Tag handmade wardrobe

New make: Linden #2 – a mixed affair

bellecitadel 4 Comments

You know sometimes you make something and you’re not that keen and then you see the photos and you think, “Actually, it’s not that bad…”. Well, this was the opposite for me. I was really chuffed when I finished this Grainline Linden sweatshirt and now I’m… less so. And there’s a simple reason. I love the fabrics, I like the shape of the sweatshirt anyway – but the sizing/shaping is completely off on this one. The neckline is the worst. I mean, it’s not terrible, but it’s too big and droopy. It’s partly the fabric – there just isn’t enough recovery in the knit I used and I should absolutely have used ribbing. But I also think there’s something afoot with my pattern pieces, because this happened with my last Linden too (which I didn’t finish/ blog, because the neckline application was B.A.D). We adjusted the pieces as part of a class and I think I need to go back and check them. I may also have traced the long sleeve badly. Something is going on.

img_20170212_135729-1

Continue reading “New make: Linden #2 – a mixed affair” →

New make: Toaster Sweater #sewmystyle January

bellecitadel 2 Comments

This is my first make as part of the #sewmystyle community sewalong. If you don’t know about it, then you can check out the initiative at Bluebird Fabrics or on Instagram with the hashtag, where there are a ton of Toaster Sweaters to peruse. That’s because the challenge involves sewing one collective garment a month (completely voluntary) from now until the end of the year. I plan to be sewing 9 out of the 12 (one, the Saunio cardigan simply will not suit me and two of the others I have alternative patterns for already). This is the Toaster Sweater #2 (there is a quite different #1 version too) from Sew House Seven and it’s the first pattern I’ve sewn from this company.

img-20170121-wa0004-1

Continue reading “New make: Toaster Sweater #sewmystyle January” →

#StitchingSanta and #SewMyStyle

bellecitadel 9 Comments

Hey there! I hope you all had a very lovely Thanksgiving. We headed up to Vancouver and it didn’t occur to me for a while that of course it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving up there (silly European that I am) but we had a great time pottering around and enjoying the city. As far as sewing goes, I’m right in the middle of lots of pre-Christmas projects that I rather annoyingly can’t blog, but it would spoil any surprises that I do actually manage to finish in time.

20161124_180624

A cool café in Vancouver where you can play with and adopt cats

 

Continue reading “#StitchingSanta and #SewMyStyle” →

New makes: #sewingdares Great British Sewing Bee Breton Top and M6966 maxi skirt

bellecitadel 8 Comments

img-20161014-wa0009

Two items crossed off the old A/W list. One totally successful and one partially, but to be improved upon. First, let me mention the McCall’s M6966 maxi skirt. I threw out my last long black maxi a few months ago and the reason I did was because it had too many holes in it. This gives you a good idea how much I wore it and why I need another. Okay, it doesn’t win any awards for being inspiring, fashion forward or even… cheery. But a skirt like this is all-weather-suitable, can hide any number of sins and goes with (almost) everything. Like all of those perennial favourites though, it’s amazing how hard it is to find a good, simple RTW black skirt (or white shirt, plain black cardigan, etc, etc.) Continue reading “New makes: #sewingdares Great British Sewing Bee Breton Top and M6966 maxi skirt” →

New make: Named Kielo dress

bellecitadel 15 Comments

img-20160928-wa0008

The Kielo dress is one that is popular with sewers, and I always think that must be for a good reason. I, along with many other others, am a big fan of Named’s aesthetic, although I’m not always convinced it’ll look too good on me. Usually it takes a few makes from other people before I take the plunge, and so it was with the Kielo dress. I was particularly sold by this version from verypurpleperson and I saw the other day there is now a second version to covet too. I also very much liked the long-sleeved version from Named themselves, rather than the pattern cover version, even if I wasn’t necessarily planning long sleeves myself. Love those bold stripes – just love ’em. Continue reading “New make: Named Kielo dress” →

New make: Circle Skirt 2 – the woven episode

bellecitadel Leave a comment

Hey all! I’m writing this from Siena, Italy, heh heh and although you’d think I’d be spending every waking moment seeing the sights, I do actually get a little downtime while the baby naps, etc. On that note, he slept through the night for the first time since we arrived last night! Yippee! The time zone adjustment issue was getting old, I can tell you. So, since I’m feeling vaguely human this morning, I thought I’d catch up on something I made a while ago, but just finished here: a woven circle skirt.

img-20160908-wa0004

Continue reading “New make: Circle Skirt 2 – the woven episode” →

New make: Colette Moneta dress

bellecitadel 7 Comments

I decided last week I’d work on a few knit items all at the same time given my current set-up of twin needles, low tension, walking foot etc. etc. I guess it’s partly due to laziness, but I’m still not so au fait with the settings that I can whip everything on and off like a pro. I already made the Metro t-shirt, and so I decided I’d follow up with a women’s t-shirt by Wendy Ward, plus this Moneta dress. Well, my apologies to Wendy, but I massacred the t-shirt by not realising the limits of a serger (or, indeed, my current serging skills) as I promptly shaved off half the t-shirt neck trying to turn an acute corner. It’s a goner I tell you. But I won’t do it again.

20160901_180942 Continue reading “New make: Colette Moneta dress” →

New make: Everyday Skirt in Sommer

bellecitadel 10 Comments

Someone recommended the Liesl & Co. patterns to me a while back and I briefly looked at the Everyday Skirt at the time. A sale then came up a few months later and I purchased the pattern as a “this will come in useful sometime” kind of pattern. Then I bought this cotton fabric from the Sarah Jane Sommer collection for Michael Miller. I love it and in one of those happy lightbulb moments, I thought of the pattern and it immediately struck me as a perfect marriage.

20160723_180450

 

Continue reading “New make: Everyday Skirt in Sommer” →

New make: Adventure Tank + I bought a serger!

bellecitadel 2 Comments

20160709_161231

Yes, I did it! I went for the old favourite: the Brother 1034D serger/overlocker! And very exciting it has been too. Okay, it clunks along with a fairly noticeable thump and the motor is no Rolls Royce specimen: a smooth ride this is not. But you know what? It works great and I couldn’t be happier so far for the budget-friendly price. I spent a couple of hours practicing threading, which makes me sound very diligent, but it actually took me a couple of hours to crack it after the threads broke the first time. I have it now though and have had no problems. It’s really not that bad: it was one tiny little thing that I’d missed. Continue reading “New make: Adventure Tank + I bought a serger!” →