All posts tagged: Colette

The Colette Wren at The Yorkshire White Rose Awards

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On Monday we attended the White Rose Awards at the Leeds Arena.  It is the largest celebration of tourism excellence in the UK.  The dress code was black tie.  I didn’t need any more encouragement than that to fire up my creative juices and make a new frock! I’ve already written a post about my first and second muslin of the new Wren dress pattern from Colette.  I had 5m of this sparkly silvery ponte knit from Minerva.  I originally bought 2m to make my sister a coco for her birthday but then couldn’t resist and had to buy some more for me. I intend to write a full post later about the nitty gritty of the other changes I wanted and also needed to make to the pattern so it would be perfect for my chosen fabric and the occasion! This post is all about the finished dress and the awards ceremony. All dressed up and somewhere to go!!  Hubby scrubs up well too, don’t you think?! Wahay! Look at that thigh high spit! …

The Oslo Cardigan from Seamwork & Tips on hemming a slinky knit!

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I was a little late subscribing to the new digital magazine from Colette at the back end of last year so I missed out on the free pattern.. including The Oslo.  At first it wasn’t a problem, but then they were popping up all over, even in the Supermarket!  And I needed one to snuggle and slouch in, with so splashed out! I went down to Dewsbury to Lucky Fashions and spotted this scrumptious knit with an amazing drape for an even more amazing £3 per yard.  I snapped up 3 yards and dashed home! Before the sun set I had my very own Oslo. And boy has it been put through its paces.  It’s gone with everything! (as you’ll have seen on MMM15).  It seemed a bit daft taking pictures of me in the Oslo for this post, what with all the selfies of me on MMM, so I sweet talked my lovely niece into putting it on for a few photos.  That was the easy bit, The hard bit was getting it off her! I …

My Colette Albion #2

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Remember the ARRRHHHHHH moment in the first installment? I eventually pulled myself together, and several deep breathes & days later I had a plan.  Here’s some more pix of the Albion: VERDICT: This is the best casual jacket I own, but also the most expensive.  When I was 3/4 of the way through making it I ran out of thread (soooo much stitching to do – buy 2 spools if you intend to make the unlined version).  I called into Boyes in Brighouse, about 7 miles away, for a second spool.  On the way home I had a bump in my car (my fault) which ended up me paying an excess of £400 to the insurance company!! Hence the very expensive coat. It’s not put me off it though.  It’s roomy enough to wear a thick jumper underneath, but looks equally good withjust a thin top underneath. I’ve lost count of the number of  “No! You didn’t make that!?” moments that I’ve had. Not including the cost of my car, and the pattern, this jacket has …

Colette Albion #1

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A few weeks ago I bought a Colette pattern – the albion jacket/coat with the intention of making it for my hubby.  As we sewers do, I spents hours some time looking on the net for ideas.  I couldn’t believe how many versions there were out there for ladies.  This caused me to think that I didn’t want my hubby thinking I was making him a jacket as a practice run for mine, so I decided to make one for myself first! I had some cotton herrinbone twill in my stash, which I bought when I was in Cornwall in August 2013.  Perfect! I bought the accompanying ebook Companion from The Coletterie to help me along, and I soon had all my pieces cut out and a narrow shoulder adjustment made.  (I don’t have narrow shoulders, but I made a one armed muslin and decided I needed to loose a good inch due to it being a man’s pattern.) I even made all my own bias trim!! I didn’t go for the continuous method. I just did it …

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 …

Matchmaker – Dahlia meets Mr Zip

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Whilst inserting my zip today into my Dahlia dress I decided to take some photos of how I match everything up when inserting zips, as it can make or break a garment. This is just how I do it.  There might be an easier way out there, but after making 5 Yasmin Yoke Skirts I feel practiced and competent enough to share my way with you. Firstly, buy a decent zip!  I learnt the hard way today: This post will not show you how any special tricks to inserting a concealed zip, there’s loads of fab tutorials out there and even a free craftsy class (I always refer back to this if I’ve not inserted one in a while). Insert one side of the zip. Zip up the zipper and mark the important seams that need to match: Unzip and place where it needs to be.  Pin if you like but it doesn’t make it any more accurate!   Stitch in place – long basting stitches just near the seams that need to match: Now, zip it …

Sewing Dahlias

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Been a newish blogger I’m always extemely late to the party. The only Victoria I knew was a cake filled with buttercream, but you guys were all wearing yours as blazers! But hell no! Not this time. I’m gonna be banging on the door and the wine won’t even have chilled!  I happened to sign up for an alert from Colette for their new pattern release.  So when I received the email yesterday, with 20% off, how could a girl resist the stunning Dahlia Frock!? Raglan sleeves. Bias trim. No facings. Unlined (I can live with that) Their description on their website obviously has a lot more adjectives, (HERE) but I need to move on. Last night was spent printing and taping, I only printed out version 1 (above) but sooooo many pages! I woke up at 6am. The wind was howling outside. “Yipppeeee!” I should have been playing golf (it’s Tuesday so that’s what I do if I’m not working), but not in this weather.  After a couple of texts my days was set. …