Short sleeved Melilot shirt...in some kind of animal print

And underneath the wonderful orangey-red raincoat from last week, I was wearing my new obsession, the short sleeved Deer and Doe Melilot shirt. The orangey-red blobs seem to match perfectly with the colour of the raincoat (unintentional!). 

I bought the fabric from Mandors in Glasgow earlier this year. It's a lovely cotton poplin pique with not too much, not too little, just the right amount of stretch to it. 

I've already made a pencil skirt (unblogged) from this fabric and had enough to experiment by making this too. Try something new, I say! I won't be wearing them together, that would just be too much and I suspect this shirt will be washed and worn to shreds long before the skirt. I used black buttons from my button tin so the shirt really cost me very little. 

I absolutely love it! And the bonus is that I can button the collar up too, if I want to. With my swimmer's shoulders/arms/neck that usually isn't possible without potentially damaging my health. This rounded collar is the perfect size to wear buttoned up all day, if I want to.

The kimono sleeves mean there's no setting in of the sleeves and no cuff placket to sew, although there is a sleeve cuff. Even with the intricacies of a collar to sew up, this was a fairly fast sew, all things considered. I have to say it helps if you've already got the adjustments perfected from a previous version. This is a 'new thing' for me to try, a new shape and with the buttoned up collar, something I never thought would suit me, but I think it does. I absolutely love it! There will be more...

A paisley patterned Deer and Doe Melilot...what's not to love!

Ah, dear readers, I do love a good paisley patterned anything! And when I already had the fabric how could I not buy the Melilot pattern I'd been hankering after for ages and pay for it to be posted from France. All money well spent, in my opinion, for this lovely, neat, round collared, potentially-kimono-sleeved shirt with long and short sleeved options.

So I bought the fabric, a lovely printed viscose, from Mandors in the September 2016 haul. I like how the background colour is more of a beige than an off-white. That's if you can see the background among  the print. You know what I mean. This allowed me to use some buttons from my tartan button tin. My mum recently gave me some of her buttons so it's now nearly brimming over and that's just the way I like it! I used 8 matching buttons on the front and then 2 different buttons for the cuffs. No-one will ever know but see if you can spot the difference from the photos.

I can't actually remember what size I cut but I did a Full Bust Adjustment that made the existing dart a little bit bigger and maybe I dropped the dart a little, I can't remember because I have washed and worn this constantly since I finished it. The sign of a good shirt, in my book! I also added 2" to the length of the body.

The instructions are good. The front button/hole plackets form part of the front pattern pieces so you have to slow down and cut the correct width of interfacing. I used a lightweight charcoal iron-on throughout this shirt as the viscose has a good drape to it. You also have to get the tape measure out so you accurately turn the plackets back by the correct amount. It's a discipline I'm not used to after decades of sewing. It's good to be challenged, though!

I really like the curved shirt hems although I didn't finish the back hem and front hems before sewing the side seams as the pattern instructs you to do. I was a bit wary as this was the first time I'd made this shirt. All the other seams in the shirt are French seams which again, is a discipline in slowing down and sewing accurately. It takes more time but it's very good for fine fabrics whose sole purpose in life is to fray before your very eyes. Like this one.

The only thing I would say is that I'm aware of the bulk of the French seamed sleeve seams when I'm wearing this shirt. I'm pointing out where the seam is in the above photo. Next time, I'll sew these as a 'normal' seam and overlock the edges, or maybe just overlock the seams, just depends on the fabric, I suppose. Yes I will make this again and already have the fabric, matching thread and pattern sitting in my sewing queue. I've decided to make the short sleeved version so I guess I'll need to make another long sleeved version to test my theory about the sleeve seams. Right, I'd better go! Till the next time, have a great weekend and let me know what your thoughts are on the Melilot. Have you sewn it? Want to sew it? Don't like the sleeve seams too?

Crazy print top with faces on it!

