More Dino Shorts

I got this t-shirt fabric from Fabricana in 2023, at the same time as my lurex for the bell bottoms. I thought Big Sis needed a t-shirt, but she decided it was too pyjama-like and so she would like some sleep shorts.

I went back to Sew Over It's Poppy Playsuit pattern, my favourite elastic-waist shorts pattern. I've been making the shorts in size 10/12 here and here but, in this fabric, they came out absolutely huge! Maybe it is because it is a stretch. This is ironic because I struggled to fit all the pattern pieces on the right way up. The back pieces were in danger of being cut upside down. Instead, I re-traced the pattern to remove 1cm from each seam allowance so that I could get everything on the right way up. I was planning to overlock the seams, so I only needed 5mm.

They were a very straightforward sew, side seams, crotch seam, waistband fold and hems.

Costs:

Fabric: Fabricana, $16.78

Pattern: Sew Over It, $0.00 (used previously)

Thread: eBay, $1.00

Notions: Waistband elastic $0.00 (upcycled)

Total: $17.78

Dino Shorts

I had 1.15m of dinosaur poplin left after the Dino Overalls, so the obvious garment to make was a pair of shorts. In fact, I think shorts are more practical and wearable than the overalls, although these do look somewhat like pyjamas.

I used the shorts pattern from the Sew Over It Poppy Playsuit, which I had used for myself a few years ago. It was great to have these to check the fit (no changes) and remind myself of the construction. I did flat felled seams for the legs and a french seam for the crotch. The waistband was elastic from an old pair of boxers, just folded over at the top of the pattern pieces. No additional waistband piece.

I didn't stitch down the cuffs at the top, just the bottom. For which I needed to do two rows, because I missed some parts on the first row. I also secured the cuffs at each side seam.

I cut pocket bags, but I forgot to put them in. I didn't want to re-do flat felled seams. I'll have to keep those pockets for another garment.

This really is the perfect elastic waist shorts pattern. I got some stretch dino fabric recently. I was thinking of a t-shirt, but she says she needs shorts more.

Supplies:

  Fabric: $0.00 (used previously)

  Pattern: $0.00 (used previously)

  Notions: $0.00 (stash thread, upcycled elastic)

Total: $0

Birds / Alex / Rayon / Navy Shirt

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this pattern, the Alex Shirt from Sew Over It's e-book, My Capsule Wardrobe City Break.

I love that it is a super easy shirt pattern, it's extremely quick, and it eliminates all the fiddly bits of shirt making. What I don't like is the very large sizing, and the casual dropped shoulder. I am wondering if I should put on my big girl pants and get a proper shirt pattern. But I don't wear a lot of shirts, so I don't feel like slaving away over making complex details in my sewing time.

That's why, when this rayon wanted to be a shirt, I reached for Alex once again. I got the fabric at Spotlight in Australia in April. It was on sale for just under $12 a metre, so I got 1.5m for a shirt. I also got 2.5m of a black with pink/green/silver florals.

Learning from my previous Alex Shirt,  I sized down from a 10 to an 8, leaving the collar and neckline as a 10 (this because the 8 was cut away in places when I cut the 10). I also added interfacing to the under collar. Next time I would interface the tips of the sleeve tabs too. The final change I made was to skip the pockets. They would have spoiled the drape and the pattern of the fabric.

I found the instructions for enclosing the yoke seams very confusing. It says to twist the edges, but doesn't say in which direction, or how many times. I used the "burrito method", detailed beautifully in Grainline's Archer sewalong. I'll be using that for all yokes from now on. In such a thin fabric as this, I didn't even have to roll it up, it just sat nicely inside the yoke, and it was fun to have it spill out afterwards.

This pattern doesn't work so well in a fabric that has an obvious wrong side. The lapels aren't faced, and the one piece collar means that the wrong side shows where the neckline opens. I fortunately/accidentally managed to have a bird at each point of the lapel, so the lighter colour saved the look of the neckline, but if it had been the navy background, it would have showed the wrong side badly.

