Teal print cardigan - inspired by Pantone Living Coral

The Pattern Review 5th Annual Sewing Bee has started. I've not participated in this before but a few blogs I read took part in the last one and it looked like fun.

Round 1: Sew a Knit Cardigan inspired by the Pantone color of the year - Living Coral
This initially stumped me, as I've rationalised my fabric collection to my new Sophisticated palette and it doesn't include warm colours like coral.

 But then I thought of some fabric I had planned to use for my teal colourway for SWAP, the blues and turquoises reminded me of the sea, and the organic shapes in the print echoed the shapes of the different types of coral.

I bought the fabric for this on 25th October 2008 from Washable Fabrics on Preston market when four of us had a bit of a PR weekend away. It's moved house 4 times with me over those 10+ years but is finally getting made up!

I've used the Kinder cardigan in the mid length with full length sleeves. I've added in seam pockets, a belt and belt loops. I tried to place the print sensibly by cutting the pieces out single layer.

To emphasize the link with the coral I've done some simple beading and running stitches in shades of coral pink to outline the shapes of the print. I ironed some very lightweight interfacing on to the back of the upper front area to give a little more stability for the handwork without changing the drape of the fabric too much.

Here's a quick indoor shot on the dressmaker's dummy. The detail is more subtle in the context of the overall garment.

To demonstrate fit for the Bee I need to take some photos of me wearing it which might be tricky in this wintery weather. I have got out of the habit of taking photos of me wearing my new self-sewn garments, so need to work out a way to do that going forwards.

Sew Your Kibbe Natural - Burda Style 02/2010 #135

Although Dr T gives lots of Burda trousers (pants) patterns for the Kibbe natural, I decided that I will sew Burda Style 02/2010 #135 in a dark teal woven fabric as my next piece.

This style has slant pockets, a side zip and a narrow waistband, all features I like. And it comes in plus sizes. Yay!

The even bigger plus is I have already traced the pattern, sewn it up and have been wearing the  trousers happily.

I finished them in a bit of a rush (for the SWAKOP deadline) and did not do a proper review, but after a bit of letting out the fit is good and I'm very pleased with them. So I am happy to revisit this pattern.

Sew Your Kibbe Natural - Dark Teal scoop neck top completed

Dark teal jersey used for New Look 6735.

Size 18, three quarter sleeve as per the pattern.

Slight forward head alteration and a little extra bicep room added.

Lightened a bit, but still hard to see the colour which is a dark rich green-blue (not navy or black).

It is a plain and simple top, but its exactly the colour and fit I wanted and is a fantastic base for the tweedy cardigan jacket, leaving room in the neckline for one of my chunky necklaces.

Here's the teal progress so far.

 Just need some dark teal trousers and I'll have an outfit! (Or shall I make another top first?)

Sew Your Kibbe Natural - New Look 6735 Top

DrT has a few examples of a scooped neck top being suitable and makes the comment.

While I’m focusing on Kibbe’s unconstructed feature, very basic smooth knits with open necklines are all good options.

BS-11-2006-111: Open neckline with a smooth fit. 

BS-11-2012-129: Another example of a very simple style with an open neckline.

BS-02-2008-128: Simple, smooth, with an open neckline.

On that basis I think my favourite top from New Look 6735 is a great example of this style, so for my next garment I plan to make this up in a plain dark teal jersey knit, it won't be exciting but will be a nice basic piece to go underneath cardigans and jackets

 

Sew your Kibbe Natural - Teal Tweed Jacket Completed

My version of New look 6416 is complete.

This is probably how I would mostly wear it, slightly crossed over and belted with an open neckline.

Here I've crossed the collars over further and pinned in place with a dragonfly brooch.

Here I've tied the belt at the back and let the tails hang down, with the front very open.

There's a lot of collar there!

The fabric had two good sides, so I played with using the one with more white threads on the sleeves, belt and showing when the collar folds open, with the plainer side for the body and belt loops. Its subtle but I like it.

In the end I did a 6cm hem on the sleeves, and a chunky rolled hem (1cm) round the collar and hem sewn in one go. I omitted any pockets as the fabric has a very open weave and I felt they would pull.

Sew your Kibbe Natural - New Look 6416 jacket in Teal Tweed

I only had 2 metres of this fabric, so had to do a bit of pattern tetris to cut it out.

I ended up with size Large, slightly shorter (5cm) than the mid length, with a belt, but without the patch pockets or a facing. The sleeves were cut on the cross grain.

I plan to overlock all the raw outer edges, roll twice and stitch for a nice finish without the facing.
I still need to cut out the belt carrier, and perhaps some inseam pockets.

Once complete I'll show it on my dressmakers dummy, and then later with me wearing it.

I started with this because it was at the top of the list and I located the pattern without too much searching!

