Marvellous Mabel

Last June I attended a fabric swap arranged by Kristy from Scientific Sewing where I swapped three bags of fabric and patterns for only three pieces of fabric in an attempt to destash.

This is what I selected. A 2.5 metre piece of mustard knit fabric for practise / wearable toiles, 3/4 metre of a navy speckled sweatshirt jersey and 2 metres of red spotty cotton. I have since given away the red cotton, the mustard jersey is currently a work in progress with a 1960's / 1970's pattern just leaving the small piece of navy jersey.

I initially had in mind a Linden sweatshirt using the navy for the sleeves due to the limited amount. I had a stroke of inspiration after reading Zoe from So Zo's blog about quick re-fashions. I decided to make a pencil skirt using Colette's simple Mabel pattern.

Cue the pattern Jenga below to get the pieces to fit!

The Colette Mabel pattern instructions are very well written with clear set-by-step guides throughout. I used the overlocker at work to finish the seams and it came together really quickly.

Not bad for a quick make with a small piece of fabric from the stash!

I can see myself making another Mabel skirt as it was so comfy to wear. I have some Girl Charlee UK black sweatshirt fabric left over from SewBrum 2015 raffle winnings so it looks like it could be a great wardrobe staple.

Pattern: Colette Mabel bought on discount sale = £9

Fabric: 1 metre of navy sweatshirt jersey from fabric swap = free

Gutterman Thread: Navy from stash

Total: £9

This post is linked to #handmademonday organised by Julia of Sum of their Stories.

The One Metre Moneta

What can you do with one metre of knit fabric?
The obvious choice would be to make a t-shirt or long-sleeved tee.

I had one metre of lovely charcoal grey four-way stretch knit fabric in my stash - one of the lovely Girl Charlee UK knits I won in the raffle at Sew Brum in October 2015.

After completing the analysis of MMM2016 I realised I have a LOT of me-made tops which got me to thinking.... could I squeeze a Colette Moneta dress out of one metre of fabric?

The answer is yes!

Yes, if you don't line it or add pockets and forget the sleeves too!

It was a very satisfying quick make and I really wish I had made one last year when I bought the pattern. The softly gathered skirt looks really flattering and the bodice is a lovely fit.

I made a few amendments. I had to add a patchwork slither to the skirt side seams on the back due to fabric limitations. I cut a size small as my waist and hips fitted into this size but ended up adjusting the bodice to probably what is now a size x small. I also lengthened the skirt by about 4cm.

I used a Prym elastic rather than the suggested clear elastic (mostly because I had it in my stash) and sewed it together with a regular foot, a stretch needle, stitch length 2.5cm, width 1cm.

It is currently un-hemmed at the neckline, arms and skirt which I love. Part of me thinks I will totally wreck this when I try to twin-needle the hem or try to sew it with a small zig-zag so I am just going to rock the unfinished look in a fashionable de-constructed meant-to-be way.

I am definitely going to make more of these!

Here are some poor quality selfies of me wearing my new dress. I will get better photos when the weather improves.

Pattern: Colette Moneta = £13.50

Fabric: Girl Charlee UK Charcoal knit = free (won in the SewBrum raffle)

Gutterman Thread: Grey from stash

Elastic: Prym extra soft elastic from stash

Total = £13.50

Me Made May 2016 Review

First of all, thanks to Zoe at So-Zo for organising this fabulous event. After taking part in Me-Made-May for the the third year in a row I wanted to do some analysis of the clothes I have enjoyed wearing, the patterns I am attracted to and the quality of the fabric. My pledge was to wear one or more me-made or me-mended garments during week days which I managed to achieve without too much of a stretch.

In completing this analysis I want to identify how I could streamline my wardrobe and identify what clothes should be my next challenge / project to make.

Me-Made Wardrobe Colour Palette:

Creating a visual representation of all the me-made garment fabrics I have worn this month really helped me identify my preferences.

This is what was revealed......

a) I am partial to an abstract print

b) I love monochrome

c) I also like bold blues, pinks, reds and greens!

Types of Clothing worn during May:

Further analysis highlighted I chose to wear more me-made tops than any other garment with skirts a close second during the month of May.

Pattern Companies worn in May:

I already knew I was a major Grainline Studio fan-girl when it comes to pattern companies. The results speak for themselves. I am definitely drawn to independent pattern companies much more than the big 4 (Simplicity / McCalls / Butterick / Vogue).

Year of Construction:

Another aspect I thought would be interesting to observe was the date I made the clothes I had worn during May. As suspected, I don't have many clothes before 2009 and a lot of garments made between 2010 - 2012 have been re-fashioned or given to charity as the quality of both the construction and fabric were not great.

My best year for making was 2015 and with half a year left of 2016 I think it will be my best year yet!

2009	4%
2013	8%
2014	21%
2015	42%
2016	25%

In conclusion to MMM in 2015, I highlighted a number of garments that were missing from my wardrobe that I wanted to make before MMM 2016. I am happy to report I managed to make a pair of trousers, a shirt (which incidentally I didn't wear this May) and a fully lined jacket (which I also didn't wear).

Plans for 2016 after analysing Me-Made-May.

Re-fashion or donation to charity:

• Bettine dress - Attach a bias section on the skirt to make it longer and therefore more wearable
• Simplicity 9620 dress - not worn this MMM because it's too short. As above.
• Mathilde blouse - Give to charity as I never choose to wear it!
• Grainine Scout in B&W (I didn't wear this version in May) - The cotton is too heavyweight for a top - should I cut up for patchwork?

Future Projects:

• Finish Navy Simplicity 2154 pencil skirt (currently half made)
• Complete black and white By Hand London Flora (currently half made)
• Finish Liberty print Colette Laurel dress (currently 3/4 made)
• Re-work the By Hand London Charlie Dress - the bodice is still not 100% right
• Make another pair of SOI Cigarette Pants - black and white print / Navy / Grey
• Make a Grainline Moss skirt - now I know how to do a fly zip
• Make a pair of Grainline Maritime shorts
• Make more dresses - I have lots of BHL and Christine Haynes patterns in my stash

Overall I have really enjoyed Me-Made-May this year and look forward to seeing how my me-made wardrobe will have evolved by May 2017. Maybe I need to pledge to wear me-made clothes for the full seven days of the week next year?

How did you get on?

Black and white stripy Sorbetto

I followed the link from Emma Jayne's blog at  Clipped Curves for the free pattern from Colette for a lovely top called the Sorbetto. If you google Colette Sorbetto there are hundreds of examples of hand-made versions that have been blogged about / uploaded to the web so I am in good company here.

I downloaded the pattern printed it out, stuck it together and then cut out my size. (I actually cut out the individual sections on the train over a couple of morning commutes).

Now which fabric should I choose to make the Sorbetto top?

I had purchased some fabric from Samuel Taylors, Leeds in June so I had a few options to choose from. I decided to opt for the black and white striped cotton lawn with the leopard print bias binding to finish the outer seams. What would you have selected?

Here is a quick photographic narrative of the construction of the Colette Sorbetto. It took me about four hours to make (not including the paper pattern construction). I used French seams throughout for a neater finish.

I am really happy with the finished garment but if I make another Sorbetto I will need to lower the bust darts considerably because they sit in the wrong place. I will adjust the pattern by lowering the front yoke just below the armhole and add 3 cm to the front panel. This mean that I could leave the dart as it is but it would just sit lower. Overall the top pattern is very short. I free-styled the back of the top by adding a curved lower hem and I added about 2cm to the length.

Maybe on my next top I will play around with a greater colour contrast on the bias binding? What do you think?