Notions Of Fabric

This make is the last from batch 2 of my photographing technique. This was one of the dresses I made in lockdown #1, actually, in May of 2020. I got a tipoff from my fabulous sewing friend Chloe about some amazing fabric she had seen online. It was from 1st for Fabrics, and it was a UV reactive fabric! This sounded really interesting, so I jumped online a bought this fabric (which is not the same print, but another very cool one). I wanted to get something lighter in colour for the spring and summer months, as I don't actually wear very much in cream or white that isn't a plain tank top! This is another Colette Moneta, but rather than the 3/4 sleeve for a more summery look. This meant I needed to reprint the sleeve  piece in the short sleeve length (as I had 3/4 printed previously). I made the same size M (8-10) as usual and made the same adjustment to the sleeve as on my other sleeve piece by removing 1" out of width of the sleeve head. Really there's not much to say ...

 This was my final make for myself of 2020, and it turned out so well! I haven't had much of a chance to wear it yet, but it is comfy and I can see it being very wearable for work and comfy. This is another Moneta - my fourth (including the striped one, the rainbow striped one, and also one who have yet to be blogged which will be up soon!). I made the same size as usual, M, with the now standard altered sleeve piece (I took 1" out of each underarm seam to make the sleeve less baggy and tapered it to nothing at the elbow). I used the 3/4 sleeve for the most cold weather versatility. This fabric is a beautiful grey and blue plaid knit fabric I got from Fabworks during my weekend away for the Kelly Anorak meetup at the beginning of September. It is a really lovely fabric - thick but not too heavy. I put the plaid on the bias for the skirt, which serves the dual purpose of additional visual interest and to avoid pattern matching! Every time I make a Moneta I forget how quick and ...

After the busy time making my last dress (see my last post), I then had a period of about a month when there was no sewing or even thinking about it, because I had family visiting and lost my sewing room because it became a spare room instead. An amazing time, but no sewing involved! When I got my sewing room back, I wanted to sew something new, but nothing too complicated. And then I remembered one of the things on my Make Nine was a Colette Moneta, and figured, it should be easy! I had set aside in my head this striped knit for ages - it's not too thick but the white is opaque, which I was very excited about when I purchased it. I have made the Lady Skater in the past, and while I liked that pattern it didn't feel like it was something I could wear to work, and I was hoping to add some knit dresses to my wardrobe which were a bit more work appropriate. It turns out that Moneta is perfect for that! I chose the 3/4 sleeve option for some cooler weather  wear (a...

Now that we've covered what happened in 2019, let's look forward to 2020! Last year, I didn't reach my #makenine goals, but I think it's still good to have something to aim for. This year, a lot of these patterns are ones I would have like to make in 2019 but didn't get a chance to! In the end, what I really want to do in 2020 is to sew from my stash, using both existing patterns and fabrics. So what I have done is created two linked lists, one of patterns, and one of fabrics I want to use. Because I have a lot of plans already in my head, of the two lists 6 patterns are already linked to fabrics on the corresponding list. So, let's discuss, shall we? 2020 MAKE NINE - PATTERNS 1: Cottesloe swimsuit (Megan Nielsen Patterns) Having made a bikini already, and having bought swimsuit fabric I haven't used yet (see fabric #4) I decided to add to my me-made swimsuit collection soon by making the one piece Cottesloe with the tie. I think I have everyt...