Sew your 'Kibbe' 2019

The very interesting blog Doctor T designs has been covering sewing pattern suggestions for different body types (based on the Kibbe types).

I've concluded that although I don't fit perfectly, the most appropriate category for me in this system is the basic 'Natural' category.

So this year I'm going to try and sew following those guidelines in particular using a pattern from each category of Doctor T's suggestions, as well as some of my TNTs which also seem to follow Natural lines.

I have a large back catalgue of Burda Style magazines so this will be a great opportunity to delve back and find some of them.

COAT

New Look 6416: Relaxed cardigan style coat.

I already have this pattern so seems a great opportunity to use it.

JACKET
BWOF 06/2015 #128

 (without the hem detail and more mid thigh than coat length)

SKIRTS
Again I already have this one, so will dig it out and sew it up.

Simplicity 8175: View B looks like a great option, but View A could also work, since it isn’t completely pencil slim.

TROUSERS/PANTS
I think I will try BWOF 12/2011 #133

BLOUSES
BWOF 02/2008 #128: Basic tee.

And Simplicity 1280 blouse.

Or McCall's 7357 (actually I like this one better)

SWEATERS
Cardigan jacket from BWOF 01/2011 #126A

DRESSES
I don't wear dresses much, but struggled last summer for a wedding so probably sensible to have one nicer dress available.
Having looked through the options I am leaning towards BWOF 06/2017 #125

So looks like one Newlook, two Simplicity and a whole lot of looking through my Burda Style back catalogue! I'll concentrate on the Plus patterns as I am running on the heavier side at the moment.
It is good to have that encouragement to trace off some of those Burdas!

I have a complete (or almost complete) collection of Burda Style magazines back to 2003 so should be able to find the ones which are recommended (and I like).

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Now I need to match patterns to fabric and decide what to cut and sew first.
I don't love tracing off the Burda patterns but I need to find my way through that!

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I haven't quite followed the apporach advised however because I've already picked fabrics for SWAP anyway I wanted to merge the two challenges where I could. we'll see if i go back to my TNTs instead. However here are where I am at with the steps.

Step 1: Figure Out Your ID
Natural (with a few traits from SN and FN)

Step 2: Purge/Organize Your Current Wardrobe
I have had a first few rounds of this with Imogen Lamport's 7STS and have a working wardrobe I use.
However lots of clothes have been stashed in the loft due to being wrong colour, wrong style, wrong size or wrong season. I need to donate most of these whilst still keeping my summer clothing for when it warms up!

Step 3: Take Inventory of Your Wardrobe and Your Life
Again I already did a lot of this with Imogen Lamport's 7STS, but I will revisit as I donate the excess.

Step 4: Figure Out Your Personal Style Slogan
This is also something I tried to do with Imogen Lamport's 7STS, but again needs a revisit.
Various thoughts had been:-
- Natural, Vibrant and Creative (from 7STS Step 1)
- textured and individual
- Natural with an element of suprise
- Resourceful, quirky, pragmatic.

Step 5: Pick a Color Palette
Again something I've done with Imogen Lamport's 7STS colour palette and signature colours, but also generally in my wardrobe and specifically for the SWAP.

Step 6: Pick Patterns
See above!

Step 7: Pick Fabric
Already done for SWAP (and last year I had a big clearout of my fabric and donated the stuff I wouldn't use).

I have had the original Kibbe book for many years and also thought quite a bit (using various system) about colours, styles, lifestyle and wardrobe. So a lot of it I'm revisiting again as things have come together a bit more clearly. This is looking like the year of experimentation and greater clarity. 

SWAP 2019 - Colour Groupings

I'll stick with these colour groupings, but may have to sub in alternate fabrics if the yardage is too short or some other issue arises.

I plan to start cutting out the teal pieces soon.

SWAP 2019 Planned fabrics

Here are the fabrics I've chosen for SWAP 2019.

The INK BLUE fabrics left to right - ink blue jersey for a knit top, ink blue and off white print for a knit top, ink blue stretch woven for trousers, jacket and maybe also a skirt and ink blue tweedy fabric for a cardigan jacket.

The TEAL fabrics left to right - print poly knit for a dress/top, print viscose for a knit top. dark teal knit for a top, dark teal woven for trousers and teal tweedy fabric for a cardigan jacket.

And finally a ROSE PINK jersey for a knit top and a STONE stretch lace for a cardigan.

The dark TEAL trousers and knit top are the most attractive to me currently as I have teal thread on the machines and sewing in the same colour story works so well for me. Maybe the tweedy jacket after that before switching to INK BLUE?

I've gone for darker teal as I think this will be more flexible as a neutral.

SWAP 2019 Plans

I decided that I would have Ink Blue and Teal as my Base Neutrals with Stone and Rose Pink as the Accents.

