A winter coat in the making!

I am definitely thinking about my winter wardrobe now, but I guess we all are! The thing I have started with is the thing that's probably the biggest investment in terms of time and materials. A winter coat! I am using a vintage pattern, Vogue 9939, and it's one I've made up before (pre-blog), so know what the fit is like.

I am also using fabric from my stash that I had set aside last year, but never got around to sewing. The fabric I am using a boiled wool from textile centre. They currently only have a small amount of brown left, but I have seen this type of fabric around in a lot of fabric shops. It is admittedly a lot more fluid than I imagined so not quite right as it stands for this particular pattern. I still haven't finished said coat, but I thought I would just post some progress pics of what I have done so far!

To start off I underlined all the main coat pieces with a surplus shirting cotton from my stash. I cut the main fabric first and simply overlaid it onto the shirting with wrong sides together and cut the underling very roughly with an extra 1" or so extra around the edge. I then neatened and smoothed everything and lined up straight edges where they were present before hand basting the edges. You can see the basting stitches left in on the below picture. The idea of the underlining is to add some structure and body to better suit this voluminous coat. It isn't a quick process, but it is absolutely worth it and really transforms the fabric.

The coat pattern is very plain, but has some good quality details that I wanted to highlight. The pattern calls for topstitching on all the seams, but I chose instead to topstitch the darts only and really make a feature of them. How gorgeous are these darts? The stitches sink beautifully into this squishy fabric. The darts are topstitched in the instructions, but as open darts rather than this way.

If you happen to have and are thinking of making this pattern then the length of the coat as drafted is loooong! I cut a good 10cm off the bottom and sewed a 4cm hem. I did not remember this fact from the last time I made it, so merrily cut out as per the pattern, but look!

The length is totally not in proportion with the sleeves if you were thinking that this may have been meant for a tall person. The sleeves have worked out perfectly without shortening, so the body length makes no sense, but this is an easy fix! By the way, don't judge a coat part way through making it. The coat looks nothing like this now...


To resolve the issue of no top stitching on the collar I under stitched the seam allowance to the under collar by hand.

Note - this photo shows the true colour of the wool I think!

 What else did I do differently? Well, the pockets are bagged out with the lining in the instructions, which would have meant the lining would have peered out from some angles. I bagged the top edge only and folded the rest of the edges in over the lining neatening the corners and hand basting everything before machine topstitching in place.

Next up I catch stitched all the seam allowances to the underlining. I have not used an iron or steam on any part of this coat as I was worried about bruising or crushing the fabrics texture. The only bit I did go near was the bottom of the centre back seam as it was looking a bit rippled, but that was it!

So here it is from the inside! Everything is stitched down and from the outside it looks finished.

 A sneak at the outside!

I am so enjoying this project that I am eeking it out quite a bit. I don't want it to end and am loving all the hand stitching.

I shall hand sew the lining in and maybe add a sneaky inside pocket to the facing seam. I have an issue with bagged out linings I must admit. I am not keen on machine stitched hems on the main fabric and it's easier to make sure that the lining isn't going to pull the coat up when you insert it by hand. Each to their own though and sometimes these projects are restricted by time or the fact that you really don't care for hand stitching, which I totally get. I wouldn't say that I sew incredibly beautiful stitches by hand (I really don't), but I do love doing it!

Denim Bennett dress with self fabric belt

Catchy title eh?

So the other day I shared with you guys the bonus sleeve pattern piece for the Bennett dress and today I thought I would go into more detail about the two sleeved samples and in particular how I made the denim self fabric belt!

I'll just quickly go over which details I changed on the linen dress. Not much really, but I did level out the hem on the longest version and add two patch pockets on the dress front instead of one. The only other thing I added (that is not part of the pattern) is to add belt loops either side of the bib. I never wear this style unbelted, so felt it was just a nice extra detail to thread my leather belt through and keep it from slipping.

With the linen version covered the changes to the denim dress were the same with regards to the pockets and hem, but I did add a self fabric belt. I really love this detail and it was dead easy to do, so here's a quick tutorial!

This is the same as another belt I made earlier this summer to wear with a jumpsuit, but that was an independent belt that went around my whole waist, where as this one hooks onto the dress.