The rolled up sleeves also need a fabric that doesn't have an obvious wrong side. I added cuffs to the sleeves, so I can turn these up and then fasten with the sleeve tabs. I didn't gather the sleeves into the cuffs, nor did I make button plackets for them. They are just the same width as the sleeves and are 5 inches, folded over. I like wearing the shirt with the cuffs rolled up once and then gathered into the sleeve tabs.

I set the tabs much higher than the pattern calls for. I can't understand why the pattern has them so low. It would roll them to about bracelet length, which is a bit pointless since they could be rolled to this length and not need fastening. I noticed this before I did the buttons for my white shirt, so I sewed the buttons higher up the sleeve. They are not on the anchor point of the tab, just floating on the shirt. For this one, I placed them much higher up, and the buttons are sewn on the re-inforced part of the tab.

I had four small navy buttons in my stash so I spaced them through the front. Five would have been better, there is a bit of gape between them. I didn't make buttonholes, since I will never wear this shirt open. So much faster! I had two larger, non-matching buttons that were close enough to each other that I could use for the sleeves. 

I shortened the hem by 7-8cm, so I can still tuck it in, but also wear it untucked if I want. I find the City Break hems much too long. This photo shows the shortened hem. Imagine if that was 8cm longer.

Will I make another Alex? My head says no, but if I get another drapey patterned fabric, it might be too much to resist. 

Costs: 

  Fabric: 1.5m £10

  Pattern: used previously £0

  Notions: 

    lightweight interfacing, stash £1.13

    navy thread, used previously £0

    buttons, stash £0

Total: £11.13

B&W Stripe Jersey Molly Dress

This fabric is an interesting knit. It is a thin, black jersey with stripes of thicker white and grey jersey laid over the top. The stripes make actual tunnels because they are secured at the top and bottom of each stripe, but not in the middle. It gives a nice texture to the fabric, and makes it much weightier than the lightweight jersey underneath.

I bought 1.5m of it, with a Walkely Dress in mind. This pattern was attached to one of my Simply Sewing magazines, and is a simple knit shift, which they have belted for shaping. I am still interested in making this dress, but I need a stable knit, probably with a random geometric pattern, in a neutral colour scheme. 

All this being a long way of saying that I didn't make the intended pattern with this fabric. I have a RTW stripe dress with short sleeves, so I didn't really need two. I turned to the Molly Dress pattern from Sew Over It, but the fabric requirements are over two meters. 

I am so confused about fabric requirements. My 1.5m x 1.5m piece was plenty for the Molly, with leftovers to spare. I lie my pattern pieces upside down from one another and the pattern pieces fit in nicely, with the sleeve pieces fitting in underneath. Even with moving things about to be careful about stripe matching. 

I have cut the Molly pattern down to a size 8 to account for me not using the seam allowance with my overlocker. I like to keep the fabric running at the very edge, so the knife does almost no cutting. I find this gives me a lot better control than trying to hit a 1.5cm seam allowance with a knit fabric floating in the air. I found my previous Molly tops to be very spacious and I didn't think a stripe with some body would be the right sort of fabric with which to make a spacious dress.

After I put the dress together and tried it on, it still came up very large. I am, by no means, teeny tiny but even a size 8 seemed huge to me. I don't want negative ease, but this style should skim the body. I put the dress on inside out and pinned away the side seam ease. Almost an inch on either side, that's 4 inches of ease removed. I also took some ease out of the top of the shoulder. 

I struggled to match the stripes properly. The shoulder seams were the worst. I think parts of the fabric had stretched out so the front shoulder seams needed to be gathered into the back shoulder seams to get the stripes to match up. This means that my neckline is much wider than I wanted. I had to choose between having the seams match up, with the stripes not matching, or have the stripes touching and the front end almost an inch before the edge. I chose the stripes because that top of the shoulder seam is so big and so prominent that it would have been very jarring to have them not match.

