MeMadeMay'15

Incredibly it is the last day of April, therefore tomorrow is the 1st of May and another MeMadeMay challenge.  It seems to have come up rather suddenly this year for me, but I aim to take part and this is my pledge:

I, Jen of stitchynotions.blogspot.co.uk sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '15.  I endeavour to wear me-made items each day for the duration of May.  My main task will be to decide on a capsule wardrobe for the summer months

Last year I shared my experience of my summer ten item wardrobe and in the autumn I extended that to the project 333, so I have a total of 33 items in a three month period.  I did this from September through to the present and it has been an amazing experience.  I have been amazed at how little you really need.  Whenever I started this journey of downsizing I couldn't believe that Courtney had so little (sometimes less than 33 items) but having been through it twice now, I totally get it.

I am still purging clothes and recently got rid of some of my very first makes.  I loved them at the time, they got great wear and now they are being sent to another place.  They were invaluable to me as they were my learning curve for sewing, so they have served their purpose.

To the charity shop, out with the old, in with the new!

Merchant and Mills dress shirt, said Bye Bye to. Made 3 years ago.

This one has also gone, might make a new one though.

So yea, lots of stuff has gone.  Styles change, we change, clothes get worn but that's ok.

So let's see what MeMadeMay brings forth.  If you would like to part you can sign up here.

Stretch stitch frustrations.

Unfortunately no finished articles for a while.  I've been working on the Thread theory pattern, the Camas blouse, but right at the final hurdle I made a faux pas.  Even though the pattern clearly stated you stitch the placket on in a certain way, I sewed it on the opposite way!  Grrr.

If you were to sew a placket on the wrong way, you would use the smallest possible stretch stitch on your sewing machine, wouldn't you?!  Let's just say, there has been some very slow, tedious seam ripping this week-end.  Will it ever turn into a Camas blouse, not sure at the moment.

I decided then that it was time to do a different kind of sowing.  We aim to be a little bit self-sufficient in our house and have had a few successful years of vegetable growing.  I couldn't do it without my man though, who does the hardcore stuff like digging, ground preparation and general lugging around.  Things are very late at starting this year, however, as said man had a rather nasty accident with a circular saw in the New Year.  Thankfully he is recovering - I then 'decided' to cut my finger with the sharpest knife in the house whilst opening a bag of oven chips (not advisable) plus I injured my shoulder (tendonitis - not related to the oven chip opening).

Anyway, things mightn't be quite as productive this year, but we're not going to beat ourselves up over it!

The remains of last seasons chard.

Salad sown in guttering.

Well, might a bit later than usual, but at least we've made a start.

Hopefully I'll have a finished garment next time! That's if my eyes haven't fallen out!

Spring colours & an Oakridge blouse.

There is a little hint that spring might actually be here, in that the daffodils and primroses are out, the gorse hedges are in full bloom (just in time for dyeing your boiled eggs for rolling down the hill), the clocks have gone forward an hour and there are little lambs in the nearby fields bleating their hearts out.

I reckon that's my cue for getting the brighter, lighter fabrics out of the stash and get cutting.  I have had some lovely rayon challis stashed from last year and I thought it was time to use it.  I had already used the butterfly one for my Cappuccino top in the autumn and it's lovely fabric, washes and wears well.

So this fabric is from the same Anna Maria Horner collection, Field Study and this one is Coordinates in Cyprus, a lovely turquoise and off-white combination.  The pattern I went for is the Sewaholic Oakridge blouse, I have been hankering after a pussy bow-type blouse, but couldn't decide which one to go for.  A lot of them are quite vintagey looking and I'm not into that look per se, so whenever the Oakridge pattern was released I really liked it.

There are two versions of this fitted blouse, one a collarless version and the other with a pussy bow collar, a button placket and a shaped hemline.  For me the trickiest part was really in the cutting out and the pattern matching.  I took great pains to get it right as with this pattern I thought it would be really obvious if it was wonky.

