Spring Lamb - well a sheep anyway

For our latest online family Crafternoon, the theme chosen was sheep/lambs.

I took a slightly bobbly fleece blanket and some offcuts of dark denim and made a sheep shaped cushion.

I used these free instructions from the Bernina blog.

Sew cuddly toy Sew a cuddly toy with this free pattern for a plush sheep - available in two sizes » BERNINA Blog

The only alteration I made was to add a long strip with rounded ends between the two sides so the feet are separate.

Black Ponte Metra Blazer

 

Black is not in my 'Sophisticated' palette but is useful for choir events and traditional funerals, so I dug out some black fabrics from the stash and have started making a few cardigans and jackets for such occasions.

The first one is a Metra blazer from a black ponte remnant.

Sadly I found a fault on the back when I was part way through construction.

So added a stitched down half belt detail to cover that area.

Next up a lacy sweater knit.

Pink Floral Blouse

 A shirt for me from a floral cotton poplin, using my TNT shirt pattern (adapted from Prima Mar 2020)

I've added front patch pockets with buttoned flaps.

And found some bright pink buttons in my button drawers which worked well. I sewed them on with matching thread.

For those in the UK, this fabric is still in stock at Pound Fabrics - its called Flower Heaven Cotton Poplin in colour White.

Flower Heaven Cotton Poplin Fabric | Pound Fabrics

I really like this fabric its nice to sew and lighter weight than some other cotton poplins I've used.

I like to have shirts with pockets for travelling as well as everyday wear.

White blouses for a friend

I've just finished two white blouses for a friend. They are both from my TNT shirt pattern, traced off in her smaller size and slightly altered.

The first blouse was made from an organic cotton duvet cover (cotbed size) which I bought new from a charity shop. I used some vintage broderie anglaise (eyelet) lace trim which someone had given me in a box of saved pieces of lace. A some little pearly buttons also rescued from something else.

I think this is such a beautiful blouse.

Lace trim before I pressed it.

The cotbed size duvet set

The second blouse was made from pure white cotton poplin from Boyes. For this version I made a self frill for the collar and cuffs, 2 1/2 inches wide and 3 times the length. The buttons are a brassy gold half sphere

My friend hopes to wear these with her steampunk outfit, but also with other clothing too, as a pretty white blouse is always handy!

Aubergine and navy joggers and a bonus

 I'm just about finished on Aubergine

Monsal lounge pants from a remnant I bought on holiday in September 2024 (its the middle one)

Its a purple ponte with a navy abstract print over the top.

I used a different fabric for the inseam pockets as t was a small remnant!

Monsal Lounge Pant pattern from the Wendy Ward Book "A Beginner's Guide to Sewing with Knitted Fabrics".

After the repairs

Before the repairs

I also repaired some cord trousers I made many years ago (2015). I'd put a not very well matching zip in the wrong side and clipped rather close resulting in fraying. Plus they were too long.

Sew Ruthie Style: Giant (but comfy) corduroy trousers for gentle critique

I unpicked the waistband and the zip and the opposite side seam. I put in a nicely matching invisible zip in the correct side and re stitched the waistband , which is now slightly narrower. I unpicked the stitched hems, cut 2 inches off, and re-hemmed. 

I can now wear them again.

If I add these into the Aubergine Collection it looks like this

I have 4 tops, 2 in knit fabric and 2 woven shirts.

I also have four toppers  - a fleece, a button front cardigan, a zip front lined jacket and lapel collared cardigan jacket.

And four pairs of trousers - wide leg border print, plain which match the zipped jacket, corduroy with side zip and ponte joggers.

Dark Burgundy jacket for #BHMPatternDesigners25

 I'm a bit late, but I've finished my Khaliah Ali Collection Simplicity 4375 jacket.

#BHMPatternDesigners25

Sew Natural Dane is encouraging the sewing community to sew patterns designed by Black Pattern Designers.

Her website contains a huge list of current Black Pattern Designers and other black owned sewing businesses.

#BHMPatternDesigners — SewNaturalDane

What is #BHMPatternDesigners?

The Black History Month Pattern Designer Challenge (#BHMPatternDesigners) was established in February 2019 by Nateida of SewNaturalDane. Nateida decided to created this challenge due to the lack of representation she saw in the sewing community that highlighted Black Pattern Designers, as well as black owned fabric companies and knitting designers. February is Black History Month in the United States and it’s also Nateida’s birthday month!

#BHMPatternDesigners25 on Instagram

Dark Burgundy (Aubergine) Trousers and a SWAP

 

As you know I love to sew in colour families, so after the border print items, I carried on with Dark Burgundy and made my first pair of Delta Cargo Pants by Style Arc.