Matching the stripes through the straight sides was much easier, especially the sleeves. But I still got one side wrong. I think my overlocker presser foot pressure was set too high and it was feeding the two layers unevenly.

I added about 2 inches to the length of the dress, but I took it all away, plus a bit extra. I think it is better to wear this on the short side, with tights, and give the eye a break from all the stripes.

I cut the neckband on the horizontal stripe. I find the vertical stripes too jarring, especially with the two-directional stripe on the sleeve. Conservative is my middle name here! I attached it with as much fabric as I could, in an effort to make the neckline fit tighter. But it is doing the funny, sitting-up-at-the-sides thing, and those sides are very wide indeed.

Having a pattern go badly is always the reason I lose my sewjo. I often feel like not finishing, or just stopping sewing all together. Lucily, this was quick to finish, and even quicker to get a pencil skirt out of the leftovers!

I am not really very happy with this dress. It seems like a tent on me, and I don't really have the figure to wear a body-con / stripe dress. Perhaps I should shorten it into a top? It would be a stunning dress on a skinny teenager. I can't see myself reaching for this of a morning. #fail

Costs: 
 Fabric: Fabricana, £12.76 
 Pattern: Sew Over It, used previously £0
 Notions: none
Total: £12.76 + a new skirt

Blush Bamboo Molly Top

I am so excited about this blush bamboo. I realise that it is not a great colour for my skin tone, but it is too pretty, and soft, for me to care (much). 

I got it from Fabricana in Vancouver. I can't resist taking an afternoon to go there when we visit once a year. They have lovely fabrics, at much better prices than in the UK. In advance of a visit this summer, I thought I had better get on and sew a few things from last year's stash (or the year before). This is the first, and it has been top of my queue for many months now. 

I have two bamboo fabrics, this one which is printed with tiny black swallows, and a plain blush. I decided to use the print for a top and the plain for a cardigan. I find the plains too clingy to wear easily. This stuff shows every lump and bump.

I chose the Molly Top from Sew Over It, My Capsule Wardrobe, City Break because it is a brilliant drapey knit top pattern. 

It was very easy, but I sure did dither about cutting into that fabric.

A few notes to remember, and mull over another day:

I had 1.4m of fabric and I could have used as little as 1m, without nap. 

I struggle with the seam allowance on the overlocker. I cut a size 10, and I overlock with almost no seam allowance. I have gone back and re-cut the paper pattern to a size 8 to account for this. There is still quite a lot of ease in the pattern. But in this very drapey fabric, I am happy with the fit of the top.

I mixed some sewing machine threads into the overlocker and used pink for the two upper needles. The loopers had black thread, which didn't show through on the right side at all. Only pink shows at the seam, so I'll definitely do this again, rather than buy more overlocker cones.

I added 1/4 inch to each side of the lower arm pattern piece and I am very happy with the width of the sleeves. I wouldn't want them any narrower. 

For some stupid reason (laziness?) I shortened the waist on the front pattern piece, but not the back. The back has fabric pooling where it is catching on my hips. Fixed the paper pattern now.

Bad neckband

I had to remove the neckband and reduce the width by the amount of the seam allowance. It was standing up, but the re-do made it sit flat. I kept the extra seam allowance on bodice neckline.

I removed 5cm from the hemline and just left a small 1cm hem. I overlocked and then zig zagged the hem.

Costs: 
 Fabric: £16.16 
 Pattern: used previously £0
 Thread: new job lot, £8.69
Total: £24.85

Needlecord Erin Skirt

This skirt is the third pattern I've made from the Sew Over It, My Capsule Wardrobe, City Break. I got this pattern bundle in a Black Friday promotion last year, and almost immediately also bought this teal coloured needlecord for the Erin Skirt.

As we head into / are deep into another Autumn, I got thinking about this garment and wanted to get on with it.


I cut out a size 12, even though I measured at a 10, and didn't make any fitting adjustments. I think I might go back to a 10 if I made it again. It is meant to be fitted through the hips, and the pockets sit flat if the fit is snug. That said, a snug fit means the buttons can look strained, which is not a good look either. 

