Nearly Time for Me Made June

3 Senchas, freshly washed and ironed

As of tomorrow, the 1st June, I will be endeavouring to wear an item of handmade clothing every day for a month. I have been diligently ironing and mending my sewn items in preparation, and believe me, I don't normally iron. And only mend when strictly necessary.

How do I feel about MMJ? A little nervous. Not just because I'm not sure how my self made items will last over the course of the month, but also because I will be recording each outfit photographically. Now, I know it is not essential to include your face in these photos, but I want to. Not least because I need to overcome my dislike of having my photo taken, and taking a photo a day for 30 days might just help with that. My issue is that 90% of the time I have my eyes closed, or half-closed, which is worse. As the photo is being taken I always think "Oh no, I'm going to have my eyes closed, and ruin the photo". I think I might be willing it to happen. I also feel very uncomfortable posing, and can't quite perfect the nonchalant look that some bloggers have mastered. I just look silly.

So, if nothing else, do check back and see how I'm getting on with my quest for better photographs. I really do just need to get over myself and stop worrying about it. I've been reading Patty the Snug Bug's photography tips too, so let's hope that some of her wisdom has rubbed off on me!

K x

Crestfallen about Crescent

As you may know I have been participating in the Crescent skirt sewalong on Sewaholic's blog. After some reservations about the fabric I had chosen, the skirt was really growing on me and I was looking forward to wearing it. I loved the shape of it, particularly the slash pockets, and had been very much enjoying the sewalong.

Last week I shared my progress with my skirt and by now I should have it finished, and be wearing it. But no. As I was getting onto the final stages where I could try it on, I realised it was going to be too big for me. I thought I'd be able to get away with it, but actually it's far too large. I measured the waist and found it was much larger than I expected. Checking the measurements on the pattern packet I realised the reason - I had cut a size too big. Argh! What a stupid mistake.

I thought it might look okay sitting a bit lower on my hips, but actually it looks very unflattering - not sure how well the photos show this, but it really is too big.

 See how much nicer it would look if it was the right size?

All that remains to be done on the skirt is to hem it, but since I know I won't be wearing it in its current state, I don't feel particularly inclined to do so. I don't want to have an unfinished item, but I haven't decided what the best course of action would be - finish it and leave it languishing in the cupboard? Finish it and give it to someone? I would like to try and make it fit me, but due to the construction of the skirt waistband I don't know how best to alter it - I don't think my skills are up to it yet. I've also considered taking it to a proper alterations shop to get it done. It's so frustrating when something you've been working on turns out to be a disappointment. Sigh....


K x

Knit Bits

 

Despite being firmly resolved to get on with Me Made June sewing, I've been finding my attention captured by vintage knitting patterns. So much so, I have made a new page on my blog with links to free vintage patterns which can be found online. I've been working on this for a while - there isn't much to it at the minute but you wouldn't believe how long it took to get it to this stage, trying to coax Blogger into letting me put images beside each other was a major struggle.

I have also succumbed to the lure of Stitchcraft. This vintage magazine has been mentioned on so many blogs that I thought I'd better get myself a copy to see what all the fuss was about. I bought a copy from March 1957 (pictured above), and even if the patterns aren't up to much, I'm sure it will be enjoyable for a browse. It should be winging its way to me as I type. At £2.90 (incl P&P) it's certainly cheaper than the contemporary knitting and sewing magazines I sometimes but, and never make anything from.

On a non-knitting theme, have you seen the new free pattern from Colette Patterns - the Sorbetto top?

Image from Colette Patterns Blog

It's so simple and pretty, and I couldn't believe how similar it was to a project I posted about yesterday that I planned using Simplicity 2593 without the neckline detail and using decorated bias binding. Spooky, eh? I might try the Colette version instead, once my lovely bias binding arrives...


K x

Finished Object: Simplicity 2593 Cynthia Rowley Top

 

Pattern Used

Simplicity 2593 Cynthia Rowley top. I made View A, a sleeveless top with a twisted band at the neckline. There are no facings as neckline and armhole edges are bound with bias strips.

 

Does it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope? 

