Picnic separates

I made myself a whole outfit over the long weekend, and although it was a slog, I’m in love! I made a matching skirt and blouse in Liberty tana lawn which I had in my stash, to wear to a friend’s wedding and also in life generally after that.

Let’s start with the awesome things!

First, I’m in love with the gathered circle skirt and its midi length. It’s self-drafted, a longer version of this skirt I made a few years ago. It’s made of 6 wedge-shaped panels and has a built-in lining. I also put some elastic in the back waistband (in addition to the side zip) so I can eat lots in it. All the internal seams are finished nicely with either French seams or overlocking.

Second, let’s pause a moment to appreciate the pattern matching down the centre front of the blouse. So satisfying! All the finishes on the blouse are also rather lovely – bias bound armholes, French seams, fancy scallop stitch to keep the placket tucked. And I hand-sewed the collar in.

Finally, overall it is a joy to swish about in this outfit. I’m so happy with it!

But… The blouse was a bit of a saga to make. I used Simplicity S9295, which is a Gertie pattern. I bought it online without being able to see the size chart and discovered to my horror when it arrived that my measurements were coming out at 16 (seriously?! IRL I’m a size 12) but the pattern only went up to 14. After some cursing, I tried to find out how much ease was built in. After some searching I found the ease numbers printed on the actual pattern pieces and, after a bit of math, discovered that the total size 14 finished size minus my actual measurements equalled 23cm of ease! I can’t even imagine how ridiculous this shirt would look if you made your proper size… It’s so weird because it’s got lots of shaping (front bust and waist darts) but would just be like a sack to wear. So I cut the size 14…

And it really was enormous. So I self drafted some back darts, and it was still too big. So I spent 3 hours unpicking my lovely bias-bound armholes and French sideseams, sliced 1.5cm off all side seams (6cm in total), made a narrower shoulder/armhole, and sewed it all up again. It was still a bit voluminous, particularly at the upper back, so I lengthened my back darts. In all honesty, it’s still looser than I wanted but at least it’s presentable. Overall I must have taken at least 15cm out – going down a size, adding darts, taking in the sides – and I basically never want to go near a commercial sewing pattern again. What planet are they on?

I also (intentionally) made the collar way narrower than called for and then couldn’t get it to lie flat. Partly because I skipped the interfacing to keep it soft and nice. Ultimately I unpicked it, graded the seam allowances even more and snipped ease in liberally before hand-sewing it back together.

Overall I feel like I sewed the blouse twice! It was a bit of a marathon but I’m pleased with the end result. I’m also pleased with my problem solving and feeling competent enough to have made it through this.

Heatwave

Oh gosh it’s hot. I keep feeling like the apocalypse is coming, which it probably is as everywhere seems to be simultaneously flooding, on fire and plague-ridden. Also those locusts in the USA… (does anyone else keep wondering if the Bible is actually just a big warning about climate change?)

Anyhow I took a few days off work and spent them mostly hiding indoors from the heat – in other words a lot of sewing has happened!

First I started with trousers, making two wearable muslins from the new Nani IRO sewing book. I was working from patterns K and J, which are essentially identical except K has some darts at the bottom cuffs and are an inch or so shorter. I’d loved K in the book but wasn’t sure the shape would work on me; I’d also bought some gorgeous Nani IRO linen to make them in but wasn’t sure about my choices.

First up I made a pair of shorts to check fit. I used a midweight denim remnant from Black Mountain Fabric and made size 2L (no, Japanese sizing does not flatter me!). I made a few errors (like pressing the pleats the wrong way…) but broadly I was really happy with these. I wore them on an early morning heatwave dog walk to test them and made the waist elastic tighter as a result. But these do still feel too roomy, even though they get over my dinosaur pelvis OK.

Just ignore the top please – I’ll get there at the end of this post!

