Sewing Plans

After having a good look through the Sew magazine that I bought the other day I have decided to try two of the garments from it.  One is the frill front T-shirt that actually came as a paper pattern with the magazine.  This one...

I think style c, I had thought a but now I am thinking it may be too ruffled for me then I won't wear it.  I put a ruffle all the way around a neckline once before and never wore it at all.

The other garment is a pair of wide leg trousers but this time you print the pattern off, now I have not been on and had a look at the pieces yet, if it looks too basic to waste the ink I may wing it.  The other thought I have with that one is are they too wide?  I might make them then change them we will see.

 I really loved that fabric too but had a look and wasn't sure if I wanted to pay so much for an experimental make, I mean what if I don't like the style on me.  So I had a look around and found some nice magenta chevon patterned fabric at Minerva, much more reasonable.  However I did then go and put other things in my basket too like you do.

My order has been dispatched so more on those items another day, although I will say I have ordered plain white for the top I thought I would try and get at least a few neutrals in there like I keep meaning to.

This evening I made a green lentil and green assorted vegetable korma, I have to say it was not up to my usual curry standards and I think it was because I impulsively added toasted almonds at the last minute.  They seemed to alter the whole flavour, bad choice!  I will stick with adding cashews in future they go much nicer.

Best Version Gluten Free Vegan Cheese Toastie

My title states this is a cheese toastie, well that is not entirely correct as I fry the bread but as anyone who eats GF bread will know it is dry enough without making matters worse by putting it in the toaster.  As I don't eat dairy I  have tried a few vegan cheeses as well as making some of my own, currently the best store bought one for me Violife original flavour block.  It tastes good cubed in a salad and it will melt, the thing I have found is that it takes longer to melt than regular cheese and putting it under the grill gives varying results.

As I was missing my once favourite snack I thought I would try a few things to sort this out, frying the GF bread in a little olive oil on a low heat gives it a nice colour but also a bit of moisture.   I like to add a few cherry tomatoes to my pan as well, I may add a bit of onion sometimes too.

When I have fried it a little on both sides I slice some of the cheese then add it to one side and turn it face down to the pan,  (it will melt but not stick or run all over your pan)  it stays in more or less one piece and can be got off the pan easily with a spatula.  It is moist to hold so have a napkin ready to wipe your hands while you are eating.  If you are GF vegan and  miss a decent cheese toastie give this a go, it just shows there is an alternative way with most foods if you are missing something.

I think there may be lots of vegan cheese alternatives that are good but because I have tried a few bad ones I am sticking with this one at the moment.  It is a bit expensive to buy them to try and then not like them.  If anyone has any tips for any good ones let me know, I know there are mozzarella flavours but I have not tried those, it would be worth knowing if any were worth a try. 

People tend to say to me 'oh no what do you eat?'  because I am GF vegan, well I eat plenty and it is just a case of swapping things and experimenting.  Going out is always awkward as restaurants seem to have no vision at all and they have trained cooks working for them!  It is a bit annoying though when the family are tucking into fresh tiger bread which smells amazing, none of the GF versions are ever soft and fluffy like that, including the bread I've tried myself.

( My comments on Violife cheese are entirely personal preference, this is not a sponsored post)

Another Burda Shirt Finished

This shirt has been enjoyable to work on today, I have been back and forth to the sewing machine in between doing other things.  It helps that my sewing table is in the room next to the kitchen because you can hear the washer stop and check on food. This pattern is reliable and that is  why I keep using it although the take on it has been slightly different.  On this particular shirt there wasn't enough fabric for even a full short sleeve, but adding a small folded band from the little bits of fabric around the pattern pieces gave me just enough for a small sleeve.

I didn't add the front yokes as there wasn't enough fabric, also the back yoke is single whereas usually it is double so it hides your join at the back on the inside.  That is not a problem for me, you wouldn't know that just by looking at it when it is on.

The pockets are a bit smaller than the pattern too but again I had to work with the bit of fabric I had.

Another little thing I had to do was cut the collar in two pieces each, rather than on the fold. This was to maximise on all those little bits that are just not quite big enough.

This  has not affected the look of the collar and if anything makes sure it is central at the back!

Here is the little sleeve band, I will use this idea again as it gives a nice finish.

It was just a case of folding a strip, sewing it to the bottom, neaten the edge and then topstitching on the right side.

I shortened the overlength when cutting out too as this is quite a long shirt on the pattern. 

 I am very happy with it, and managed to force it out of one metre.  There really are only tiny bits left that have gone in a little box for applique or very small patchwork.   The pattern has been carefully  folded and put away for next time. 

Starting a New Shirt

I have started cutting out a new shirt today with some of the fabric I bought last week, now I only bought a metre so I have been stood scratching my head as to how to force this shirt out of a small amount of fabric.  Craft cotton too so not even very wide, well it wasn't going to beat me so after moving things around a lot, folding pattern pieces and deciding to omit a couple of the pieces I got there.  I will finish this up in the morning and share more on this tomorrow but here it is in mid jigsaw.

I have used this pattern a few times and I am sure I will use it many more, I make it slightly different each time I make it up and it has also been a dress you can see that version here.

There were a few treats for me when I went food shopping as I bought myself a couple of magazines, I don't very often buy them so this was a change I bought Sew and a gardening magazine because it had four packs of seeds in it.  I was pleasantly  surprised with Sew, quite a coincidence there was an article on repairing patches just days after I had done a post on that, also the free pattern for a dress is almost identical to one I am about to do a post on for Minerva.  There wasn't much gained there but I may give both the patterns a try anyway ( the other one was for a top) just to see how they turn out compared to what I would usually do.

Looking at the pattern for the top the only real reason I can see for the centre seam at the front is if you are going for option A with the ruffle which is what I'll do.  I don't think the other versions need it. Thoughts on that anyone?