I sewed the skirt together before inserting the darts, but actually found them to be perfect just as they are. I thought about flat felled side seams, but instead overlocked the raw edges.

I cut the pocket bags from the last scraps of my lovely Suzy Taylor fabric. Because of the aforementioned pocket edges sticking out, this does mean that those to the side have a glimpse of white pocket lining, but it is a casual skirt, so I don't mind too much. Facing with a quilting cotton is such a sewing-cat-lady thing to do, but I don't mind at all! I did fold the edges quite far to the inside, so the teal forms the pocket edge. This is why you can see the lower edge of the pocket bag lining from the inside. I quite like the extra pattern here too. I chose to pink the pocket edges, because this finish creates the least bulk possible.

When it came to the waistband, I have an incredibly short waist - 2 inches short by my reckoning - so skirt waistbands usually look very high waisted on me. For this reason, I often leave them off. (See examples in these skirts: Delphine, Burda) I did the same here.

I drafted a facing from the pattern pieces (pinching out the darts) and cut it out of the Daydream fabric. Then overlocked bottom edge and attached to top edge of skirt. Then I added a strip of webbing tape to the seam allowances of the facing and top of skirt. This added some stability to the waistline, but little bulk. After that, I ran two rows of topstitching along the waistline. The slightly larger skirt means the top sits below my natural waist, which just makes it look normal by normal-waistline standards.

I agonised over the hem length. The amount of times I pinned myself into this skirt, I cannot say. I tried it on with tights, and without. I did a long walking test with tights, because I hate when the front of my skirt rides up while I am striding around the London pavements. I had added 7cm to the pattern length (accounting for the aforementioned short waist), but in the end, trimmed 5cm off the fabric, and turned up by 5cm. The pattern calls for a 1.5cm hem, so mine is 1.5cm shorter than the pattern. 

I had no idea I was buying a stretch fabric.  I bemoan how dressmaking fabrics have no stretch, compared to most RTW clothing these days. Then I buy some without knowing, and use it for a skirt pattern that advises non-stretch fabric! But the stretch worked out fine, and makes the skirt very comfortable.

This stretch was one of the main reasons I decided not to line the skirt in the end. I was planning on using some silk that I bought in Hong Kong about 5 years ago. But the length and the ease mean that the skirt is not riding up when worn with tights. I think it is just long enough to get away with wearing without tights in warmer weather too.

I created some 1 inch tape as hemming tape. Not on the bias, because I had very little fabric, the trees would have been crooked, and the stitching was going to inhibit the stretch anyway. It worked very well and balances the insides nicely.

I got the metal buttons from Amazon and decided that 6 are better than 5. They have little flowers embossed on them and I like how they are sort of like jeans buttons, but prettier. 

One of my future projects is to go back and put patch pockets on the back of the skirt. They are great for breaking up an expanse of bum and making ones derriere look smaller. I have to do it before the skirt has too many washes as I suspect the fabric is a bit prone to fading. It pressed nicely though. I didn't use a pressing cloth, or another bit of velvet to stop the pile from crushing. I also didn't press it very hard. The machine foot created visible lines through the velvet, but they smoothed out fast. It's a lovely fabric. I only used about half of my 1.5 meters. It was 150cm wide and I have a large piece left. This pattern could be made out of just 55cm of fabric, if you were willing to skip the pockets. 

Costs:
 Fabric: Croft Mill, 1.5m, £13.25
 Facing Fabric: Suzy Taylor Daydream Trees, £0.00 (used previously)
 Pattern: Sew Over It, £4.67 (third of bundle)
 Notions
  Thread: The Village Haberdashery, £1.70
  Webbing Tape: eBay, £0.00 (bought for another project)
  Buttons: Amazon, 30 for £3.98
Total: £23.60

SOI Alex Shirt, White

Another make from Sew Over It's ebook, My Capsule Wardrobe, City Break. I was actually planning to make the Erin Skirt first, but instead have made the Molly Top and now the Alex Shirt, and Erin is still languishing in my queue.

