Merchant and Mills Fielder Top

 So this is the first of my autumn makes, it is the The Fielder top from Merchant and Mills.  It is based on the easy going style of the sweatshirt, so is a pretty relaxed style, except it is made in woven fabrics instead of stretch.  The only stretch part is the ribbing around the neckline, waist and cuffs.

 I had purchased this beautiful patsy double gauze fabric from Merchant and Mills intending to use it for the Fielder, but decided it was more a spring/summer fabric, so I chose to use the lovely Nani-iro fabric (jewel-song-pocho-yozora) from misformake. (I see they have sold out for now)  It is a steely grey with metallic dots which have a slight pink tinge.

I love these double gauzes for spring/autumn, because although they are fairly light weight, there is a cosiness to them.

 I got the ribbing from Merchant and Mills and it is a lovely quality, in this case I used the grey which goes really well with the Nani Iro.

The pattern itself was very straightforward, the sleeve is in two pieces and is raglan in style,

You can also make a dress version with in-seam pockets which could be a useful casual dress, might make one at some stage.

So, overall, I like it, it's a simple, casual style, probably more for the week-end or a more sporty look.

Last summer makes - the Merchant and Mills 101 Trousers and the Bettine dress.

So thought I'd better share a few makes as I haven't had the chance to blog in quite some time.  I made these Merchant and Mills 101 trousers just before we left for our late summer holiday in Cornwall (Sadly two very wet and misty weeks, boo hoo!)

They are drawstring trousers and the pattern has 3 options, tapered trousers, shorts and wide leg trousers.  They also have side pockets and a false fly.  After much deliberation I chose to make the size 14 and these are the tapered version.  They have turned out pretty baggy and way too big in the waist, but the one thing about them that just doesn't work for me is the depth of the crotch seam ... it is REALLY long.  Now I have never been aware of being short in that region in particular so not sure what's going on there.

The fabric is a stripe linen from Merchant and Mills and it is really lovely, just the right weight for a reasonable British summer.  They seem to be out of it now, I wish I had purchased some more.

Merchant and Mills 101 trousers with Liesl & Co Maritime tee.

Presently they are not the most flattering trousers I have worn, but I may give them another chance as if I get the fitting corrected I think they could be a comfy easy going pair of trousers which is what they are meant to be.  If I make them again I will go for the size 12 and  reduce the crotch seam substantially, maybe by a couple of inches.  They could work well in a more wintery suiting fabric with some drape.



The other thing I made was the Tilly and the buttons Bettine dress, I really liked the look of it when it was released, an easy throw-it-over-your-head, a scoop neckline, elasticated waist, optional sleeve tabs and, of course, the all important pockets.

I made mine in a teal coloured polyester/viscose suiting fabric from Clothspot, they describe it as a "softly draping cyan blue twill fabric" which funnily enough is exactly what it is.

I used a Liberty fabric, which matched the cyan perfectly, for my neckline facing, the pocket linings and the sleeve tabs

The Bettine is said to be perfect for beginners and with the excellent insructions that certainly is the case, but it's not necessarily the quick make that you might think, especially if you decide to do the extras.  It's amazing how much time it takes to make tabs (neatly and well, I hope)

I would say it is a neat-fitting style especially with the tulip skirt, I feel mine is a tad on the neat side especially in the shoulders, but it is a very easy to wear dress and I guess could look quite different depending on your fabric choice.

I think that's me more or less caught up, I think there were a couple of short sleeved Maritime tees in there too, but now I'm concentrating on some autumn makes and really want to get back to knitting.  I think my physio has done his best on my impinged shoulder so I might be able to manage it, as long as I do my exercises!

Curlew from Merchant & Mills Workbook.

