Plum corduroy skirt

I sewed a plum corduroy skirt using a Prima Pattern (New Year 2001) from my collection.

I wanted something which would work with the dark plum corduroy fabric and this pattern was designed for denim and corduroy.

This is a thick plum corduroy with a fine whale. It's heavy. I sewed it with a jeans needle which worked fine. Hand sewing the inside of the waistband was so hard going I ended up with both my thumb and forefinger bleeding!

I lengthened the pattern by 4 inches, which turned out to be too much so I was able to do a really deep (2" hem).

I also added 4 darts to the back waist to get a better fit and adjusted the waistband accordingly. I inserted the invisible zip using the new method I learned at the Weekend Sewing Club.

Note: Prima magazine is a UK monthly women's magazine. For mail subscribers it includes a free sewing pattern, for those who buy it at the newsagent, you can send off for the pattern. The pattern can often be found on ebay and some recent ones can be purchased from the publisher's site.

Burgundy Rib Knit dress

 Burgundy Rib Knit dress from New Look 6650

I raised the back neckline slightly, and scooped the front neckline. Instead of folding the fabric under and stitching for the neckline I drafted a narrow neckband and applied that instead. The neckline measured 25" and I cut a neckband piece that was 2 inches wide by 22 inches long.

The pattern has a short sleeve and a slightly longer short sleeve, so I extended the longer sleeve by 11" to give a full length sleeve.

I didn't cut the back on the fold, instead I added a seam allowance to the centre back and moved the split round to the back.

I sewed the ties on about 2 inches higher up than the pattern indicates as this is more flattering on my body shape.

Velvet Skirt

I'd bought a metre of silvery grey stretch velvet for a project for someone else. That went a different direction so the fabric wasn't needed.

A metre is just enough for a long straight skirt with back split and elasticated waist, so I used New Look 6730 View A which worked very well.

Silk Blouse

 

I used a silk satin with a bold print, I bought in 2010 and Simplicity 9200 Misses Shirts. I was hoping by using a TNT pattern and a little more knowledge I could manage silk! I spray starched the fabric before cutting out. Allowed it to dry and then ironed it. I sewed slowly with a Microtex needle and used a lot of pins!

On this version I sewed the centre fronts together to make a pull on blouse (I checked on an earlier version that this would work!) and changed the sleeves to be wider at the hem and go into a narrow cuff. I debated adding front pockets to break up the print a bit but haven't done so at this point. (I've saved the scraps in case I change my mind).

I thought after lots of working with viscose (rayon) that I was ready for silk abut I still found it really tricky. The spray starch reduced the fluidity but didn't address the slipperiness of the satin. I think I'll allow a bit of time to pass before I tackle the next silk in my stash, but I'm so glad I'm no longer avoiding the silk.

Classic denim dress from a blouse pattern

I had a great time making this project. It's a denim dress made from a dark denim with no stretch. It had languished in my stash because I prefer stretch jeans.

I used Butterick Misses' Shirt 5665 I extended the tunic length of the pattern by 16 inches (40cm) to get a midi length dress (flaring out slightly). I also added more buttons/buttonholes, a tie belt and patch pockets with buttoned flaps.

I had a lot of fun with this project. I got out my backup machine and threaded it up with some contrast thread for the topstitching and in my button stash I had 6 cards of 3 (18 buttons) which were perfect for the project. 2 for the pockets, 2 for the cuffs, 13 down the front and a spare sewn to the seam allowance. As they are shank buttons I had a lovely evening sewing them on by hand whilst watching TV.

Black lined coat with faux leather accents

 Wool mix black coat with satin lining and upper collar and patch pockets in faux leather

I also made a large co-ordinating scarf, thinking to have a scarf coat, but have kept it separate for now.

Sashay Culottes from My Handmade Wardrobe

These are my Sashay Culottes from My Handmade wardrobe. It is the monthly pattern for October for the Weekend Sewing Club.

It has a faced waist, patch pockets and a side zip

Having patch pockets on both the front and back confused me a bit, so I've added a label inside to indicate the back.

I've sewn mine from a barely black baby cord from deep stash which I think I've probably had for 20 years

Should be a soft and cosy piece for Autumn Winter.

