A Simple Little Pencil Case

This Christmas I had a set of Sharpies as a gift. They didn't come in a case or a box like so many pens do so I ended up putting them in a freezer bag, but I needed a pencil case to keep them in.

I hate to spend time re-inventing the wheel if I don't need to and I had a pattern for a simple, lined pencil case in my Cath Kidston Sewing Book. I used the pattern exactly as it is in the book without making any changes and I am very pleased with the result, but it would be very easy to change the dimensions if I  wanted a larger or smaller pencil case.

This project used up small pieces from my stash,  which was very satisfying. I originally made a bag from this sturdy fabric as a present for a friend here and had a small amount left over. I am so glad that I saved it. You never know when some small pieces of fabric will come in useful.

For the pencil case I needed 2 rectangles from my medium weight blue fabric, two rectangles from the pink cotton lining fabric the same size and one 25 cm long zip. The first step was to turn under a seam allowance and top stitch the main pieces to the zip tape. I tacked these panels in place first to hold them level and to stop the fabric slipping as I stitched. I used a zip foot to make sure that the stitching was close to the edge.

The with the zip open I pinned the main fabric panels right sides together and stitched down one side, across the bottom and up the other side.

I trimmed the bottom corners. pressed the seams open and turned the pencil case right sides out.

Next I turned down 1 cm at the top of the lining pieces and stitched the two pieces together. Again I trimmed the bottom corners and pressed the seam allowances open.

With wrong sides together I slipped the lining inside the pencil case and carefully slip-stitched the top of the lining to the zip tape just above the line of machine stitching. I used thread that closely matched the zip tape and small stitches so that these stitches are invisible from the outside.

Here is my lovely pencil case, just the right size to hold all of my sharpies and so much nicer than the freezer bag I was using before!

For the finishing touch I tied a short piece of cord to the zip pull and threaded on some painted, wooden beads. This was a great addition, suggested by Cath Kidston, which makes it so much easier to open the zip.

The first of my MAKENINE - The Drapey Knit Dress

I know that I am not at the forefront of the sewing world and that this dress pattern came out in 2015, but I am pleased to say that I have completed my first MAKENINE project before the end of January. So  here is my version of the Great British Sewing Bee Drapey Knit Dress, and I have to say that it has turned out better than I expected. I have worried about this make from the beginning but when I wore it to church today, it was comfortable and it made me feel good.

This is a very unconventional pattern, which is what attracted me in the first place. It is based on Japanese cutting styles. I have always been fascinated by Japanese patterns but have never tried something like this before. I bought this piece of medium weight jersey intending to make this dress but the problem with pattern books is that they are so heavy that I didn't take the book with me when I was shopping and as usual I hadn't made any notes but was shopping from memory. The instructions say "stable double knit jersey". My knit fabric was quite stretchy... I think something like a scuba would have worked better and made a smarter dress. Having said this I really like my dress now that it is finished.

I made this dress using my conventional sewing machine, I haven't got an overlocker but my machine has an overcast stitch which I use all the time for sewing stretch fabrics. I began by following the instructions in the pattern and sewed 1.5 cm seams with a narrow zigzag. First I attached the pockets and I was fascinated to see how the two front pieces attached  and folded into place to make the asymmetric pleat at the neck. But, it was at this point that my stretchy fabric began to cause problems. Everything seemed so stretchy and my dress front didn't have enough structure. I pressed the seams open but the fabric was too springy and it wouldn't hold the press. I was about the throw everything in the bin but at this point I had nothing to loose so ignoring the pattern I finished the seams the way I usually do with jersey. I neatened both seam allowances together with the overcasting stitch and suddenly my dress began to take shape. 

I hope that you can see in this photograph that all of the seams have been stitched first with a narrow zig-zag and then neatened with the overlocking stitch. I am afraid that it isn't very clear because the cotton I used was a very good match and doesn't show up very well. These reinforced seams gave the dress the structure it needed and luckily I hadn't throw it all in the bin.

 

I like the neck detail very much. You need to read the instructions closely to make sure you cut out the left and right fronts the right way round. They are not the same. The fabric and pattern pieces both need to lie right sides up otherwise the pleat will fold over the other way. 

The pattern calls for a knit or bias interfacing which is ironed on to the neck facing. Instead, I decided to use a light weight conventional interfacing. This has given the neck facing a bit more body and so the dress hangs better from the neck. I ironed on the interfacing and neatened it around the edge with the overlock stitch to avoid a bulky hem.  I know from experience that if I wear this dress a lot the interfacing will eventually begin to tear, but by then the dress will be showing some wear and tear in lots of other ways too. 

