Super Kallle go ballistic, sleevies are a huge plus!

Some of you may be thinking that the title of this blog post should be sung to the tune of that song from Mary Poppins, 'Supercalafragalisticexpialadocious'. I'm not a fan of musicals and prefer to pay homage to the sheer genius who thought up the Sun newspaper headline in 2000, 'Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious', for the performance of Inverness Caledonian Thistle winning the Scottish Cup 3 - 1 over Celtic. Got to love an underdog! I'm not into footie but will be watching the F.A. Cup soon. Probably supporting the nicest coloured strip!

But let's get back to my Me Made May pledge and the second seldom garment I wore last week, On Sunday 12th May was my first Kalle shirt with the long sleeve expansion pack. I bought that as soon as it came out and made up this shirt using a lovely 100% viscose from Guthrie and Ghani. they are another one of my favourite online shopping places with fast delivery.

I made a few changes to this Kalle shirt. First of all, I shortened the back length. Me! Shortening something...unheard of! I cut a new pattern piece for the bottom so I can use this shorter length again. The original length is quite long even on me, and the back hem almost reaches the back of my knees. This was the first time I used the sleeve extension pack. I knew straight away I didn't want the extra wide cuff, that would just annoy me so I reduced the width of it by 1". I think I added 'the lost inch' to the sleeve length. 

However, I made a simple, stupid mistake! Anyone else make those?! Can you see it in the photo above? Yes, I put the button and buttonhole the wrong way around. It really bugs me and I think that's partly why I don't enjoy wearing this as much as I should. So, that's a pretty easy thing to sort out and I think I will do that. I still think the cuff is too wide so I'll narrow that in the future. The other reason I don't like this as much s I should is that the fabric has a lot of white in it. I'm not a fan of white on me, I'd rather have cream. There's quite a lot of white in the polka dots and in the flowers. However, the fabric feels lovely against my skin.

So, is this a hit or a miss? Well, I think it's hit and I'm going to keep it.

Closet Case Carolyn Pyjamas

I love pyjamas! Especially ones that are long enough in the arms and legs and are made of cosy brushed cotton. Like these new ones are! I spent about a day and a half cutting out the pyjama pieces so the pattern would match. The pattern pieces for the sleeve cuff and leg cuff are cut on the straight grain, unlike the other pyjama pattern I sometimes use. Next time I'll cut on the bias and save myself some time and the inevitable 'pattern un-matching' during the sewing process, Exhibit 1:

I added piping, using No.1 piping cord and purchased satin green bias binding. I also bought some green fish eye buttons. There wasn't anything suitable in my button tin. The fabric was bought last summer from Minerva fabrics. All other notions were from Edinburgh Fabrics. 

I've tried this pattern before and hated the pyjamas so much I 'disposed' of them. I followed the instructions for the collar and just didn't get it right at all. This time I went my own way and the collar is good. It took a couple of goes to get the piping to meet exactly at the join between the facing and collar but it's worth taking the time over this detail. You'll be looking at it in the mirror every time you wear these and only you can judge how much that will annoy you! Or not. This collar is a weird beast. When you're wearing it, it sits beautifully. When you're ironing it, it doesn't behave. 

I added length to the legs and cut the cuffs as per the pattern. They're deep cuffs but in proportion to my height. I used my sewing machine for the piping and sewing the cuffs to the sleeves and legs and overlocker for everything else. Pattern unmatching Exhibit 2:

I like the waistband casing being a separate pattern piece you sew on. I sewed two channels in the waistband and added two narrower pieces of elastic, maybe 10mm wide. It's just what I had at hand. I didn't add the pockets and quite frankly I was probably fed up of cutting out fabric and just wanted to get on with sewing them together!   

This was a far more successful 'go' at making this pattern and I'll be using it again in the future. I'm glad I gave it another try, I like using a pattern more than once. I've actually got a length of brushed cotton and another length of cotton/viscose so there will be two more pairs of pyjamas coming in the future, that's for sure!