All posts tagged: fp

Belize Skort Hack

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I’ve had loads of compliments this week wearing my different variations of Itch-To-Stitches Belize Shorts and Skorts – both on and off the golf course.  My favourite feature of all the 5 variations is the curved back skirt on the skort version. I thought I’d have a go at making a version with a curved hem at the front as well as the back.  It was really successful so I thought I’d share it with you. First of all I measured the width of the back curved skirt and compared it to the front short pieces – the ones without the pleats.  I couldn’t use the pointy skort pieces as these overlap so I would have be hard to work out the width. Taking the seam allowances into consideration the skort back piece was near enough the same width as the shorts front so I felt able to just use the back piece for the skort front. I compared the shape of waist/hip curve of short piece to my new skort front (i.e. the skort back!). I’ve drawn an …

Getting busy with Belize from Itch-To-Stitch

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Itch To Stitch has just released their latest pattern – the Belize skort and shorts.  She was asking for pattern testers not so long ago and I would have loved to help up but unfortunately the timescale didn’t match up with any free time I had.   I’ve never made a skort before, but have bought quite a few pairs over the years for golf, and they’re usually quite expensive.  In the last couple of years I’ve cheated and I’ve made skirts for golf and worn gym shorts underneath. This week I’ve been on annual leave and has loooooads of free time.  So armed with my new pattern (which I managed to work out how to use layers and just print my size) I set about making the Belize Skort.  This was Monday, and I wanted to wear them on Tuesday for golf! There are 5 views for the skort and shorts: View A: Pleated-front shorts with front pockets View B: Flat-front shorts with front pockets View C: Flat-front shorts with no pocket View D: Skort with …

Vogue 9082 – Muslin 1, 2 & 3! Oh, and lining it too!

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I thought I’d share with you the fitting dilemmas of my most recent make – the Vogue 9082, view C.  And also how I omitted the facing and fully lined this special dress when I joined in the BIG Vintage Sewalong. As I eventually intend to make all three views, I traced all views in one big sitting to get it out of the way! Whilst some sewers find the tracing process rather tedious I love it!  Before tracing off I read the instructions all the way through, again.   I say again as I’ve usually already read them as soon as I’ve brought a pattern home, or received it in the post. By reading the instructions and then tracing the individual pieces you can learnt so much about the construction process before you even begin to piece the garment together.   Or you notice things which you’ve not come across before. Such as this piece here….. This is the under collar of the jacket, and it is marked ‘stretch’ along the top piece.  Not sure what that means but …

The Big Vintage Sewalong – Vogue 9082

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There’s nothing quite like a challenge to get the sewing and blogging juices flowing.  More so when it’s raising money for a very worthy charity. This year  for the BIG Vintage Sewalong there’s 20 patterns from Retro Butterick, McCall’s and Vogue to choose from. A donation from every sale will be made to The Eve Appeal – a charity rising awareness and funding research in the 5 gynaecological cancers.   Last year over £8000 was raised for the same charity through sales of the Walkaway Dress! I drooled over almost every pattern, but my final choice was influenced by an invititaiton to my niece’s wedding in September.   As I usually have to make 2 or 3 muslins I wanted this dress to be something special, rather than something to be just worn once then stuck at the back of the wardrobe. I love the tea dress look and the nipped waist, but short of wearing a ridiulously tight corset a nipped in waist is out of the question. Vogue 9082 grabbed me the most, and …

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 …

#SparkSomethingGood – Update

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Earlier this week some of the Yorkshire Spoolettes headed into Leeds and volunteered their time to help make syringe driver bags for our local hospitals and hospices.   It was part of a big campaign which Marks & Spencers are running for 24 months and heading to different parts of the country, working with lots of different charities having fun and sparking something good within the local communities.   If you want to see if there is anything is happening in your area click HERE to be taken to a website called Neighbourly where you can see what charities need help in your area. Or if you have a project that needs help, head over and you may be in luck!  It’s not just about Marks and Spencers, lots of organisations use Neighbourly. And here’s the launch video  for Spark Something Good from 8 months ago:   I really don’t know how I didn’t know about it already!  But I’m so glad that Alex emailed me and I was able to help out along with some other …

The Need for Ease – Simplicity 1696

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Is it just me or do you trust the stitches more on RTW garments than something you make your self? How many times have you laid flat on your bed, sucking in your tummy in an attempt to fasten your favourite trousers? I used to do, but since making most of my clothes there’s no way I’d put my stitches through such strain!  I generally air on the side of caution and make sure there’s plenty of room to move and breathe.  And also to lessen the chance of splitting open the seams and avoiding embarrassing situations.  And often things then end up a bit too big. So I made another pair of Simplicity’s Amazing Fit trousers. I’ve made them once before in a black cotton sateen with a small amount of lycra.  Whilst the fit isn’t amazing I’ve worn them loads, mainly for golf.  I often let in and out the back centre seam depending how thin/fat I’m feeling.  Big mistake when making these the first time – I didn’t bother with belt loops. …

Save all your kisses for me…. Simplicity 1783

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Back in October one of my besties went to Fabworks and with the help of the ladies there bought me these 3 pieces of fabric for my birthday.  I made the Woodland Cape with grey/red and lined it in the red but still had all these lips blowing kisses at me every time I went in my sewing room. The lips fabric is a soft drapy crepe with a hint of stretch across the width.  Perfect for this pattern, and not the end of the world if it doesn’t work as I wasn’t sure at this point if it was really my cup of tea.   Before I get down to the nitty gritty and share lots of photos of the ups and down in this new relationship why not have a listen to The Brotherhood of Man?! This song just takes me back!  How come I still know all the words when I’ve not heard it for years!  Check out the outfit on the far right – could that possibly be a jumpsuit!!??     Swiftly …

Another Brooklyn Hoodie & A Refashion 

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Remember the white hoodie I made last month?  The only time I don’t wear it is at work, it’s just so cosy and goes with everything.  So I thought I needed to remedy the situation! Obviously with wearing a uniform I can’t just go out and buy fabric and make something to wear for work.  But I did come across 2 old fleeces with broken zips that were quite large and would otherwise be going in the bin! From start to finish it took about 3 hours to make. I didn’t go to town with the top stitching like the white one, mainly because it was for work, but also because my machine struggled with this thick fabric. The double ended zip was from Fabworks – 25p! The pattern was won an the fabric upcycled! So all in all a cheap make! I used twill tape to neaten the seam where the hood is attached. I won’t be using a contrasting one again – it wasn’t as neat as I would have liked. Passable, just! I …

A quick way to make a thread looper

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I’ve made thread loopers in the traditional way by hand.  But usually when I get to the stage of making the looper it means I’ve nearly finished whatever I’m making and I want a quicker way to do it.  That’s when the machine stitched looper comes in.  I also find it stronger than the more conventional way. Here’s a hand stitched one I made when I attended the GBSB Sewing With Silk class.  This was the first hand stitched one I’d ever done and wasn’t too neat and also a bit too big. My next attempt was much neater, but just as time consuming: When I made my recent colour blocked dress I went back to my favourite lazy way and used the machine and had it done in about 2 minutes! Here’s how….. Take a long length of matching (or contrasting!) thread and fold it in half, then twice more so you will have 8 strands of thread: Set your machine to the widest zig zag stitch.  The stitch length doesn’t matter as you’ll be pulling …