I suppose the first thing to say about the Workbook from Merchant and Mills is that I love it.  There are six main sewing patterns, four of which have variations, now that in itself makes it excellent value surely.  The book itself is typical Merchant and Mills styling, with a buff, almost brown paper front cover.  It is traditionally bound and the paper patterns are in an envelope on the left side, the patterns themselves are made from quality paper, which I reckon would last a lifetime.  Should you never make anything from this book, it is still a thing of beauty to have in your life.

However, the main reason in having a book like this is to MAKE AN ALL SEASON WARDROBE.  So I thought I would start with one of the basics, the CURLEW.  I really have a hankering for the Curlew dress, but as it is cut on the bias it requires quite a lot of fabric, so I thought I would try the sleeveless T shirt, mainly so I can determine the sizing.

Bias dresses will drop after sewing, so to stabilize, strengthen and prevent seams from stretching out of shape, it is important to use a fine, lightweight seam tape just inside the seam allowance of the neckline and the armholes.  I used iron on tape for this purpose from Prym which I got from Guthrie and Ghanni.

 There are two bust darts at the front, the shoulders and side seams are french seams and the neckline and armholes are finished with bias binding.

I used a pink Nani Iro double gauze, from the 2013 range called Nuance-Muji (Milvio).  There are different tones of pink, I think it's meant to represent shadows and light.  It has deeper squares of pink, but as it was cut on the bias I ended up with a diamond of deeper pink on the centre of the front and back.

This is the size 14, which is a neat fit (I am quite broad in the shoulders).  Strangely enough I would say this is a neater style than some of the Merchant and Mills patterns, more like a fitted shell top.  When I make the top or the dress I think I will go up a size for ease and comfort.

It's a relatively simple make, but worth taking your time over, especially with the bias binding on the neckline and armholes.  Overall I like it and will definitely aim to make both the top and the dress version.

I also love the look of The Haremere jacket and The strides, both a little bit more involved.

Jutlands and sandals.

While waiting for some haberdashery to sew from my new Merchant and Mills Workbook (which is gorgeous, by the way) I thought I would make my husband a pair of 3/4 length 'shorts' for the summer holidays.  I had had my eye on the Thread Theory patterns for a while, thinking they would be ideal for the men in my life, so I chose the Jutland Pants, not fully realising what I was taking on.

I had a denim fabric in my stash from minervacrafts that I thought would be good.  It does have some stretch in it, not sure if that's good or not, time will tell.

Jutland 3/4's with cotton bamboo shirt
(kwik Sew pattern)

There are two versions of the pattern.  Version 1 is a classic casual trouser with curved front pockets and single welt back pockets.  I chose Version 2 which is described as a more rugged work style trouser with curved front pocket, patch pockets on the back, cargo pockets on the leg and optional knee and hem reinforcement.  Let me tell you - these are the business!

When I said I didn't mean quite what I was taking on, what I meant was that there are a lot of details and parts to these trousers, considering I set out to make shorts.

The curved pockets are french seamed, I used a bamboo cotton, which is lovely, but kind of wish I'd used something heavier now for durability.

I used topstitching thread for the first time, thankfully with no real problems.  Minervacrafts has an amazing array of colours.  I also used Gutterman Jean thread for extra strength which has a few colours of blue woven through so it blends in nicely to the denim.

Also, joy of joy, I learnt a new technique, that of flat fell seams.

What I learned was that you really need to be accurate with your 5/8 seam allowance, especially around areas where there are multiple layers, like the pockets, to ensure you have adequate for your little turn in on the flat fell.  Let's just say, I got better as I went along, the first one is not great, but sure it's all a learning curve.

He avoided the sandal/sock look!

I used some Liberty left over from his snazzyshirt just as a wee extra touch.  Those pockets took quite some time to make, but I really wanted them to be good, with the topstitching, pleat and flap.  I raised them by about 2 inches, comparing them to my husbands other shorts.

The other part that didn't go completely straightforward for me was the fly front and zipper.  I had only done one prior to this, the instructions were fine, it was just that I couldn't get my topstitching to go nice and straight and somehow broke a needle in the process, but the end result isn't too bad.