Yes, it does. I made a mistake with the neckline - it is made of a piece of material cut on the bias, made into a tube then twisted and hand sewn on. I managed not to cut my tube on the bias, as I was trying to be clever and fold the fabric as if I was making seamless bias binding. I messed up, and it ended up being cut  out the normal way. You could get away with piecing bits together for the neckline, as it is twisted. I think I've got away with my mistake, the neckline probably doesn't sit as flat as it should, but the design is pretty forgiving.

 

Were the instructions easy to follow? 

Overall, yes. With this version of the top, one thing to watch out for is that you have to cut 1.5 cm around the armhole edges before putting the bias strips around. This had been highlighted in another review I read so I was aware it needed to be done, although it would be easy to miss, due to the way it is written in the instructions. Unfortunately after smugly doing the required cutting on one armhole, I then applied the bias strip to the uncut armhole and then had to cut the edge off. Grrrr. Luckily I had just enough fabric to make another bias strip.
 

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? 

I really liked the bias bound edges, although making the tape and trying to fold it was really fiddly. I like the feature neckline, though time will tell how practical it is and how well it sits.
 

Fabric & Notions

Some kind of  man-made fabric from a charity shop. I wasn't sure which was the 'right' side - one side is mostly mustard and the other is more blue/purple lustre. I decided to use the mustard side for the main part of the top and then use the reverse side for the neckline, to make a feature of the fabric.

I only just had enough to make the top, and one negative about the fabric was the little stubby reflective blue fibres which were a bit of a pain at edges when the fabric was cut.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made

I cut a 12, though the finished size turned out larger than I wanted. I brought it in at the sides by a couple of centimetres.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? 

I would sew it again - I'm thinking of making a plain version without the feature neckline and using coloured/patterned bias tape. I would recommend it, it's a pretty straightforward make.

Cost

Under £10 - fabric about £2, pattern £4 on sale, and I had to buy a new spool of thread.
 

Conclusion

I think this will be a useful top and am planning to make it again, and am pleased with how it has turned out. I'm hoping to get some wear out of this during Me Made June.

Finds - For the Sewing Box

Hello there - I hope you had a nice weekend. Mine was filled with knitting, sewing, sanding, painting, cleaning, shopping and watching Mad Men box sets. The shopping was of the charity shop and antique fair variety, and I thought I'd share some of the things I purchased....

Always handy to have and only 25p each (from a local charity shop)

 And from the monthly antique fair:

 Selection of fastenings and needles, only £1

 

 Belt buckles at 50p for the lot - the result of digging around in a button tin. This is usually a rewarding activity, and I find that stall holders and shop owners are surprised that anyone has bothered to have a look, and confused at what price to charge, often resulting in a bargain.

 

I liked the look of the buttons in this £1 bag 

Even better than they looked in the bag! Pretty turquoise hexagonal glass buttons for a blouse, patterned red glass buttons and other assorted small shell/mother of pearl buttons

 Some needles, including massive ones, which I presume are for upholstery?

 I didn't expect to find more buttons in the same bag, hidden inside an old Elastoplast tin. Most are black but there are a few interesting ones

On another stall, the stallholder tried in vain to interest me in a pair of vintage electric scissors, however I only had eyes for the folders of knitting patterns, in which I found some beauties:

Isn't this set adorable?

(Does this pattern cover show the beginnings of an argument over what music to play?)

Classic cardigan with lovely detail at the neckline

At a cost of £3 for 4 patterns, all the above finds set me back a mere £6.50. Bargain!

I had also been on the knitting pattern hunt in the charity shops, but most were of 1980s/90s era. Apart from the brightly coloured mohair sweaters and similar, there were quite a few short-sleeved lace jumpers, which were in fact very similar to the ones pictured above. It is the hideous styling that always puts me off patterns of this era, but I really should take time to look at them properly and assess how they might look in a different context.

K x

Why do you make what you make?

Over the last week I've been considering the reasons why I end up making the choices to sew and knit what I do. This pondering was sparked off by a fabric shopping trip with my friend Jen last weekend. I was looking for a dark fabric to make a plain top with Simplicity 2599. While browsing the selection (I made a purchase - details to come...) we were talking about how we planned our projects, and that we both tended to make decisions based on wanting to make a particular pattern, then selecting a suitable fabric. Later as we were walking through town we spotted a fantastic gingham dress in the window of Hobbes;

'Wessex' Dress from Hobbes, £129

I'm not a particular fan of gingham, it reminds me of school summer dresses and can look a bit twee, but isn't this lovely? Jen felt inspired enough to buy some gingham to make a dress, which at under £10 was considerably cheaper than the Hobbes version. It wasn't what she was originally shopping for (navy swiss dot - does this exist without resorting to dying white swiss dot?) but seeing this lovely dress put an everyday fabric in a new light.