The belt is gathered over some elastic with small hooks either end which attach to thread loops sewn directly to the dress. The beauty of the thread loops is that they are so subtle you can easily still wear the dress without the belt or with a different belt of your choosing.

I used 3cm wide elastic which I cut to length by trying on the dress and holding it around my waist. Even though elasticated I left it fairly loose, but nipped in.

1. Cut an 8.5cm wide strip across the width of the fabric and your elastic to size as per above.

2. Sew your length of fabric into a tube with right sides together and a 1cm seam allowance. Trim the seam allowance down by half and turn back through.

3. With a safety pin on one end of the elastic start threading it through the fabric tube using your safety pin to guide it through like a needle. The seam of the fabric tube should be on the flat side of the elastic not the edge and this will be the back of the belt.

4. Before the elastic gets pulled entirely pulled into the fabric tube, pin the other end to the bottom end of the tube.

5. Keep pulling the elastic through gathering the fabric down. If it is feeling gathered enough before you get to the end of the tube put a safety pin into the elastic to stop it pinging back and cut the excess fabric off. I think I ended up with about 40cm excess because the fabric is fairly thick, but on a thinner fabric the full width may go over the elastic nicely!

6. Still making sure to not lose the elastic back into the tube fold fabric ends over the back of the belt and machine sew down. I folded a doubled 1cm fabric allowance over the end of the elastic (the elastic reaches the very end of the belt, but is not folded over).

7. Sew on some small dress hooks onto either end of the belt. I did two on each end, but neglected to photograph this step!

8. Next I sewed some thread loops to hook the belt onto. I did two sets to keep my options open. One set on the seam of the central bib and one set on the topstitch line. I used the end of a machine needle to gauge the loop size.

Now, I now feel it is my duty to say here that this belt is no more!!! It is very sad, but I lost this in town on Saturday and I know it is because the hooks were too loose. I should have just pinched them a bit more closed with some pliers and I knew it, but alas I did not action this thought in time. I have enough fabric for another crack, which I will definitely do, as it's one of my favourite elements of this dress. Maybe I'll even do some hand stitches to keep it firmly in place next time as I am unlikely to want to wear this dress without the belt (although I was wearing it today with a leather belt).

Mishap aside, I hope this tutorial was helpful!

One last hoo-bra!

Ah the summer holidays are almost over and so too is my lingerie madness! It has been a wonderful summer project to learn as much as I can in this time about lingerie construction, design and drafting, but I am ready for a change. It was important for me to take a break from designing garments and sewing in general because it can be all time and space consuming. My son is about to start primary school and I wanted to remain completely undistracted from the business of having fun. Best decision ever and it has been a special time, but the lingerie has given me enough of a focus to make me feel I am still doing something for myself.

Here are my two latest bras and I would say that the fit is pretty spot on (until I learn that it actually isn't).

This first one started out as another experiment that I was convinced was going to fail and was pleasantly surprised about how well it turned out! I just wanted to play with scallop matching and creating a neat decorative top edge, but it started to go really well and I kind of had to back track with my construction to make it neat. Like I said, I was only playing really!

It is a princess seam cup from my bra block with a straight top edge and scoop back. So pretty!!!

This next one is also very pretty and also an experiment. I was feeling frustrated about the fabrics I was finding (or not finding), so ordered some dye to tailor the fabrics and elastics to my requirements. After watching this video on Cloth Habit I used Dharma Trading Acid Dye. I used Blush pink and Radioactive! Everything in this make has been dyed by me from cream or white!

The main fabrics are silk velvet and a cotton/nylon lace with a scallop edge elastic.

A lovely detailed bra strap elastic and power mesh I found on ebay.

Some plush bra clasps. Not what I wanted, but they will have to do. I don't think fuzzy plush looks very fancy ;-)

Each of the fabrics take dye differently. The power mesh just laps it up, whilst the lace takes a lot longer, so I had to have a few goes to get a subtle enough shade on the mesh.

Some silk satin binding to cover the side seams.

I used a pale pink silk organza as lining. Pretty luxurious sounding, but I think the wrong choice as it's probably going to disintegrate pretty quickly!

I'm exceptionally happy with this 90' throw back bra. It is pretty and comfortable and bright! I love the textures and unexpected colour combination. I believe I have found my look!

