Notch Collar Jacket in Scuba Jersey

Be warned: This will be a picture heavy post.

Pattern: This is the simple sew notch collar jacket. The pattern was part of the Love Sewing magazine issue 21.

Fabric: Scuba jersey - I only bought it because of the big purple flowers. I was/am not convinced by the feel of this fabric and I'm still not sure I would like to wear it on my skin. I bought it last summer in Walthamstow market, London. I can't remember the exact price but I don't think it was more than £3.50/meter.

The friend who was with me when I bought it explained I could make every pattern from it. However, being at home all by myself, I was not that sure anymore and thus the fabric has been sitting in my stash ever since. When the notch collar jacket pattern came along I just knew the jacket would look lovely in that fabric. (it might have helped that the jacket on the magazine cover is also made from a flower fabric, haha)

I was not that sure about the sewing practicalities, as in general jerseys do not press that well and this jacket involves loads of pressing as it has a full facing and a notch collar. But, I had nothing to loose and just plunged in.

Alterations: I did all the alterations I mentioned in my wearable muslin post, so have a look there if you are interested.

Sewing: The jacket was mostly sewn on my overlocker. I only attached the facing and sewed the sleeve hems with my sewing machine. Again, I understitched the facing wherever possible and graded the seams to encourage the facing to fold towards the inside of the jacket. Loads of pressing and steaming was involved as well.

Despite my efforts the facing didn't want to stay inside thus I slip stitched it by hand all the way around. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Despite the scuba jersey being on the bulky side, the outline of the jacket looks neat and sharp, yeah.

Have I worn it yet? Yes, a couple of times. It is the most comfiest jacket ever thanks to the scuba jersey! Freedom of movement! There is only one problem. I don't have clothes to wear the jacket with. Again. The moment I had finished the jacket, I run to my wardrobe and started to pull clothes out only to find that none of them really go with the jacket. The best fit is actually my polka dot Coco.

Seeing these photographs, it looks like the notches of the collar are different heights. I just had another look at the jacket and they aren't, phew.

How about you? Have you sewn with scuba jersey or are you planning to do so? Please share :)

Two Ms: Mimi and Mabel.

I think I’ve given you enough time to forget about my last version of the Mimi Blouse :) The pattern is from Tilly and the Buttons book “Love at first stitch”.

Fabric: My first version was made from a drapy and soft fabric - it was actually a fabric used by the Oasis retailer to make a blouse. I found out about it on twitter because JessB had the blouse, haha. I always try to get my hands on shop fabric and I actually succeeded without knowing! For my second version I used a liberty copy print cotton lawn. It is a lightweight fabric, but much stiffer than the fabric from version one. I’ve used this fabric before to make a dress at a sewing class and was happy to finally use up these leftovers!

For the collar I used some leftover cotton lawn also from my stash. The buttons come from my button jar as well. So you can say, this blouse cost me almost nothing :) I love it when this happens.

Fitting: The fit was quite good in my first version but I was not 100% happy with it, because the collar was laying not flat. It wasn't that obvious because of the drapy fabric. But you know how it is: when you know it’s there, it bothers you. So back to collar drafting I went and a thorough measuring of the neck curve revealed that my collar curve was longer than the one on the yoke. I can’t remember the exact measurement, but it was something around half an inch. I removed the fullness and after some more fiddling on my dress form was happy with the fit.

I hand stitched the hem on the sleeves.

Construction: Having sewn the blouse before, sewing this one was really fast. I mostly followed Tilly’s instructions. The only change I made was to sew the collar in flat. That means I sewed the collar to the yoke before sewing the side seams. I think it results in a nicer collar because you can press it much better :) and it is easier to pin and sew.

By the way, the skirt I'm wearing is the Colette Mabel Skirt. It is made from a Romaknit Jersey that I bought in Goldhawk Road. It is a bit see through and I can wear it only with similar colored tights or underwear.

Here is the reason why I'm not showing you the skirt in its total glory - I had a big afternoon tea before taking the pictures.

