A Ruffle Sleeve Top from a free Pattern

I am always interested to see what everyone else is making and this week I spotted this lovely top from a free pattern.   I bought the duvet cover from a charity shop because I loved the fabric, when I saw this pattern it was the perfect.    I have had to make a few adjustments as I checked the measurements and this indicated the size I needed, I measured myself to be double sure but it came out really big so there has been some tweaking and I will explain that below.  Here is the top and I think the fabric works well.

Now in my image here there is a tie at the bottom and that is not on the original pattern ( I always have to tweak things you see!)  The original hangs away from the body and I just thought it needed drawing in a little and this was my way to do it.

With regards to the pattern I found it on the sara project blog and I love her version that is also in a white print, go and have a look at her blog if you are not familiar with it.  The free pattern is from Peppermint magazine website so you can also have a look around on there.   It is twenty eight pages of printing!  So that is why I am not always a fan of printing off patterns.  I thought I would give it a go as it is good to share these things with the community when you find them and I know a lot of people need a pattern to work from.  

Sticking it all together is a job in itself but if you think of it as a jigsaw it can be a gentle activity;) 

It is clear I will give it that, everything was there I know once before I printed one and there were bits missing (but not from this source). 

I used the recycled duvet cover and I love using these as you get so much fabric from one, it is just a case of keeping your eyes open for one with a good print that can be worn.  I have loads of fabric left and the other side is striped.

I wonder what I can make  with the stripy side?

As I was saying it came out big size wise so it is a lovely pattern but be prepared to take it in a little. I also moved the darts up on mine and made them a little bigger, we are all different and I think dart placement is specific to each person so that is not the fault of the pattern.

When it was finished I wanted it to sit closer to the body so I cut a long strip of fabric about 4cm wide to make a tie for the bottom.  I also cut a little semi circle where the tie would sit and hemmed it.

I did that over to one side as that is where  I want it to tie.  I then folded it in half and began stitching it to the bottom allowing some to hang over each side.   Then I folded it towards the inside and stitched it down to hide the raw edges.

I find doing it this way gives a nice finish to the bottom and it removes the need for overlocking etc.

So I hope this was helpful if you fancy giving it a go but want to add something extra, I would love to see what other versions everyone can come up with.  I will leave you with one final shot of one of my dogs phot bombing earlier!

Bag Making and a Day Out

Last week I mentioned that I had finished another handbag and was about to list it on Etsy, well I did that although I am still not sure if it is the best place to get seen these days. You are something of a drop in the ocean of handmade sellers out there.  Anyway on it went and I am really pleased that I used up my last piece of the Paris fabric in this handbag.  I made a skirt in this about five years ago that I still wear, then it went into another bag that belongs to a friend of mine.  Later still it made up some of the hexagons in my lap quilt it can be seen here.

So it was only ever a metre of fabric but I really do try and use all that I can and that makes me happy that there is very little waste.  Here is the bag, all elements of this particular bag are recycled including the strap, I saved that years ago from a different bag.

Oops I just realized I bought the D ring on the front and the black ribbon new, I did make the little tassel.  I am very fond of these at the moment so every future bag may have a tassel :)

So the back is the same apart from the tassel, the fabric is in the style of an old newspaper.

Anyone recognise the fabric inside leftover from a dress I made a few weeks ago?

After pottering away with that on Friday I had a sewing free day Saturday as we  visited my sister in law at Bridlington for her fiftieth birthday.  She had rented a hut on the sea front and was having a get together there, it was a lovely day in terms of seeing people but the weather was not so good, grey cloud, wind and rain.  All week the forecast had been good for Saturday too, oh well she has the hut for the week so they have been enjoying it for the last couple of days too with better weather. 

While we were there, it was the Steampunk meeting and a classic cars event so plenty to see.  However we only went for the afternoon but we did have a look around and I managed to get a few photographs.

This camper was amazing, such a lot of work had gone into it and the couple (I presume the owners) in the photograph looking like pirates were posing for shots for hours.  I couldn't get any closer as there were so many trying to take pictures I didn't want to get in the way.   A lot of people had gone to great  effort over their costumes.

Inside the Bridlington Spa it was mainly stalls selling the Steampunk type of clothing but there were a few others with accessories I managed to find myself this...

I decided to wear it immediately and then someone said to me 'out of all that stuff in there did you manage to find the one thing with a sewing machine on?'  Ha! probably yes, it was calling to me. 

My husband found these lamps interesting...

Outside the Bridlington Spa were the classic cars, you really don't realise how big they are until you get up close.  We are so used to seeing the cars in films but can you imagine the costs of running one on fuel over here.

So it was a nice afternoon and a good chance to get to see family who are living in Bridlington now, also my sister in law had a bigger turnout to her party than she expected so that was nice.

That's all for now I am off to cook the dinner and finish piecing together a free print off pattern.

Etsy Shop Here

A Mock Jumpsuit

This week I have been putting together this outfit for a Minerva post, I had intended to make a jumpsuit but do you know what I don't feel there is any need for my top to be connected to my bottom garments ;). really it just makes it such a pain when you need to pay a visit that I decided separates give the same effect without the hassle if they match.

