All posts filed under: The Monthly Stitch

The Amber Trousers by Paprika Patterns

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Back in May Kat Hardisty from The Monthly Stitch and Muse Patterns got in touch and asked if I’d like to join in something new for Indie Pattern Month.   In return for being given a pattern bundle I was asked to make one or more of the six garments and tell you all about it.   I chose the Getaway Bundle.  At the time of choosing I had no idea what patterns would be included, but as I was going away on holiday in June I was sure there would be something I’d want to make. And there was! It was all a bit exciting and if I’d have had time I’d had made at least 4 of the garments.  I’ve already got the Islander Jacket Express pattern traced off (from at least 18 months ago!!) but not gotten round to making it!   But time wasn’t on my side so I first off the Amber Trousers. The trousers were made in time for my hols but due to extremely hot weather I never wore them (the lowest …

Vogue 8805

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“Why oh why did I leave it so long!!??” We’ve all said it. More than once. But we never learn. It’s not that often is it that we unearth a UFO, finish it and aren’t please.  I mean, if it was that bad in the first place it would’ve ended up in the bin not chucked in the corner. So a while ago I borrowed V8805 of my real life sewing buddy Jeanie. Jeanie’s the one who got me going again, so to speak.  She’s made umpteen versions of these. For my first I used up some left over denim.  The dark blue was from my GBSB capri pants and the raspberry was from my Mexican dress and also a peg bag.   You might even recognise pinky red denim from other blogs – I’ve seen Jeans on The Prolific Project Starters blog and also a cute little dress only a couple of weeks ago on Making and Markings blog.  (I’ve just looked and Minerva still have it in stock).  In fact it was Camilla’s recent post that reminded …

Georgia, you were only supposed to be a muslin!

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For TMS’s first weekly challenge of #IMP15 I decided to make The Geogia Dress from BHL. It called for a fabric with a little stretch to help with the close fit.   As I’m trying to sew more quality than quantity I knew I needed to make a muslin. I traced the size 14 (U.S. Size – I like being 2 sizes smaller so sticking with it!!), then rummaged in my stash. I couldn’t find anything suitable, so delved into my ‘clothes to be refashioned’ box. I found a pair of my hubbies old jeans, and then after further searching in another box I found a gorgeous piece of Egyptian cotton. The latter had been chopped off my mum in laws duvet cover when she wanted it making smaller. Neither had any stretch but it would give me an idea of the fit and also enable me to check out the construction. The dress went together really well.  I didn’t take any pix when making it up as I only ‘threw’ it together to get the fit right. …

The Leap Of Faith – with a modesty panel #jumpingintojune

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Firstly can I apologise for yesterday’s post which may have distressed some readers and put them off their lunch.  I returned home late last night after getting drenched at golf, opened my reader and was shocked to see me almost doing a full frontal for all to see!  I never realised I’d put that photo as my feature image!  Needless to say it’s gone and won’t be reappearing! So, onwards and upwards! We’ve all been waiting for June with varying degrees of anticipation and excitement!  A few weeks ago in some friendly blogging banter on Chris’s blog it was somehow suggested that we’d sew Jumpsuits for June!  Before I knew it I was signed up and dusting off my Holly Jumpsuit pattern – or Jolly Humpsuit if your that way inclined! I think rather than rambling on I really need to just move on and show you my pics!  The first photo shoot was in pouring rain, and after a dynamic risk assessment by trainee blog manager (TBM) and myself the height of the Jump …

Osaka Wrap Skirt – Tick!

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Whoop! There’s only one thing on my new wish list and I’ve only gone and made it – the rest is in my head but will be noted soon!  Disaster did strike yesterday – here – but Thimberlina is over the stress and happy to be wearing her new skirt! So Let just crack on and I’ll show you the photos then talk about the nitty gritty afterwards! I did struggle to get photos of me in it that did the skirt justice.  I’m not sure about the button placements yet, but here goes, it does look better on Gertrude than me (at the moment!) Horaay for new machine that does lovely button holes! I’ve not made any thing that requires button holes for donkeys years! And top stitching to die for! Have you noticed the front and back are opposite? I’m glad in the end I went a bit wrong when I started off as I’d never have thought of using this FAB cotton and ribbon ponte for the reverse side.   More Lovely Top …

Dahlia – My Christmas Dress

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 After my frenzy of downloading, sticking and gluing, and sewing which lasted 2 days and resulted in my most favourite dress to date, things slowed down.  Well, not so much as slowed down, things came to a grinding halt. I was daunted, to say the least, by the hemming of this frock.  I’d not ever hemmed anything with an kick pleat, or any pleat if I come to think of it. After much googling, I gave up for a few days and made a Coco for my sister instead.  After all, this Dahlia was only intended to be a muslin, hopefully wearable.  I was a little disappointed as it is a bit tight around the tartan band, but, and this a a BIG but, I woke up on Tuesday morning, put on my bestest M&S underwear and tried on my Dahlia.  Whoop Whoop! It zipped straight up without so much as me having to go blue in the face breath in. So that was it, I decided to bite the bullet and get hemming! I’d read Colette’s New Guide to Sewing …

Selfies and Sorbettos

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Late to the party? Crikey, I don’t think I’ll ever get there, late or otherwise! So, what have Selfies and Sorbettos got in common?  ……A year ago I’d heard of neither. My mums only just learning too.  Whilst taking this selfie at cricket she said…… Whilst most of you have perfected and hacked this well known (free !) indie pattern from Collette Patterns i’ve just about managed to get to grips with bias binding and made 3 this month!  Even though I’ve used bias trim before, I’ve recently invested in the Craftsy Class ‘sewing on the edge’ and have learn a lot, including a super easy way to make my own without one of the fiddly binding makers where the tape has to be just the exact size, or else. My sorbetto pattern has been stuck together and hung up since last year, and for some unknown reason I’ve not bothered to sew it. All this changed when I was umming and arrhing over this ill fitting maxi dress and tuck the plunge with my first …

Mono Frock has a day at the races

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A couple of Saturdays ago we had a day at Ripon races.  We had been invited by VW Van Centre who were sponsoring a race, so best frocks were called for as we were being spoilt rotten in the hospitality suite and would also be helping choose the best turned out horse in the VW Race. Perfect for a mono sewn garment for July’s challenge over at The Monthly Stitch! And also ticks all the boxes for Goodbye Valentino’s RTW Fast! I used Newlook 6146  (I believe is an OOP pattern) which I have loaned from one of my old golfing buddies, now new sewing buddy.  She’s a HUGE bag of old patterns which I rummaged in to find this:   I think its so fab that I’ve discovered the joy of tracing and sharing patterns!! My dress for the races needed to be a simple make as I only had about 4 hours to complete it. I decided to sew the back and front completely except for the facings, then baste the sides, adjusted the …

TMS – Sew Stretchy

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For May’s challenge at The Monthly Stitch I’ve made a top and also refashioned one of my favourite T Shirts. Whilst flicking through the Great British Sewing Bee’s book from the 2nd series I decided to make the simple T Shirt.  It calls for a floaty fabric, not a ponte knit as I chose! I only had 60cm of the stripey ponte knit so had to be a little creative and decided to adapt the pattern so it had raglan sleeves. I also lengthened it by 3 inches for adequate tummy coverage.  As you can see from my pattern I’ve cut out a size 18.  This is the biggest size, here’s the size chart from the book: It all went together fairly straight forward.  I stitched sleaves to the back and front, pressed the seam downwards top stitched.  I now think I should have maybe pressed the seam upwards and had the top stitching (or is it edge stitching?!?!) on the sleeve, not on the main body of the top.  I then stitched the side seams. …