I'm still on a sewing kick to get some tops made for my holiday. Here's another version of Burda 7079 that I recently made but this time it's in an absolutely crazy print. I made view A, the top but with the following modifications:

• cut the back on the fold
• didn't do the front neckline slit
• modified the front neck facing
• scooped out the front neck, from zero at the shoulder to 2cm at the front centre
• added the sleeves from the dress
• added 2" length

I bought a metre of this 150cm wide viscose fabric from Mandors in Glasgow. I didn't know what I was going to make with it but I knew I'd have enough for a top or maybe a pencil skirt.

I used up almost every scrap of the fabric. I added slits at the side seams, just because I like this detail. I used facings for the neck and simply turned up 1.5", overlocked the edge and machine stitched the hem. Believe me, you can hardly see the stitching in this print. I over locked all the raw edges as this fabric absolutely loves to fray and is quite frankly of an Olympic gold medal standard at it. The fabric feels like a linen so I didn't want to do french seams as they would be too bulky. Maybe it was mis-labeled and is linen, not viscose, who knows?

How to describe the print? In the shop I thought it looked like stylised tree trunks in a forest. Then when I got home I thought it was more like fish squashed against a window. Have a close look and tell me I'm wrong! Yesterday I saw the occasional face...

I cut the sleeves as long as the fabric would allow. I was going to wear it to work this morning (always a good sign) but then didn't. You know how it is. I was swithering about the length of the sleeves and I now think I'm going to shorten them to a more conventional 'short-sleeve' length. It feels a bit frumpy like this?

Maybe the elbow length sleeves with crazy print are just too much. What would you do? You have until the weekend to let me know what you think...

Mellow yellow....and being brave by trying a new colour

We had a little overnight trip to Glasgow a few weekends ago where I visited my favourite fabric shop of all time - Mandors. I managed to find lots of fabric and left the shop much poorer and with bags I could hardly carry back to the hotel. I remembered spying space in C's travel bag when he was packing...One of the fabrics was this lovely striped viscose, 'cheap as chips' and in the choice of either yellow or electric blue colourways. While I love electric blue I thought I'd challenge myself to take the yellow and go way out of my comfort zone. These stripes do NOT photograph well!

I only bought a metre but the fabric is 150cm wide so I knew I'd get something out of it. Ah, yes...there are also lovely, 'artistic' irregular stripes to match. Can't make it too easy for myself!

I used Burda 7079 that I've used before here and here but looks like it's out of print now. Basically, the pattern is for a top (or dress) with front slit at the neck, the back is cut in two pieces with a button loop closure at the neck. There are sleeves if you want them. I ignored the front neckline slit and scooped out the front neckline by about 1 cm. I cut the back on the fold too and didn't have any opening. As long as I scoop out the front, I can get this over my head. I used the front and back facings in the pattern, slightly modified, and used light, iron-on grey coloured interfacing. Why do very few sewists specify the interfacing they use? It's really useful to know and I'll try to remember to keep doing this!

I kept the modifications I made previously - adding 2" to the body length and dropping the dart an inch. I cut the dress bodice length plus two inches I added, but then cut off an inch or so, but that's the way I like to work. If something is too short, I won't wear it. I think that comes from years of trying things on in shops and getting annoyed at the lack of length. I'm 5' 9" tall. The sleeve hems are finished with purchased black satin bias tape.

There are very short, grown-on sleeves covering the shoulders. There are also short sleeves you can add but I couldn't get the stripes to match so didn't bother as I thought it would drive me mad. The bust darts give a good shape to the top and help it hang well in such a drapey fabric. I decided to have a hi-low hem as I always wear tops out, not tucked in. I've got such long legs my proportions look weird if I tuck my tops in.

Not knowing if I'd actually like the finished article, I feel I just flung this top together, threw it at the sewing machine and overlocker and was very pleased that I really like it! Partly that's because I tried a new-to-me colour but mostly because I've got a new top for my holiday. Yay!

A couple of Jamies

Oh dear! It's been over a month since I last blogged and I certainly didn't intend on leaving it so long between posts. But I haven't been idle...I've been sewing quite a few things and here are two pairs of Named Jame jeans to show you. It's certainly a pattern that I love and with all the alterations I've made to it, it's definitely a tried and tested pattern for me.