I graduated the seam allowance around the neck and used my pinking shears to clip the wider seam. The neck lies nice and flat despite the layers of bulky jersey in the folded sections. I was very careful to under-stitch the facings to the seam allowance just 3mm from the seam.

I don't usually make dresses with pockets. I know that some people wouldn't make anything without, but I don't like the lumps and bumps. This dress relies on the pockets to emphasise the line of the hips and I like this feature too. The pockets gape just enough to see that they are there.

The back of the dress is cut in one piece with kimono sleeves and here I think that my soft, draping fabric works well.

Last of all I finished the hems with a stretch twin needle. I really enjoyed wearing this dress today and the sun came out this morning so that we could take these photos outside before more black clouds came over.

and here come those black clouds!!

I am looking forward to wearing my new dress to work during the cold weather. I think I will probably make this pattern again in a double knit jersey of scuba and may try some more Japanese style patterns in future. Have you made any that you really liked? I would be very interested to hear your recommendations.

#2018MAKENINE

I know this is an Instagram initiative and I wasn't planning on making any new year resolutions this year but I have been enjoying looking at everyone else's plans so much. While I was having a January turn out I went to my stash cupboard and I had so many beautiful fabrics (and some rather boring ones) which I had bought with projects in mind. I began to feel inspired and so I turned to my box of patterns and before I knew where I was I had started to make plans. So.... I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and write this post. It seemed a good idea to come up with a plan and even if I don't get everything done it will be good to have a sense of direction at the start of this year. Knowing me I will soon be going off at a tangent so don't say I didn't warn you!!

1. The Drapey Knit Dress, Great British Sewing Bee, Fashion with Fabric

I believe that this pattern is available as a free download here from Love Sewing Magazine, but I have the book "Fashion with Fabric", which I bought when it was on special offer at WH Smiths and I have always wanted to have a go at this project. I have read quite a few bloggers saying that this dress is just not their style, but I have to say that it is mine. Or at least it is a style that I aspire to. I love the pictures of this dress in the book. It is unusual and edgy and looks so comfortable. I don't really like the stripy version, although it does look good on other people, but I love the blue one and think it would be a useful addition to my wardrobe. I was convinced when I saw the version made by  Laura at Sew Different. I bought some medium weight, blue jersey a while ago. It isn't my favourite fabric but I thought I could use it to have a go at this dress and I have to admit that I have already made a start. If I like the fit I may make another one in a nicer fabric, perhaps a scuba like the one Laura made.
On the other hand I may make it and find that it looks terrible on me. I should know soon.

2. Silk Woven Tee, Great British Sewing Bee, Fashion with Fabric

After my success making a Scuba Tee from the "Fashion with Fabric" book here I planned to try another one, this time with a woven fabric, so I may need to put the zip in the side seam. I bought this lovely lace brocade with the t-shirt in mind. I thought it was cream and black but on closer inspection the backing lace seems to be a very dark navy. Ever impatient; this one is already cut out and ready to sew.

3. Gold, Semi-Fitted Skirt, Butterick B466

I have seen several nice outfits in gold and navy recently and bought this lovely, textured fabric planing to make a simple skirt. I will make a matching lining because I think it may be a bit rough on the inside and might snag my tights and I really dislike separate slips, although I recognise how useful they can be. The fabric is a loose weave and  frays very easily so I also plan to bind all the raw edges. I haven't used this pattern before but it is simple so I can put my efforts into achieving a really neat finish.

4. Navy Striped Sweatshirt

I bought this navy striped jersey planning to make a sweat shirt. This will be the first time I have made a sweat shirt so I don't have a tried and tested pattern. I  wondered whether Simplicity pattern K8260 would be suitable. My alternative plan is to make the oversized T-Shirt from Maker's Atelier in the long sleeved version.

5. A Coatigan, Butterick B6258

I first came across the term coatigan reading the blog Groovybaby....and mama. What a wonderful combination, a cross between a coat and a cardigan. I reasoned that if this was a practical garment for the Danish weather it would also be useful here in the UK. I have been planning to make one for some time, although I may need to buy some fabric for this project despite my extensive stash.  This pattern came free with Dressmaker magazine Nov-Dec 2016. I have made the dress and top and they are a good fit for me. There is a lovely version in mustard in the magazine. I really want to avoid making too much in black. I am finding that black isn't so flattering as you get older because it can drain all of the colour from your face.