So with that I am probably going to do some winter sewing for a bit and lay off the undies for now. I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and in the end I have not made my 'dream set' like I hoped in my last post, but this new skill isn't going anywhere and I have plenty of time to get around to making something spectacular. What I have learnt more than anything is that it is important for me to step back and try and broaden my skillset from time to time, not that we ever stop learning. It's one of my favourite things about sewing.

I have no firm plans for the winter. I have a pattern add-on to finalise in the next week or so, but am still not planning on working on any new patterns for the time being. Instead I am going to take my time on some shirt dresses for the winter. Have you seen the new named collection (who am I kidding, of course you have)? I am currently working on a Helmi tunic and planning several more. I was actually working on a shirt dress pattern before the summer (which I still love), but there are so many around at the moment that I don't think it's right to bring it out any time soon. So as well as a hundred Helmi's I am also thinking a coat? Maybe vintage, but maybe a coat version of the Falda by Pattern Fantastique.

Loads to think about and fortunately my stash is bursting with eligible fabrics!

Hopefully I'll be back soon with that pattern add-on! ;-)

Adapting knit knickers to woven

Hi hi, here is just a quick post to explain how I adapted my jersey briefs block for woven fabrics. I a really keen on woven briefs. The main reason being that the fabrics can come directly from my stash of scraps (I never seem to have useful jersey scraps), but also they are so soft and breathable.

So, I basically just slashed the block (minus the seam allowances) and spread it the desired amount. I was looking for a pretty neat, non poufy fit so spread the pattern to the width of my measurements(ish) at the hip. Because the woven is cut on the bias there is some stretch in it, so the fit is comfortable.

I increased the width of my pattern by a total of 4cm on the front and 8cm on the back (pictured below is half this measurement because it is only one half of the garment). On the back I spread in a couple of areas to help retain the leg shaping.

I also increased the length of the pattern by 2cm.

These measurements are only a guide as you will need to measure your pattern and yourself to see how much you need to increase, but this clearly shows the method.

Mark a new diagonal grainline to cut on the bias and smooth out the lines. The crotch piece remains unchanged!

Because the pattern you are using may differ in the amount of ease included you will have to measure up and maybe make a trial run or two to check the fit, but I hope this helps!

Have a good weekend! x

P.S. Here are some links to some pretty great free knickers patterns!

Woven mini brief which could easily be adapted for more coverage from the secrets of sewing lingerie book. You do have to register your email and name, but you don't have to revive junk emails.

http://www.lovesewingmag.co.uk/free-sewing-patterns/item/520-knickers-sewing-pattern

Another excellent pattern is sozo's free jersey knicker pattern download. So generous and there's even a vest!

http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.co.uk/p/free-patterns.html

Drafting knickers and feeling overwhelmed

So I am continuing with my summer 'learn to make lingerie' project and I am feeling pretty good about my bra block. I am about to return to it so I can start planning a nice set to really demonstrate to myself that it is truly working for me, but before I do that here is where I have got with my knickers block. It is from Kristina Shins book again. I have made some tweaks to the initial block (I used the basic brief) as I prefer a lower leg etc... but it was very easy to draft. I normally wear maxi waist height briefs. Since having an emergency C-section with my son I cannot bear to have any kind of elastic or anything rubbing on my scar. I do feel though that they are not the most flattering, so I am experimenting with midi height instead. The benefit of making them is that I can play with the tension on the elastic to strike a balance between baggy saggy pants and too tight. I'm pretty pleased with the pattern and have also been playing with different elastics and fabrics.

This close up shot of a lace pair I made last week is definitely my favourite finish yet. It is so professional looking, but not at all difficult. I didn't pull the lace trim very much as it has limited stretch and just lined the scallop edge up with the fabric edge whilst topstitching on with a zig zag stitch. I then trimmed away the excess knicker fabric close to the stitch line. So delicate!

Here is another pair of cotton lycra with the same lace trim in a different colour. I did well on an ebay purchase with a job lot of odd pieces of stretch lace. It's great, because I can play to my hearts content without the worry of having spent loads of money on something special. The cotton lycra was sent to me by a friend who saved it (and loads of other pieces of fabric) from being chucked!!!

I really love this finish. Up until now I have only used FOE (fold over elastic) to finish knickers, but this is much better. Ignore the not so neat trimming of fabric in the below pick.

