Notions Of Fabric

Out of all the things I sewed in 2020, this is easily my second favourite (my first being my Kelly, which has seen almost daily wear since it was finished and has kept my dry at many a drizzly school pickup)! And I only finished it in the middle of November! I very much liked the pinafore craze that was going around, but I tend to like garments with a more pronounced shape than something like the Cleo or Bobbi which were the popular patterns on Instagram. So I jumped on the internet and Googled, and eventually I found Kwik Sew 4138. A lovely full skirt, pockets (duh!), and a nicely shaped bib. It was everything I wanted, so I ordered it along with some mid weight bottle green cotton twill. I thought about going for black (and have since ordered some black corduroy to make a second with!) but decided that given I was using a relatively plain fabric I wanted to go for a more interesting colour. I also have a lot of black and navy in my wardrobe, and the green actually goes with a surpris...

I have recently taken a bunch more blog photos - I think that makes me almost up to date with my makes? Certainly the 16 garments I took today means I have photos of every garment I made in 2020 (which is the most in a year ever, I think). This will be the first of this batch I've posted! When the Shelby dress by True Bias came out, I think almost everyone fell in love with it, including me. I was talking to some of my sewing friends, and Chloe sent me a picture of New Look 6567... This pattern was so close to the Shelby and very hackable to make it the same. It had the (lack of) waist seam, the overall shape - and I was feeling adventurous! So I picked a fabric which I was happy to use as a muslin fabric - a maroon rayon with a ditsy floral print I picked from the Birmingham rag market during Sew Brum 2019. Now, it conspires that I haven't actually made the proper version yet, but it is on the (long) list of things to sew in 2021, and now I know that it will work. I made the ...

This is the last project from my big photo taking session! I took photos of 18 garments all up which was actually quite a good way to get photos, particularly during the new lockdown normal. After this we'll have to see about when this goes up, what life is like, can I go outside? Can I persuade the husband to actually take photos for me again? We'll see. (After originally writing this in April... Well, you know what else happened... Here's hoping we can be back to normal sometime soon!) This is one which I am still not sure about - it doesn't get much wear and I'll explain more in a bit. This is another Lady Skater, in my usual size 5. It fits nicely and I really like the look of this embossed mystery stretch fabric - I found it at a store in Goldhawk Rd (I think) and it was definitely in the single digits per metre. I also bought it at a time where I didn't know better - if I saw this now I wouldn't get it! The colour is perfectly me, but as ...

So I am a little behind on this one! I nearly didn't do an end of year review, as 2020 was the strangest of years for us all. Personally, it wasn't a terrible one. Yes, we had a lot of plans that got cancelled (including going home to Australia for Christmas), but we both still have our jobs, our house, and our health, so I can't really complain too much! Professionally it was the strangest year yet and that is saying something! I spent from the first lockdown in March until September working remotely from home, and as we live in London, will be starting 2021 doing the same. But again, I am lucky - I am currently in my second year at my first ever permanent job! I had lamented in the past that i had never had a permanent teaching position before, but now I see that actually I got one just at the right time, and in a supportive environment given the circumstances. One advantage of working from home was that I got more sewing done - I used my lunch and the time I made up by n...

This shirt dress was all the rage back in the day, wasn't it? And I made 3 in the end! Both the other versions are blogged already - the first was a lovely sky blue linen which ended up purple as an (successful) attempt to hide some unfortunate fabric pen disaster... The second turned out perfectly in Liberty lawn with self covered buttons to wear to the BBQ the day after my wedding... And this, it actually has a small adventure in it too! I actually have no notes on this project (oops!) so I can't remember exactly what I did, although I probably made a sz14 and took it in a tiny bit at the waist as I did with my Liberty version. I also folded out some of the excess in the back, as there is a lot of fabric there! It's definitely View B (love that gathered skirt!). I used a really lovely woven cotton which is this nice teal colour. The story is here - these were not the original buttons. I found in my stash these gorgeous wooden buttons with painted designs on ...