Tag handmade wardrobe

New menswear: Seamwork Harrington swimshorts

bellecitadel 6 Comments

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Another tick from my #menswearmakenine project this year, and the first that my husband specifically requested, making it very slightly more nerve-wracking. In the past, some sewists have said to me, “Oh you’re so nice, making clothes for your husband”, but, and I swear this is true, I do it because I find it interesting and I get to fit someone else, even if it that person is of the male persuasion – and Tom really is a “typical T” male shape, with very broad shoulders and slim hips. It helps my skills and also concentrates my finishing. I’m very much an ideas person, who is not always the best finisher in any sense, but making something for another person means I take more time over the final result rather than taking shortcuts or settling for shoddy finishing, which I would be more likely to do, were it a garment for me.

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New robes: Helen’s Closet Suki kimono robes for #sewmystyle June

bellecitadel 6 Comments

June has been a funny old month for sewing. I feel like I might have said that already in another post. I’ve had a few slightly frustrating sews, where I haven’t quite finished the project or the garment didn’t quite fit right. All par for the course for sewing, but a little unsatisfying. I’ve also given myself a fair bit to do with various challenges and decisions. I enjoy these and they’re completely voluntary of course (so I only have myself to blame), but I have hit a little bottleneck recently.

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Continue reading “New robes: Helen’s Closet Suki kimono robes for #sewmystyle June” →

New dress: Colette Wren for #sewtogetherforsummer

bellecitadel 12 Comments

I took part in the #sewtogetherforsummer challenge last year, when it was the push I needed to make my first shirtdress: the Grainline Alder. This year, the theme is the wrap dress and, after raking through my pattern collection, I decided to make the Colette Wren dress. I have already made the Named Kielo wrap dress and the M6884 wrap dress, so it was never going to be a technical challenge in the way that the shirtdress was, but wrap dresses definitely have their own fitting issues to be overcome – and so it was in this case too.

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I also recently purchased a coverstitch machine after many, many months of watching out for sales. Finally, my luck was in, and I managed to pick up the Brother 2340CV for a decent discount. The Colette Wren is an ideal garment to practice coverstitching as there are instructions for hemming the neckline, armholes and the regular bottom hem with a coverstitch technique. Continue reading “New dress: Colette Wren for #sewtogetherforsummer” →

Me-Made May 2018 Round-up: my results and a sprinkle of musings

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Time to add a small post to the plethora of Me-Made May round-up posts that hit the blogosphere once we breach the banks of June. I had a really fun May and, owing to the up-and-down weather we had here in Washington state, managed to wear almost all of my me-made garments, or at least that’s how it seemed. It was so much easier to take photos this year in my new house, as our kitchen worktop is just the right height for a little mobile phone tripod. I just set the timer and snapped a couple each morning or evening coming in or out of the house.

Results

My pledge was to wear a whole outfit each day for Me-Made May (outer clothes, not underwear/shoes) compared to last year, where I wore one item per day. I found it fairly easy to mix my me-mades up, but I also dragged some out of the closet that I wasn’t too sure about to give them a whirl and decide if they should stay or go (or be refashioned).

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Me-Made May 2017 vs 2018: Since last year was my first year, it’s interesting to compare my findings with what I found then. My biggest shocker last year was that I had a virtually monochromatic me-made wardrobe. I love colour and hadn’t really realised. This year I was expecting more of the same in all honesty, so I was (pleasantly) surprised to see that there was definitely a good deal more colour in my wardrobe this time round. Continue reading “Me-Made May 2018 Round-up: my results and a sprinkle of musings” →

New shorts: Mood Fabrics Piper shorts (free pattern)

bellecitadel 8 Comments

It’s been a strange kind of month sewing-wise, because I’ve been flitting around a little more than usual, adding little projects here and there. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, and I in no way feel I have to stick to any schedule, but this latest project – these Piper Shorts from Mood Fabrics – are a good example of what I mean. I received an email about this new free (yep – free!) pattern on Monday night and had them finished Wednesday afternoon.

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Partly it’s because the warm weather has arrived and I’m thinking about cool clothes in the heat; the fact that it’s Me-Made-May has also contributed – I’ve made a few TNTs to fill wardrobe gaps I’ve identified, but will write a combined post about those later. The arrival of a baby girl also caused me a little diversion from my plans, as per my last post. All fun diversions and all rather successful, which brings me neatly back to these shorts. Continue reading “New shorts: Mood Fabrics Piper shorts (free pattern)” →

New shirt: the adjusted Melilot in Nani Iro double gauze

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I made the first Deer and Doe Mélilot as a project for the Sewstripes theme month for the Sewcialists community blog and I love it. It gets regular wear and I knew I’d want to repeat the process and sew some more. As I mentioned in that blog post, I felt I’d done a good job on fitting the front, with a full bust adjustment, but that the back needed to be taken care of next. Well, there’s no time like the present, so I decided to tackle my back fit issues with this next iteration.

