Notions Of Fabric

When I made my Plantain tees, I was intending on making some making changes to the pattern. Well, this is the first iteration of them - as pajamas. My favourite pajamas to wear are from Primark. They're a long tee style that covers the butt and they're made of jersey fabrics. I decided that I wanted to try making my own! I used the short sleeve version of the pattern again. I compared the length of my favourite RTW pajamas and lengthened the Plantain pattern 7.5" to match the length. I also compares the waist curve (based on my original adjustment) and realised that it was almost exactly the same which is great because I didn't need to change that at all. I used this John Kaldor viscose jersey in both mustard and black. This was to be the first part of my me made pajama wardrobe and will match with the bottom half fabrics I bought which are Robert Kaufman Mammoth Cotton Flannel. I ordered them from Minerva and these are the first pieces to be finished because the flann

Way back in 2019, I went to the SewBrum meetup, and of course, I picked up some fabric! This is one of the pieces I got at that time, in Barry's. It's a really lovely wool blend, grey with rainbow speckles. I originally had in mind the Morris Blazer by Grainline to make with this fabric, but on further reflection I realised I couldn't wear a blazer all that much. I currently own one blazer which I bought RTW but don't wear it all that much. When I started seeing the Rigel Bomber popping up ages ago I thought it was cool but wasn't sure if I could pull it off. Lately though, I've realised (at the age of 31 so I kinda wish it had happened sooner!) that I care a lot less about what looks good on me now and more about what I feel good in! When the Rigel bomber paper pattern went on final sale and there were only a few left, I had to have it - and then I realised that I had everything in my stash to make it except the zip! I sewed up the size M for a nice comfy fit (

Happy Saturday! I have discovered over the last year or so that I have not very many handmade tops (my handmade tops are pretty much exclusively Ogden camis), and that combined with the fact that May was coming up and I had some fabric remnants kicking around in my drawer, it was time to try making a tee shirt! It made sense to start with a free pattern, and my love for Deer and Doe is well documented on this blog, so it made total sense to try the Plantain tee. I made the size M as that lines up closest with my measurements - and it’s a nice fit but relatively loose. It looks great tucked into high waisted jeans or shorts but I think I might try the size down next time. I did lay down my favourite RTW tee on the pattern to compare the sizing and I noticed that heather Plantain had a lot more flare at the hip, so I adjusted the side seams. In the end I took them in 2 inches total at the bottom, going to nothing at the top. As these were essentially wearable toiles for a future planned

While I was sewing up my Liberty Myosotis dress, I remembered that I actually had this fabric in another colour way. This is also the Liberty Lawn called Botanist’s Diary, only in the other colour way than the blue! I bought this fabric after I made my Kelly, and used it for some selfless sewing to make my Mum (an actual, real life botanist!) a Sew Over It Sylvia robe for Christmas. She loved it and wears it, and it really felt like kismet - the name of the fabric, the gorgeous print, and the perfect colourway for my Mum! But I did have leftovers which I wanted to use for something for me. I didn’t have enough for a dress (I briefly considered colour blocking a dress with the blue colour way but decided it would be too much, even for me), and while I have a gap for blouses in my wardrobe I don’t really wear any tops that aren’t stretchy, so that seemed redundant. Then I realised a fun skirt for summer would be perfect in this kind of fabric! I wanted to make something gathered and cute

My Myosotis toile was the practice for this garment! If you have seen this blog before (hi again!), then you will recognise this fabric. When ordering the fabric for my Kelly Anorak, I fell in love with the Liberty print Botanist's Diary, which was the perfect match for my outer fabric. And when ordering it, I may have *accidentally* put 5m in my cart, which was a crazy expense and wayyy more fabric than I knew I'd need - but then it came in handy! I had it in my mind to also make a dress using this fabric with what was leftover. I will, however be avoiding wearing them together as that would actually be too much! As soon as I made my first Myosotis (in black and white check cotton), I knew I would be making more. I had plans in my head about 3 others, one of which is made (this one), one which is cut out (in petrol blue double gauze), and another which currently only exists in my head (in broderie anglaise). I briefly contemplated using the other colourway of Botanists Diary (

This fabric has been long lingering in my stash - I bought it years and years and years ago (I think I was still living in Canberra at that point, which makes it about 7 years ago?!) from Spotlight. I was drawn to the blue and white aethestic that reminded me of Delft pottery with the lovely colours and patterns, and the lightness of the lawn. However, the problem was that as it is on a white base, it was a little bit too see through for me to use at that point. So into the stash it went for a while - a long while! When I decided to try wrap dresses, there were 2 patterns I had in mind. The first was the True Bias Calvin, which is lovely but a bit of a departure of my usual style and which I have already made a top and dress with. The other was much closer to my style, but still a wrap - the By Hand London Hannah dress. I made a size 12 with no adjustments, using the regular sleeve for the toile. The fit is quite lovely - I feel like I may be between sizes and could maybe go down one,