Hacked Anna Top

I missed last month’s project SewMyStyle– the Hampshire Trouser.  I do plan to make them at some point, and I have some cotton twill prewashed and ready, but October ended up being a very busy month!  November though is a little less crazy, and I’ve managed to be a bit more organised.  The project for November is the Anna dress by By Hand London.  I don’t really have a need for a more dressy dress this month though, so I did a bit of research about how else I could use the pattern.  This is what I came up with- I found a really lovely pattern hack for a top.The pattern hack involves shortening the bodice a little so that it is empire line, and then adding a circle skirt.  The circle skirt calculator is really handy here to work out exactly what to cut.  I went with a half circle skirt, but kept the length a bit longer than I expected to need, because I wasn’t sure what length I was going to want it.  I ended up keeping all the length though, because this is really lovely at almost-tunic-length!The fabric is a beautiful self lined polyester crepe in a colour called aubergine.  I was given it to test by Minerva Crafts, and I managed to get this top out of the remnants of that project.  You should be able to see the end result of my main project in a couple of weeks.In the meantime, I will say that the fabric is lovely.  The colour is rich, it drapes and it seems quite resistant to creasing, which is a little irritating when pressing up small hem allowances, but is actually very handy in wear.This top is for me a great reminder to look beyond the styling, and the functionality of a pattern and look at what really matters- the cut and the lines.  I think I will have to look through my pattern stack with new eyes looking at what else I can hack to serve a new purpose.I have reached the point in the year where no matter what, I’m not going to be temped to take photos of short sleeved garments outside- hence the layering t-shirt, but I actually like it like this too.  It makes a put-together, slightly glam top more everyday wearable.

 

 

 

 

 

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Time to cosy up in a cardi!

Sometimes I have projects that just take ages to come into reality.  I’m sure you know the feeling- you come across a new fabric or pattern and immediately make plans.  Somehow though, those plans keep getting pushed back until sometimes you can’t even remember what they were!  Eventually though, a rummage through your fabric stash or patterns brings it back to the front of the queue and it gets to see the light of day.  This is one of those makes!

I recently had a rummage through my fabric boxes, pulling things out for the winter and a couple of upcoming ideas.  While I was there, I rediscovered this speckled cream Hacci knit from Girl Charlee.  I had a couple of metres, and it has been waiting patiently for at least a year.  Unsurprisingly, they don’t seem to sell it any more, but they do have lots of other styles.  Hacci knits are quite loosely woven, they look more like loose knitting than a t-shirt fabric and so this fabric was always destined to become a lightweight cardigan.

I also have had the Elmira cardigan by Seamwork in my pattern collection for ages, and they seemed like a good match.  I made a couple of small changes- lengthening the sleeves by 5cm so that they would be full length, and also cutting two of the back pieces.  All the front cardigan pieces are double thickness, so I thought I would do the same at the back, especially as I wasn’t sure how well this fabric would take to being turned and hemmed.

Seamwork patterns are designed to be quick and easy to construct, but that does sometimes mean that the finishing is a little less thought through than other patternmakers.  I didn’t really have any problems with the construction order of this though, and I’m happy with how it has turned out.

The cardigan closes with a couple of little internal buttons and an external tie.  The buttons have little hand sewn thread chains instead of buttonholes which are really delicate and lovely.  I actually enjoyed sewing them, despite usually avoiding hand sewing wherever possible.

This is a slightly different style for me, but I have been enjoying wearing it with higher-waisted dresses and tops.  I think it will be nice over the winter when you often want something to just cover your arms, but don’t need anything too heavy because the central heating is on.  The only changes I would make next time would be to lengthen the sleeves a fraction more, and maybe reduce the width of the inner wrap piece so that the neckline pulls more smoothly.  Other than that though, I’m happy to be using a fabric and pattern that have been waiting around for far too long!

Colour blocked Coco’s

Coco was my first foray into sewing with knit fabrics, and I would say that it was a perfect introduction for a new sewist.  Tilly’s instructions are fantastically clear, and the pattern is sewn with a Ponte Roma or stable jersey, and so is much more friendly and easy to work with than some of the alternatives.

These two colour blocked coco’s are not my first attempts at this pattern, though that version is still in use, but these are the first ones where I started to modify patterns to suit my own preferences.  For these versions I slimmed down the sleeve piece from below the armscye to the wrist, and also added my own cutting lines for the colour blocking.

Another advantage for novice sewists is that this one pattern covers a range of options.  There is a dress or a top, a variety of sleeve lengths and a funnel or boatneck neckline. This makes it even easier to get both value for money from a pattern, and to end up with the garment you were dreaming of!  For both of my versions I went for the straightforward boat neckline, which is just turned under and stitched.  My top tip for getting it to stay in place is 1cm fusible hemming tape.  It will stay right were you have pressed it, and also gives the neckline a little bit of structure.

For the dress version I added patch pockets and decided to finish the hem with a zigzag stitch in contrasting white thread.  I actually preferred the appearance of the stitch from the bobbin side so I stitched it from the wrong side.

Both this top and dress have been going strong for about 3 years now and they are still comfy and cosy with just a bit of bobbling now.  I think I will still be wearing them for a while yet.

My first dress- meet Megan

My first ever handmade dress was this Megan dress, and I have always considered it a lucky dress because the first time I wore it at a wedding it proved a very successful topic of conversation with my neighbour at the table.  Well, it recently had another wedding outing, and I thought that it was high tile that it got its own photos and write up on the blog.

This Megan dress pattern comes from the Tilly and the Buttons book, Love at first Stitch which was my introduction to sewing for myself.  I worked through the patterns in the book in sequence (see here for my Delphine Skirt and Clemence Skirt), learning the required techniques as I went along.  I still sometimes come back to this book to look something up when I need a reminder.  Each technique is explained and photographed in detail which was a lifeline when I was starting out.

 

This dress for me does represent the proud moment of sewing up a bodice and sleeves and it being a wearable dress.  Yes the invisible zip is definitely not invisible and I’m sure there are lots of places where the finishing could be improved, but that hasn’t stopped me from wearing it.

The fabric is just a very affordable polycotton and I have no idea anymore where it came from!  Looking back on it today, I’m glad that my new to sewing self didn’t try to over fit this dress.  There is definitely a good bit of ease, and that is what has made it comfortable to wear all day to a wedding.  The bodice is possibly a little too long looking back at these pictures and I think that is what is causing the creasing, but nothing major would need to be done to a remake of this pattern.

Being such a long time ago, the construction details are a little hazy.  I think I made a straight size 3 (Tilly has her own numeric sizing system), though if I went back to the pattern I could probably work it out for certain because I definitely traced the pattern pieces off the large pattern sheets which come with the book.  It is such a simple shape that I think I may have to revisit this dress again.  The style actually lends itself pretty well to both summer dresses and to layering in winter.  I will be wearing this one for the next few months with long sleeved t-shirts and tights.