic that I got at the local general store. Unbelievable: £2.45 per ball and I used half! My Ravelry notes are here.

I re-worked the back fastening quite a few times. I did a chain of single crochet to make buttonholes. They were originally ties but it was impractical to expect children to be able to untie the knots. I got these cute buttons at Michaels when I was in Canada.

I am often told that I could do this (knit) for a living. It is meant as a compliment to my knitting and I am very flattered. But I do always answer that I could never pay myself properly for my labour. I spent 2 weeks on this and I easily knit for 2 hours each night = 28 hours. Of course, I enjoy this and do it as a hobby but even if I paid myself minimum wage, plus materials, who wants to pay £177.91 for a doll's dress?! I spent 5 hours on just one sleeve.

It's a labour of love.

Doll Ballgown

 

Marie-Grace is modelling for us today. She is wearing a lame floor length gown with a silver cord belt. The dress is the same pattern as before. You can kind of see where my neckline is too high and the arm too large. This was the first bodice that I cut. The lame was impossible to press and I don't know how anyone sews actual garments with it. You know, to wear. But it looks great on the doll and I think little Miss is going to be pretty pleased with her birthday presents.

 

I used the silver cord as the closure. It is fixed to the dress by hand, using couching. I am hoping that it is going to hold up to some degree of wear and tear and not be too fragile. (When I look at that picture, I always do a double take and think it is my youngest, standing against the wall for being naughty! Am I the only one who finds dolls a little bit creepy?)

For the hem, I zigzagged along the raw edge and just turned up once. It made for a smaller and lighter hem than the pink dress.

I wonder if I could make some doll shoes?

Doll Dress

I'm afraid I have succumbed to the special kind of madness that is the American Girl Doll. This is Emily.

I don't mind really. Yes, it is an insane price for a doll. Yes, they are not even very cute. But my daughter likes hers very much and it makes her very happy. Which makes me very happy.

Now here is where being able to sew really comes into its own and becomes cost effective. Mere scraps of fabric are all that I need and suddenly I have a dress that would cost me $30 to buy!

I did some making in time for her birthday and the doll got a new outfit for the birthday, and one for the party. I'm afraid that I have been so busy making doll clothes that the child has not got a matching dress for her birthday. She did choose the fabric herself. I'm afraid it is pure polyester. It has a lovely drape but it is not the easiest fabric to cut or sew.

I used a free pattern generously shared at the blog, All Things With Purpose. I ended up retracing it slightly because the bodice was a bit high in the neckline and a bit wide in the armscye. My second version suited me better. Technically, I should be cutting the back bodice separately from the front but doing it all in one is so much faster that I'll take the small fabric wastage and going off-grain.

I changed the construction method too, I joined the outside and the lining at the back, neckline and armholes but not the side seams. After notching and turning right side out, I joined each side seam through the lining and the outer as one continuous seam.

The skirt dimensions are: 80cm wide and 20cm for knee length, 27cm for ankle length.

I used a strip of velcro for the closure. 16cm is the right amount to get it on and off easily.

The great thing about making doll clothes is that the finishes don't have to be perfect. Nobody is going to complain about velcro being scratchy!