A bright print on a grey day

 Its grey here today so I'm going to make myself a knit top from this fun print.

Quietscapes

 

Quietscapes are done by our friend and his son - beautiful and very calming

Millstone Edge

(1966) Millstone Edge - Colours of Autumn - YouTube

Waterfall Swallet

(1966) Waterfall Swallet - Creatively hiding mud - YouTube

Skirt and tops for a friend

 I'd picked up a remnant of floral jersey, which made a beautiful skirt for C.

For this I used the skirt pieces from the Simplicity 9473 skirt. I stitched elastic to the top and flipped it over, stitching it the ditch at the side seams to secure. I also added some inseam pockets from another pattern.

To go with it I made two t-shirts from the Closet Core Tee pattern

which if worn tucked in, give the look of a dress

I've used the 18D front with an elbow length sleeve for both of these.

Personalised Backpack

I had a plain black rucksack, bought cheaply one back-to-school season. I decided I would like to embellish it a little.

I used three things

- a length of upholstery braid in olive and pink

- a length of ribbon in olive

- an embroidered patch of an elephant in olive

First I stitched the braid around the top of the backpack and the hanging loop. I used the remaining braid with the olive ribbon to make zipper pulls for the 2 top zippers and the zipper on the pocket.

Next I interfaced a scrap of black variegated quilting cotton and embroidered an elephant motif using my embroidery machine. It took a few goes to get it right.

I then finished the edges and turned them under to create a patch.

I then stitched this onto the rucksack. I decided to leave it open at the top so it's a little extra pocket.

I'm much happier with my personalised rucksack!

Off Black Divided skirt

I had originally cut out some wrap around beach trousers - I think from Simplicity 5508 - in an off black thin cotton (or polycotton).

(It looks black until you see it next to something black - like the black serging thread, and then its clearly very very dark grey)

I wasn't convinced by the style and didn't sew them up.

Sometime later I found the pieces when I wanted something dark as the background for a test P&Q block. I whacked a chunk off one of the legs and did my block!

Recently I came across the remaining pieces and decided I'd rather have a divided skirt and wanted pleats that would make it look more skirt like and less trouser like.

I cut the legs off so they were all the same length, a good midi length fortunately.

Enter Vogue 9090, which is a skirt pattern I'd got free with a magazine. I copied the pleat placement. The deep centre front and back pleats nicely disguise the inner leg seams.

I added a wide elastic waistband making the skirt easy to pull on.

Here you can see the two legs.

A great piece for overseas holidays where its hot!

Olive Cardigan: Harper cardigan hack

 

I wanted both a cardigan and joggers from the olive fabric. I'd already used some of the fabric for another project so it was a real squeeze.

In the end the joggers had a pieced pocket lining, but were otherwise as per the pattern. 

The cardigan needed a bit more tweaking. The version above has the following changes.

- narrower front band

- no hem band, just a stitched hem.

- slightly shorter sleeves and longer cuffs

It's still worked out well though.

Labels for packing cubes

You might remember I made some packing cubes to use on trips, well I sewed some little labels to attach to them, so I can more easily work out what's in each one without opening them.

I used a scrap of interfaced fabric left over from doing tests on the embroidery machine and used my Janome computerised sewing machine to sew the letters.

I think if I did these again I'd try to get the writing nearer the middle of the labels. But they work for now.

The Book Dress

 

I just finished making this dress for my lovely friend C.

She picks such fun print fabrics. This one is books with flowers!

Its based one Simplicity 9122 with the rather wide neckline brought in by an inch on each side and the cap sleeves extended into short dolman sleeves. I've added side pockets and moved the position of the front tucks down a little to suit C's full bust.

Dark Olive Mountain View Trousers

I had bought some dark olive fabric, satin one side, but matte the other. It has a bit of stretch but not really enough for the Itch To Stitch Mountain View Jeans. I added an extra inch to the back when I was cutting out and they've worked out really well.

These are the matte side out. I'll try to do a shot of me wearing them as they don't have much hanger appeal!

Adding a hidden pocket to shorts

I'd previously sewn these shorts in March 2022 and wore them lots. 

They were nearly perfect except for 2 things - no zipped pocket and no belt loops.

I had some leftover fabric so decided to fix these issues.

First I made a pocket with a zip and a single layer of fabric above.

I then stitched this to the seam allowance of the waistband, with the zip towards the shorts. To use it, just flip it to the outside and the zip opening is at the top of the waistband.

I also added belt loops so a belt can be worn to keep the shorts up when the pockets are loaded.

I'm really pleased with these updates

Olive Joggers : Wendy Ward's Monsal Lounge Pants

 Latest make is a pair of olive joggers. 

Mystery knit with looped back from stash.

Pattern is the Monsal Lounge Pants, from the Wendy Ward Book, A Beginners Guide to Sewing with Knits.

These are more an autumnal make as the fabric is quite cosy but still work beautifully with my floral scarf.

Cotton floral shirt

For this version I used the pocket pieces I'd used on the olive green shirt, only twice this time. These are large enough to be useful without being too large (as per the previous floral blouse).

I used a 100% cotton fabric which I bought from Economy Fabrics in June this year.

The buttons are shell buttons from the button drawers. Fortunately I managed to find a dozen all the same size.

The pattern is Prima March 2020 cut off to blouse length. I've also added a continuous placket for the opening rather than using the sleeve seam.

Burgundy random spot top

 

Another version on my much altered New Look 6735 top, this time in a beautifully soft viscose jersey

On this version I went for a relaxed round neckline rather than the deep scoop on the original.

The fabric was left over from a knit top I made in October 2017 from a different pattern. That one had long sleeves so may be packed away with the winter clothing, or worn out in the intervening period!

T shirt for a friend

This is a t shirt for a friend. She has a different figure to me so I hope this will work for her.

Its the cropped version of the Closet Core T, with the 18D (from the plus range)

Embroidered tote bag

 In June we had a family craft zoom session. My aunt sent each of us a plain cotton tote bag to embellish as we wished.

My aunt hand embroidered her bag. My mum took her bag apart and sewed on a patchwork block. One cousin drew freehand on her bag whilst the other stencilled a design. I decided to machine embroider, so took my bag apart, interfaced one side and during the session embroidered the central paisley.

It looked a bit lonely (and was off centre, even though the hoop was centred) so I added the celtic style animals and then the tiny motifs. I'm not entirely happy with it so parked it for a bit.

Yesterday I interfaced the back for balance, made a lining with some pockets and sewed the bag back up.

At least it is done now