Please excuse the weird picture angle. I struggled to find a location with enough light for the shirt to show up and no nasty background mess. In the end, these shots looking downward with the lawn as the background were the only thing that worked. I hope it is obvious that these are looking down, and not that my legs are half the length they should be!

This shirt jumped up the sewing queue because the weather got nice, prompting me to think about some Liberty Poplin that I have stashed, intending to make this pattern. I decided to make a wearable toile of this first, using an old white sheet, and this is the result.

I cut out size 10 with no changes to the paper pattern. The style has a lot of ease, so I didn't bother with my usual short waist adjustment. I did cut a 1/2 inch sway back adjustment out of the fabric piece, at the centre of the back pattern piece (below the yoke).

This is a great shirt pattern if you want to make a shirt, but skip a lot of the complicated steps. Of course, some people love tailoring and shirtmaking, but if you're like me and want shortcuts, this one has them in spades: one piece collar, one piece sleeves, no sleeve cuffs, no button bands, no lapel points. But it still has a nice yoke, good looking collar, pleat in the back and a shaped hem.

I really like the way the yoke comes together to enclose the seams, but it took me a bit of figuring out to get the twist right. And a bit of unpicking. The photos in the instructions are not that clear. Stay stiching is not mentioned, but would probably be a good idea. Of course, I didn't.

I didn't particularly like the finish for the top of the pocket. Folding over the top edge twice leaves a raw edge at the top, once the sides are folded in. I folded that inside, but the notches created another raw edge. For future, mark the notches with chalk, or an outside notch. In future, I would make the top of the pocket completely differently by sewing right sides together and turning to outside, with a point at the top. I would also remove 1cm from the bottom pocket edge. I think they are a bit too long for me and are giving me a saggy boob effect. It's amazing how much pocket size and placement can change the appearance of your body. (Learned that from jeans pocket discussion on Closet Case.) I also didn't manage to effect the rounded corners on the bottom pocket. Mine are straight sided slants, which is fine.

I put the collar on upside down. But only realised this after I had topstitched it closed. It would look worse to unpick and re-do, so I have left it as is. I attached right sides together, it actually goes on to the wrong side of the shirt to top collar piece. Instead of slip stitching down by hand, I topstitched it down. It fitted well - hooray! The collar pieces come right to the edge of the lapel, so not matching up would be very obvious. So much so, that it would be wise to stitch each side separately, working from the outside to meet in the centre. My fabric stretched out slightly on sewing, so I have a tiny pleat on the inside collar seam at the back.

It is also worth remembering to make the fold over button bands as neat as possible. I love the simplicity of the pattern in that the button bands are not separate pieces and not interfaced. Just hem the front pieces and you're done. But they are visible on the outside as they form the top lapels. Mine are neat, but not symmetrical. One has a deeper hem than the other. If I'd thought it through properly, I would have stitched the hem side up and controlled better for the distance from the edge.

I tried flat felled seams for sewing up the side seams. Hilariously, I managed to do two different versions, one with the right sides together, the other correctly with the wrong sides together. I carried on and flat felled the right sides one, and what do you know? I like that finish better. The edge is on the inside and is a much neater finish.

This shirt pattern would not work for making a sleeveless version. I didn't realise earlier, but it has a dropped shoulder seam. It makes the shirt more casual and it is quite cute, but definitely not suitable for hacking off the sleeves. I was glad I did French seams for the sleeves as they are visible when they are rolled up. Which they always are. I really like the sleeve tabs, but the lack of any kind of finishing at the cuff, means that it looks like a lab coat with the sleeves unrolled. The line drawing is a bit misleading, it looks like the sleeves gather into a cuff band. They don't, just hemmed. A gathered cuff band would need a button closure to enable them to roll up. Cute, but not suitable for the simplicity of this shirt pattern. I'm thinking about putting an extra button higher up the sleeve, so that I can roll the sleeves to above the elbow, as well as below. I placed my existing button much higher than the pattern calls for, and it is not re-inforced. I hope it holds without anything to anchor it on. In a future make, I might put a little square piece with a cross, same as the sleeve tab, but higher up, for a second button. Or just attach the tab higher.

