Crafty: Tilly and the Buttons - Bettine (wearable toile)

So this week has been the first week at work and back into a proper "working routine" after what seems like an entire summer holiday its self off. I'm really glad to be back busy all day especially as if I'm home with nothing to do for too long I just end up spending too much on fabric and patterns (not too bad though)! I have also started watching RuPaul's Drag Race - which is amazing. Harry and I have been addicted to it and have finished off an entire season in less than an week. I love the challenges where they have to make their costumes the best - to be able to come up with such amazing concepts like that is something I definitely cannot do.

Last week I saw that Tilly and the Buttons had launched two new patterns (Bettine and Fifi). I had never sewn one of Tillys patterns before but when I saw the two together for £20 I had to order them, also any dress with pockets steals my heart. I decided to make a wearable toile of Bettine first as I had some fabric brought in the sale from M is for Make. I didn't expect the fabric to be quite as brown - but this was definitely my fault as I forgot that I had left Flux on the computer which turned it more of a maroon colour. Nether-the-less I think the wearable toile turned out pretty well and will be a nice dress to wear in the autumn with tights and a cardigan.

The instructions were nice and easy to follow, with great colour photographs of the stages. Its definitely a pattern I would recommend for beginners as it was quick and simple - for example it has kimono sleeves which are very straight forward.

I didn't have the correct width of elastic so ended up using 1 inch instead of 1/2 inch wide which the pattern calls for. I think that on retrospect I should have gone up a size for the skirt as it was a little tight on my hips and I prefer it to be looser. I will definitely be making another but I think I will adjust the pattern to make the skirt a bit more "flowy". I made a size 3 for the top with a 4 for the skirt.

L xx

Crafty: Grainline - Scout Tee (X2!)

After getting back from holiday I have been able to go on a sewing spree - in the sense that I become insanely productive for a couple of days and turn the living room into (in Harrys words) a "sweat shop". He really puts up with it so well, particularly when there are spray pins in the carpet and not an inch of table free. I also had a big reorganise of my sewing cupboard (really its half a cupboard as Harry uses the other half for his brewing) and divided the useful scraps from the not-so-useful scraps.  So now I have a big Wilko's plastic box full of useful bits of fabric!

I have been eyeing up the Grainline Scout Tee pattern for sometime, particularly as I loved making the Moss Skirt (yet to post up!) and Archer Shirt. I ended up making 2 tees in the space of 24 hours and using some useable scraps. The problem with using scraps is that I found you sometimes have to divide a pattern piece and sew the parts together, which is what I ended up needing to do for the tiger tee.

Tee 1
Tiger stripe in pink from Cotton + Steel  - I had brought this to make a pair of pj shorts so had a large amount left over. You can see where I have had to cut the back pattern piece as two parts as there was not quite enough fabric - however I think it worked out pretty well looking like a back yoke detail! I love my french seams and so ever since learning how to do them all my projects have had them. I just love having such a clean and tidy finish with no raw edges.

Tee 2

Light weight cotton from Etsy - so cool and easy to wear although slightly see-through. The fabric is slightly off-white (as it is unbleached). I am planning on wearing this tee with a black skater skirt (stay tuned) for my graduation in a few weeks. 

L xx

Crafty: Grainline Archer - Bunny attack!

I finally made an Archer! After seeing so many lovely Grainline Archers I was itching to make one. Cue awesome bunny fabric. 

It really is a great pattern and easy to follow. I really like the result and will definitely be making more Archers - got a few planned in my head already.

The buttonholes are a little off mark but as this was the first time using the magical buttonhole setting on my new machine I can forgive myself. 

I love the look of the back of the shirt.

I have to admit I did skimp on collar - partially due to lack of fabric and also laziness I decided to use just the collar stand to make a "mandarin style" collar. But I really like the look of the little collar, I think next Archer will have a full collar for comparison.

L xx

Crafty: Sew Liberated - Esme

I have again been rubbish at uploading my finished projects. I have a stack of them to do - but I'll space them out, now that I know how to schedule posts and use buffer! 

This is the Esme top from Sew Liberated, when I first saw the patter I fell in love with the tunic look. Something that you can just pull on and get on with your day, so easy to wear. I made a few alterations to the pattern - rolled sleeves and a tie at the back, although I will definitely be making one as the pattern dictates. 

The fabric is a cotton chambray (sorry for the un-ironedness). I think the next one will be a darker colour so as to avoid the "double denim" look when wearing with jeans, I definitely can't pull that off!

I used a scrap of an Amy Butler off-cut I have had for ages for the facings and inside of the bib. I also got to try out the overlocking stitch on my new machine for the first time, far more excitement than was needed!

The pattern instructions were easy to follow, although I need get a little confused when doing the bib but that may have been due to caffeine deprivation. After topping up on tea and looking at the handy video tutorial provided on the Sew Liberated website it worked out fine. The sizing came out bigger than I expected so next time I will be going down a size. But I would recommend the pattern to anyone wanting a quick sew and easy to wear tunic style top. 

