Clef Jacket from Love Notions

I decided to test out the Clef jacket from Love Notions patterns. 

I used some fabric I find a bit itchy and some buttons which are a bit orange as I plan to donate the end result.

The overall fit was fine though I shortened the sleeves .

For my next version I'm going to rotate the pockets 90 degrees so they are deeper. Add a high round back alteration, and straighten the ends of the sleeves for easier hemming.

I'm hoping this will be a good way to make a fleece jacket when I can't easily get a matching zip but have matching buttons!

This has used another 2m of fabric so

Fabric sewn so far in 2025 - 13m, fabric purchased zero!

• 3m of teal jersey
• 2m of print/brown sweater knit
• 3m of animal print jersey
• 3m of brown poly knit
• 2m of itchy brown fabric

Kinder Cardigans with buttons

Using the leftover fabric from the joggers, I managed to cut out two cardigans. 

The pattern is The Kinder Cardigan from Wendy Ward's Book "A Beginner’s Guide To Sewing With Knitted Fabrics"

I interfaced the lower section of the front bands and added buttons and buttonholes. I also made the cuffs a little smaller and ran a slight gathering stitch round the bottom of the sleeves to help ease them onto the cuffs.

With the buttons and the tighter cuffs I hope these versions will be a little cosier to wear.

We can add the brown cardigan into the Paisley SWAP.

1 jacket, 1 fleece, 1 cardigan, 1 shirt, 8 knit tops, 1 pair jeans, 1 pair joggers, 1 skirt.

The animal print pieces could be worn with the plain items, but not with the paisley (IMO).

Fabric sewn so far in 2025 - 11m, fabric purchased zero!

• 3m of teal jersey
• 2m of print/brown sweater knit
• 3m of animal print jersey
• 3m of brown poly knit

Monsal Lounge Pants

 

The Monsal Lounge Pants from Wendy Ward's book "Sewing with Knitted Fabrics2 are my TNT jogger pattern.

I've made another 2 pairs, one in plain brown brushed polyester knit and the other in a cotton jersey printed with an animal print pattern. They are both the same variation of the pattern.

If I add the brown joggers into the Paisley SWAP with the teal tops, it looks like this

1 jacket, 1 fleece, 1 shirt, 8 knit tops, 1 pair jeans, 1 pair joggers, 1 skirt.

Prima Cardigan Pattern October 2022

As much as I love my TNT patterns, I thought it'd be fun to try some new patterns. In particular I wanted a cardigan drafted to allow it to be buttoned up the front.

For this test garment I used a remnant of sweater knit which had been languishing in the stash for some time. Originally I'd thought to make a little knit top to wear with neutral trousers, but I prefer to have some colour near my face. There was only enough to cut the front, back, sleeves and pockets so I used the leftovers from a different cardigan to cut the front bands. As the sleeves were a little short I also drafted and cut some cuffs in the same fabric.

I cut the size 20 as usual in Prima patterns, and perhaps the style is supposed to be this oversized, but heck it was very wide and short.

If I were to make this again I'd go down two sizes and add a hem band as well, but as I decided I don't like the printed sweater knit it wasn't worth me altering. 

Apparently this is just the sort of look Gen Z like so I've added a label and will be donating it to a local charity shop which is happy to take handmade clothing.

Teal cotton jersey tops

I had a length of cotton single jersey in the cupboard which is a very similar colour of teal to the corduroy jacket I made for my mini collection. So I thought it would be a good addition to my capsule. I measured it and discovered I had 3 metres. I briefly considered a dress but I hardly wear the ones I already have so I thought that wasn't a very sensible use of fabric in one of my signature colours.

New Look 6008

I put my cutting board on the dining table and cut out my TNT turtleneck top (New Look 6008 modified for fit). When switching to a new project, I like to check the needle in the machine and make a few tests to check it is OK. Well I must've tried about 8 different needles trying to find one which would sew the cotton jersey without skipping stitches. In the end it was a particular stretch needle that worked (other stretch and jersey needles didn't).

New Look 6735

Once that top was completed, I thought that finding a needle that would sew this fabric next time I pulled it from stash was likely to be irksome, so as the fabric was still on the dining table I cut out a different TNT top - this time a scoop neck with 3/4 sleeves (new Look 6735 modified for fit). I sewed that top up and was pleased with the outcome.

Closet Core Tee

with pocket detail

Astonishingly I still had some fabric left after this (which rather reminded me of a much loved childhood story about The Magic Porridge Pot). I'd got a pattern out which uses three fabrics, thinking I could make some sort of pieced top, but no, there was enough fabric for a third top! With some careful cutting I was able to get another different TNT top out of the fabric with cuffs and a pocket (Closet Core Tee, adapted).

I think I'm now covered when I want a plain teal top!

Mini Wardrobe to SWAP?

 I placed 3rd in the PR Mini wardrobe contest.

I love the colours, so thought I'd look through other pieces I made in 2024 and see how close I am to a whole SWAP.

If I add in the fleece jacket I just made, the trio of turquoise tees from June and the Butterfly sweatshirt from May it looks like this.

I've just laid out some teal jersey on the table, so plan a couple of tops from that which would add a bit of the deeper teal in tops.

Teal Fleece Jacket

Here's my latest make, a teal fleece jacket. 

