Notions Of Fabric

Yes, it's another Ruby dress! I was browsing Minerva Fabrics for other things a while back, when I spotted this wool blend fabric. And I love a wintery plaid! When Minerva then emailed me to say that it was only available in 2 separate lengths, no problem! It was easy to fit the skirt pieces on one length and the bodice on the other. I went with my usual size (M with a dropped bust dart), but used a lining. I personally really don't like a facing so I cut 2 bodices and line it, hand sewing it to the skirt to also enclose the waist seam. For this, making the entire bodice out of wool seemed, well, inadvisable, so I lined it with some of the black sandwashed silk left in my stash. It is a bit easier to sew than some of my other liing facrics and I like the feel of it. The other thing I bought to make this project was some bias binding. I decided that for the wool it needed a bit of nice bias, so I bought some black satin bias binding to go around the hem. Every time I make a Ruby...

This garment is definitely the fastest turnaround, from fabric ordering to having a finished garment. It was less than a week! I had been seen the email for one of the Guthrie and Ghani kits, to make the Named Patterns Lahja dressing gown. I had dismissed it at first, thinking I wouldn't wear a dressing gown, but being at home more meant I wasn't rolling out of bed and straight into the shower every day and I actually would wear one in the mornings. So I had a look at patterns, then decided that the Lahja was the right pattern. But by then the kit had almost sold out (plus I did some maths and realised that buying the fabric and pattern separately were cheaper!), so I went onto the Guthrie and Ghani website itself and bought the same fabric through them directly. I picked the sage green in the waffle cotton for my dressing gown - I had thought about navy blue, but consciously made the choice to NOT add more dark blue to my wardrobe. The fabric arrived in just a few days, I had ...

Double gauze first came onto my radar when I saw a few other makers making Myosotis dresses out of it. I've not sewn with it before but I was intrigued about it! So I bought some in this gorgeous navy blue from Fabric Godmother, but while I have some more for a Myosotis cut out, this one I thought would make excellent summer pajamas. I made the same size as my last set of Carolyns, a 10 in View C with the piping. I had always planned a pair in navy but was planning to use lawn. This was a better use of the fabric - it's light and breezy and very soft - perfect for lounging. I used the silver piping I bought in Hong Kong several years ago, and sparkly buttons which I bought last year in John Lewis (like a magpie because I apparently am attracted to shiny things!). It gives this set a real fancy touch. It was a little bit frustrating to work with, as it turns out the piping unravels very fast, but a little bit of fray stop and some hidden zigzagging solved that problem pretty sat...

Hiya all! Now that I have posted all my catching up makes, I am up to the most current makes! I have developed a new strategy - spend the half term (or part of the holidays) cutting out things and then I have lots of projects set up for the term time, when I can actually only get a half hour or so of sewing time in and I don't have time to cut things out! I cut out 6 things for the last half term and all but two are finished (I have one dress which isn't even started, but also a bomber which only needs a zipper which is almost finished!), so I'm currently at the point where I'm thinking about the next set of things. Add to that the fact that I finally got a hair cut (thanks to lockdown easing!), so I thought I'd snap a few pictures of my most recent batch of makes. This dress is potentially the most successful thing I've ever made - definitely the best toile! I've worn it at least once a week since I made it - sometimes 3 times in a week, when I'm at hom...

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 one of those pattern and fabric combinations that changed as I made it up. I spotted this fabric in Fabworks Mill Shop outside Sheffield when I travelled there in early September for the Anorak August meetup. Having selected 4 fabrics in the shop, this is only the second I've made up (after my plaid Moneta dress) - that being said at the time of writing, I am 2/3rds the way done with another fabric and it'll probably be done by the time this is up! I had really wanted to try a version of the Linden sweater inspired by the Megan Neilsen Jarrah sweater, of which one of the views has a really lovely tie front. I thought this lovely sweat-shirting fabric would be perfect, however after I got it home and it was washed, I realised that the fabric for this would bee too heavy. It was a shame, because while it was washing and drying (a process which takes a few days in the UK in colder weather), I drafted the front piece. I've now put it away for a more approriate fabric. ...

This has been a surprising make for me. I have worn it much more than expected and it is actually a true interseasonal piece. Most of my wardrobe isn't really made of pieces which go from season to season - I tend to make the majority of things as summer makes (dresses, skirts, etc.) and simply accessorise with tights and layers. But this fits well in the in between, and in the UK there is lots of in between! This is my second View B Linden, with the short sleeves. I've also made both in fabrics which I won in the SewBrum 2019 raffle. I'm almost out of fabrics from that prize! This rose knit is not usually in my colour palette, but I actually don't mind it on me. I made my usual size 8, although I found the neckband a bit short. This knit doesn't have the same amount of stretch as others I've used, so I ended up recutting the neckband longer so that I could stretch it to fit. One thing I didn't have was matching thread. I made this during May 2020 during the...