Liberty Tilly and the Buttons Bettine Top

I first hacked the Tilly and the Buttons Bettine dress into a top earlier in the year when I realised the dress I had made in 2016 just sat in my wardrobe. I really like the hacked top with its cropped style and grown-on sleeves and I delved into my stash for a metre of navy Liberty Tana Lawn Jonathan print (I bought it at Shaukat in Kensington for £8.00 about four years ago).

The construction was very quick, perhaps three hours in total including hand stitching the sleeve cuffs. This speedy make was thanks to my past-self who had cut the whole thing out and popped it in a bag along with matching thread and the Bettine instructions ready for a sewing splurge to bring it to life!

Here it is in its fully french-seamed and hacked glory.

Have you hacked any patterns recently?

Liberty Laurel Dress

I finished this pretty summer dress yesterday after hanging around in an almost finished state for nearly a year. I started in May 2016 and have only just got around to finishing the bias bound neck and fastening at the back in April 2017! If you are not familiar with the silhouette it is the ever-popular beginners shift dress the Colette Laurel.

I remember cutting out and making the majority of this dress last year but luckily I gleaned a bit more information via my 'project' section of the Foldline sewing enthusiast platform. Foldline is a great online community of sewists where you can create a profile and interact with other sewing enthusiasts. You can also write pattern reviews, create an online visual of your stash fabric and contribute to a forum.

Above is an example of my laurel project as seen on my Foldline profile. I added a few notes about the changes I made. Apparently I have added 6cm to the length of the dress (I had forgotten that detail which is bound to happen if you take 11 months to finish a dress!) and the Liberty cotton was purchased in a 30% off online sale. The Liberty print is called Kinetic from the Spring / Summer 2016 collection. You can get it from Sharkut for £14.99 per metre.

Not much else to report other than I used the same closing technique as my Sew Over It Ultimate Shift dress with a hair-band cheat rouleau loop and a lovely button I had in my stash. I used the reverse side of the button as it had pretty flecks of grey, pink and white in it that picked up on the colours of the Liberty print.

I hand stitched the self-made bias binding into position including around the opening at the back.

It fits well on the upper body but is probably a little wider than I'd like at the hip area as I did my usual grading between two sizes from bust to hips. Perhaps I don't need to do this on my next version as it is a fairly loose fitting shift dress. It does however look nice worn with a belt. When I get a chance I will post some photos of me wearing it.

Pattern: Colette Laurel Dress (I made the top here) = £12 (second make from pattern) = £6

Fabric: 1.1 metre of Liberty Kinetic Tana Lawn = £15

Gutterman Thread: Pink from stash = free

Rouleau Loop: Hairband from stash = free

Buttton: From stash = free

Total: £23

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

Out of Control

Help! My WIP (work-in-progress) or UFO (unfinished object) pile has got a little out of hand. As is the case with many sewing enthusiasts, we optimistically cut out projects thinking that we will find an hour here or there to sew them together. This summer I got waylaid with my house renovation. Instead of sewing my WIP's I was re-painting the garage floor or sanding and painting balcony railings... the list of DIY jobs I had was endless (and I still need to finish a few before Christmas).

The mad thing is that I now have a huge pile of seasonally inappropriate garments cut out.

First up is my 'summer' dressing gown...

The Buchanan pattern was gifted to me by my friend Sophie. I imported the blue Paul Frank fabric from Hong Kong a couple of years ago and the red cotton contrast collar and cuff also comes from my stash. I don't think it will take too long to sew up, but I won't really wear it until the spring.

Next up is a summer dress. The Dixie DIY Bonnell dress was enthusiastically cut out in July. I had high hopes of sauntering around London in this lovely red viscose beauty but alas it didn't happen. The fabric was a bargain £2.00 a metre from a stall on Chapel Street Market in Islington.

Onto a fun summery seperate, the Liesl & Co Everyday Skirt. This is my second version and I am really looking forward to wearing this black and white one (whenever that will be!). The viscose fabric was from the spring sale at John Lewis at £7 per metre.

This next garment is about 90% completed. It is the Colette Laurel shift dress. Despite the beautiful Liberty Tana Lawn fabric called Kinetic, I lost my sew-jo with the back fastening and the neckline. I am sure I could finish this in about half an hour but as its a lightweight cotton dress, it won't really be worn until the spring!

My last WIP is something that I could wear this season. I cut it out at the end of the summer after rediscovering this awesome vintage fabric I've had for about ten years. I strongly suspect it was probably some curtains in its previous life but with just over a metre I was limited to what garment I could make with this crazy print.