L xx

Crafty: Bits and pieces

These are just a couple of other bits made with the scraps from other projects - I hate having unused, but good sized bits of fabric lying around.

Skirt made with the left overs from the Deer and Doe coat. I decided to use the liberty print for the pocket yoke to add a little bit of colour. I just have to make sure I don't wear the coat and skirt at the same time...

PJ shirt self-drafted

Soft bra using the Ohhh Lulu Bami Soft Bra PDF pattern. I plan on making a lot more of these but more practice is needed. It is very comfortable. Next time I need to pay a bit more attention to the direction of the pattern of the fabric.

L xx

Crafty: Fisherman-inspired tunic

This fisherman-inspired tunic got inspiration from the Merchant and Mills' The Top No. 64. I bravely decided to self-draft the pattern in the spur of the moment. Despite 1 failure I persevered on and ended up with a pretty nice tunic. I am really looking forward to pulling this on in the winter. The fabric came from a sale at Minerva and is so soft.

It took me a long time and lots of concentration to get the stripes of the pockets to line up so that they blend into the body of the tunic.

Chunky zip on the back.

I decided to add a contrasting stripe section under the arms - the jury is still out on elbow patches...

L xx

Crafty: Simplicity 1803

This was actually the first dress I made this summer and I wore to Harrys graduation - feeling a bit too summery around all the smartly dressed people in black and white but good nether-the-less. I love the yellow fabric, but it does require a very sunny day.

Somehow despite measuring my self carefully to select the right size the finished dress managed to be about 2 sizes too big, so some seam adjustments were needed. The fit is now good but a belt is needed to hold the waist in. I also managed to put the pockets in the wrong place... oops! Next rainy day project will be to move the pockets to the appropriate place.

Lxx

Crafty: By Hand - Anna Dress

I have read a lot about the Anna Dress by Hand London and it did not disappoint. First off the pattern and instructions came in gorgeous packaging. I found this fabric in the sale on Seamstar which made me do a little "woop" with excitement as I had been eyeing it up for a while. The customer service at Seamstar is fanastic. I got a call the day after I ordered the fabric asking if the zip I purchased with it was to go with the fabric as they had a cream zip (I ordered white) which matched the back ground and would I like them to swap it in - and then the parcel arrived the next day! I wholeheartedly recommend.

 Again I'm afraid no photos of me wearing it but when on it fits perfectly. Instead of darts to create the bust the pattern calls for pleats this works great as it allows the bodice to flow into the skirt while dipping in at the waist.

I'm pretty proud of this dress as I managed to incorporate french seams - which I am now loving and will be doing on all my projects until I can afford an overlocker *sigh*

I now have my eye on the other By Hand patterns - particularly the Georgia Dress. Probably a project soon!

Lxx

Crafty: Deer and Doe - Pavot Jacket

I have been busy. Since I broke up for the summer I have been frantically sewing trying to make up for the lack of craftiness during the exam period.

The first make was the Deer and Doe Pavot Jacket. I saw this pattern online back in November (!!) and fell in love with it. Since then I had been searching for the perfect fabric - the vision I had was for a brown tweed but soon discovered that tweed was way out of my price range (£20pm!). I settled for a navy cotton twill instead with a red liberty print for the pockets.

Until I manage to work out a way to take a flattering picture of myself wearing these hanger photos will have to do. Tips welcome!

I decided to line the underside of the collar with a raspberry coloured felt and I think it turned out pretty well. I just love the poka dot bias binding!

Argh! Liberty print!

The pattern and instructions were wonderful to use. Any keen sewers out there I definitely recommend it!

Lxx

Crafty: First time quiting

So I found my half-finished quilt at home and put myself to work completing it. I have to say quilting is much more work than I first thought! I kept getting tangled up in the lengths of squares strung together and then they would get rotated to the wrong direction. I don't recommend choosing a complicated pattern as your first quilt - I think mine was on the cusp of what I could deal with as a first timer.

I based the design on this one from the Moda Bake Shop website.

The finished product:

Top shows the pieces laid out and ready to sew together and bottom shows the finished product. Size wise it is small but big enough to cover your lap when sitting down.

L xx

Crafty: Smart causal/interview outfit

I almost forgot, I also made this outfit for interviews and smartish occasions. Apologies for the embarrassingly awful selfies (I'm not used to it!). No pattern used, just lots of scratching my head and looking confused!

The top is made from an ordinary stripy jersey and the skirt is from a navy slightly stretchy twill. The skirt has a pearl button on one side and a popper on the other. With the pink belt added I think it looks smart but not too boring.

L xx

Crafty: First dress finished

Sorry for the delay, its been a really busy month at dent school with exams and moving house. But now I am mostly settled in Harrys place until mine becomes available and dent school (finally) ends on Friday! Yay! Harry and I have booked to go to Rome in a couple of weeks which is really exciting, bring on the heat and crowds, haha - but there are so many beautiful buildings to look at which is going to be amazing.

So here is the finished dress...

Not quite as I designed but it looks good on and fits perfectly. The back is slightly different. From start to finish this took me a whole night, I just couldn't stop and listening to the audiobook of Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan didn't help with that.

xx