As well as these I also adapted my block for woven fabrics. I basically added 8cm to the overall back width, 4cm to the overall front width, 1cm in length to the leg openings and 1cm in length to the hip. I shall try and do some visuals for a future blog post to demonstrate, but if you divide the pattern into a grid as per the aforementioned measurements and then just slash and spread to your desired width and length. You just need to compensate for the lack of stretch in the fabric (even though cut on the bias). The waistband elastic on the pair below is too loose in this pic, but I did go to the trouble of unpicking and re-stitching it after this pic was taken. Let me tell you that it was not a fun exercise!

These briefs are a close fit, but not tight. I didn't want the poufy ease that you sometimes find in woven briefs.

Next up I am just about done refining a French knicker block and also would like to draft a petticoat block. I kind of feel a bit like I'm losing focus at the moment with so many possibilities and the potential to get lost in the vastness of this area of design. I need to pull myself back and really draw a line under what I have learnt already, so I'm thinking/hoping that by designing and making a bra and briefs set as outlined at the beginning of this post will help me bring all of the skills I have learnt so far together and draw some sort of conclusion to this first part of home education. It makes sense and is how you do things in formal education. You learn something, you practice and then you demonstrate.

I am a beginner designer all over again. It's easy to see why you can spend your whole life or career specialising in one area of a subject. I obviously have many of the vital skills, but there are so many minute details that need to considered in the drafting, construction and fitting. I could spend so much time just working on my bra block. I must have made close to 20 toiles of that block alone and am certain that as I progress it will require further tweaks. Some of the toiles are teaching me about fit, but then others are teaching me about fabrics. Too stretchy, too slippery, too synthetic...it never ends!

Right enough chitter chatter and back to the blocks! Bye bye xxx

No patterns needed

Hello hello!

I went to a very special party this week for the launch of Rosie Martins new book 'no patterns needed'. Rosie and I are virtual friends so it was great to actually meet her in real life! The book appealed to me from the very beginning when she was posting progress pics on Instagram last year and I have to say that the finished book is so beautifully done.

I thought I would share some initial thoughts on the book whilst they are whirring in my head. I did buy the book, but I cannot promise that my opinions are unbiased because I really love Rosie and I think she has accomplished a great amount putting this book together whilst holding down a full time job, so natural pride may take over.

First of all the concept is something that I'm all over. Encouraging home sewers to create their own patterns is something I'm all for. It's how I started when I was at school, making all sorts of crazy patterns all put together from old newspapers. I don't think I even bought an actual pattern for a good few years after I started sewing (this now seems mad, but I had no money). Secondly, I feel that there is often a tendency in the online sewing world to overcomplicate a process. If a simple boxy top is what you are after then why not have a go at making a pattern yourself? This may sound a bit strange considering the fact I sell patterns, but I'm really all for encouraging people to discover for themselves what their limitations may be.

By some coincidence I was flicking through a vintage sewing book recently and found some striking similarities to the format and general approach to home sewing when compared with Rosie's book. The vintage book in question is a young girls handbook to enable her to gain the necessary sewing skills to construct garments and useful household items by completing a series of projects.

Both books recommend the most basic tool and equipment to get started, such as a square edge of a book or card to act as a square guide and newspaper for drafting your patterns. Even the sewing machine recommendations are for a basic (old) machine with the necessary basic stitches. I can't tell you how much I enjoy this as someone who is not into gadgets, but am mainly happy with the basic tools for the job! (lets just ignore that I have recently bought a new sewing machine :-P)

The approach to garment pattern making is also alike and are just made from a selection of correct measurements.

Rosie has this brilliant table for you to insert your measurements at the beginning of each project, which is a lovely touch!

It's a really gentle approach into imagining and creating your own garments from the most basic of shapes and I think a lot of people could get some real enjoyment from this. If I was starting out I would snap this up and as it stands I am already planning on making a few garments from the book! This is not really a review of the book as such in terms of the actual garments or the well thought out theme of shapes that continues through out, but once I have made something I shall report back. I just really wanted to highlight what speaks to me about how the book is formed. It is not like that vintage book I have compared it to as it is not building on your embroidery or mending skills, but it is opening a whole new world to you if you want to try out some of your ideas and are intimidated by the whole idea of pattern drafting books. This is fun and should be worked through in a fun way. Try experimenting with old bedsheets or fabric you are less precious about to build your confidence and hopefully you will love this method! I still love cutting clothes in this way from time to time!

