One Week One Pattern 2017

This week I took part in One Week One Pattern for the third time. If you are not familiar with this event it was started by Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons, who launched it in 2012, it was then run by Handmade Jane in 2014 and Hannah from Cinderellis Sews last year and this year it has been run by Sewisfaction.

As you may already know from my previous posts this week I chose to wear the By Hand London Charlotte skirt. I have made four versions of the Charlotte skirt and posted about the construction of the different variations here, here, here and here. I guess you are supposed to wear your chosen pattern for the full week but I decided to focus on Monday to Friday because of the more formal choice of pattern. This is not the type of thing I would wear on the weekend to do house chores, errands and general chilling out in.

The photos below show how I styled my skirts with several Uniqlo merino wool turtle neck jumpers, gap t-shirt, Marimekko scarf, Tatty Devine Teeth necklace and on Friday one of my favourite festive jumpers (because December!).

Cashmere BHL Charlotte Skirt

Another By Hand London Charlotte skirt. This time in some beautiful cashmere Price of Wales check (that I made my Sew Over It Francine jacket out of) and lined with the same emerald green as the jacket. Worn together it looks like a suit.

The other addition I made to the skirt was to create a hem band and hand stitched the lining to it. I am particularly pleased with my invisible zip and plaid matching skills. Another great bonus is these fabrics have been languishing in my stash box since 2014 after finishing the France jacket. What do you think?

I hand-stitched a black triangle to strengthen the top of the split 

Lined and hand-finished on the waistband and press studs

Added a hem band in the outer fabric 

What invisible zip?

I pledged to take part in the One Week One Pattern this week hosted by Sewisfaction so be prepared to see more By Hand London Charlotte skirts around these parts!

Have you signed up to OWOP17?
If not what would your go to pattern be?

Reversible By Hand London Victoria Blazer

I only just got around to wearing my recently finished By Hand London Victoria blazer yesterday. This jacket has been 95% finished since April 2017 and I completed the last section of hand-stitching at the end of August. I cut the second blazer out immediately after making my first iteration of the jacket making sure I didn't make the same cutting mistakes as my last one.

In the spirit of Sew Your Stash September this was made with fabric wholly from le stash. The navy suiting fabric I've had for about ten years whilst the red silk Chinese brocade I have owned for probably over 20 years. There was just enough of both fabrics to make up the Victoria blazer.

I modified the lower lapel shape which was fairly easy to do. I made a paper pattern using the original piece  as a guide and angled the lapel including a seam allowance.

As for the construction, I bagged out the jacket by leaving the bottom of the lining / outer open so it could be turned the right way round and carefully hand-stitched together. It was only when sewing the final finish of the jacket it occurred to me it could be reversible, especially since the silk brocade is quite substantial and holds its shape quite well which makes for a decent outer fabric for a jacket.

I'm not sure I will wear the blazer with the brocade on the outside as much as the navy version. I like the hint of red flashing when wearing it the navy way around. What do you think?      

By Hand London Charlotte Skirt

I have had this stylish By Hand London Charlotte pencil skirt cut out for a couple of months and managed to finish it this week just in time for some warm weather. It could be considered quite an old indie pattern by today's standards and there are some fab versions out there. My favourites are:

This red wool Charlotte skirt by Lauren from Lladybird:

Oona Baloona's amazing floral Charlotte skirt:

And finally Elisalex from By Hand London's amazing tropical Charlotte skirt with back split:

The fabric was a gift from my friend Sophie who lives in Hong Kong. She has an amazing eye for fabric and I wouldn't necessarily have picked this colourful printed barkcloth myself, but I am so glad I paired it with the classic shape of the Charlotte pencil skirt.

I have made a few pencil skirts before here and here with the Simplicity 2154 retro pattern. The construction of the BHL Charlotte was pretty similar so it was a pretty speedy sew.

With only one metre of fabric I had to be careful with pattern placement. I had to cut a second waistband as the first one was way too short (not sure if that was my error or not) so I lengthened the waistband slightly so there was more overlap for a press-stud. I also had to take a little in at the hip area but other than that it is a very good fit.

I finished the seams on the inside with bias binding because the barkcloth frayed really easily. I also hand-stitched the waistband and the hem. I added two press-studs to secure the waistband into place.

The only slight niggle I have with the skirt is my not-so-invisible zip insertion. I am borrowing a sewing machine whilst I decide what to do with mine and it doesn't have an invisible zip foot, so it's a little more noticeable than my usual efforts! I can always re-do it when I get my old machine working (or get a new machine.....).

Overall, I am really happy with this skirt and it certainly added a little colour to what has been a pretty grey week so far here in the UK.

Pattern: By Hand London Charlotte Skirt Pattern = £9.00

Fabric: 1 metre of barkcloth from my friend Sophie in Hong Kong = free

Gutterman Thread: White from stash = free

Invisible Zip: White = £1.00

Bias Binding: Assorted coloured bias binding from stash = free

Press-studs: from my Grandma's stash = free

Total: £10.00

Check out lots of other cool crafty blogs at #handmademonday organised by Julia of Sum of their Stories.

By Hand London Victoria Blazer

I have had both the By Hand London Victoria Blazer pattern and this pretty cotton sateen in my stash for quite some time. The colourful print reminds me of one of my favourite artists, Sonia Delauney who uses lots of beautiful washes of colour and circular motifs in her paintings.

Sonia Delauney, 1914, Prismes Electriques. Image Source

Last Wednesday I decided that the Victoria blazer and Delauney-esque fabric would make a great pairing and set about cutting out the pattern.

I opted for variation two; the cropped blazer.

Things were going as planned and I also found enough bright blue fabric for the lining (leftover from SOI Tulip skirt) and cut the whole lot out.

The construction was great as I used the beautifully illustrated instruction booklet as well as the online sew-along on the BHL blog.

After tackling the very cool collar construction and had assembled the front and back of the blazer things went a little off-piste. It seems I had not cut the appropriate length for the cropped blazer on the front bodice pieces, leaving quite a chunk missing. Luckily, rather than sulking and throwing this in the UFO (unfinished-object) pile, inspiration struck in the form of a pocket.

After looking at Grainline's Driftless cardigan I decided to create a pocket by adding an extra layer of outer-fabric across the full width of the front of each bodice piece. I lined them with blue fabric and sewed the whole lot to the front of each bodice.

I'm really happy with this new 'design-feature' alteration. Additionally I also had to add extra sections on the lining too as I had cut all pieces out at the same time.

As for the remaining construction I did far more hand-sewing than instructed in the booklet but I really love the mindful practice of carefully finishing garments by hand. In part this hand-work is also because my 25 year old Bernina is still playing up and either needs a massive overhaul or (whispered tones) I need to buy a new machine.....

I used the same construction for the lining that I learnt on the Sew Over It Coco Jacket which is to sew the jacket lining to the seam allowance of the arm scythe then to hand-stitch the sleeve into position. It takes A LOT longer to do this than other methods but I love the final finish. I would like to make another Victoria Blazer so I will keep my eye out for a new fabric with the right weight.

Pattern: By Hand London Victoria Blazer paper pattern = £13

Fabric: 1.5 metres cotton sateen from Samuel Taylors (Leeds 2013) = £10

Lining: 1 metre of lining from stash = free

Gutterman Thread: Black and blue from stash = free

Total: £23

Check out lots of other cool crafty blogs at #handmademonday organised by Julia of Sum of their Stories.