Here are some blue Jamies I made using stretch denim I bought from John Lewis in Edinburgh. I decided to topstitch in a matching thread and didn't use any rivets on these. I did get to hammer on the jeans button at the waistband though and there's some secret Paisley fabric in the pocket linings of both pairs.

These are the second pair of Jamies, this time made in stretch denim that I bought from Mandors in Glasgow when I was there in April. This is a lovely, good quality fabric and makes a great pair of jeans. This time I decided to add some mustard coloured topstitching, just like classic jeans and I like it. The topstitching isn't perfect but, you know what? I'm leaving it as it is.

I'm just back from an overnight stay in Glasgow and yes, I went to Mandors again and also Remnant Kings. I've bought lots of fabric, of course, so there's lots of pre-washing to do before cutting out etc. I bought a particularly lovely stretch black denim from Mandors so I guess that'll become a pair of black jeans! Maybe Jamies but then again, there are other jeans patterns out there, it's just the amount of adjustments that I'll need to make that puts me off trying another pattern. We'll see!

It's another pair of jeans!

Here's one thing ticked off my Me Made May To Sew list already! I identified jeans as being a gap in my wardrobe! Yes, they are another pair of Named Jamie jeans, how I love that pattern now I've got the alterations to my liking. I also think I'm turning into quite a Named patterns fan-girl. Their patterns are real slow-burners for me. I see the pattern release and think they're ok and a few weeks or months later I suddenly love it and buy the pattern. And of course, they design for tall women (5'8") and I'm 5'9" so adding length isn't such a radical operation as it can be and this could go some way to explaining their attraction.

The fabric is a stretch denim from Mandors in Glasgow, bought during a weekend there in April. I liked the fabric so much I bought 5 metres of it as it's really difficult finding just the right weight of stretch denim in a nice colour. My hands do take on a blue tinge with the dye when working with this fabric even though I pre-washed it. I didn't do contrast top stitching, just used a dark navy thread. I got my hammer out and added a jeans button but no rivets as I wanted these to be 'low key' jeans. 

Good back pocket placement

I didn't add belt loops as I can't stand belts tied around my middle. I'm realising that I have a mega-short waist. My usual alterations are adding 1" to the rise and 4" to the length of the legs. I also take a huge chunk out of the centre back seam, tapering it in till the yoke. I love the curved waistband on this pattern. I'm usually absolutely useless at straight waistbands but curved ones are the way forward for me. It uses up more fabric but the fit is so much better. 

Secret Paisley pattern pockets

I love my new jeans! Just need another pair now as these are in the wash...

A jazzy paisley patterned shirt and some black wool trousers

Yep, it's another one of those hi-lo hem shirts I made before and have washed and worn. Time to make another! The fabric is typically 'me'...loud with lots of colours and...look!..it's paisley pattern which I absolutely adore.

I bought this fabric from John Lewis in Oxford Street when we had out little holiday in London last November.I haven't seen it in the Edinburgh John Lewis so I'm glad I bought it when I saw it. I think there's a lot of viscose in it because although it's lovely and silky to the touch it crushes as soon as your head's turned. I can't even remember the cost per metre but I know I bought my default 2 metres. It takes that much to make a shirt for tall, long-armed me and I also wanted room for manoeuvre with pattern placement. This fabric was a fray-er to work with, though!

I used New Look 6374 and cut view A. I didn't change add any length to the body and I think I may just have added 1" to the sleeve length, I can't remember as I cut and sewed this up during the Christmas and New Year break. Yes, it's taken this long to get round to taking photos! Mind you, I've also had a stonker of a cold and bad cough which everyone seems to have had, so I haven't sewn a thing for 2 whole weeks. I must have been seriously ill!

The sleeves are supposed to roll up and button with a tab. I managed to sew one tab on the inside of the sleeve and the other tab on the outside of the sleeve. Numpty! The lurid pattern must have dazzled my eyes...that's my excuse! Anyway, I unpicked the 'wrong' one and haven't got round to unpicking the other one as I've now decided I won't be rolling these sleeves up. Lazy!