As with any of the Sewaholic patterns that I have tried, the instructions were great, there were no real tricky bits, I just took my time and with my new Janome sewing machine, I think I have got over my phobia of buttonholes.  I made the size 16 with no adjustments, but I think next time I would take it in to a 14 from the waist down as it's a bit baggy in the hips.  I also (thankfully) took 2 inches off the sleeve length and they just hit my wrist which is fine.  I think the overall length is fine too.

I am pleased with the way it has turned out, the fabric is really lovely to wear and I would love to try the collarless version too.  Happy Easter.

Marianne dress for spring - the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity!

As part of my spring wardrobe overhaul I fancied making a Marianne dress.  I say SPRING almost as if it's a different season, but in reality here in Northern Ireland it's really just an extension of wintry weather clothing only maybe using lighter colours.  Of late I have found that there is not much requirement for cotton lawn or double gauze until about mid-May at best.  Having said that I fancied one of those stripey Parisiene takes that are so in with blue and white stripe fabric, but somehow I just couldn't find the right fabric.  So I ended up using some lovely merino fabric in a pink and grey chevron pattern that I had bought a while ago.  Anyone who has been reading my blog will know that this fabric is my passion, it is so soft and cosy, but lightweight and where I live can be worn in most seasons.

 I decided to use a grey marl merino for the upper bodice, upper sleeves and cuffs and the main fabric is a pink and grey chevron pattern.  I reckoned if Pantone say MARSALA is the colour of the year then I can say that burgundy/wine is one of my colours this year.

I made the size 14 and I would say it is fine in the upper body, but is a bit baggy from the waist down, the skirt part is quite flared, so I probably should have gone to a 12 in the lower part.  Ah well, now I know for the next time. (Still on the look out for that perfect stripe)

The dress itself is really an A-line crew neck dress, but there is a lovely little cuff detail which just somehow adds to it.  I have a million buttons stashed and yet how come I always have to go out and buy for particular projects.  Anyway, in this case, I think it was worth it - they are a grey/wine marl effect and match really well

The other version of the Marianne has a lovely little Peter Pan collar and you can make a kimono cap sleeve, now that would be lovely for summer, but for now I hope to get a good couple of months wear out of this version and, of course, it will be great for autumn.  It's a simple, but great pattern, I wore it today and it was comfy for driving and sitting five hours in an embroidery class!

Incidentally, I like to imagine why designers decide on the names for their patterns.  Now it may be that Christine Haynes just liked the name Marianne, but when I looked it up, Marianne (the French name) means 'having the spirit of  liberty, equality and fraternity.'  I LIKE THAT and I like the dress!

A spring Lantana Cappuccino dress

Hard to believe that we are now into March, I really don't know where the first two months of 2015 have gone.  Even though it is still really cold and likely to be for quite some time still, it is always nice to have something new to wear in a different colour.... and as it is officially spring, well the brighter the better.

This fabric is a Liberty Lantana fabric which I bought from www.sewbox.co.uk.  It is 80% cotton and 20% wool so I thought it might bridge the time between seriously wintery clothing and not quite ready for flimsy cotton clothing. I still might require a bit of layering to keep cosy, depends on the weather, I suppose.

The pattern is the Liesl and Co Cappuccino pattern which I have already used before in the top version here, so I already new the fit would be fine. I did the same full bust adjustment of adding an extra inch. The dress has the addition of pockets which is always good.

The trim fabric on the collar and cuffs is an organic crossweave cotton from organiccotton.biz, called purpleish.  It's a little bit crisper than the lantana which is lovely and soft, almost like a brushed cotton, really lovely to work with too.

I like these type of dresses as they can be worn with tights or more casually over jeans or leggings, I took about 3 inches off the length so it would come a little bit above the knee level and would work better over leggings/trousers.

So there we go, the first of my new season sewing, hope I get the weather I'm hoping for!