If this project is successful I would like to make a pattern hack with a waterfall front. 

6. Cross Body Bag

I am desperately in need of a new bag. I made this one, use it every day and it is now wearing out and looking very scruffy.

There are lots of free patterns on the internet. This one came from Sewing World, June 2014. Susan Dunlop who designed the bag has a website, SusieDDesigns where there are lots of inspiring ideas. I just hope the old bag holds out until I get a new one finished.

6. Possible culottes, Butterick B4807

This pattern was a charity shop find. It goes up to size 12 and I am usually a size 14. I don't think it will be too difficult to make the pattern slightly larger and I plan to add these culottes to my spring wardrobe. This pattern is described as Fast and Easy. An unfortunate use of words, which in the UK can mean a woman of dubious morals, but I know what they mean and won't let that put me off!! It needs a stretch jersey fabric and I am a bit concerned that there are no fastenings at the waist or elastic to hold the culottes up. It will be a bit of an experiment, I think, and I will let you know how I get on.

7. A shirt for my sister, New Look 6598

I bought this fabric promising to make a shirt for my sister who lives in Alice Springs in Australia. It is a cotton fabric suitable for the hot weather in central Australia and will remind her of the English hedgerows because of the assorted Umbellifera or Cow Parsley in the design. I have had the fabric since the summer and haven't even cut it out yet. She has always said she isn't good at sewing but is now putting me to shame making all sorts of things including the lovely bag she sent me at Christmas, so I need to get on and make this. She chose this pattern herself when she last came to visit and has already made two so I know it fits and she likes it. Hopefully this project can be finished in time for her birthday in March.

8. Camisole Top Hack, Great British Sewing Bee, Fashion with Fabric again.

By the time I have made all of these things the weather might be getting warmer. I cut out a summer dress in this very fine,  draping, viscose material last year and it wasn't at all suitable so I never finished it. Rather than waste this beautiful fabric I thought I would try a camisole top for the summer

9. Summer Wrap Skirt, McCall's M5430

Thinking about warmer weather again I have this beautiful embroidered sari. I would like to turn this into a wrap skirt to wear on holiday. The embroidery is backed by paper and it won't be washable so I thought a skirt would have a longer lifetime. There is so much fabric in a sari that I will have enough to make a self lining for my skirt, which would otherwise be sheer.

I hope that you enjoy browsing through my plans for 2018. It remains to be seen how far I get before my plans go astray, but I feel excited to be making a start and the discipline has made me realise how much fabric I have tucked away that I really should use. My first year of blogging has just passed and I am looking forward to the next 12 months hoping that I can continue to make contact with others who share my interests and keep learning new skills as I go along.

Thank you for visiting
Rosemary

A New Outfit for my Friend, Mr Joseph.

Every year I like to give my children something hand made for Christmas. I have made lots of different things over the years and this year is seemed to me that Mr Joseph needed a new outfit. First of all let me introduce you to Mr Joseph.

Mr Joseph is my son's teddy bear. He has been wearing an old pair of summer pyjamas for quite a while and they didn't fit him at all. I thought that it would be nice for him to have some new clothes for Christmas but I didn't have time to sew anything too complicated. I had had a turn out recently and sorted out a pile of outgrown, boys' clothes to take to the charity shop or to pass on to friends. Among these were several shirts age 7-8 and when I tried one of these on Mr Joseph I found that the neck was quite a good fit. This set me thinking and I wondered whether I could cut one of these shirts down to his size. This nice, red, check shirt had been a favourite so I chose this one as the base for Mr Joseph's new outfit. I was in a hurry to get this ready for Christmas and unfortunately I didn't take any photos as I went along but I have taken these comparison pictures so that you can see how the red shirt was altered compared to another one of the same size.

First I cut off both sleeves and put these aside. Then I put the shirt on Mr Joseph, buttoned it up and pinned the position of the armholes and side seams cutting off the excess fabric while making sure that the shirt would still be symmetrical. The original shirt had a patch pocket on the front but it was much too large so I just unpicked and discarded it.

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The sleeves were too long for a teddy but the cuffs were a good size so I decided to use the lower portion of the original sleeves keeping the cuffs intact. I measured the length of Mr Joseph's arms  and cut off the extra length straight across the top.