The other mistake I made was to use a woven fusible interfacing on the collar stand. That thing just isn't going anywhere! I used the same interfacing on the plackets but it doesn't seem too bad. Live and learn, people! It hasn't stopped me wearing the shirt though so that's fine. 

Right, I'm going to tag on a pair of black trousers I made recently to this post because...they're black and almost impossible to make them look interesting in photographs. The fabric was a lovely black stretch wool, probably crepe, that I bought in Mandors in Glasgow when we were there for a wee overnight stay in September. The pattern is rapidly becoming my favourite and has superseded my Ultimate trousers pattern. I love the wide yolk and can see I'll have to add some pockets to them in the future.

There's quite a lot of lycra in this fabric, so much so that I decided not to line them at all and pray the lycra would prevent bagging at the seat and knees. So far so good! 

See? How do you make black trousers interesting? I used the New Look 6035 pattern that I got free with Sew magazine last year and have used once before. I took ages to finish the hems. Isn't that always the way? They were hanging about on the dining room table for weeks on end until I had a tidy-up. Glad I did as I've washed and worn them a few times. Yes, I'm happy to wash wool and I prewashed this fabric before cutting. I always use the Wool cycle on the washing machine, a wool liquid soap and hang them up to dry, nope I don't dry them flat. It's survival of the fittest in my wardrobe! 

I cloned my favourite top!

I've been meaning to do something about cloning my favourite black jersey RTW top for ages, especially as it's very definitely middle-aged now. I'd read other blogs about how to trace off a garment so you can make a pattern and duplicate a much loved item...so I thought I'd have a go and I'm really, REALLY pleased with the results!

What do I like about the favourite top? The curved front and back hems, the batwing shoulder and dropped shoulder seam and the sleeve. I love how it's quite fitted. Oh and I also like the neckline...not too high, not too low. So that's my list of essential criteria! Bring out the tracing paper...

I even ironed a sheet of (I think) Burda pattern paper to get rid of the creases before I started. Then I took a lot of time and care to smooth out the 'front' of the RTW top so I could add my 5/8" seam allowance around the edges. I just used a felt-tipped pen to draw carefully and also used a tape measure to make sure I was adding a consistent seam allowance.

The neckline was a little bit more difficult but just feel the neck binding edge and mark it on the paper. Fold the front piece in half and mark the centre front hem (always useful to know) and the centre front neckline edge. Draw a curved line from the centre neck to the shoulder seam and that's it. Repeat the tracing process for the back piece and sleeve piece and you've got a pattern.

The fabric was a remnant I pulled from a good rake about the knitted fabric remnant box at Mandors in Glasgow on our September weekend. It was £7 for the 2 metre piece, which did admittedly have three large holes cut out of it so presumably it had been an ex-display piece. Anyway, it's a viscose and probably has some lycra in it too. One thing about this style, the shoulder seam is very vulnerable to stretching out so I stabilised it with some seam tape and that's worked a treat. I overlocked the seam first and then used my sewing machine to sew the seam tape on. That's worked out well!

The neck band was much more difficult to try and work out, with the added pressure that a wonky neck band would spoil the whole garment. I haven't made a separate pattern piece for it. Again, more Heath-Robinson measuring! I took my measuring tape and measured around the neck edge. This was 26". I then thought about how stretchy and fine my practice fabric is and decided to make a 23" circumference neck band. I had enough fabric to cut another one if I needed to.

What would I change next time? I'd add a few centimetres to the length of the sleeves. That's the only change I'd make! The neck band will be the most 'challenging' thing about making other tops as it's going to vary depending on the fabric - no two stretch fabrics are the same. I've got some lovely cream bamboo fabric waiting to be cut out for version two so stay tuned for that.

Have you tried copying a favourite garment...without unpicking it? Let me know how you got on, I'd love to hear about it!

Green wool jacket

Before

Well, I finally finished this ongoing project. I've made another wool jacket - I'm getting seriously addicted to working with wool and also with having jackets that fit me and, wait for it...aren't black! So, here's the latest (I'm sure there will be more!).