The added complication of the missing corner restricted the choice of garment even more. As luck would have it the Ready Ruthie Dolores Pocket Skirt fitted quite well!

Not enough fabric for perfect pattern matching. Instead I chose selection of the main motifs found on the skirt to balance out the pattern. What pockets? 

Some organic cotton from my stash worked perfectly for the pocket linings and hem facing. I didn't stop there. The darker autumnal colours matched perfectly with a metre of olive green silk I have had in my stash since my Textiles Degree (over 20 years ago) so I splashed out and cut the lining in silk!

That makes five part completed works in progress. I hope to get some of these sewn up soon, especially the vintage fabric Dolores Pocket Skirt as I can see myself wearing this for work.

Have you got any WIP's or UFO's that are hanging around too long?

By Hand London Charlie Dress

A couple of months back Simply Sewing offered a free pattern for a lovely summer dress. I was immediately smitten with the slightly 70's vibe and a close resemblance to one of my favourite green Top Shop dresses circa the early noughties.

I was even happier when I realised the 'Charlie Dress' was a new release from the awesome girls at By Hand London.

Favourite Top Shop RTW from the 2000's

The free pattern came as a two-part piece (bodice pattern and instruction in issue 12 and then instruction for the skirt section and final finish with issue 13).

I decided the Charlie Dress should be made from a patterned gem from the 50% off Liberty Sale purchase in January called Curly Whirly. I started construction of the princess seamed bodice with great enthusiasm and even traced the pattern. I know, get me!

Unfortunately, as sometimes these things go, I didn't get a chance to sew the whole bodice together in one session and it sat in the UFO pile for a quite a while. The next time I had the inclination or energy to continue I realised my notches were not that easy to see and ended up sewing the individual bodice sections together wrong about 4 times.

I finally sewed the bodice together and measured out the quarter circle skirt using the By Hand London circle skirt calculator on their website. I finished the hem with some blue bias-binding I had in my stash.

The bodice had to be adjusted quite a bit to fit me and I am not 100% happy with the princess seam curves - more work needed here if I make another one. I will also probably move the straps further apart to be more in line with a regular bra strap position. I think I will also add some cute patch pockets too as in-seam pockets are not possible due to the quarter circle skirt construction.

Over all I am pretty happy with the dress. I am yet to see whether it will get much wear as the weather is still not quite warm enough for a cotton summer dress.
I will keep you posted if the sun comes out!

Pattern: By Hand London Charlie Dress = Free in Simply Sewing magazine over two volumes = £10

Fabric: Two metres of Liberty Tana Lawn 50% off online sale = £22.00

Gutterman Thread: Blue from stash

Total = £32.00

Liberty Scout Tee

I love the simplicity of the Grainline Scout Woven Tee. I have adapted the pattern to fit really nicely after five previous Scout's this is my sixth version of this popular garment.
The beautiful metre of Liberty Tana Lawn was gleaned in the January Sales at a 50% discount.
Got to love a bargain!

I made the following changes to the tee:

• Due to a cutting error I have a seam down the front of the top - luckily due to the busy nature of the Liberty print it is not noticable
• Shaped centre back seam to reduce excess fabric
• French seam construction throughout
• Lengthened the sleeves by extending by about 6cm
• I created a longer hem at the back and made a little split feature in the sides
• Inspired by Elle at Laura Loves Pugs I used silver bias-binding for the neckline

2015 Round-Up

I have enjoyed sewing and crafting loads this year. It has been a welcome break to work and now the house renovations have eased up somewhat I have had the opportunity to get creative.

My top instagram images show a decent range of me-made-makes:

A summary of my makes are (not all blogged):

• McCall's M6696 shirtdress in Liberty corduroy
• Sew Over It 1960's coat in cashmere and wool mix herringbone
• Simplicity 1364 top in Liberty Tana Lawn - stash
• Colette Laurel top in cotton - stash
• Colette Sorbetto top in cotton - stash
• Liesl & Co Everday skirt in John Lewis viscose - stash
• Dolores Pocket skirt in re-fashioned cotton fabric - vintage
• Marilla Walker's Isley skirt in Robert Kaufman linen - stash
• Dixie DIY Bonnell dress in cotton - stash
• Charity shop re-fashions (dress to top & maxi skirt to midi skirt)
• Self-drafted skirt with pockets - stash
• Sew Over It Ultimate shirt in Liberty Tana Lawn - stash
• Two applique Creeper Face cushions - stash
• Re-fashion men's cotton shirt to Liesl & Co skirt
• Tilly and the Buttons Bettine dress in gingham - stash
• Tilly and the Buttons Fifi camisole and shorts in cotton - gifted cotton from Hong Kong
• Ten Marimekko cushions - stash
• Patchwork Baby Quilt
• Sew Over It Francine jacket - stash
• Two applique Christmas stockings
• Grainline Scout tee in GirlCharlee UK knit - SewBrum winnings
• Named Alpi Chinos shorts (still not finished)
• Burda Style 7123 trousers (still need hemming and crotch fitting issues resolved)

The pie chart indicates the volume of makes by type. My need to decorate my home after the house renovation with lots and lots of cushions has slightly skewed the results a tad! 