I made the pencil skirt version 3 in size M. The pencil skirt has side seam details and a kick pleat. I'm not sure if I cut the wrong size or if it was because of my fabric, but I had to take out 8 inch from the waistband and then from the top of the side and back seams to make the skirt fit. The skirt is sitting now on my natural waist - I'm not sure if that is the right position because the pattern says mid-rise. But anyhow the skirt felt very loose before and I was afraid it would slide down when stretching over the day.

The skirt was easy to sew otherwise and I sewed it mostly on my overlocker. It was a race against time. I have to stop sewing at 9 pm because the walls in our new flat are so thin. I started cutting the fabric at around 7 pm and then participating in my own little sewing bee. And lost. But would have won, if I wouldn't have fitted the skirt :P

I'm a bit disappointed with the kick pleat because it is only a mock kick pleat. My mum asked me actually if I had forgotten to open the pleat. Nope it is closed - unless I misunderstood the instructions? Any thoughts from your experience with the pattern?

Despite it little quirks the skirt is a favorite of mine and I wear it at least twice during the week. Yeah for basics again :)

A cropped Renfrew Cardigan

I have a lot of high-waist dresses and skirts, but only a handful of knitted cardigans that I can wear with them. I just can't knit that fast, pity. Thus I thought I would sew a cropped cardigan. But I couldn't find a pattern that I liked. I wanted a cropped and tight fitting cardigan. Something that goes with the style of my dresses and skirts.

 

I then accidentally found a post by Andrea from FourSquareWalls. A post where she showed her newest Renfrew mod - a cardigan. An idea was born! I had that pattern but never came around to make it. So I made a normal test Renfrew first (which you will see soon) to asses the fit. The shirt was a bit big on me in my back. Thus I decided to combine the Renfrew and Ladyskater pattern.

The Ladyskater is super fitted on the waist - the style I was opting for. Thus I traced the Ladyskater pattern from waist to under armhole and the part above the armhole is the Renfrew. Sleeves are Renfrew as well. I the shortened the Renfrew waistband a bit - I made it 1" shorter than my waist seam would be and then followed Andreas constructions.

To make the button band I just added 5/8" to the seam allowance of the front bodice paper pattern and on the actual cardigan I just folded it back and topstitched it down. I then attached the neck and waist band. To get neat corners at the waistband and neckband, I sewed the corners together first (right sides together). Then turned the right side out and topstitched the seam allowances down.

 

What do you guess was the most difficult part? The button holes! I really dreaded them because I knew they would either make my cardigan beautiful or super ugly. I guess I hit the middle. I can only recommend to stabilise the button band and parts of the neck and waist band where the buttons go. I didn't and my fabric was stretching. I would also recommend to sew the buttonholes before you sew the neck and waist band to the bodice. Because my sewing machine just didn't want to sew over that seam. It was a really messy job that you luckily can't see because of my big buttons and dark fabric.

I love how the cardigan turned out! He is not perfect yet. I think the sleeves are a bit big and I will make them a bit slimmer for my next version. The length I like :) I like to pull up sleeves so that they cover my nuckles - I always have cold hands.

I've bought already some jersey snaps to try on my next version :) hope they will be easier to put in than the button holes!

I'm almost at the end and I haven't told you about the fabric yet! It is a romaknit fabric that I bought from myfabrics.co.uk It does not have much stretch and is a bit thicker. And just perfect for a tight cardigan. I'm a bit disappointed though because it has started to pile already at my shoulders. At the spot where the strap of a handbag runs over the shoulder. I have worn the cardigan maybe 10 times and would have expected it to last a bit longer. Nonetheless, the piling will not stop me to make another one from the same fabric but in dark grey. I need more basics in my wardrobe.