Then I measured the circumference of top of the sleeve and stitched new side seams leaving an opening just big enough to fit the top of the sleeve. I sewed the sleeve in and neatened all of the seam allowances with a zigzag stitch

Mr Joseph is short and round. I cut his shirt shorter at the front and dipped the hem at the back so that it would come down over his rather large bottom. I was able to keep the first three buttons and buttonholes from the original shirt.

I am so pleased that I have been able to use the original collar, cuffs and button holes. This saved me so much work and my teddy bear shirt has a really professional finish.

I had lots of ideas for making trousers that would accommodate Mr Joseph's shapely behind, but in the end the simplest solution was the best. I had a new pair of navy blue, jersey leggings that were too tight. I shortened the body, turning over a casing at the top for elastic, and trimmed the legs off to the right length finishing the hems top and bottom with a twin needle - just right for a soft, comfy pair of teddy trousers.

Then I threaded elastic through the casing at the waist and ankles and I made a pair of teddy tracksuit bottoms.

Underneath Mr Joseph is wearing a pair of minion underpants that my son grew out of some time ago but were not very worn. I took a bit of fabric out of the gusset to improve the fit but otherwise these were just the right size. Obviously they have been through the wash!!

My son was so surprised to find a present for Mr Joseph under our Christmas tree on Christmas morning and was very pleased to dress his favourite teddy in these smart clothes.

Mr Joseph wearing his new outfit

This has been a really good way to use a much loved shirt that will have happy memories attached to it in the future. I think this might be a nice thing to do with an old school uniform or special sports clothing to make a souvenir of a special event. Let me know if you have had any good ideas for up-cycling things to preserve happy memories. I have been wondering about making a patchwork quilt from striped shirts like one I saw on a craft stall recently

Two piece dress - an experiment with fabric

I have to confess, that I have a terrible weakness for buying remnants of material on impulse if they catch my eye. That is exactly what happened towards the end of 2017 when I spotted some beautiful fabric on my favourite stall in Leicester Market. The fabric is a medium weight, floral print scuba which started me off on a journey to create something that would really take advantage of this beautiful print.  

There were large areas of navy blue around each floral motif so I knew that I would need to place the floral design very carefully on whatever I decided to make. I was inspired by Ted Baker's online shop where there are lots of beautiful floral dresses that are way beyond my price range. This dress especially caught my eye because of the asymmetrical placement of the flowers. I wanted to make something similar using my lovely fabric.

Obviously this model is a lot taller and slimmer than me so I carried on searching for a style that I thought would suit me. I found a 1960s Butterick pattern on Etsy for a 2 piece evening dress that I liked.

Two-Piece Evening Dress

I was sure that I could create the look I was searching for using patterns that I already owned. I began by making a pencil skirt with my tried and tested pattern from The Maker's Atelier.  It is the third time I have made a skirt with this pattern since I received the book as a present in the summer and each one I have made seems better than the last. I  cut out the pattern pieces individually so that the floral motif would fall in the same place on the back and the front of the skirt. 

Three little pencil skirt all in a row!

Next I looked for a simple t-shirt pattern with short sleeves for the top portion of my dress. I decided to try the pattern for the Silk Woven Tee in the Great British Sewing Bee book, Fashion with Fabric. I hadn't made this pattern before and I was sewing with scuba not with a woven fabric but this t-shirt had the boxy style I was looking for and seemed straightforward to make. The pattern calls for a side zip but since I was making my t-shirt from fabric with a slight stretch I omitted the zip and I am pleased to say that it pulls on easily over my head.

Yet again I was very careful with the positioning of the floral design and I cut the fabric out as a single layer so that I could see where the pattern would fall on the finished garment. I am very pleased with the placing of the flowers on the t-shirt. I love the way that the flowers tumble over my right shoulder and continue down the right sleeve whereas the left sleeve is quite plain.

On the back I wrapped the floral design across the shoulders and I think it looks very effective. 

With hind sight I wish that I had made the top first and then made the skirt to match. I think I would have arranged the flowers higher up on the skirt, similar to the Ted Baker dress where they tumble down from the waistband. But, I made the skirt first because it was the easier pattern and I haven't got enough fabric left to make another one. I am still really pleased with the overall effect. 

I have worn the skirt and top together as a two piece dress and it is smart and comfortable. As an added bonus I have also worn the skirt paired with a jumper on a cold day and the top looks great with jeans and boots. Three outfits from one project can't be bad.

Happy New Year and Happy sewing!