Man's Liberty shirt

Over the past few weeks I have been doing some selfless sewing - I mean you have to now and again, don't you?  There was a pre-christmas hint from my husband for a Liberty shirt, eek! Why eek?  Well, it's Liberty, therefore a little more pricey than your average shirt cotton (not that I mind, of course) but I had never made a man's shirt and basically was a little bit afraid of making a mess of my 3 metres of Liberty.  It was meant to be for Christmas, but I just didn't have the time to put into it then, but I am pleased to say that it is now finished.

I used the pattern Burda 7525, Version 1, which has a half button down placket.  After much contemplation and deliberation I chose a paisley pattern called Bourton (Tana Lawn) which is broadly beige, brown and red, which I purchased from sewbox, here.  Liberty had a man's shirt in this fabric so I reckoned it would be fine.

Burda 7525

I took it slowly, details were the collar, the button placket, a back pleat and the cuff and sleeve placket.  It was the first time using a Burda pattern and it was fine,  the instructions were adequate. They use slightly different terms in places like 'baste' which I thought was a temporary long stitch, but as far as I could see these seams were meant to stay in, but I could be wrong.

It was my first time using my new sewing machine for buttonholes which makes it all so much easier (apart from one where my bobbin thread ran out - stupid!) so there may be more garments with buttonholes now.  Hooray!

Pleat detail on back with triangle top stitching (at the top)

Liberty buttons.

I'm glad I took my time because I think it turned out well, tried to get nice neat top stitching.  I probably should have used a colour that would have stood out more otherwise it blends in too well and you wonder what the point of doing it is then. Must remember that for future shirt-making.

He seems pretty pleased and it is unique I guess.  I'm pleased too and now I can get on with some spring planning for what I 'need' to sew - yes, spring! 

My experience of cosy winter fabrics.

As the temperature starts to lower and amber warnings of snow and other wintry conditions abound, I thought I would share my experiences of using warmer fabrics for winter clothing.  It always amazes me when I see photos on blogs of cotton dresses being worn in winter, they must have thermal vests underneath because I'm afraid I need a little more warmth than that.

Early morning view on Thursday

So I'll start with what I think is the warmest and work my way down.

1.  Wool

I suppose that's pretty obvious - it would have to be wool.  I am a big wool fan in every shape and size of strand and fibre.

It is, of course a natural fibre, it is breathable, comfortable (unless you are unfortunate enough to be sensitive to it) and warm.

I suppose it's general performance depends on both the weave (dense or more open) and also the weight.  You pay for what you get, the heavier ones will keep out the cold better, but will be more expensive.  Prices range from £8 - £50/metre, the latter being perhaps Harris Tweed.

In general, wool fabrics I have found easy to work with, both cutting and sewing.  It also stands the test of time, in that it is generally hard wearing.  The only slight down side is that you may need to dry clean or hand wash, but usually less cleaning is required overall.

Lately I also used a viscose/ wool mix in my Delphine skirt which is very cosy, more detail here.

Some of my 'wool projects'

Beige wool fabric from Guthrie & Ghani
Colette Albion

Black wool fabric from dragonflyfabric.com, Liesl & Co Woodland Stroll Cape

2.  Merino/Knit fabrics

To me, merino knit fabric is fantastic.  The only source I have purchased merino knit from is newzealandmerinoandfabrics.com.  I haven't found a source here in the UK or in Europe and the last lot I purchased the postage was quite a bit and you also are liable to pay VAT.  However, there are lots of offers and remnants so if you get the fabric at a good price, it works out fine.  There are lots of patterns and colours and excellent quality.  I generally receive my parcels in about 7 days.

Some fabrics have more stretch than others and there are different weights, so bear that in mind so that it matches whichever pattern you have chosen.

I have also bought some wool jersey in myfabrics.co.uk, they have a great selection and are reasonably priced.

But as most of my dresses are of the knit variety in winter these sort of fabrics would be the ones I use most.  Here are some examples:

Victory Lola, wool jersey from myfabrics.