The hem instructions should be a little better. The pattern says overlock, then turn up once and sew. I wanted a better finish than that, so I turned up twice, without overlocking. I kept it as narrow as possible, and it has come out perfectly. Probably better than I could manage with a bias facing. If someone sews enough to have invested in an overlocker, they can probably manage a tiny twin, or rolled hem.

The buttons are my favourite feature and actually saved the shirt for me in the end. The shirt is so large and shapeless, that it was looking extremely like a lab coat. I have a large supply of mens shirt buttons, but they looked way to shirt-like on this. I wanted a casual, summer shirt, not a quasi-business shirt. So I decided to do completely the opposite of corporate, and use non-matching blue/turquoise buttons. This part was actually pretty fun, choosing all the little blue orphan buttons from my button jar. They are different sizes and shapes too. I have absolutely no idea where any of them came from. I love how they instantly make the shirt look super-casual, and more nautical. I had two the same so these went on the pockets and sleeve tabs. But mixed up, of course! If I couldn't have anchor print fabric, I have blue buttons.

I used Lisa's trick and didn't sew buttonholes for the buttons, I sewed them through the two layers of lapel and fastened the shirt shut. It is so large that it easily pulls over my head.  But... I might go back and change them to buttonholes. A white summer shirt is a great layering piece, and no buttonholes means I can't wear it open as a beach cover up, or half open over a vest or t-shirt.

Finally, the fabric: it is an old sheet, a woven cotton sateen. It has a lovely checked waffle weave, and after the centre of the sheet wore out, there was still lots of usable fabric around the edges. So much for soft sheets, my crappy ones last over 10 years and the expensive high thread count ones wear out super fast.

I used this for a toile of the pattern, but it may be my only version of this. I'm definitely not using the Liberty for it. On the plus side, the lack of shaping means the fabric is not spoiled by seams or darts, but on the minus side, it is so large and billowy, that a busy print will be way too much of a good thing. Liberty is going to be a sleeveless shirt, or shirt dress. Got to have some skin to break up all that ditsy floral.

The final verdict is mixed. With no shaping at all, this has come up very big. I've drawn in some shaping through the side seams for next time. It takes in some of the blousiness of the shirt. But I do like the shirt and I am glad it is in my wardrobe. It has some lovely design details, and it looks a lot more tailored than it is. It might even become a summer staple for me.

Costs:
 Fabric: upcycled sheet, £0
 Pattern: £4.67 (1 of 3 in book)
 Thread: stash, £0
 Buttons: stash, £0
Total: £4.67

Daydream PJ Shorts

I am lucky enough to know Suzy Taylor in real life, and she does folk art beautifully. Cute but not cutesy, her work looks very contemporary. She is known for her papercuts, and also work in ink and clay, and now fabric! This fabric is from Suzy's first collection, called Daydream, and as soon as I saw it, I had to get some.

Stocked in the UK by Cotton Patch, I was really drawn to this print. I love these soft greens, in three different shades, with pops of pink, magenta and yellow. It makes me happy every time I look at it. Plus, I love the cute touch of putting dragonflies, instead of circles, in the selvedge where they match up the colours for printing. So adorable!

Now, let's think for a moment. I bought a metre of quilting cotton, in a cute print, I have children. What should I make? Something for me to wear, of course!

With only one metre, I set out to make some pyjama shorts. I went back to the Poppy Playsuit pattern, for the second time in two months, and decided to adapt that to shorts. I knew the top was really roomy, so I was counting on the shorts to be the same, and the elastic waist is the right style for PJs.

