Tag sewing

New make: Seamwork Almada robe

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Hello there! Hands up who ate too much over Christmas and New Year…?  Yup, me too. Which is why this latest make comes at the perfect moment for hiding my well-tended belly, which it does beautifully, I’m happy to report. You may have seen this robe on IG already, but now I’ve had a chance to snap a couple of on-body pics. Ignore the peely-wally legs please (good Scottish word; don’t say reading sewing blogs doesn’t teach you anything).

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I feel like this pattern has been made in so many stunning versions before (including the ones from Swarm of Chickadees and Helen’s Closet to name but a couple) that everyone must be familiar with it by now. But if not, this is the Almada robe from Seamwork Magazine. It’s kimono-inspired in style and is a quick make, pegged at 3hrs of sew time. I would say that’s fair, although I may have taken slightly longer. If you make your own bias tape, add on an hour, I suppose. Continue reading “New make: Seamwork Almada robe” →

New makes: Everyday Skirt #2 + Little Boy top patterns

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This post was intended to be an Everyday Skirt / Linden top remakes post, but I managed to spectacularly screw up the Linden neckline (beyond repair I think, sadly), so instead I’ll stick with Everyday Skirt no. 2 and I’ll mention a couple of little patterns I used to make Joe’s Halloween costume. Therefore it is going to be a short post! I also wrote this originally just after Halloween, but I must admit something of a malaise has come upon me in recent days (sound familiar?) and so I am rather behind in posting. Ah well, onwards and upwards!

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A/W wardrobe plans or Trying To Be Organised

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One of the goals in my sewing life is to, at some point, make some garments that actually co-ordinate. I haven’t particularly focused on this yet, as I’ve preferred to make things that appealed on a standalone basis, to acquire new skills or see how something “worked”. For this autumn/winter though, I’m going to try and make a few items that co-ordinate – both with each other – and items I already have. That will inevitably mean some solids – and Lordy, do I need some interesting solids that aren’t Old Navy t-shirts – as well as a few print pieces and even – a COAT. Duh duh duh! I signed up for a class in October, so I’m hoping that will go well! Continue reading “A/W wardrobe plans or Trying To Be Organised” →

New make: Named Kielo dress

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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: Seamwork Astoria jumper

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Jumper, sweater, whatever mate. I sneaked in this little make after starting to think about my autumn/winter plans and planning a cohesive run of makes for once. I spotted a couple of other Astorias on the old net, didn’t quite remember the pattern from Seamwork, took a look, noted that it’s supposed to take about an hour to sew, so decided to give it a shot.

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And I must say that I’m surprisingly pleased with the result! Surprised because it’s a cropped jumper, which wouldn’t be my natural first choice these days (or any days really), and also because it fits rather well straight from the pattern. More on that later. Continue reading “New make: Seamwork Astoria jumper” →

New make: Colette Moneta dress

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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.

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New make: Metro t-shirt in interlock

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Hi all! Wow – the summer is fairly flying by! I’ve been keeping busy the last few weeks with enjoying the great outdoors in glorious Washington and unfortunately my blogging has suffered a little. But I have been sewing! I have been spending rather a lot of my time figuring out the Hannah dress, which is finished, but for a few errors I need to fix. I also finished a woven circle skirt apart from the hook and a t-shirt for myself. But first I’m posting this second male Metro t-shirt that I finished for my husband.

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Discoveries of a novice: Intelligent/smart fabrics – they do WHAT?

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I had absolutely no idea that there were fabrics in this world that could do the sort of things James Bond could only dream of. I came across the subject in the intro of my fab swatch book, Swatch Reference Guide for Fashion Fabrics. I read about the cross-breeding of spiders with goats to make spider silk. Yes, that’s what I said: spiders with goats. I assumed this was some sort of weird joke, but when I read it out loud to my husband, he said “Oh yes, I remember that in the news”. WHAT? So maybe I’m the last person in the world to know about it (and I regard myself as a reasonably well-informed person), but if the goat/spider phenomenon (and others to follow) passed you by, here’s what they are talking about. Continue reading “Discoveries of a novice: Intelligent/smart fabrics – they do WHAT?” →

New make: Everyday Skirt in Sommer

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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.

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