Burgundy Frill Neck Blouse.

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you know I like to sew multiple things with the same thread colour where possible. I really like to have the overlocking (serger) threads inside my garments all matching and to this end have 5 drawers of thread, much of it Coats Moon sorted by colour.

So whilst I had bright burgundy (Moon M0055) on the machines I hunted in the fabric boxes for other fabrics I could sew up.

I found a remnant of a lovely bright burgundy viscose (rayon) with a very slight crinkle texture and beautiful sheen. I had cut other things from it previously, so it was an odd shape and not much yardage. It looked like it would like to be a blouse.

I ironed the fabric and laid it on my cutting board, and decided to try Simplicity 9200 again only to find I couldn't quite get the front shoulder out of the fabric (big funny shaped thing had been cut out). I then decided to move the shoulder seam forwards. So took 1.5" off the front shoulder and added it onto the back shoulder (and left myself a note in the project tray*, so I didn't get confused putting the sleeve in).

Once I'd cut out the front and back, I was able to cut the sleeves single layer, but then realised I didn't have any sections large enough for 2 collars..... After a bit of pondering I cut two collar stands and then cut lots of pieces 2 1/2" wide and varying lengths, which I pieced together to get a strip about 3 times the length of the collar stand. I then seamed the ends, pressed in half, and gathered onto the collar stand as a frill.

Here's the blouse paired with the floral trousers

(* I have two shallow plastic baskets, slightly larger than A4/letter paper. As I cut out I put the pieces into the basket along with any zips/buttons etc I might need. It stops me losing pieces in the jumble of the sewing room)

Wine Fleece Jacket

My latest make is a lovely wine coloured zip front jacket.

This replaces a favourite RTW version which got stained and was very worn. The zip was in good condition though so I rescued it and have reused it here.

The fabric is from Pound Fabrics . It is their Anti Pill polar fleece in Wine - their picture is more accurate on the colour.

This is my 3rd fleece using the Windbreaker pattern from Ottobre Magazine (Ottobre Woman 5/2014 model 17) and I like the fit the best (I keep tweaking it).

This time I took out some of the extra I'd added at the hips and replaced the shaped pockets with rectangular ones which I caught into the front zip - this makes that area a bit bulky though so a tiny bit more tweaking required for the next version.

I used invisible zippers in the pockets and with the invisible zipper foot and the fleece the tape doesn't show at all. That's good to know when I can't get the pocket and front zippers to match perfectly for future versions.

In case I can't remember how I did the pockets I'll put the steps here for myself next time!

Cut out 2 pockets in fleece and 2 pocket linings in another fabric. The pockets cut in fleece are about 1/4" wider where they attach to the zip. Finish the edges which will be near the zip.

Finish the edges of the front panel and side panel.

If using an invisible zipper, stitch it to the side panels and front panel before sewing up the rest of the sea,. If using a standard zipper, sew the seam first leaving a gap and then add the zip.

Sew the main pocket (cut in fleece)to the zipper tape and side panel seam allowance. Sew the pocket lining to the front panel zip and seam allowance. Leave enough space to sew the two pocket sections together.

Fold both pocket pieces towards the centre front. Stitch round the pockets and then finish the edges. Align the pocket side and bottom so they will be caught into the front zipper topstitching and the hem.

Also consider using the walking foot when hemming to avoid stretching the fleece out.