Next up I cut out the K trousers in Merchant and Mills linen from Slipstitch. I did little creases in my pattern pieces to take 2cm of width off of each – a total reduction of 8cm round the circumference. So these are probably a size L, though a tad longer.

Details on this top are here

I love everything about these trousers when I wear them – the fit is great and I was pleasantly surprised by the shape / cut and how these look on me. The only problem is that getting in/out is a bit dicey – particularly after a swim at the Kenwood Ladies Bathing Pond where I had a super embarrassing struggle to pull my trousers on over my wet skin in front of a large number of topless women. Anyhow, next time I will probably keep the front in the reduced width but give a few cm back in the back pieces.

In ultimate heatwave dressing, after I made these I wore them round the house with a vintage silk yukata and a bra and nothing else. I think it’s a good look! Not brave enough to wear it outside but hey, here I go putting pictures on the Internet.

The next day, I wore my old inari tee on top and had a fab time in Central London eating cake and going to Japanese shops.

This led me to think: hang on, I could make an even breezier inari tee (by Named Clothing). So I did! Here’s the inari tee, in broderie anglaise from Pretty Mercerie.

Ok: so back to the beginning, I never did use my Nani IRO linen and now think I might make a dress instead. Watch this space!

Sorbet sunrise

I have a favourite blouse. It’s cropped, it’s pink, it’s silk, and it has little cat faces (Devon Rex cats) printed on it. I’m madly in love with it and want to make it a thousand times over.

I’ve been searching around for the perfect pattern for a while and nothing’s ever been quite right. So while I was on leave last week I took the plunge and decided to try to DIY it, using this fantastic book:

So yes it’s all written in Japanese, and yes I decided to combine about three patterns, and no, I’ve never really felt confident in making blouses. But I had a go, and I’m so happy that I did! Here’s the first iteration of what will eventually become a mighty collection of Nani IRO blouses:

The book was incredibly helpful. It has these amazing step by step tutorials with tonnes of photos for every aspect of shirt making, and I used these pages extensively. The main shirt is pattern 11, with the neck and collar from shirt 3 and sleeves from yet another pattern. It’s the first hidden placket I’ve sewn and the first bartacks (shout out to my incredible Bernina machine and its ability to bartack and buttonhole with confidence even when I lack it!). I was too lazy to get the overlocker out so I French seamed the exposed seams, which I think is better anyway on double gauze.

I also saved selvedges where I could – there are three of them on view inside.

The fabric is Nani IRO double gauze “Air Time” from the new season collection, and I got it from my favourite shop Miss Matatabi, using a voucher I won as part of a Nani IRO Instagram competition (yes, I’m obsessed, and yes this is the second time I’ve won a voucher from Miss Matatabi. I need to keep this lucky cycle going!).

This blouse is so dreamy and I want to eat gelato in it and look at flowers. And make many, many more!

Winter garden

This is the first autumn since I was a kid that I haven’t spent making Christmas presents and have indulged in selfish sewing instead. All these lockdowns are just amazing! My dream life of just hanging out at home, crafting, is a reality.

I decided to lock down in Wales which has meant easy access to the fantastic craft shops of Abergavenny. I spotted this gorgeous knit fabric in The Wool Croft and thought, I need new undies! But then I bought 2 metres so made a turtleneck as well to keep me cosy with winter work-from-home.

This was a super quick and easy make. I used the free Monroe Turtleneck pattern from Tessuti Fabrics and the hardest part of the whole process was figuring out which pattern pages to print to get my size. I chose it because I really like the oversize design with dropped shoulders, and the tight arms. It’s actually almost identical to my new running turtleneck from Decathlon, which I would happily spend 24/7 wearing.

The fabric is printed cotton jersey by Qjutie and it’s not very stretchy. I ended up making the neck about 2 inches wider because the first attempt hardly went over my head. The arms are possibly too tight still at the forearm, but I assume they’ll expand through use.

Overall this was super fast to make and I really like it. And the floral print is very cheering.