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I know I get that all-too-familiar pooling of fabric at the base of my back with any fitted blouse or dress and this is something I needed to tackle. I was working on a base case assumption of having a swayback issue, but before I made that adjustment, I did a little reading around the subject. It turns out that the fabric excess can also be caused by an erect back, a full front (bust), a generous bum, just to mention a few issues. Since the problem is basically that the length of your back piece is too long – somewhere – these all make sense. Continue reading “New shirt: the adjusted Melilot in Nani Iro double gauze” →

New make: In The Folds jumpsuit for #sewmystyle April

bellecitadel 17 Comments

The #sewmystyle2018 make for April is the Tilly and the Buttons Marigold jumpsuit pattern. It’s a super-cute garment, but I knew fairly quickly that the shape wasn’t one for me. I’m open to trying new things, but I think this would have been a project I just wouldn’t have worn. To be honest, I’m a bit wary of jumpsuits in general – I don’t mind the practicalities of bathroom breaks like some people (I’m rather “resilient” in that arena – TMI?), but I think it can be hard to find a flattering style since there’s so much that can go wrong fit-wise. Nevertheless, I have seen a couple of patterns over the last couple of years I rather fancied as contenders for my own figure requirements, including the Itch to Stitch Anza jumpsuit and the Sew House Seven Burnside Bibs.

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New skirt: Made by Rae Cleo in blue modal

bellecitadel 4 Comments

After finishing my Design Your Wardrobe project, one of my looks was a midi-length gathered/pleated skirt and a long-sleeved tee. This is not exactly going to shake up the world sartorially, but it fits perfectly into my “comfy mum clothes with a twist” theme for my little capsule wardrobe. I was initially planning to make the Colette Zinnia skirt, but then I noticed a class for the Made by Rae Cleo skirt appeared on Creativebug, which I subscribe to and have been meaning to utilise more . You download the pattern with the class and it was along the lines of the skirt I was looking for, so that decided it – the Cleo it was!

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New menswear: Ottobre “Tobacco Brown” chinos in grey twill

bellecitadel 14 Comments

It’s March, so about time I got to working on one of my #menswearmakenine and I figured I’d get to it with a biggie. I did already make two of my patterns just before New Year, although I’d planned them for 2018, so this is my first bona fide make for this year. This is the third pattern I’ve made from the inaugural Ottobre Family magazine and it’s another great-looking pattern. Slim fit “European-style” chinos, which is right up my husband’s alley as he has proportionally slim hips and legs. The other patterns I made were the Cloud Grey sweatshirt and the Urban Classic Briefs, so I was hoping the Ottobre standard would be maintained with this latest project.

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And I’m pleased to say I think it was! I’m really happy with how these turned out: in the photos I even think they have quite a RTW look. I made the largest size that these came in, which is the EU 56. I still have an issue with measuring my husband’s bottom half. By my measurements, he was slightly larger than that at the waist, but that, in turn, was quite a bit bigger than his RTW size. So I made the 56 as a compromise and then when we did the first fitting, they were too loose. I took them in quite a bit and now they’re just very slightly too tight around the hips – but nothing that a couple of wears won’t cure I don’t think. It’s all rather confusing, but at least I’m getting closer to his “size”.  Continue reading “New menswear: Ottobre “Tobacco Brown” chinos in grey twill” →

Seamwork’s Design your Wardrobe: the experience

bellecitadel 8 Comments

Hi there! No clothes project today, but I wanted to post about something I’ve been taking part in this last month, along with over 3,000 other Seamwork sewists. Yes, you read that number right. How do I know there’s that many? Well, as of the time of publishing this post, that’s how many people are members of the Facebook group expressly set up for this project!

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So what is it then? Well, I think everyone must be aware of Seamwork by now, but if you’re not, it’s the online, beginner-focused magazine/portal run by Colette Patterns. They issue an online magazine every month with articles, tips and two new patterns, aimed particularly at the novice sewist (although plenty of more experienced sewists use them too). It’s a subscription-based service and if you happen to be a member, you would have been invited to join the inaugural run of “Design your Wardrobe” back in January for free. Continue reading “Seamwork’s Design your Wardrobe: the experience” →