Robin print dress

This is another dress for my lovely young friend C - its a Robin print cotton fabric made up in a version of the dress from Simplicity 9473.

The fabric was narrow so I split the skirt front into 3, a centre panel and 2 side front panels, I left the back as two panels. This allowed me to have the robins the right way up throughout the dress.

I also added inseam side pockets.

Keeping warm

 In another polo neck  (turtleneck)

Once again I used I used OOP New Look 6008. I've altered the sleeve for a full bicep and the back piece for a high round back. 

This is a plain single knit jersey with only crossways stretch. It was a bit prone to rolling, and I had to snip into the seam allowance to get the sleeve heads in.

It should be a nice nod to the festive season whilst staying warm and comfortable.

I bought the fabric from MyFabricPlace which is fairly local to me.

It looks to still be in stock at £3 per metre.

Another in the same pattern, this one had an unusual black print on the fabric remnant.

Sparkling party dress

 This is a sparkling party dress for my young friend C.

The fabric is a black knit which is also micro pleated and covered in silver sparkles. (Bought several years ago from a local physical shop)

The bodice is the Style Arc Molly knit top, shortened to waist length and with 3/4 length sleeves.

The skirt is from Simplicity 9473. I've also added inseam pockets in the skirt.

When she comes for try-on we may add some narrow elastic into the waist seam to pull it in a little.

Aqua print top

I used a pretty print for this neck polo neck (turtleneck) top.

I'm not sure if it is supposed to be feathers, leavers or just abstract, but it has a nature inspired feel to it.

Once again I used the long sleeved collared top from OOP New Look 6008. I've altered the sleeve for a full bicep and the back piece for a high round back. 

I have some sewing to do for other people, so I'd better get the sewing room tidied up and different thread on the machines!

More Aqua pieces

I kept the same overlocking thread cones on the machine as for the blouse, but changed up the sewing machine thread and coverhem threads for these pieces. Sewing knits can be quite quick and I was short of suitable winter tops in this colour which is great for me.

This picture of them all together shows the subtle variations in the colours

This is the lightest coloured fabric, it has little stretch though so hopefully OK to wear.

This is shirt at the bottom of the pile, its a lovely fabric with nice drape and stretch so should be lovely to wear

This is the joggers, which if I have a suitable top could be great for Pilates (not sure I'd wear a polo neck/turtleneck to class!)

This is the tie dye fabric in a top. I used all but tiny scraps of this fabric

For the top I used OOP New Look 6008. I've altered the sleeve for a full bicep and the back piece for a high round back. 

The joggers are the Monsal Lounge Pants by Wendy Ward (From her book "Beginners Guide to sewing with Knits).

I still have Aqua on the overlocker, so I may stick with this colourway for a bit!

Aqua print blouse

I've just finished my first Remy Raglan, I used a US size 14, UK size 18 with the full sleeve with band and I think it's lovely.

I've had the fabric for many years, it is a viscose with a print in shades of seafoam green, teal and cream.

It looks similar on both sides and id very slippery, so as you can imagine was a pain to cut and sew. The finished result is nice though.

Christmas Angel Decoration

 Inspired by the ones I found online here's my Christmas Angel Ornament

It's made from felt and handstitched.

Travel Capsule Wardrobe for South Africa Garden Route

Do you remember me sewing things for my Start With A Scarf Wardrobe? I used those clothes along with a few RTW pieces as a travel capsule wardrobe for a trip to South Africa's garden route. I even took the scarf with me though I didn't actually wear it!

I also took footwear - walking shoes, walking sandals and silver flat sandals as well as sunglasses, underwear, PJs, socks and toiletries. Everything packed up into the packing cubes nicely. DH and I both had some clothing in each other's checked luggage and spare undies and top in our hand luggage (rucksacks), though we didn't have any issues with our checked luggage.

I did wear everything, and as we were away 3.5 weeks, we visited a laundrette half way through and had a service wash done of some items (underwear, socks, tops and dirtier bottoms/layers).

All my bottoms and layers were plain colours, as were some of my tops, and I stuck to a colour palette of black, sage green, burgundy and pink, this let me mix and match whatever was clean and suitable for the weather that day. We had rain, sunshine, heat and cold, so lots of different combos were in operation!

Coat

I took a Craghoppers lined waterproof jacket with hood and pockets. In the pockets I had gloves, beany hat, tube scarf/buff and a lightweight peaked cap. These fold up small, but were great for protection from the sun (peaked cap) 

Bottoms

I took seven bottoms, perhaps it could've been slightly fewer. They were

Black stretch woven trousers, worn on all flights and over the joggers on cold morning and evening safari drives.

Dark grey slim leg joggers, worn for relaxing in the room/cabin, one night as PJ trousers when it was cold and as thermals under the black trousers.

Black stretch jeans, worn for evening meals and some around the town days.

Stretch woven tan shorts, worn a lot on the hot days. The internal zipped pocket was great, though banged a bit on my leg when I put too much in it.

Black culottes skirt, an alternative to the shorts on hot days.

Olive green Craghoppers trousers. Worn for hiking with a belt but not good for a boat trip - the fit isn't  right when sitting.

Sage green stretch woven trousers. Worn for wine tasting, some evening meals and etc. Fit not right on these either.

Layers

2 lightweight fleece jackets from Craghoppers (one burgundy, one pink), and a self sewn cardigan in sage green. I wore all of these but could've probably managed with only 1 of the fleeces + the cardigan.

Shirts

I took 4 shirts, 2 self sewn (sage green and floral) and two purchased Craghoppers in Pink and Regatta in Burgundy check. More shirts would've been good and the ones with pockets were more useful. The floral shirt was worn the most and washed twice (once by hand, once at launderette).

3/4 sleeve tops

Wore all of these and washed them too.

Short sleeved tops

Useful as layers under the shirts, as well as self sewn I took quite a few RTW t-shirts, mostly from Decathlon.

Summary

Overall things worked well. Secure pockets were definitely useful. My self sewn items worked out quite well. My RTW pieces have been bought over the years and were not expensive. I have pieces from Regatta, Craghoppers and Decathlon. The better my sewing gets, the less RTW I wear :-)

Learning Foundation Paper Piecing

 I decided I'd like to learn the foundation paper piecing technique.

To avoid overload I started with a really simple mountain scene from Etive & Co.

I found the video for how to assemble this really clear. I watched it all the way through first, then followed along the second time making my piece at the same time (with lots of pausing).

For my version I decided to have blue sky, purple mountains and green fields.