Notions Of Fabric

My next big project for the summer was always going to be a swimsuit. I do find shopping for swimsuits hard, because I am bigger up top and want sufficient support, plus coverage on the lower half. In the past I have just kind of avoided shopping for bikinis in particular. I currently own one RTW bikini, which I adore but took me a lot of effort to find and which I have had for years. Enter the  Sophie swimsuit   This is my perfect silhouette - plenty of support up top and a gorgeous high waisted lower half. I earmarked it as soon as it came out to make at some point. Then I began to gather supplies. But the real reasons it took me so long to make were twofold: firstly that it was another new skill (and that’s scary), but also because I suffered from some extreme fabric indecisiveness - firstly over the fabric colours, then over the fabric placements! There are just so many possibilities, and I really wanted this first suit to be actually wearable and not just a toile. I bough...

While I was at home waiting on the new visa processes, I had 2 months in which to sew. I finished 3 projects, of which this is the 2nd one. These are the Carolyn PJs. I bought the pattern in the Black Friday sale last year, as it wasn't a pattern I thought I'd use a lot. For actual sleeping, I tend to just use a cotton night shirt (a longer t-shirt) rather than pajamas that intense, but I knew they'd be perfect for lounging around the flat when we got back into the London spring. And I was right, they are definitely my most worn me-mades of late! As with the other projects from Australia, the fabric is from Spotlight and is a lovely navy/red flanelette check with a touch of white. I took a poll of some of my non-sewing friends, who voted red piping instead of white, so I went with that as well. I made the long trousers view (View B), with piping at the cuffs and along the collar. The only thing I omitted was the pocket on the top, purely because I knew I wouldn't use it...