Hand-made Linen Napkins

A good friend of mine got married in Ireland recently but I was unable to make it due to work commitments. To make up for my lack of presence on the special day, I decided to put that little bit of extra effort into making a gift that would (hopefully) be treasured.

I wanted to make something with a beautiful piece of vintage ivory Irish linen I had in my stash and I thought it would make some great napkins. I selected some beautiful organic cotton ribbons in the colours of the wedding as a decoration on each napkin. I then hand-embroidered the names of the bride and groom and the date of their wedding with some embroidery threads.

The construction of the napkins was quite simple. I sewed the ribbons on with rows of machine stitching using co-ordinating threads. I then used the micro-hemming technique I learnt during the couture finishing techniques workshop at the Fashion and Textile museum in 2017.

Finally, I selected a font using my computer and printed out the exact size of the lettering I wanted on the napkins. Luckily the ivory linen was quite transparent so I could easily trace through the lettering using a Frixon pen to transfer the lettering to the napkins (the pen disappears with heat when you iron it). I then spent a couple of hours enjoying the careful process of hand-embroidering the lettering. A truly satisfying project.

My friend and her husband contacted me today and they said they really love them. Yeah!
Have you made a gift for somebody recently?

Stash Busting Works in Progress

This morning I spent an hour working on a couple of ongoing projects. After reading Jenny's review about Tilly's Cleo dungaree dress I decided to draft and cut out a lining for my burgundy needlecord version too. I had some cerise pink lining fabric in my stash leftover from a Colette Ginger skirt I made years ago.

To make a lining I drafted the front and back sections using the main pattern pieces and removing the facing section. You can see the orange drafting lines including a 1.5 cm seam allowance.

The other thing to consider is removing the seam allowance along the centre front or back line depending whether you are making the mini or midi version of the dress.

The next thing I cut out was a Merchant & Mills Camber Set top using the last of the John Lewis 'Splodge' print viscose which I made a Liesl & Co Everyday Skirt out of here.

And finally I cut out all the pieces of this vintage pattern that I bought for £1 from Past Caring in Islington. I thought I could make it out of this lovely viscose from my stash which I bought at Guthrie & Ghanie. Annoyingly there isn't quite enough fabric! As this pattern definitely needs a fabric with drape I may need to *buy* something new to continue with this project. Oopps!

Now I just need to find the right fabric for this cool dress. Any ideas sewing friends?

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?

Me Made May 2016 Week Four

The fourth week of Me-Made-May has been great. I started the week on a mono-chrome kick and ended on one of my favourite colours of bright emerald green.

A high point was wearing the new Camber top I made last week and after wearing my Bettine dress in black and white gingham on Saturday morning I came to the conclusion that it definitely needs a re-fashion as it's way too short. My idea would be to add an extra 10cm band along the base of the skirt using the bias of the fabric to create a feature!? I might get around to it over the half term. On to the outfits:

Day Twenty One

Top: Tilly and the Buttons Bettine Dress in gingham from Goldhawk Road, London. Made 2015

Leggings: Top Shop

Necklace: Tatty Devine (sample sale 2016) Red Gem Cut Statement necklace A/W 2013

Watch: Red G Shock 

Trainers: New Balance 

I met my friend Alex at John Lewis on Saturday morning for  catch up and also to see lovely sewing bloggers like Tilly (Tilly and the Buttons), Jane (Handmade Jane), Maria (A Stitching Odyssey) who were spending their day making Tilly's Bettine Dress in the haberdashery department. It happened to be a bit of a coincidence that I was wearing the exact dress the girls were making!

I took a quick photo although you can't really make out any of them as they are deeply involved in pattern cutting and sewing. Left to right: Tilly, Maria and Jane!

Day Twenty Three

Top: Merchant and Mills Camber Set T-Shirt in ikat viscose from Samuel Taylors, Leeds. Made 2016

Trousers: Gap

Watch: Olive G Shock 

Trainers: New Balance

Day Twenty Four

Top: Colette Laurel Top in 100% cotton from Samuel Taylors, Leeds. Made 2015

Trousers: Gap

Necklace: Tatty Devine (sample sale 2016) Red Gem Cut Statement necklace A/W 2013

Cardigan: Gap

Watch: Red G Shock 

Shoes: Paul Smith red Miller brogues

Day Twenty Five

Top: 1960's hand-made vintage dress bought from a stall in Camden Passage, Islington. Mended 2015

Leggings: Top Shop

Necklace: Tatty Devine (Sample Sale 2016) Jewel Print Triple necklace A/W 2013

Cardigan: Gap

Watch: Olive G Shock 

Shoes: Paul Smith blue suede Miller brogues

Day Twenty Six

Top: Gap

Cardigan: Gap

Skirt: Self-drafted in Ikea furnishing fabric Made 2009

Necklace: Wooden necklace by Materia CA bought from London Print Studios

Watch: Red G Shock 

Shoes: Paul Smith black patent Marcello loafers

Day Twenty Seven

Top: Gap

Jacket: Levis

Skirt: Sew Over It Tulip skirt made in Medium weight cotton from Ray Stitch. Made 2014.

Necklace: Tatty Devine 'Untitled' necklace designed by me

Watch: Clear G Shock 

Shoes: Paul Smith black patent Marcello loafers

Have you enjoyed Me-Made-May so far this year?

Have you noticed any me-made 'holes' in your wardrobe?

Blue vintage dress fix

I've signed up to Me-Made-May and there is nothing like an externally imposed deadline to get the gears into action when I realised the quite limited amount of me-made clothing I will have to wear.
This was the incentive I needed to get some of my UFO's (unfinished garments) completed.

This little job has been hanging around since last summer and the Easter sunshine has spurred me on to finish it.

I purchased this lovely hand-made vintage dress at Rockit in Covent Garden for a knock down price because I spotted the hole in the front of the skirt. I had noticed it when trying it on (and also spied the generous seam allowances in the bodice that I would be able to use to patch it up with). So a huge reduction in price was negotiated!

Here is the dress - I am guessing it's early 1960's. What do you think?

Vintage blue dress from Rokit

So I bet you are thinking "I can't even see the hole at the front of the skirt?!" luckily its only a tiny hole and with such busy fabric you could get away with wearing it 'with-hole' but that's not the kind of style statement I want to be making.

Here is the tiny hole:

Here is how I fixed it.

First, I took a sliver off the very generous side seams inside the bodice of the dress.

I selected a part of the fabric that was mainly blue to match the missing fabric in the hole.

I carefully matched up the grainline of the fabric when laying the patch from the inside of the dress.

I then pinned the little patch in place. The hole seems to have already disappeared even at this stage of the fix!

The next task was to select a suitable thread to 'disappear' into the original fabric - there are a lot of options given the multi-coloured hues of the dress. I chose the second from right which I felt softly blended with the majority of shades in the print.

Onto the hand-sewing! The trick is to carefully fold back a small section of fabric and stitch a very small 'seed' stitch to catch the folded back fabric.

This technique is how you hand-sew reverse applique (a fun link about machine reverse applique here).

This is the finished patch!

From a distance you don't even really notice it!

What do you think?

All ready for Me-Made-May. Let's hope we get some nice weather so I don't need to wear it layered up with leggings and a big chunky cardigan.

Now, I just feel I should make my case for using this item of clothing for MMM I have also had to replace the buttons (the old self-covered ones had worn out) at the back of the dress, add some press-studs at the rear opening (it seemed to have a large area just left open for some reason) and I have adjusted some of the back seams too.

Quite a few additions that in my opinion makes this little blue vintage dress a contender. I hope you agree?