New Year Sewing

Well I feel like I got off to a good start as I made the blouse I had planned for yesterday, the only problem being that I did not have a set of matching buttons to finish the front. I knew I had many black buttons lurking around in various sewing boxes but when I came to find a set it turned out they were all just a little bit different in some way.
Some projects look good with mismatched buttons I didn't think it would work on this however.  I will have to go and source some but for now here are the pictures on the dummy. (Night time photos again unfortunately)

Here is the back view, obviously it will have to be worn with strappy top underneath again like the last one I made. (Note to self I have enough sheer items now!)  I used black lining in place of interfacing as I didn't have any black interfacing.  Glad I did though as it gives a bit of detail on the inside as I have made it a little different to the instruction pictures. 

I will probably wear it with the collar open as I feel it doesn't really suit me fastened all the way up to the neck, and I feel a bit bothered by it. This is why I faced it with the lining this way so it would look okay when open.

This is the collar up but no pin in here so obviously it will close over the left side when it has buttons on.

Here it is from the front and although the picture is a little blurry I have to say the fit is perfect! I tried it on for the first time once I had done everything. I wanted to see how these patterns work without me modifying as I go and I was surprised how well it fitted.  I used the actual seam allowance stated this time no cheating by adding a bit on to be on the safe side as I usually do.  I did hang it on the dummy in between but I stuck to the pattern, for once. The only change was the facing but that had nothing to do with the fit.

It say in the book though the pattern pieces for this pattern were on side A, I stared at it for ages and they were not on A but side B.  It also states why not make it a size smaller as it is meant to be a tight fit.  This would not be a good idea as my actual size fit perfect so a smaller size would be too small.

I will post more on this with buttons and actual wear taking place later.

Next up is a dress I cut out last night, this is going to be one of my own pattern free dresses and will be much quicker to make.  This is the fabric...

It is a bright royal blue and black, quite a good weight jersey.

I need to go and start this now to keep the pace going back soon.

A look back on my sewing year

After going through a few of my posts for this year it became clear that my sewing output for myself has not been as good as previous years. There have been quite a few alterations for others that have not been logged here and also the usual bits and bobs for home that sometimes seem to mundane to write about.  on the whole though I feel I need to get back into the spirit of making more of what I wear day to day.

Today saw a bit of a clear out of some of my wardrobe but I even drag my heals doing that as I always look at things and think maybe I could make something else with that.  This is not productive to moving forward and getting organised for the new year.
Still I managed to fill a bag and take it down to the charity shop after looking at items I really hadn't worn for maybe two years,  they were never going to be worn again and if I had intended to use the fabric I would probably have done it by now.
This will be a work in progress as I am sure there is more that doesn't need to stay but I am pretty good at wearing a selection of my clothes and swapping them around so maybe just a move to the back for now.
My favourite item that I made this year was my black denim jacket...

When things come out so well it is so satisfying that you enjoy wearing the clothes more, it probably cost more to make than what I could have paid at a cheap clothing store, but I wouldn't have got to choose the buttons or the lining, the quality of fabric wouldn't have been so good. Of course the main thing being if I had bought the item I would not have had the pleasure of making it.

My least favourite item of the year was the cowl neck dress...

This still has not been worn! That neck caused me nothing but hassle and once it was finished I looked at it and though but I don't like that neck style any way.  I did it as I have never done one before, but duh! Maybe I haven't done one as I don't like it!  Also the fabric has a little too much spandex in it, so I don't like the feel.  The colours are great though.

So here is the plan,  it nearly went in the charity bag earlier but then I thought I like the pattern and I wear lots of long sleeve T shirts under things at this time of year. So I am going to cut a new top from the bottom of the skirt with a neck I like, unpick the sleeves and redo them. Hopefully then it will become a much worn item and not a disaster I will share when it gets worn.

I will be spending part of the evening cutting out my next blouse from Basic Black, I have just realised the fabric is yet more chiffon, but a little heavier, don't know what I was thinking buying all lightweight fabric it is December after all.  I will hopefully have it made up tomorrow to get a good start to the new year.

I hope everyone enjoys New Years Eve and let the year ahead be a good one.

First Blouse from Basic Black

The first thing I have to mention is that the fabric that I ordered thinking it was black because it was in the black section is in fact navy blue!  I had intended on using some black lace that I already had on this project but when I put it beside it, it became very clear that it was in fact navy blue. The second thing to note is that I chose a chiffon and if you are new to sewing maybe don't use this as it is not forgiving to unpicking and so on.  It also will not have any stability at the neck unless you improvise like I did below.
First I cut out the pieces after tracing them on grease proof paper.

You have to allow 1cm seam allowance when you cut out on your fabric as it is not allowed on the pattern.

As I did not have the correct colour lace now and the fabric being so flimsy I had to come with something new for the front of my blouse.  I cut out two rectangles in the fabric and two in black lining fabric and pleated them.  After much ironing it was certain these were not going to hold for long on their own so I stitched horizontally across them with a decorative stitch to keep them in place.  I then attached  these to my front yoke pieces.

You get the idea here. It certainly would have been too flimsy without this reinforcement.

I cut out all my pieces slightly more than 1cm, I have to say I am always cautious but when it was all assembled I did need to take some out of the sides as it was roomy but the sleeves were perfect so I would cut the same again. You can always take out but you can't add once you have cut!

As I was not doing the lace detail at the bottom of the sleeve I just faced it in the same way with the folded chiffon just like at the neck and added a few little pleats, I just made sure the length I cut would slide over my hands then I pleated the bottom of the sleeve to it, turned it over folded it and hand stitched it down.

I did a lot of hand stitching on this as the neck was all hand stitched but I find this peaceful.

 I will make this in white for the summer I think, next time with the lace.

As you can see the style is very loose, and I did take a bit more off the sides after trying on but it supposed to be like that. A bit of a cool iron and it will be good.

Daylight pictures are much better. It was dark at 3, sorry for the blurry image!