I'm the proud owner of a cropped cardigan :)

Delphine Skirt and Bronte Top for Autumn

Now that the weather is getting colder in the UK, I have the strong urge to start sewing warmer clothes. Especially after I realised that I have hardly made any clothes for colder weather. Because we are moving, I had to pack all my staff and when going through the garments I thought "Where are my me-made winter garments" - there were none. That brings me to the problem, what fabric and patterns should I use to make winter garments? If you have any suggestions, please let me know :)

But as a start I think a denim Delphine Skirt and a long-sleeved Bronte Top are a good idea. So let's talk about the skirt first.

Pattern: Delphine Skirt by Tilly and the Buttons.

Fabric: Grey denim bought from Clothes House in Soho, London (so pricey fabric). I had bought this denim when I started sewing (so about 4 years ago) and I made a pair of trousers from it. Although you can't actually say they were finished trousers, because I realised they were massive on me and never hemmed them.

I think 1.5 me would have fit in there, haha.

For the last 4 years they lived hidden under my bed (as many other items that I made before knowing about fitting and muslins). A few weeks ago I remembered them and thought I might be able to refashion them into a skirt. So I unpicked all these pesky seams, cut out the zipper, gave the fabric a wash and waited for the right skirt pattern to come along. And the Delphine came along and I decided to muslin the pattern with the denim (you can see my second version here).

Cutting: Can you imagine that one half of the trouser leg was bigger than one quarter of the skirt? I managed to cut each skirt panel from one trouser leg. To be sure to be on grain, I pulled one thread from the denim to get a straight edge and used this to align the skirt panels. The front panel of the skirt is cut on the fold. But I didn't have a piece big enough to cut on the fold. So, I just added a 5/8" seam allowance to the center fold and cut two front panels that I sewed together.

Fitting: As said in my last post, there was a lot of fabric bunching in the back due to my sway back. So, I just kept shifting the waistband down at the center back until the bunching was gone = instant sway back adjustment.

Embellishment: I couldn't resist to add a pink piping that I made with some bias tape from my stash. Don't you think pink and grey are a match made in heaven? And yes I know that the pink piping will limit the versatility of the skirt. But never mind, I love it. I added even more pink on the inside where I used a lovely pink quilting cotton with mannequins on it as a facing. The fabric was a leftover from one of my first quilts.

Almost perfect invisible zip if it wasn't for the bulk added by the piping.

Now before the post gets to long, let's talk about the Bronte Top.

Pattern: Bronte Top by Jennifer Lauren Vintage.

Fabric: I'm not 100% sure what kind of fabric it is. It looks knitted on the front and has little loops on the back. And it is super soft :) I could be a French Terry Knit. However, I somehow doubt it because I bought the fabric in Walthemstow Market. I can't remember the price, but it will have been under £3.

Alterations: I made the same alterations as for my first Bronte and this time just sewed the long-sleeved version. For the sleeve, I traced the sleeve in size 10 and the sleeve cap (between front and back notches) in size 12 to get a slightly higher sleeve cap. I love the fit of the Bronte top. Usually sleeves are twisting on me because of my forward shoulders. The Bronte, however, fits perfectly! The sleeves are a bit long, which I actually like because that means I can cover my hands with them :)

Some closing thoughts:

I love both the skirt and the top, although I have to admit that I'm not really sure that they fit both perfectly together. The styles go well together, but I'm a bit unsure about the colors (me kicking myself for adding pink piping). Actually when getting dressed for the photos, I kept changing my tights and top until I came up with this outfit. I think because of the pink the skirt doesn't look as wintery as the top. But when paired with a summer top and my woolen tights (yes I'm that cold already - that's why I have issues sewing winter clothes) the top looked out of place. Maybe the tights are the problem, haha.

On other news, I have moved to Cambridge and started a new job :) I'm not having internet yet. Other than on the bus to work (and it might stay like this for another two weeks, thanks internet provider) hence my absence from the blogging world. This post was actually half written before my move and I had luckily added most pictures. I'm saying most here, because there are a few missing such as a pic of the facing. But hopefully everything will settle in the next two weeks and than you can see a few more makes that I have already finished :)

A Purple Bronte Top

As soon as I saw the Bronte top from Jennifer Lauren, I knew I had to make it because I had utterly fallen in love with it and I still am. As I'm in strong need of jersey tops to go with all my skirts, the Bronte top is the perfect choice. Because of it's shrug-like shoulder detail it is much more than a basic top. And I like it :)

Excuse these back wrinkles, but the skirt was rotating around and so was the shirt!