Because of the directional nature of the print, in order to fit the pieces in, I had to shorten the shorts to remove all the cuff allowance, and the elastic casing allowance at the waist. It turns out to be fine. The Poppy shorts come up very high on the waist, and the cuffs are very low on the leg. (I like my pyjama shorts to be quite skimpy!) 

I wanted to do light green piping, but I had this pink to hand, and it was a perfect match. So, in the spirit of "use what you have, and stop buying new", I used it. I did buy webbing for the waist tie though. It turned out to be too bright of a green (pistachio, not sage), so I didn't use it in the end.

I could have pieced cuffs or a waistband from the offcuts, but in the end, I did neither. The total length was much longer than my other favourite PJ shorts, so I made cuffs and the elastic casing without attaching any more fabric. 

Here's what I did instead of cuffs: 

1. Finish raw edge of leg cuffs (by overlocking)

2. Attach piping, to right side, one inch above raw edge. Piped edge faces raw edge (down) and raw edge of piping faces up.

3. Fold overlocked edge down (wrong sides together), fold piping edge up (wrong sides together), the inch between the piping and the raw edge becomes the visible cuff. You now have three thicknesses of fabric, with the raw edge tucked away and the piping sticking up out of the top. Pin. 

4. Stitch two rows of topstitching, one at edge of cuff to secure the edges and the other underneath the piping to secure the piping and the top of the cuff in place.

The topstitching is a bit of a shame, but this fabric is not soft or drapey and the cuffs are not uncomfortable.

Did you notice my beautiful flat felled seams for the outside seams? I couldn't do the same for the rest, but I did manage to do French seams.

The elastic waist is overlocked, turned and topstitched down. 

I stitched the casing down, with the elastic and webbing inside. Not the easiest way to thread an elastic waist, but necessary if you want to use the cast off waistband from your husband's worn out underwear. Literally fished out of the bin. 

So now I have a complete pair of pyjamas, it's just that they comprise my thickest, warmest winter top and my summery-est summer bottoms!

Supplies: 

 Fabric: 1m + postage, £16.80
 Pattern: used previously, £0.00
 Thread: used previously, £0.00
 Notions:
  140cm bias binding, stash, £0.00
  2/3 x 70cm piping cord (thinned to 1mm), £0.44
  1m x 11mm cotton webbing tape, (not used) £1.87
Total: £19.11

Watercolour silk Poppy top

Wow. I finally got this top made! I have been hoarding this fabric ever since I bought it. It is, by quite some order of magnitude, the most expensive fabric I have ever bought. I fell in love with it, in Vancouver, two summers ago and I had to have it. But only one metre.

In truth, I think I like having the fabric more than I like having the top. I love the colours and the paint swirls through it. I think it is gorgeous. But it doesn't really suit me when worn. The large scale of the pattern shows up all the colours together when flat, but when it is made up, this effect is lost. I got the print placement wrong too. The deeper colours, especially the small section of black suits me best and I didn't manage to get this near my face. Instead, I have this nothing section up near my face. The colours in it are absolutely beautiful, but they blend away when worn. I was quite limited with placement options after every placement ended in having one of those purple circles or pink flowers right in the middle of my stomach. Not pretty.

With only one metre, it was going to have to be a top. I decided on making a top by using the bodice from the Sew Over It Poppy Playsuit pattern. I got this from Simply Sewing magazine, back before I even really knew much about Sew Over It. Now, I am a big fan of Lisa's and think her patterns are really lovely. Still, I'm unlikely to ever make a playsuit for me to wear. The girls, maybe. But I kept the pattern anyway.

It won because it has so few seams, with none at all in the front. Not even darts. I knew I wouldn't be able to turn out a beautifully finished work, so I wanted to hide this as much as possible with no seams and all about the fabric. I skipped the turn up cuffs and the centre back seam. The neckline is open enough that I can pull it over my head fine. I made the 10/12 size and I didn't bother with the short waist or the sway back adjustment because I was making a loose, flowy top. If I was to make this again, I would go down a size, it is just a bit too loose for my taste.