I will give a peek here but I am saving the full post for Minerva Crafts . I enjoyed  making this as I didn't set myself the task to do it all in one day as I sometimes do.  When I do that any interruptions to my sewing are annoying  and I wanted to avoid that.  Instead I chose to do a bit each day over a few days.

My son very kindly rook the photo's for me and this saved me messing about with the tripod, this was just as well because it was very windy.   I know I will be more inclined to wear this as it is easy to get in and out of.

Today I have done some hand bag sewing, I have just finished that about twenty minutes ago and will share it once I have uploaded the photo's to Etsy. In an attempt to be more aware of marketing I have been reading this...

I get the idea however I am already on all the social media it suggests, I don't really have much of a following as I don't follow hundreds of people myself.  If you do that how on earth do you ever get anything done. I would rather  follow crafters that I am interested in, food design and stuff like that and then I can enjoy what pops up rather than scrolling, how do you all feel about this? I do understand that it is an important tool.  So there I am no business woman I guess but if I follow you, you can be sure I actually read your content!

In other reading I have just finished 'People in the Room'  by Norah Lange.  I have to say this book was not for me, it never really went anywhere and I kept at it as I was waiting for some revelation that never came.  Has anyone else read this and if so what are your thoughts?

We have also started watching a new drama this week called 'Undercover' and this one is in Flemish (subtitled) we are quite enjoying it.  It is quite amusing that there was a time when my husband didn't watch anything with subtitles  and now that is most of what we watch.. I think it gives so much more variety and you get to know which genres you like from where.  We find a lot on Netflix and BBC4 More 4 are good too.

Scrap Busting T-Shirt

This make today was a bit spur of the moment, I started looking through my odd scraps of fabric to design a new bag and then saw a charity shop t-shirt I bought for the fabric and another scrap in the same colours.  I instantly thought they should go together to make a new item and set about cutting up the t-shirt.  It has been in that cupboard for about a year and a half, I remember thinking what did I buy this for? Well again it was another thing  just waiting for inspiration, I have to say I love the work of Marlies Witjes at Made by Liesl. She is always finding inventive ways to use up every last bit of fabric and her bomber jackets are a work of art!  So this little project today was inspired by her work.

It is all jersey fabric so it will be comfy to wear, I do find I end up wearing the jersey items more than anything after all we all want to be comfortable.  The piece on the pocket is scuba from a dress I made a while ago.  I am so pleased with result I have been having another look to see what else can be cobbled together but nothing else is jumping out in the same way.  Also a lot of the bits I have clash or would be too busy together.

The make was easy I just cut the bottom off  the  existing charity shop t-shirt  then cut up the sides as well.  I lay the top part on the fabric to make the shape for the top half of the t-shirt and just cut grown on cap sleeves.

As you can see here the top of the original t-shirt was a bit fussy, it also had a tie that went around the waist.

When I have the top part cut I always fold it in half to check it is the same on both sides, I also had to do a bit of trimming on the bottom so that the pattern was level.  The pocket I just guessed and cut a shape, I hemmed that first then pinned it on before stitching it to the shirt front.

I almost forgot to mention that I made some binding for the neck with another bit of leftover jersey, I cut that so the embossed strip was laying horizontal not lengthways in the biding pieces.  The idea was it would be folded to the wrong side but it looked good showing so I topstitched it to stand up.

A good fun make I think and a bit of reuse, recycle in there too.  I will have to get to that bag idea later.

One thing I have decided in light of reading Atomic Habits is that I will have set days for blogging. After a bit of thought I have decided on Tuesday and Friday starting this week, I know that because I have committed to it I am more inclined to stick to it.  There was also a comment that James Clear made about his own  blog and that was to just show up and post, and also that often he would put off because he didn't feel things were perfect but the act of getting something out there keeps the momentum going.  He worded it better than that but you get the  idea, I'm not sure how this works when on holiday but I will deal with that at the time. 

Wrap Dress

This morning I was up early so I have had time to get on and make up this dress that I cut out earlier in the week.  It is a wrap dress from Simply Sewing magazine, the fabric was a leftover from a dress I made for a relative last year.  I have to say that when I cut it out I thought it may look too much like a robe but it does in fact look great.  A simple pattern too so ideal for a beginner.

I did have to take the shoulders up by quite a bit but I am thinking that is probably my fault and maybe I should have cut out the smaller size.  I am always cautious of new patterns a s you can take in but you can't put back on once it is cut so I go for caution then adjust.

The ties are really long and go around three times, this makes for  an interesting belt though and of course you have the option as to where you tie it and how.

There are no other fastenings on this dress other than the tie belt, so if you are nervous about different closings this might be the dress for you.   I think it would be a good holiday dress especially for the beach over a costume maybe.  I will lookout for fabric that doesn't crease to make another one of these.  This one is lovely and smart but I think it would be good in a casual style of fabric too.

As I said I have had this fabric since last year when it was left over so it goes to show that sometimes it is good to hang on until you see the right thing for your fabric.   When I saw the cover pattern in a green floral I instantly thought of this fabric in the cupboard so maybe it was meant to be.   I hope that when we go to Wales for our holiday we will get at least some sun so I can wear this.