Using this palette I investigated my fabric resources. I then came up with these possible garments (I know its too many but that gives me some wriggle room!).

INK BLUE:-
* Stretch woven trousers
- Stretch woven jacket
- Stretch woven skirt (fabric permitting)
* Knit top
* Cardigan jacket

TEAL:-
* Trousers
* Knit top
* Cardigan jacket
* Wool coat

ROSE PINK:-
* Knit top

STONE :-
* Lace knit cardigan

PRINT :-
* Teal print top 1
- Teal print top 2
* Ink Blue print top

That would be
2 pairs of trousers and 1 skirt
3 jackets and 1 cardigan
6 knit tops
a wool coat

As a minimum I would like to make trousers, top and cardigan jacket in each of my Base neutrals (INK BLUE and TEAL) and then add some accents colours and prints. The reduced set is marked with a (*) and the extras with a (-).

The light is bad at the moment but I hope to do some fabric photos tomorrow

2018 summary and 2019 thoughts

2018 Focus
During 2018 I have concentrated on Stash Shrinker and the Stitchers Guild SWAP 2018.

Some Statistics
I managed to sew up 128 metres of fabric and only buy 64 metres (including blankets/throws which I counted as yardage) so have managed the 2:1 ratio.

I also gave away fabric for charity and via a local contact, though I didn't measure it, there were 4 laundry bags of fabric (of the style below) and a large box of patterns.

I made one pair of shorts for DBF, and some bags for folding chairs for a friend. I made lace curtains for all the upstairs windows in my home and some cushions for a wicker chair.

Everything else was clothing for me! Clothing wise I made 60 garments (and a scarf).

1 blouse and 25 knit tops
4 skirts and 12 pairs of trousers/pants
16 cardigans/jackets
1 coat (and a test coat)

January was by far the most productive month, with the rate gradually dropping as the year went on, but spurred by the SG SWAP in the earlier months and TSP SWAKOP/ SG Autumn 6PAC in the autumn.

In the summer I wore the teal linen trousers and leaf print top a lot.

And the scoop neck tops from the Burgundy Autumn Collection have proved very handy and get worn repeatedly.

My biggest sewing achievements in 2018 were:-

1.  to place first in SWAP 2018 on Stitchers Guild in May 2018.
(I chose to have pdfs of StyleArc Patterns as my prize so will probably see me experimenting with them a bit more this year).

2.  to sew more than 100 metres of fabric during the year (which happened in late August 2018). The rate dropped off a bit so the annual total was 128 metres sewn.

3.  to finally complete (in December 2018) the teal wool coat I have been planning in earnest since December 2017.

Plans for 2019

1.  to join in with SWAP 2019 on Stitchers Guild (though some of the rule phrasing has baffled me slightly).

2.  to participate in some of the contests at The Sewing Place, (where they appeal and the time frame works for me.)

3. to continue to sew at least twice as much fabric as I buy with a new Stash Shrinker Spreadsheet for 2019.

4. to continue to declutter my house, with a particular emphasis this year on the loft area.

And that's probably it. I'm not going to join the RTW fast, any of the PR contests or anything which requires an Instagram account. I may do some of the MAGAM challenges as well.

Note on charity sewing

In the past I have sewn lots of small items for a charity stall. I was not able to attend the May Day event this year due to a wedding. Then taking a step back let me evaluate the return on the effort expended. So I've done very little sewing for charity this year, instead giving fabric away for donations and to local good causes and increasing my payroll giving. I'll see how this area goes in the future.

What are your sewing plans for 2019?

Teal Wool Coat

I have been working on this simple coat very slowly over the last few weeks.

It still needs hemming and a good press but is otherwise complete. I've added a lining in a dark teal satin, and pockets, belt and facing/collar in the slightly lighter teal wool. I think it works quite well.

I should be able to get this fully finished by 26th December for it to be the SWAP early garment (One garment may be started on 29 October 2018 and completed prior to 26 December 2018)

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The pattern was from the UK women's magazine Prima, which includes a free sewing pattern for subscribers. This was the one from Feb 2015.

Patterns are available on ebay in the UK. But you can see its quite a simple pattern. I made mine 4 inches longer than the knee length version.

Print fleece jacket - Ottobre Autumn Winter 5/2014 Hoodie #9

I finished this in mid November but I've not been too well so took until now to do photos.

Looking at it now I can see I have not centered the star motif, and the print does not match across the front and back. A lot of that was due to fabric limitations as this was sewn with what was left after I made lots of fleece hats from the fabric last year.

The pattern is based on Ottobre Autumn Winter 5/2014 Hoodie number 9. I made a size 46 flared out a bit at the hip. I also shortened it a little, but kept the side splits and high/low hem. I added in seam pockets made from scraps of a co-ordinating plaid fabric. I also added a centre front zip to break up the pattern a bit as the horizontal stripes were very dominant.