Red and Black Knit Top - McCall's 7574

I had some scraps of double layer knit left and decided to make a knit top with it.

As my knit scraps are double layer, thick and warm I initially sized up to get an oversized sweater look. I chose the long top with long sleeves. It was a disaster with the saddle sleeves - just looked like a deflated American football player.

I got some advice from sewing buddies and recut the bodice section to better fit my torso and sewed it back together, adding cuff and hem bands to tie the two fabrics in better.

I'm not convinced I'd make this again, but if I did there would need to be some grading between sizes.

Animal Print Knit Top

 

I've adapted the free Vera Knit Top pattern to fit onto a scrap of leftover knit fabric.

For my version I switched to a round neckline and had to reduce the width of the sleeves quite a bit to fit onto my available fabric.

This is my first piece for the Pattern Review Endless Wardrobe Contest during October 2025.

Let's see how many garments I can make during the time frame!

My version of the Sundown Cover Up

The Sundown Coverup was last month's pattern for the Weekend Sewing Club from My Handmade Wardrobe.

Here's my version in size Large. I made it mostly during the Live Sew Along session. The fabric is a novelty knit of some sort. It has a black mesh background with a sort of boucle type yarn knitted into it.

I added 14cm to the length and did a small hem, but left the pockets in the marked place. I made buttonholes and added three large grey buttons from my stash.

The pattern can be made from wovens, knits or quilted fabrics. I liked the knit and quilted versions the best.

Mine is a bit big, though I cut for my measurements, probably because the knit has a lot of give. I also find the neckline  comes away from my neck and isn't very cosy.

A quick knit top

 Here's a quick knit top to close out September.

Sarah released a long sleeve to go with the Mix It Up Tee pattern and I've been pleased to use it for this top.

The Mix It Up Tee pattern is part of The Weekend Sewing Club at My Handmade Wardrobe.

Sew Sorted - progress

Last week the Stash Hub app hosted a week long course called 'Sew Sorted'.

I attended as many sessions as I could and participated in the chat. I then have made/am making some changes.

1. I have sorted all my patterns by garment type rather than the previous rather haphazard method I had. They are in boxes and away on shelves, but need me to go through each category and donate a few.

2. I bought some new storage boxes for my notions as the previous cardboard ones were starting to rip. The new boxes are bigger so I've been able to move some homeless items into them.

3. I've started going through all my fabric boxes, measuring, labelling and refolding the full lengths of fabric and moving remnants and scraps elsewhere. It's a long process. But quite revelatory!

Olive green trousers and burgundy cardigan

 I made some other new pieces to add to my travel capsule

Olive wide leg trousers in viscose/rayon, these are the same pattern as the mid blue trousers but with an added invisible zip pocket in one side.

And a burgundy 3 button cardigan adapted from the Kinder Cardigan from a Wendy Ward book. I cut this one shorter than my RTW coat which proved to be very versatile.

Pink top

 The Side Tie top from the Weekend Sewing Club

I made the V neck version of the top in a size L. I had limited fabric so the ties are slightly narrower and the facing is from a cream coloured fabric. I moved the ties up slightly so they tie just below the bust.

It's great to be able to make something wearable from 0.7m fabric.

This is this month's pattern from the Weekend Sewing Club.

Navy Pieces

 Here's another co-ord set!  This time in a textured cotton modal fabric in dark navy

The blouse is Simplicity 9200 View C, without the frill. I found 6 buttons in my stash with navy translucent centres and silver surrounds which work really well and lift the darkness of the navy a little 

For the culottes and shorts I again used the trousers from NewLook 6438, though altered for my crotch curve, and elastic waistband and slash pockets. The pockets on the shorts are slightly smaller due to fabric limitations.

These plain coloured pieces will mostly be worn with existing printed garments with navy content to extend wardrobe options, with the shirt also being able to be worn as a light layering piece.

Tips on working with the fabric.

I overlocked the cut edges and washed the fabric on my normal cycle, and draped it over a rack indoors to dry. I found the edges crinkled more than the centre of the yardage so I did lightly press the whole yardage (I had 4 metres). 

I used a lightweight interfacing in the collar and front band.

I was gentle in my handling, and only pressed where needed. I guess I'll find out how much ironing the pieces will need after they've all been worn and washed.