Safari Animals Shirt

 

A man's shirt which I made for DH. It's in a lovely soft cotton fabric printed with Safari animals.

The fabric was from Pound Fabrics.

Unfortunately I only had 2 metres of it and its now out of stock. This meant I didn't have enough to pattern match and so there are a few half animals about the shirt.

For the pattern I used Simplicity 1493 in size XL. The sleeves were slightly too long and wide so I've slimmed /shortened them (and altered the pattern for next time)

This is a straight cut shirt pattern which tapers slightly towards the hem, so very much a man's fit, and would need a lot of changes to work for my curvier pear shaped body. It was good for DH though once the sleeves were shortened and slimmed a little.

Navy 'denim look' joggers

 These are joggers made with denim look jersey fabric from Pound Fabrics

As it is actually a knitted fabric, and very soft I decided to make something that was more jogger and less jean.

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

Altered to have the lower leg width and pocket opening from the Itch to Stitch Mountain View Jeans

I like the idea of the fabric, but I'll see how the joggers wash and wear before I buy any more.

Navy V neck top

 

This is adapted from the knit top in New Look 6351. Its navy blue ponte

Same as the burgundy version which has seen a lot of wear. I prefer the burgundy as it is sewn in a sweater knit.

This is the knit top from 6351. I raised the back neckline, took a thin wedge out of the upper back, down to nothing at the hip. On the front I graded from an 18 at the shoulders out to a 22 lower down to reflect my body shape. I added 5 inches to the sleeve to make it wrist length and also did a full bicep adjustment.

I shortened the neckband to match with the changes to the back neck.

My 'Sofa Pants' (wide leg joggers) from MHW

This month's pattern from My Handmade Wardrobe's Weekend Sewing Club is the Sofa Pants, casual lounge pants in a knit fabric with wide legs and a few variations.

I made mine in a plain navy Ponte Roma with a good proportion of viscose.

I made a lot of alterations to the front and back rise, crutch shape and depth, side hip (which impacted the pockets), took a wedge from the centre back and shortened the waistband. So they fit me now whilst still looking a lot like the line drawing.

It has become clear to me that no pattern company fits me 'out of the packet'. Not just MHW but also Mccall's, Style Arc etc.  So I'm planning to use my successes to build a library of personal slopers I can use for new patterns. This will be slightly more sophisticated than my current approach of pulling bits out of other patterns that worked and then losing them!

And I'll try not to be mislead into thinking this next pattern will be perfect for me, just as it is.

Replacement bolts for Ikea ARÖD lamps?

Replacement bolts for Ikea ARÖD lamps?

We've got 2 of these lamps (purchased a few years ago) which I've recently brought from another room to use for sewing.

However ours have the same problems many reviewers noted

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/aroed-floor-reading-lamp-anthracite-50389102/

On one light the bolt has sheared, and the other one I can't tighten it enough to stop it flopping down.

I've taken out one of the intact bolts to see how it is constructed, pictures below:-

What can I do to replace the bolt where the wing nut head has sheared off?

There are no part numbers listing within the Assembly Document for this product (I've downloaded and checked) so I can't order the part as a spare directly from IKEA. So I am looking for an aftermarket product.

Updating previous makes

Whilst I really enjoy taking a length of uncut fabric and making a brand new garment from it, these days I also tweak things I've previously made, so they work better for me. It doesn't have the same thrill as a new make, but I've come to appreciate the updates as well.

In Feb 2023, I made myself something I called a Denim Utility Gilet.

At the end of last year I unpicked the stitching at the armscye and added sleeves in the same fabric from the original pattern. However these were not quite full length and didn't give me the look I wanted for a shirt jacket. So I've now added a packet and buttoned cuffs. These fall in just the right place, and I can imagine wearing it more now.

I also made the effort to tweak some of the trousers from this post.

I removed the 'clever' zipped pocket as it was too far down the leg to be useful, and felt uncomfortable. This was just a case of lots of unpicking and a bit of resewing.

I also added belt loops to the Style Arc Delta Cargo pants. They are quite straight through the side hip and had a tendency to fall down, if anything went in the pockets. At least with the belt loops I can add a belt to hold them up.

I also unpicked the embroidered pockets from the zip front jacket I made here  as the jacket was not a good fit for DH.

I think I'll make a new garment next :-)

Yes it was 100 garments

 Yes it was 100 garments I sewed last year, I missed one!

This pink waistcoat hadn't got finished in time for me to wear it with the matching trousers and jacket in October 2024.

Here's the link to the jacket 

And here's a link to the trousers.

It was partially made up and I was procrastinating over pockets. Then instead of making a waistcoat toile for a friend in Nov 2025, I decided to finish it this one up without pockets, she tried it and it got put away in the wardrobe.

The pattern was Pattern 3, the Waistcoat from Sewing With Confidence

And I made View A, though I'd thought I was making View B

I used 4 pinky/burgundy buttons, with a wider spacing. It's fully lined with the same pink polyester lining fabric used for the matching jacket.

Here's all 3 pieces.

In January we rest

In January we rest

January isn't a new year, it's the deep middle of winter.
There's very little light. Very little warmth.
And not a lot of spare energy going around.
Yet this is the month we're sold 'fresh starts', 'big plans' and 'new year, new me' energy.
Wintering is the inward season.
When life slows, energy gathers,
and nothing is meant to be rushed.
For most women Christmas wasn't restful.
It was effort. Planning. Making it magical.
By midlife, the body knows rest isn't something to apologise for.
So when January arrives and motivation is low, that's wintering doing its work.
This month is for going inward.
Hot tea. Early nights.
And letting winter be winter.

shared by a friend