So, in conclusion, I feel that this pattern will be part of a core set of patterns for my man.  This is something I am striving to do for myself, think it's working better for him.  Maybe it's easier for men, there is so much choice for women, different silhouettes and so on.  This was a bigger project than I really meant to be doing (so many other things on my list) but it is a brilliant pattern, the instructions are good, the fit is great also.  Lots of different options, to me they are a classic, along the lines of the Toast men's trousers or Old-town.co.uk collection.  It has also made me appreciate how much work goes into a pair of tailored trousers or jeans.  It was good to have an unexpected challenge, I might even consider a pair of tailored trousers or jeans for myself now.

Now back to my Merchant and Mills Workbook!

Sabrina and Victoria

I had an occasion lately for wearing something a little more dressy, a fun Gala musical event at our local theatre, a good excuse to try out a different pattern and make something new.  So, whilst surfing the internet one Saturday evening I ended up with the byhandlond sabrina dress.

I love this pattern, it's 'a sweet and simple princess seamed A-line dress', and it really does come together very quickly.  I decided to use fabric that I have had hiding for a number of years that I got from Tessuti, it was for one of their competitions that I never got around to using at the time.  It's called Gridlock (if you google Tessuti Gridlock you will see all the creations that were made at the time).  It's the first time I have made a ByHandLondon dress, I did buy the Anna, but wasn't sure about the bodice, I thought it would make my very wide shoulders appear even more wide.

Clearly need more width here!

Anyway, this pattern is great and very simple, I think it took a couple of evenings.  There is a bodice lining, for that I used an atelierbrunette fabric cosmic blue, which goes really well with the Gridlock fabric, it's so lovely and soft to wear as a lining to.  It pressed beautifully too and as long as you do your understitching there shouldn't be any poking out.  The gridlock fabric can be used either side, white or blue, so I thought I'd use the princess sections to do that, I think it works well.  The back has an invisible zip which went in fine.

Unfortunately, as is very obvious from the photo, it is a little bit snug around the waistline, I suppose I could let out some of the seams, not sure I'm going to be ripping this one out though.  I do really like the pattern though so if I make it again I'll adjust accordingly, I think I would also use a lighter, more drapey fabric, it would be nice in linen for summer or a crepe fabric.  It's simple enough in style to make a great work dress too.  You could, of course, do some colour blocking like black and white, lots of possibilities.

I wore it with my byhandlondon victoria blazer that I made a couple of years ago when it was first released - I think they went very well together.  Also because of the A-line design of the dress, it was great for dancing!  No photos of that, you'll just have to believe me!

Lisette skirt

I forgot that I hadn't blogged about this Lisette skirt as yet and, in fact, I have a little bit of a back-log of things to post.

Anyway, I had wanted to sew a skirt, with what I think is a bit of a 70's vibe, for a while.  So, whenever the new Lisette patterns were released under the Butterick line, I really fancied the skirt on B6182.  (Mind you, I pretty much liked all four of the patterns)  It is a skirt with an A-line, a deep front pleat, side front pockets and an invisible zip at centre back.

I wanted a fairly neutral fabric, so that I could wear it with a lot of different tops and eventually chose a pale blue soft washed denim from fabricgodmother.co.uk.  It is quite a light blue, paler than the photos on their website, just what I wanted and perfect for this skirt, as it not as rigid as some denims.

B6182 skirt worn with Maria Denmark Birgitte tee

The back has an invisible zip closure, so a nice neat finish.

The pattern, in general, is very straightforward, there is nothing really tricky - the most difficult part for me, especially with a skirt, is deciding on which size to make.  I do have a bit of a tummy these days and my hip measurement is comparatively much less, so I did have to do a bit of 'blending'.

This meant that I had to shave a bit off the sides of the pockets, so they have turned out more narrow than they should be, but I think it looks fine.