As I was quite short of fabric I only put the slant pockets in the front, leaving off the cargo pockets and back patch pockets.

Instructions from Style Arc

I had altered the pattern before I cut it out using my preferred crotch curve, but I'd not allowed for the deeper waistband on these so they came out too high on the waist. I cut the waistband off and reattached a narrower waistband lower down to get this pair to fit reasonably.

The legs are quite narrow at the hems (and don't look much like the drawing IMO) so I've altered my pattern to allow extra for the back calf as well as reducing the rise. These are alterations specific to my body so may not be helpful for anyone else!

I do plan to make these again with my alterations and all of the pockets.

I seem to have semi accidentally made a good chunk of a SWAP, the two knit tops were previously made (from the same fabric) but match beautifully with the newer pieces.

Dark Burgundy Border Print Shirt

 

Here's the shirt made from the same border print fabric as the trousers. I only had a very limited section of the border left and decided to use it vertically on the fronts rather than round the shirt hem and I'm really pleased with how its worked out.

I used simple mother of pearl buttons as all my burgundy buttons were slightly off in some way, and I like how the buttons pick up the palest colour in the print - a sort of ecru.

The collar is from a somewhat denser area of the print, with the sleeves and back from a sparser area of print.

I used View C from Simplicity 9200 omitting the ruffle from the sleeve as I felt it didn't fit with the clean lines. I also omitted the back darts as I thought they might pull in this very soft viscose/rayon.

Khaliah Ali patterns for BHMPatternDesigners

Sew Natural Dane is encouraging the sewing community to sew patterns designed by Black Pattern Designers.

Her website contains a huge list of current Black Pattern Designers and other black owned sewing businesses.

#BHMPatternDesigners — SewNaturalDane

What is #BHMPatternDesigners?

The Black History Month Pattern Designer Challenge (#BHMPatternDesigners) was established in February 2019 by Nateida of SewNaturalDane. Nateida decided to created this challenge due to the lack of representation she saw in the sewing community that highlighted Black Pattern Designers, as well as black owned fabric companies and knitting designers. February is Black History Month in the United States and it’s also Nateida’s birthday month!

I have a huge back catalogue of sewing patterns so looked through them to discover I have 10 Khaliah Ali patterns from when she designed through Simplicity. So I'm hoping to sew something (I'm not sure what yet) from one of those.

I love sewing wardrobe collections and have always been attracted to patterns which featured multiple garments, so that might be why I have so many.

Are you taking part in BHMPatternDesigners? If so what are you sewing?

#BHMPatternDesigners25 on Instagram

Dark Burgundy Border Print Wide Legs trousers

I've made some Palazzo pants (wide leg trousers) in one of my border print fabrics.

the trousers

the fabric

I cut these out crosswise to get the border print running round the hem.

I used New Look 6438, but replaced the shaped waistband with a straight one 4 inches wide. The front is interfaced, but the back is elasticated (I sized up and omitted the back darts).

As always when making trousers I reshaped the crotch curve to make it more L shaped and much longer at the back to fit my body.

I've also cut out a matching shirt, but not started sewing that yet.

Adding a zip to a RTW hoodie

This is a RTW hoodie which originally just pulled over the head. I found I didn't choose to wear it and decided to add a front zip.

(I've placed the sleeve over the logo which was embroidered onto the hoodie).

These are the steps I did, and what I might do instead next time.

1. Mark the centre front by measuring in several places and joining the lines up - I used a sliver of soap.

1b. I didn't do this on this hoodie but would do in future. Apply a strip of iron on interfacing the width of the zip to the centre of the hoody on the wrong side. This stops the fabric from stretching later.

2. Cut down the centre front, unpicking any sections of the hood that overlap at the front neck.

3. Overlock (serge) the front edge with differential below 1 (to avoid stretching the front edge).

4. With the edge of the zipper tape to the overlocked edge and right sides together, use a zipper foot to stitch the edge of the zipper tape to the front of the hoodie on both sides.

5. Flip the zip out to the right side and pin in place. Topstitch.

6. At the neck edge, tuck the top of the zipper tape up into the bottom of the hood. Add a few hand stitches to secure (I found it fiddly) and then stitch over them with the machine for strength.

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.

Prima Pattern February 2025 Quilted Jacket

 

I used the pattern from Prima magazine Feb 2025 to make myself a quilted jacket. They suggested using quilted yardage, but I didn't like the colourways of those available locally, so instead cut up a green bedspread with a quilted effect.

I made the longer view with pockets (view A) but added buttons and buttonholes. I made my own bias trim (1.5 inches wide) from a pretty floral remnant from Auntie J's stash and some buttons from my drawer.

The jacket is quite oversized, but I found the sleeves to be only just long enough. I made a size 18 UK.