Jennifer Lauren Enid sweater, fabric newzealandmerino

3.  Ponte knit jersey

I don't want to appear a fabric snob, although I love the merino jersey, I do use ponte jersey quite a bit too.  There are various qualities and weights, but overall they are cheaper than wool jerseys.  They are comprised mostly of polyester, some have rayon and, of course, elastane for stretch.  As they are predominately synthetic they are not really breathable, so probably will require more frequent washing. They are very easy to work with for cutting and sewing and can be washed in the washing machine easily and require minimal ironing.  Although slightly different double knit jersey is another similar alternative, although personally I am not so keen on it.  Like most jersey fabrics there will be considerable shrinkage so definitely pre-washing is required.

Ponte jersey dress (Onion pattern)

Heavy double knit from minerva fabrics

4.  Sweatshirting

Sweatshirting fabrics vary a lot both in weight and quality.  Again they can have different fibre content, I prefer cotton sweatshirting, but there are reasonable polyester based sweatshirting which are very good value for money.  I have tried some from myfabrics.co.uk and they have been super, ranging in price from £10/metre to £15/metre.  I also love the sweatshirt fabric from www.organiccotton.biz, it's really thick, soft and cosy and 1.8 metre wide so goes a long way.  Of course, there is also the option of the luxurious Liberty sweatshirt - I treated myself to some with some birthday money and it is really lovely, but pretty pricey.

Gray sweatshirt fabric from organiccotton.biz

Papercut sweatshirt pattern, Liberty sweatshirt.

5.  Flannel

This may seem a strange one, mostly associated with pyjama making, but I have found that flannel can be used pretty well for some garment sewing.  One source are these lovely cotton flannels which I have used a couple of times and on searching for the link I discovered there are lots of new additions.  Although these are cotton, because they are brushed, they can be cosy for shirts and tunic dresses.  Sometimes the Japanese fabrics have flannel in their collections.

Flannel fabrics are also excellent for cosy jacket/coat linings.

Merchant and Mills Camber top in flannel from raystitch

Merchant and Mills Dress Shirt in Kokka flannel, Dragonflyfabrics.

6.  Denim

Denim is an all year round fabric, but like most fabrics they come in varying qualities and weights, so for winter a heavier weight is better.  You can also get denim with wool content also, although I haven't tried any as yet.  I have mostly used denims from www.organiccotton.biz and dittofabrics.co.uk.

7.  Heavier weight cottons

Some of the Japanese double gauze fabrics are a little bit heavier which are good weights for blouses, tops and even dresses.  It must be the double layer, maybe it traps warm air making it more insulatory.

Japanese double gauze.

Like the denims, you can also get cotton fabric with a wool content (usually about 20%), I have some Lantana from Liberty in my stash that I haven't used yet, so can't report on it's warmth (or not?)  The only cotton/wool fabrics I have used is a check fabric which I used for a Camber dress.  It is warmer than a normal cotton, but unfortunately is quite itchy.  I'm not normally sensitive to wools so a bit strange.

Camber dress, cotton/wool fabric from myfabrics

8.  Corduroy

Again with cord fabrics there are different weights and qualities.  The wale count is the number of parallel ridges per inch, the less there are the thicker the cord, for example, a 4 wale cord is much thicker than 11 wale cord.  The thicker ones are more suitable to coats or jackets.  Although I like cord a lot and have included it here, to be honest, I don't think it's really that warm a fabric, the wind can blow straight through it.  I do love the Liberty cords though, they are very soft and smooth.

Corduroy Lisette Market top

I know there are lots more possibilities with winter-type fabrics like knit acrylic, velvet, fur, water repellent, the list could be endless, but these are the ones that I have come to use mostly because I have found they keep me warm and/or suit my lifestyle, my style and are practical for me.

I think I have mentioned most of the main companies that I prefer to purchase from, there are more but these are the ones I deal with mostly. (in particular for warmer weight fabrics)

Clothspot.co.uk
Guthrie & Ghani
Raystitch.co.uk
dragonflyfabrics.co.uk
newzealandmerinoandfabrics.co.uk
dittofabrics.co.uk
organiccotton.biz
sewbox.co.uk
myfabrics.co.uk
minervacrafts.com
merchantandmills.com
Craftswoman (local store)

Happy Winter Sewing!