We are going to watch a film as Netflicks offered films on a special deal for one month, we mistakenly chose one titled Mother the other night, what a load of disturbing rubbish. The synopsis stated psychological thriller what it turned into near the end was sick horror I ended up not watching all of it.  So if you have this deal I would say give that one a miss.  Nobody needs to have that film in their head.

Drop Shoulder T-shirt (Scrap busting)

As today is my day off I had a look through my oddments of fabric to see what I could do with them.  I had seen an image of a white top the other day with broderie  anglaise at the top and I thought I should have a look how much fabric I have left that is similar.   I made a red dress a while ago  and my fingers were crossed that there was a big enough piece to do the back and front top.   There was just enough red broderie anglaise and a big enough piece of jersey for the bottom, but only just!

I cut around a t-shirt so just two pieces, and I used my overlocker today which I don't often use, actually the blades are playing up so it was more of a joining exercise using it today there didn't appear to be any trimming going on.  A blade is out of place and no amount of faffing will seem to get it cutting, new blades as well.  I need to have a bit of time looking at that tomorrow. 

Here is my quick top, I like how it has turned out.

I had to put lots of pins in the jersey when I was stitching it together, it is extremely springy, I noticed that when I made the under dress for the dress I made.

A bit more ironing required on the front I think, I quickly ran the iron over it to take these shots, the fabric had been crumpled in a drawer. (It didn't get sorted into the tidy fabric box!)

Now that top was so easy I am going to see what other combinations I can put together from leftover fabrics to make more.  A few contrasting colours might work and may have to depending on what I have left.

There has been more repotting of lettuce and Kale today, I am also a bit disappointed that the pansies and violi have taken a beating from the wind, they were doing so well.

 The greenhouse is starting to look like a jungle, here is a peek through the window...

  I don't know where the tomatoes are going to go now they will just have to grow up along the slope of the roof and down the side!    Also I  hope the winds hold off now I don't want anymore plant casualties. 

Patching Jeans

Everyone has those favourite jeans that they like to wear the most and in my husband's case they are much worn and patched.  He has other pairs we are not short of things to wear it is just that he likes the fit of this particular pair and when he bought them they already had that distressed look with a couple of strategic mock patch areas.   The trouble with that feature is it has usually been stressed during manufacturing to get it just the right shade in certain areas, these areas are then of course weak and will not last under any strain.  That is what has happened with these, this will be the third time I have patched these and today I did three areas.  It is worth doing though as once they are done and ironed the effect is only the same as on the ones you buy in the shops.

This is where the legs off old discarded pairs of jeans come in handy, they don't have to be the same colour as it is going underneath.  Sometimes I use the right side of the fabric and sometimes the reverse.   The first job is to undo the seam down the side, I find it is just so much quicker to do this than try and force a large area of leg under the machine.

 It will be a quick job to just run that back in again it is only a straight seem after all.

Next I cut the piece of scrap denim a bit bigger than the area that is damaged and pin that in  place.

I used the wrong side of this fabric as it was a bit darker.

I then make sure that the hole is together and lying flat then I stitch forwards then reverse using a straight stitch, the effect you get is random criss cross, I concentrate more on the areas where the fabric comes together but up to the edge of the patch underneath.   The threads you can see in this image are just places where I moved it back by hand to line it up again, they are trimmed off afterwards.

Then when all the patches are complete just turn it through to the wrong side and sew the seams.

This is a finished patch near the pocket, I used a light blue cotton to go with the denim but you see some jeans where a contrast has been used to make the patched area stand out.  I think I prefer it less visible. 

Does anyone else have different ways of doing this?  Do you like to see the patches or make them blend in? Let me know in the comments section, I always enjoy reading the comments.

Sewing Goals and Fixing Sewing Errors

So far this year I have made a number of things and two of them were on my to-do  list from the start of the year.  I wanted to make a tie neck blouse and you can view that here and also a shirt dress that can be seen in this post here. I still have to make a fitted cardigan and some straight cut trousers but that is just a case of seeing just the right fabric for those two items.

I don't usually set myself any sewing goals as so many things just come up throughout the year, I am often just taken by something I see and then I want to create my own version of it. If I make lists I find that can be limiting but I know some people love them and this is how they function.  Saying that it is a good idea to know where you are heading but I always like to bear in mind that diversions happen and that is ok.

Sometimes those diversions can create design features that never occurred to you before.  I have made lots of clothes in the past where something went a little bit wrong or there was not quite enough fabric (because I buy the skimpiest amount in the name of economy!).  This is not the end of the road for a project, it make me sad when I read that someone has discarded a garment because they hit a little bump.  I know it can be hard when you have invested time in it but just set it aside and have a little think, jot down any ideas and come back to it with a clear head.

When I started to make my red sweatshirt I knew what I wanted but there wasn't enough fabric so I decided to split the sleeve into two halves with piping at the elbow to give it a feature.
Here it is here

There are lots of ways you can save a garment...

• You can change change the length of the sleeve if that is where the mistake happened.
• You can remove the sleeve or add detail to cover or join another piece.
• Binding can be added to necklines or changing the shape can help.
• Add a contrasting hem or panel if  the garment is too short.
• Strategic pockets may hide a rip or tear, or perhaps an applique.
• Godets can give fullness to a tight skirt, lots of colour options there.
• Contrasting side panels can save a tight skirt.
• If you run out of buttons - make them all odd so it is a feature.
• Experiment with darts, in the right places they make everything fit.

So if there is any problem there I haven't addressed leave me a comment and I will answer you, usually the only real reason I don't wear an item is because I decide the fabric doesn't suit me.  There is not really a lot I can do about that but you get better at choosing over the years.  Now I just make the odd blunder.