On the whole, I feel that I am driven by finding patterns I like, finding wool/fabric to match and ta dah! Decision made. I don't think there's anything wrong with this way of choosing projects, but I realise that I should challenge myself a little more, though I don't think this is an easy thing to do and really requires me to step out of my comfort zone.

During my recent knitting class, we had to bring in an image that was to be used as inspiration to design a square for a blanket. I really struggled with this. In fact, it made me feel incredibly grumpy. After a long day at work, I felt that being asked to suddenly 'be creative' was too hard, and I just couldn't do it. As a result, I abandoned the project in favour of sock knitting. A partial win, as it resulted in my first pair of socks, but I was aware that I had not taken up the challenge of working in a different way.

Much of the class was based around encouraging you to think about what you wanted to create and then match this with the right yarns, experimenting with different types and textures, or using the choice of yarn to influence the project. Again, this was quite alien to me. I left the class feeling that I actually preferred my previous way of knitting (choose pattern, choose yarn, knit), and I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

Returning to the Hobbes dress, it's a good example of when spotting a pre-existing item can inspire a make. I realised that I don't really spend time properly LOOKING at clothing to assess what I do and do not like, or working out why I like some items but not others. I'm going to try and do this a bit more, and collect examples of clothing I like, or even elements of clothing I like.

One convenient way to do this is through Pinterest. I joined up a few months ago but have rarely used it. It's a handy way to keep a collection of online images for inspiration. There's also Polyvore, which I used to create a 'moodboard' for the Colette Patterns Spring Challenge. This is ideal for creating collages using images from various sources.

I thought I'd share a couple of examples of things I have pinned to my Pinterest Boards:

French Connection Skirt - Cute fabric, pockets and a waist tie

Mac from Edinburgh-based Designer Totty Rocks. I saw this in the window of their Grassmarket shop and loved the use of a patterned contrast fabric on the back of the belt and underneath the collar. (image from Flickr)

Both of these items have elements which could easily be adopted into makes - patch pockets can easily be added to most skirt patterns. I love this skirt made by Sunni of A Fashionable Stitch, in which she has added pockets to the Colette Ginger skirt. This was a pattern I wasn't particularly interested in, but a bit of imagination (pockets & piping - yes please!) creates this fabulous garment:

Read more on A Fashionable Stitch

What inspires you to make what you do? And how do you keep note of your inspiration sources?

K x

Progress, progress

As Me Made June gets ever closer, I have been working away on a few different projects, mindful of the fact that I need to produce a few more me-made items.

I've finished knitting the left front of my vintage cable cardigan;

I've been really enjoying the knit (it isn't going to be finished for June btw!) The pattern is written in a straightforward way, and the cable pattern is over 8 rows, making it easy to remember without having to refer to the written pattern very often. It's done by measurements too, ie. 'Knit armhole to 9 inches' rather than by counting the numbers of rows, which I much prefer. I've also got a couple of train journeys to Edinburgh over the next 2 weeks, giving me about 3 1/2 hours of total knitting time....bliss! I love knitting on the train.

I've been keeping up with the Crescent Sewalong too, and feel like I've been learning a few new techniques - French seams, nifty gathering techniques and slash pockets. My skirt is very much taking shape too:

I'm not so sure about the fabric I've chosen. It definitely screams SUMMER!! but the colours are quite acidic, and maybe a bit 1990s for me. However I did choose the fabric as it was a bit different to what I normally select, so it's no wonder I'm finding it a bit bright. The test will be in how often it gets worn. I love the shape of the skirt and the slash pockets, and hope we get appropriately sunny weather to justify lots of wear.

Simplicity 2593 is also continuing apace. I used a stash fabric (pat on the back) and just had enough to squeeze out the pieces.

 

The binding on neckline and armholes was tricky, as I had to make my own binding, and it was pretty uneven. I like the effect it gives however. Think I need to invest in one of those clever bias binding makers! In fact, I would be grateful for a recommendation on this - I've seen the Clover ones getting praise on some blogs, but I wonder if the Hemline brand ones are as good. Maybe they're exactly the same?! It's hard to get an idea just by looking at the packet. Please let me know if you have any tips!