The fabric was a 2m precut from Pound Fabrics. This colourway (Petrol) is now out of stock, but they do have others still.

The pattern is adapted from Ottobre Woman 5/2014 model 17.

Since I made the first version I made a lot of small changes, reducing the bust and shoulder width, adding at the hips and upper back. I may have overdone the extra at the hips though. so I'll wear it a bit before I dive into the next version!

I've not quite got to TNT zipped jacket status yet, though a little elastic in the hems fixed this version enough for me to be happy.

I sourced a damaged gilet from a local charity shop which I unpicked for the zips which I used on this project.

Pipa Pouches for gifts

I have made 4 new tall Pipa Pouches for gifts. I have a lot of fun matching up the fabric remnants, and zips for these so that I use what I have.

Left is Peter Rabbit fabric, it has a pale yellow lining, cream zip and blue ribbon on the zipper which matches Peter's little jacket.

Second left is pale purple with purple and green print. I've echoed this with a purple zip and green ribbon pull. The lining is pale purple.

The second right is another purple print, this time with a dark purple invisible zip, pale purple lining (no ribbon as the zipper tab doesn't have a hole).

On the right is a turquoise sewing themed print with plain turquoise lining, white zip and turquoise ribbon.

The first 2 zips are metal, so I carefully hand would at any point where I need to stitch across the zipper teeth. No needles were broken!

Free PDF Bag Sewing Pattern, Pouch PDF Sewing Pattern, Bag Sewing Pattern, DIY Purse Sewing Pattern — Sewing Patterns by Masin

Here are some pouches I've made previously from this pattern

Teal dress for C

 

Here's another dress for C, from a plain fabric out of my stash.

It is adapted from Simplicity 9122 with the rather wide neckline brought in by an inch on each side. I've added side pockets and moved the position of the front tucks down a little to suit C's full bust.

I have a metre + some scraps left over, and wonder if I could make some sort of garment for myself. I had been thinking of a top of some sort, but maybe shorts would make more sense....

Christmas Dress for C

 We had a tiny bit of Christmas print fabric which I've used for the neckband, bottom of the sleeves and as a panel in the skirt. 

The navy is a medium weight Ponte knit, the print is a stretchy viscose (rayon) knit, so there was a slight mismatch in weights, but I've made it work as best I could.

I've used Simplicity 9473 again which we've fitted to C. It is for wovens but I've used it quite a few times now for knits, just have to watch out for any vertical stretch as it affects where the waistline hits.

Instead of lining the body I've added a narrow neckband to finish the neckline.

I folded a section out when cutting the skirt front to make it less full, then cut up and inserted my panel to make it back to the correct size. There are side pockets too. I cut the sleeves shorter, then cut the lower section from the contrast, sewed the two sections together then made the dress up in the usual way.

I think this is quite a classy take on a Christmas dress and hope C enjoys it.

Paisley Mini-Wardrobe

If you are already a member on Pattern Review and you'd like to vote for my capsule wardrobe entry in their contest, here's the link

https://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/ContestGallery.pl?ContestID=442
There are 23 entries and you get 5 votes.

Here's my Composite Review on PR

Contest 2024 Mini-Wardrobe Contest 2024 Mini-WardrobeContest pattern review by RuthieSews

2024 Mini-Wardrobe Contest Composite Review

This is my composite review for the 2024 Mini-Wardrobe Contest. It is based around wanting to use this gorgeous (but large scale print) which was used in the Vera Bradley Java Blue range. I bought the fabric more than 15 years ago from a roll end shop in Warrington, Cheshire, England. I've loved it all that time, but finally got brave enough to sew it up.

The blouse and skirt can be worn together to give the appearance of a shirtdress. The blouse and skirt can also be worn separately with other pieces. I've used the colours in the print as inspiration for the palette.
The knit top is slightly shorter than the woven blouse, which is slightly shorter than the jacket, so they can be layered in a visually pleasing way.
For each item in this capsule I've tried to add something extra either in technique or embellishment.

Paisley Blouse
Link to review for Paisley blouse
TnT shirt but with pattern matched front and front pockets.

Paisley Skirt
Link to Paisley Skirt
New pattern but with added pockets and comfort waist.

Brown Jeans
Link to review for Brown Stretch Jeans
TnT jeans pattern with embroidered back pockets which echo the print.

Turquoise Turtleneck
Link to the review for the Turquoise Turtleneck
TnT top pattern with self drafted neckline and embellished detail inspired by the print.

Teal Cord Jacket
Link to review for Teal jacket
New pattern with my first welt pockets and changing their half lining to a full lining.

I've been planning this capsule in my head for several years so its so exciting to finally get the pieces sewn up.

Once all the pieces were complete I had a go at showing all the different combinations I could think of and came up with

1. Jeans + Top
2. Jeans + Top + Jacket

3. Jeans + Blouse
4. Jeans + Blouse + Jacket
5. Jeans + Top + Blouse
6. Jeans + Top + Blouse + Jacket

7. Skirt + Top
8. Skirt + Top + Jacket

9. Skirt worn as strapless dress with Jacket

10. Skirt + Blouse
11. Skirt + Blouse + Jacket
12. Skirt + Top + Blouse

not shown
13. Skirt + Top + Blouse + Jacket