Fabric: I used some purple light-weight jersey I bought in Walthamstow market. It was only £1.50/meter. Nonetheless it feels super soft and nice to the skin. I always have a hard time choosing plain fabrics, but this fabric has a pattern knitted into it and I like it so much.

Size: For the bust I cut a size 8 and for the waist/hip a size 10.

Worn together with my Burda flower skirt.

Alterations: I had made a muslin from an old jersey first and that showed me two fitting issues: I needed a swayback adjustment of almost 2" and a square shoulder adjustment. For the swayback adjustment I just took out 2" at the center back tapering to nothing towards the side seam. The shoulder adjustment was a bit more difficult and I ended up tracing the armholes (starting above the notches) and shoulders at a size 10. I then blended from size 10 to size 8 from the shoulders to the neckline. I hope this makes sense. I cut the neckband in size 10.

Construction: Thanks to Jennifers instructions and her sew-along a breeze :) I sewed the whole top on my overlocker and topstitched the hem with a twin needle. It took me only 6 hours from cutting to finishing Bronte. Which is fast for me :)

Embellishments: I used some buttons from my stash. These buttons actually come from Ukraine, where I found them in an old shed. So I gave them a good soak and scrub and now they are like new. But I like the idea that they came from somebody else clothes and have their own history. I might call them vintage buttons, haha.

Buttons from Ukraine.

Have I worn it yet? Once to take the photos on a super hot day. I suppose the fabric is completely made from polyester, because it wasn't breathable at all. But I don't mind in autumn to be a bit more warm! So I like it a lot! I have made already a second one which you will see soon :)

On another note, I'm going to move to Cambridge (UK) in August. So the next time will be stressy and it might become more quit on this blog. I'm even not sure if I can take my sewing machine with me for the first couple of month as I might be living in a flat-share, buh.

Are any of you readers from Cambridge? Can you give me any tips about places to live, fabric shops, sewing communities and want to meet up? I would be happy to hear from you :)

Yeah For Pink: Burda Kimono Top

Yeah for pink! Pink top, skirt and flowers :)

Pattern: Burda No 1 from Burda Style Special autumn/winter No5/2013. When I saw this outfit, I fell totally in love with it - with the top and the skirt. So today I am showing you the top, which I actually finished 2 month ago. The skirt I almost stitched up as well, just in time for the warmer weather.

Fabric: Some super soft and silky jersey which I bought in Goldhawk Road. It has an amazing drape and was only £3.50/m. I bought enough to make another shirt - probably a Renfrew.

Alterations: Unluckily, the smallest size for the top was size 38 and I am only a size 36 in Burda bodices. So, I graded the whole top down one size. I have no idea if I did it right, but I only measured the difference between the sizes 38 and 40 and then subtracted the difference from size 38 to get size 36.

Construction: I sewed the whole top on my overlocker, hardly looking at the instructions. The only thing I struggled with was the V-neckline. According to the instructions, I had to start and end attaching the neckband at the tip of the V and then somehow stitch the neckband together. After loads of swearing and hand stitching I managed to get kind of a V tip I could live with. If you have any tips about how to finish V-necklines of jersey garments - please share them.

To gather the sleeves and bust, I first basted with my sewing machine and then used my overlocker to attach the sleeves to the sleeve band. I finished the hem with my twin needle. Although the instructions didn't say so, I stabilised the shoulder and waist seams with clear elastic.

Do I like it? I do and have worn it already several times. It just makes me feel so relaxed and actually the top is the perfect garment for a lazy weekend. I have worn it already combined with jeans, a skirt and my weekend jogging pants.

Worn with my Colette Meringue.