The main feature of this pattern is the neckline, which I have pinned on prior to hand sewing:

There are still 2 weekends left until June (and a precious bank holiday!), so I will be sewing like the wind to get some more pieces made. Are you ready for MMJ?

K x

Attention Scottish Crafty Ladies!

The website itison.com is currently running a brilliant voucher deal - pay £16 and get £40 to spend in Mandors in Glasgow or Edinburgh on fabrics, haberdashery or wallpaper. Offer is open until the end of today only. I'm in - are you?

http://www.itison.com/Glasgow/deals/fabric-haberdashery-or-wallpaper-from-mandors-save-60

French Seams - I Think I'm in Love

I've been participating in Sewaholic's Crescent Sewalong, and am pleased to say I am completely up to date with it. I think the pace is just right for me. As part of the sewalong, we did French seams for the pocket bags. This method is ideal for someone like me who doesn't have an overlocker as it gives a beautiful neat edge.

Bottom of pocket with French Seam

Inside of skirt front, with pocket

I'd never made french seams before, as I thought they must be complicated so hadn't even looked into what they were. Well, I was wrong, they are very easy and I made them without even thinking about them. I think that's the easiest way with sewing sometimes, not to be intimidated, or put off by people who say things are difficult, but just have a go. If you've never made French seams before I'd recommend giving it a try. There are plenty of tutorials available online, though I recommend looking at how Tasia describes them as part of the Crescent tutorial, as this is a much simpler explanation than some.

Steady progress is also being made with my cable cardigan. I have finished the back and am 2/3rds up the left front, just at the armhole decrease.

Like those of you who have also signed up for Me Made June, I've been thinking about what I'll be wearing for the month. I decided that I needed some straightforward patterns for tops I could make in different colours. However as I, like many sewers, tend to make a lot of things in patterned fabrics, I wanted sewing patterns that would look nice in plain fabrics so that I could wear them with me-made and shop-bought patterned skirts. Looking for tops with interesting details, I selected;

 

Simplicity 2593 by Cynthia Rowley (I won't be making a matching headband btw...)

 

  Simplicity 2599 - a favourite with many sewing bloggers

 

I'm going to tackle Simplicity 2593 first, using a fabric from my stash, a light man-made fabric in gold/mustard with a blue lustre thread in it. That sounds a bit horrible, but it's quite nice, and unusual;

I don't have a huge amount of it, so it's a bit of a squeeze to cut out, particularly as bias strips are required. I'm going to try and use the continuous bias tutorial from Colette Patterns I posted before, to try and get the required amount. I'll be interested to see how it turns out, as the sizing seems to run pretty loose. I usually go for a 36" bust, but the finished measurement for that is 42", which seems enormous. I'm going to go down a size and see how that fits.

Both patterns were purchased from Sew Essential. I hadn't used the site before, but they had a 40% off sale on Simplicity patterns last week (still currently running for Vogue and McCalls patterns) so both patterns plus P&P was only £10.10, which I thought was a bargain. At such a good discount it's worth checking out.

K x

Not Sewing, just Relaxing and Reading

What a beautiful, sunny bank holiday weekend we've had in the UK. I've been lucky enough to have four days off work in a row, and have been so busy that the Royal Wedding excitements seem like a long time ago. I've cleaned the flat, met up with friends and the Winter wardrobe has been packed away to make way for Summer clothes. Sadly, the vacuum bags I use to try and save space under the bed are no longer effective thanks to feline interference. One of our cats likes chewing on plastic and so both bags have been punctured with teeth marks...thanks Dot!

Today we took a trip to the west coast to enjoy some kite flying on the beach. It was quite busy, with families, dog walkers and horse riders.

 

I brought my book to read, 'The Mitfords - Letters between Six Sisters' by Charlotte Mosley. I'm about halfway through, and it's utterly fascinating. I hadn't read anything about the Mitford sisters before this book, but had come across their names in other books I'd read, as I'm generally interested in the interwar period. All of the sisters were so different, and their relationships between them are complex and very compelling to read.

On the knitting front, I've completed the back of my cable cardigan and am on the left front. Making steady progress, but will it be finished for Me Made June, I wonder?

K x