After editing

It's a green 100% wool twill (I think) fabric that I bought in the second raid on Mandors when we went to Glasgow in September. It's a lovely forest green colour (which doesn't photograph well at all) and a reasonable £20 a metre, which isn't bad at all for a 100% wool content. I used Vogue 9136 which is described as a "loose fitting, unlined coat, has collar, dropped shoulders  but made a few modifications along the way.

Before

After editing and cropping

I pre-shrunk my wool fabric by steaming it with my iron. It took HOURS! I also made a muslin to check the fit. This pattern is described as loose fitting and it certainly is. I cut a 12-14 size and it's really roomy on me. I didn't add anything to the length of sleeves or body but I did mistakenly cut the longer View B rather than View A but strangely enough I didn't run out of fabric. Mind you, I'm pretty generous when I'm buying wool, I add a good 10% extra to the fabric requirements to cover the pre-shrinking treatment plus I add an unspecified extra amount because I'd hate to have something too short. Call it my 'Comfort Zone of Happiness'. This probably comes from being a tall person and from having to buy RTW clothing that just wasn't right but there wasn't anything else.

Before

After editing and cropping

 There's nothing wrong with your eyes and you're not seeing double! The November challenge in Gillian from Crafting a 
Rainbow's Better Pictures Project is using photo editing software. I've used it but I'm not sure if there's much of an improvement with these photos! I've added the before and after photos. I think I've managed to make them look worse than they were before! I saved my photos to Picasa Web and edited them using Google.

I mentioned modifications. There were ton of them, mainly in the construction of the jacket.

I cut View A but added the patch pockets from View B as I don't like side seam pockets.

After making and trying on the muslin, the collar was far too high. It would very quickly have got spoiled with make-up every time I wore it. I reduced the height by, I think, about 3"so that tells you how high the original was!

Before

I used iron on medium weight hair canvas to interface the collar so it can stand up correctly yet also bends attractively (in my opinion!) if it's worn undone.

After editing and cropping

I used a medium weight iron-on interfacing over all the jacket. Just because that's the way I like it. It gives the fabric a bit of body and I can't stand droopy, saggy jackets.

I applied medium weight iron-on interfacing to the pockets and lined them, after a lot of head scratching and trying to work out how to do it neatly.

I cut a back stay from pre-washed black sheeting, I think. To be honest it's quite a few weeks since I did this step so it's a bit fuzzy in the mind now. I felt that with the dropped shoulders the wool would get really stretched over my shoulders if it didn't have this support. It also helped stabilise the shoulder seam too.

I added a full lining to the jacket, just cutting the same back piece as for the outer fabric and adding an inch to the width when I cut it on the fold. I made a new pattern piece for the front lining and just used the pattern piece for the sleeves. The lining is a 100% cupro lining bought from John Lewis in Edinburgh and pre-washed on the silk setting on the washing machine using appropriate soap. The care label says don't wash but...tough!

Before

After editing

I added piping between the facing fabric and the lining. As you can see due to the style of the jacket it's not a continuous length of piping but I don't care.


I added a hanging loop I made from the satin bias binding used to pipe the lining-facing junction.




I sewed reinforcing buttons to the underside of the facing to help support the large buttons on the outside of the jacket.

I hand stitched them hem and the sleeve hems. I hand stitched in the ditch along the seam where the collar meets the jacket, so the inside and outside behave as one. If you know what I mean.

Before

Ah, the glorious buttons! This jacket is simply all about the buttons. I bought them from Mandors in Glasgow just on my way out of the door. I hesitated at the button stand and my eyes suddenly locked on to them. Does that ever happen to you? I knew they were The Ones so that was that.

So, what's the verdict? I'm not sure if dropped shoulders are my style but I do like this jacket. I love the colour, love the buttons and I like how I can wear the collar done up and also undone and it looks very different both ways. It's like having two looks in one jacket which is very satisfying. I'm glad I interfaced and lined the jacket and really glad I interfaced and lined the pockets. It's behaving just as I want it to although I do need to add another button and buttonhole to hold up the inside when the coat is closed. You can see the droop in some of these photos.

After editing

...and on to the next project...some Named Jamie jeans (also with quite a few modification) which I'm slowly working on. I'm taking my time with these and trying to get just the right fit. What are you working on at the moment?