Escargot-pants

In a last minute bid to prepare myself for my summer trip to Canada I made myself some snail trousers. I also made a linen stripe tee a few weeks back and forgot to blog it, so here they are together. 

The trousers are the Luna Pants pattern by Made By Rae, and sewn in Heather Ross’s Sleeping Porch cotton lawn. Everything about these trousers is perfect – from the fit, to the soft lawn, to the pockets, to the subdued and sophisticated print which on second glance turns out to be just hundreds of snails…

The tee is another Named Clothing Inari Tee. For this one I lengthened the front by 3″ and the back by 5″, and played around with stripes and pockets. The fabric is linen-cotton which I bought a few years ago at John Lewis intending to sew a shirred dress, but never managed to (but I did use some for this knitting bag). Anyway, this tee is great and I love the length. 

Now we are 2.0

So I posted a few weeks ago about the bloomers and bonnet I made for my little cousin’s 2nd birthday. I didn’t have much time and I was waiting for a sewing pattern to arrive, so I had to send that adorable but incomplete outfit across the pond to Canada in time for W’s birthday.

But the pattern arrived and the final piece of the puzzle is now in place. 

This is the Colombe top from Citronille. I had fun with online dictionaries and my rusty French A-level translating the instructions, but generally it was pretty easy and I love the result! I just wish it came in bigger sizes – 2 years is the maximum. 

I used some sweet cotton clipdot from my stash, red rickrack, and spare red buttons which I think were  from my first ever knitting project. 

Can I have one too? 

Cutting it short

I love the Named Clothing Inari dress I made at Easter, so I followed up with a totally un-customised, straight from the pattern Inari Tee.

It’s in Nani Iro double gauze with lovely pearlescent dots which I got (for free! First competition I’ve ever won, and the most I’ve ever wanted to win sonething) from Miss Matatabi (much more from this generous haul to follow).

I love it, it’s great with my high waisted skirts and smart trousers at the office; but at the same time it’s too short to wear casually unless I get / make some high waisted jeans. So I’m going to make more of these, but a bit longer. Watch this space!

Summer rays

I made a Breton style top! Now it’s just up to the sun to get a move on and start shining.

I used lovely heavy Japanese knit cotton in olive-gold and white stripes.

The pattern I used was Grainline Studio’s Lark Tee – it’s a great pattern and comes together fast, but as usual I fell between three sizes. I cut the middle one but I think I’d cut the larger size next time, on account of my wide shoulders. I also cropped a few inches off the bottom which I think was a good idea. It’s just the right length. I’m not convinced by 3/4 length sleeves, but they look fine rolled up and that’s how I’m planning on wearing this top anyway. Plus I’ve already managed to get strawberry juice on the inner elbow, which sleeve rolling happily conceals.  

No matter – it’s a great top and I hope to wear it lots this summer.

Troubled waters

It’s been a pretty grim couple of weeks in the UK. Rain, politics, and work have been a bit unrelenting.

However, I did find time last week to start mentally preparing myself to sail away from all these tempests (on holiday!), staying up late one night to convert a recent gem from the Liberty summer sale into a fantastic Sloane sweatshirt from Named Clothing.

I’ve only made one other Named thing – my Leini dress – but it got me a bit hooked. The Sloane sweatshirt is every bit as good – elegant, comfortable and easily wearable. I actually wore it to work this week  without criticism.

Pears

A couple of years ago I made my mum a beautiful dress covered in pears using Liberty jersey fabric in the pattern Jack and Charlie. At the same time, I’d bought some lantana in the blue colour way of this pattern, intending to make her a mod shift dress. But I think you can have too many pear dresses quite quickly, so instead I made a loose-fitting, slightly bohemian blouse. The drape and softness of the lantana are just gorgeous. I wish I could afford to make myself pyjamas out of this fabric. Sigh.

The pattern came from my mum’s back issues of Prima magazine, and I don’t think much of it. I added French seams everywhere to make it extra special.