B6182 skirt

I'm not sure if I went about that the right way, I probably still could have had the wider pocket, but I should have thought more about it before I cut my fabric!

The other thing was that I should have used a heavier interfacing on the waistband - I thought mine was a heavy one, but it is tending to roll over a bit, but it's nothing major.

This is the sort of skirt that I would call a classic, it would look good in a variety of fabrics, if you wanted summer colour one of these wax print cottons would look really good.  I think it would look great for a work skirt in navy or camel or white (for the summer, although it's very difficult to find good quality white fabric, I think)

So far I'm getting good mileage out of this pattern and I might even think of the dress version of my top, which incidentally I like, but should have made a couple of inches longer.  It is quite cropped - just thought I'd mention that.

B6182 top

Me-made-May '15, second half.

 So I thought I'd better report in on Me-Made-May.

I sort of gave up on flickr half way through the month as I had some trouble uploading photos, instagram was more convenient for me this year.  (I just started it at the beginning of May so getting used to it)

I managed to wear at least one me-made every day.

Day 17 Christine Haynes Marianne dress in merino.

 Can't believe I was still wearing a merino dress mid-May but the weather was wet, cold and very windy for much of May.

Day 18 Liesl & Co Cappuccino top

 The Cappuccino blouse has been getting a lot of wear from last September, love the style of it and love the weight and colours of the Anna Maria Horner rayon fabric.

Day 19 Wiksten Tova Dress in Liberty cord

I think I made 3 Wiksten Tovas in total, 2 dresses and 1 top, it's not a great style for my shape, but no way am I getting rid of this one because of the fabric, Liberty cord is so soft and velvety.

Day 20 Jennifer Lauren Bronte top

I really like the Bronte top, got a lot of compliments last summer when I wore it, so will probably make at least another one.

Day 21 Colette Laurel top

Day 22 Sewaholic Oakridge blouse

Day 23 Simplicity 1806 blouse

Day 24 Merchant and Mills Factory Dress

Day 25 April Rhodes Staple dress

Day 26 Liesl & Co Cappuccino top and Jamie Christina Sol Hoodie

Day 27 Lisette Portfolio Tunic

Day 28 Merchant and Mills Camber top

Day 30 Butterick 6182 skirt (Lisette), Maria Denmark Birgitte tee

This skirt is a newbie, not yet blogged, suffice to say (for now) that I really like it.

Day 31 Butterick 6182, Megan Nielsen Bansksia blouse in Liberty, handknit cardigan

Apologies for so many photos all at one go, wasn't very good at keeping up with the recording in May.

Again, I really enjoyed Me-Made-May, the sewing community are a great bunch and full of enthusiasm, it can only be motivating.

Thoughts on my Me-Made-May '15

Seeing so many photos of yourself really brings it home as to what suits you and what doesn't.

Even though I am meant to be reducing the clothing I have, I still have way too much clothing.  Of course when you sew, this is almost inevitable as there are so many beautiful fabrics and sewing patterns, clearly still need to work on self control.

Most of my wardrobe this year is either blue or burgundy, this is deliberate as I had a colour palette in mind (as per the into-mind workbook that I purchased in the New Year, it takes a while to work through, but I thought it was great) I suppose there is a danger of it all becoming boring, but with accessories I think you can make it all look different.

There has to be more purging, but it is definitely harder to part with clothing that you have made yourself.  If clothes don't suit you or fit well, you're probably better off parting with them, at least you have learned in the process.

I always have shoe dilemmas at this time of year especially, too early for sandals and boots are a little bit over the top.

I wore jeans a lot more than I thought, this was partly because of what my May 'activities' were and also the terrible weather.

I still would like to try trousers or jeans (proper ones, that is, not those with elasticated waists), jackets and cardigans.  Most of my me-mades are tops, skirts and dresses, so that gives me something to work on.

Overall, another great Me-Made-May, thank you Zoe again for organising it.