I treated the whole cutting out very carefully. I traced the pattern out on to newspaper so that I could cut it flat. I added the hemline from the Sew Over It Molly Top. With the whole thing laid out flat, I felt much better about cutting out. I sacrificed the kitchen table to cut out without moving my cutting mat around underneath. Good thing we haven't upgraded it. It's pretty scuffed already, and it cost only about twice as much as the fabric. The peace of mind about moving the fabric around was worth it.

Once I had it cut out, it was pretty quick to sew up. I did French seams for the shoulder seams and side seams and rolled cuffs for the arms and hem. There is a facing around the neckline. I rolled the hem of the facing, but it was way to wavy, so I overlocked it in the end. It worked much better. I did topstitch the facing down to the neckline. I felt really, really bad topstitching silk. But it improved how the facing sat so it does look better. I had a 70 needle, so I used that. There are small puncture marks in the fabric, but no pulls. 

The finishes are not marvellous. There is a lot of pulling around the neckline and the hems are neither smooth, nor fluted. Just wonky. But it is wearable, and now that I have seen the photos, I like it better than this morning.

Costs
 Fabric: 1m (Fabricana) £27
 Pattern: Poppy Playsuit (Simply Sewing Mag) £1
 Notions: no new.
Total: £28

Sew Over It, Molly Top

 

As soon as Sew Over It released them, I loved the patterns in the e-book My Capsule Wardrobe: City Break. Five great patterns that I can absolutely imagine myself in any of them.

Funnily enough, the Molly top / dress did not grab my imagination. I would have put it bottom of the list. I didn't like the dolman sleeve and the extra bit at the end. But I watched Lisa's You Tube videos and decided it looked much better on. I particularly liked her floral version where you can't even see the sleeve seam (about 5 minutes in).

Molly is actually a great little pattern. The negative ease at the bust and the flowy waist and hem are very flattering. It also goes together SO FAST! I sewed the whole thing together in one evening. Add another evening for cutting out and one for finishing and this was a record for me.

I used my overlocker for all the sewing so there was no going back on the fit. I made a straight size 10 and the sizing was perfect, aside from my extremely short waist. I had taken 1 inch off the waist, and done a sway back adjustment of 1/2 inch, but it is still pooling at the back. I have gone back and altered the paper pattern again, to make the short waist 2 inches. Yikes!

I didn't mark any of the notches. Nor did I follow the pattern instructions. I had just made the Coco and this is even simpler with the straight sleeve head. I would say it is a perfect pattern for an introduction to sewing with knits. Or possibly even sewing at all.

The sleeve cuffs are very close fitting. They go some way towards balancing out the silhouette, but come up a little too tight for my preference. I would add in 1/2cm to each side when cutting. The sides of the sleeves are straight, so it would be easy to cut out with a ruler.

The neckband isn't lying flat properly. I am not quite sure why this is. While I didn't cut the notches, just pinned the neckband into place, and stretched it out when sewing, it is stretched almost at its full capacity. I think it might have something to do with the nature of the fabric.

The base jersey is very soft but it has been dyed with the black over the top. It almost feels (and smells) like paint and there is a lot of black on this white. The scale of the pattern is much larger than I thought it was when I viewed it online. I wanted smallish white flowers on the white background. This is a bit too tropical looking. But it was on sale and super cheap and I couldn't be bothered sending it back. I like the fabric better when it is made up into a garment, so I am calling this a wearable toile of the Molly top.

I used my sewing machine to zig zag the hems of the top and the cuffs, but it still doesn't like to play nice with jersey. Thank goodness I have an overlocker now, it makes such a difference to my ability to sew knits. It doesn't feel as precise, but it powers through those knits with no problems!

Costs:
 Fabric: 2m (Minerva Crafts) £9.98
 Pattern: 1/3 of Sew Over It ebook (on sale) £4.67
 Notions: £0.00
Total: £14.65