Well, I'm pretty happy with the volume of makes. It averaged out to over two makes per month.
Not bad at all.

I have learnt lots of new skills including sewing; a fully lined coat and jacket, a t-shirt in knit fabric, a camisole and my first patchwork baby quilt.

My loose sewing plans for 2016 are:

• To sew a pair of trousers that fit - I don't mind what pattern at this moment
• To learn how to do bound button-holes - and then make a jacket using the technique
• Make more items using knit fabric - a Grainline Linden sweatshirt / Colette Mabel & Moneta / Tilly and the Buttons Agnes & Coco / Named Geneva Raglan tee & Sloane sweatshirt
• Make a summer dressing gown with The Buchanan pattern by Gather (using only stash fabric)
• To use more of my stash patterns (a lot mentioned above)
• Use more stash fabric than I purchase!

That's about it for now I think - that is plenty to be getting on with!

How about you? Have you got any plans for 2016?

Me-Made-May 2015 Week two

Here is how week two looked with two new me-made items in the mix.

Day Five

Top: Simplicity 1364 in Liberty Tana Lawn - me-made 2015

Trousers: Gap

Necklace: Marimekko

Shoes: Paul Smith Tan Marcello loafers

Day Six

Top: Gap

Cardigan: Gap

Skirt: Ready Ruthie's Dolores Pocket Skirt - me-made 2014

Necklace: Marimekko

Shoes: Paul Smith Black patent Marcello loafers

Day Seven

Top: Grainline Scout Woven tee - me-made 2014

Trousers: Gap

Cardigan: Gap

Shoes: Vans

Day Eight

Shirt: Gap

Cardigan: Gap

Skirt: Simplicity 2154 Pencil Skirt - me-made 2013

Shoes: Paul Smith Black patent Marcello loafers

Day Seven

Top: American Apparel

Skirt: Me-made 2015 and yet to be blogged about

Leggings: Warehouse

Shoes: Vans

On Day 5, I was happily surprised at how comfortable my new Simplicity 1364 top was and I think this is probably down to the soft and forgiving Liberty Tana Lawn it is made in. 

My favourite outfit this week was on Day 6. The Dolores Pocket Skirt is a very well constructed pattern with a shaped waistband and pockets (that I made bigger for comfort and extra 'stuff-stashing' possibilities) I also paired it with my favourite Marimekko necklace.

Onto Day 9 with my self-drafted skirt. I purchased this amazing Japanese print fabric for £10 in the sale at Ray Stitch in 2013 and have been dreaming about making a skirt like this for a while. Although I adore the fabric, I am not 100% convinced that this style of gathered skirt onto a straight waistband is that flattering on me. I will give it a few more wears and see if I change my mind. What do you think?

How is your Me-Made-May coming along?

Liberty Simplicity 1364

Last month whilst reading the blog for Guthrie and Ghani, Lauren mentioned she had been selected to be a judge for a competition for sewing bloggers by Simplicity. To enter you need to e-mail Simplicity stating which pattern you would like to use (there are three choices) and they send you a free pattern!

You need to make the garment by 31st May and blog about it. I am going to show you my first attempt at the vintage reproduction Simplicity 1364, (I'm hoping I could make another one by the 31st).

Let's introduce Simplicity 1363 = it's a cute little 1960's top pattern:

The Liberty Tana Lawn was a little bargain that I picked up from Shakut's last year and I had just the right amount for this little top - it was meant to be.

The pattern has deep French darts, a neck facing and tiny darts at the elbow of the sleeves. 

Construction was fairly straight forward but I did have trouble with the application of the neck facing. I omitted the small zip at the back after trying the top on during fitting stages when I realised you can quite easily get away without one. 

I may decide to use a button and hand-loop on my next one and do French Seams for a neater finish. What do you think?

This top could also qualify for my first Vintage Pledge of the year which is quite convenient - or is it cheating?