Happy weekend! xxx

Summer of enlightenment!

I have taken a break from pattern stuff over the summer. I consciously want to avoid self imposed deadlines during this kids school break as no matter how I try to switch off, I inevitably get stressed like the pattern I'm working on needs to go out NOW!!! Nobody really cares. I know that, but I get so focused that it all becomes an unnecessarily big deal. To counter act this I am studying all things lingerie like a crazy person and am filling all my evenings with pattern drafting and research. It is such a brilliant summer project and I am learning a tonne already.

I have basically flicked through 'Patternmaking for underwear design' a million times and have read through 'demystifying bra fitting and construction' a few times too. Funnily enough, I came across this post yesterday on Mellissa Fehr's blog and she recommends these two reads exactly! I have also bought 'Pattern cutting for lingerie, beach and leisure wear', but am yet to really get into that. To be honest, I have found Shins method in 'pattern making for underwear design' so successful for the bras I am designing and playing with at the moment that it will probably be a while before I really refer to the latter.

So, as well as drafting I am looking at all sorts of construction by looking mainly at garments and reading through old sewing books. I am interested in modern construction techniques, but also more traditional approaches as a to way inspire designs that rely less on having the perfect shade elastic in 4 different finishes to hand. It is endlessly fascinating!

With regards to drafting, it is so refreshing to return back to paper and pencil and not be stuck with my head down in a computer all day. Since selling patterns I manage the whole process digitally from start to finish. It makes sense to me and means that every seam on the final product gets thoroughly tested in the same format. Digital is a fantastic way to work for many reasons. You can reduce your work space (a really important factor for me), work quicker and more efficiently and also reduce the storage space. I like to retain every stage of a pattern for reference from my original changes to the block, to subsequent adaptions and so on. This is easy on the computer and my files are supremely organised and any changes easily traced. Drafting on paper is so satisfying though and it's great to have the physical pattern pieces in front of me at all times. I have made an envelope for storing my block and have a separate compartment in it to store all redundant iterations of it, plus the master copy. It's brilliant and I have the same feeling looking inside at all the pretty pieces that I used to get when I had new stationary for the new school year. Whichever way I tackle it, I love the process of drafting patterns and it's reviving the fun to be challenging myself in new ways. Everybody should find new ways to challenge themselves, but sometimes it's not that easy to work out how that might happen.

I'm sort of treating this experience as if I were learning in a formal arena and critique as I go, but it's quite hard in reality as I am plagued with self doubt at all stages as to whether or not I am addressing the correct fit or sizing issues. This is good by the way! Self doubt makes you work harder! When you do a degree in fashion, it's pretty common to be told that you haven't quite captured a brief or the balance in a design is not as pleasing as it could be (in your mind they are saying you are shit and everything you do is shit). Luckily I have the inner voice that tells me I'm shit without a lecturer present ;-) Seriously though, it means that I am striving to do the best I can as long as those inner voices are present. When I can't hear them is when I get complacent and find I have to go back and correct a seemingly stupid mistake!

So far then, I have a good solid bra block (made to fit me) and I am toiling lots of different styles to see what I like, what I don't like. There are loads of pattern drafting suggestions in Shins book, but I find the idea of re-creating them too boring, so I am designing my own things and drafting patterns for them in my own way. It's good to have the book to hand for any similarities to my designs, but for the while I find it more useful to my skill development to just go for it with what I want to make.

What a load of waffle! Not sure if this is interesting at all, but I needed to write what's in my head! I'll try and update my progress as I go with what I am making now, next etc... Since making the bra in this post I have come to realise that the fit was not quite spot on. Demistifying bra fitting put me right there and I noticed that the under wire was not in exactly the right spot. Once you notice, you can't un-notice, so that bra has been retired as a development sample that I can refer back to!

Once the summer is over and I can get more time to do stuff I would love to return to the idea of this zero waste dress and mull over what I can do with it. It is not clear to be just yet, but I just need to dedicate some time to the idea. That's it for me for now, so byeee and I'll be back soon! x