Right now I am off as I have boring house jobs to do like hanging out washing, doing the food shop etc.  I'd rather carry on sewing but these things need doing ;)

May...ing

I have decided to do an 'ing' post as Jo at Three Stories High and  Christina at a colourful life always do these and I think they are fun. The month is just flying by and I realise I have been a little blog absent these past few weeks so here goes.

Making - many things for the garden but I can't take credit for that it is my husband doing all the woodwork. He really has missed his calling there I think as he seems to be able to knock together just about anything. He has replaced more of the decking, made his own design for a little fence panel and decked the floor just outside the back door yesterday.

I said I think he should make those fence panels to sell, he does have a day job though!

This little area is much better with the decking on, it was just concrete same as the step below and that was fine except that there was a crack, also a manhole cover.  This meant there were certain places where you couldn't sit back with your chair without falling into a gap.  This has levelled it all out and made the space more usable.

I am currently making this dress with a simple pattern from a magazine, the fabric is left over from a dress I made for my mother in law last year.

I hope to share this later in the week, no rush as I am taking a relaxed approach to my sewing while the weather has been a bit better.

Growing- a mixture of flowers and vegetables, I thought I would try and grow more flowers this year as they are so expensive to buy and an ongoing cost in the summer if you want the pots to look nice.  I have nasturtiums, pansies, giant godettia and various other that I can't recall the names of!  On the vegetable front I have planted lettuce, peas, purple kale and radishes.  There is also some basil and parsley on the go. 

 Some of these really need thinning already, I did a few the other day but they looked a bit sad after.

 These radishes have been put up high out of the way of the dogs, they seem to think growing veg outside is a buffet just for them, or at least one of them does.

Bigger plants  are already moved on to bigger pots, I think I will put some more seeds in now to keep things going.  The only thing with this is the waiting, obviously popping to the garden centre you get instant colour.

Reading- having recently read Atomic Habits that has been the best read for ages, thinking about you habits, the order in which you do things, chunking new habits to old to make them stick.  Also the idea of deliberate practise and accumulated hours was really interesting.  If you are interested in changing a few habits and want to understand a bit more of the psychology of why habits stick or not then this is worth a read.  If you don't feel you have the time there is also a podcast you can watch/listen to on youtube Atomic Habits James Clear.   It is quite a long one so maybe watch it over a couple of sessions.

I also read The Summer of Impossible Things, this had a little bit of time travel, a bit of a love story and I would definitely say it is a beach kind of book, nothing heavy and not that I've been near a beach of any kind for a long time.  It was enjoyable if a bit sentimental in places but worth a look if you don't want anything too taxing.  

Currently I have on the go One hundred years of Solitude (again I didn't finish it last time)  and People in the Room by Norah Lange. I 'll let you know how I get on with that later.

Learning- Norwegian, I started a month long futurelearn course and I am also practising on Duo Lingo but I have to say that has you learning some bizarre sentences.  In addition to that I have ordered some CDs from the library.  It keeps my brain learning new things and I am doing a little every day with no excuses.

Planning- decorating my hallway and stairs, at the very least I want a new stair carpet but the whole drama of having to book people to come out just puts me off. The painting I can do but the carpet fitting needs professionals. People in and out talking and three dogs barking, I am not looking forward to it. 

Enjoying- sticking to my pilates routine every evening, I have done a month  now without missing any and it really has just become part of my daily routine.  The plus is that I always feel better after and not just because of the moves but  also because I know I have completed it.

Watching- a good selection  of world television, this last week we watched a series called The Night Out, it was Colombian and based on a real case. It was very interesting and there are other cases in the series.  We are currently watching Border Town and that is set in Finland.

Regretting- having more than two glasses of wine on a rare night out on Friday, I was up early yesterday with flu like symptoms? This must have been my body having a weird hangover as I am fine now!  I was tired all day so a bit of a waste of a Saturday.

Catching- up on all my blog reading, I love seeing what you are all up to and it is so lovely to have such a wonderful community to share with.

Well that is all for now, I have the usual Sunday evening ironing pile to tackle so I am off to do that while listening to a few podcasts.

A Quick Thrifty Skirt

Today I made up this very quick skirt with the fabric remnant I bought last weekend, I had a pattern from a magazine a friend gave me for an A-line skirt  but it seemed such a waste of time to cut out a pattern for such a basic shape that I didn't bother.  There is also the fact that as an untested pattern I don't know if the shape  or size is going to be any good so I opted to just cut two shapes using a dress of mine as a guide.  I didn't cut it exactly the same as the dress as the fabric wasn't wide enough but it gave me a rough idea of size.

The fabric was £1.50 so an amazing bargain, when I picked it up my husband said 'but there is a bit cut out of the bottom!' I said oh it will be fine the skirt won't be as long as that.  The zip I already had in my sewing box, I always salvage zips from things also I didn't use any interfacing in the waistband. 

On the inside I hand stitched the inside of the waistband it looks neat and I quite enjoy doing hand stitching.  The fabric is a bit like scuba and didn't fray so I haven't bothered with edging on the inside seams apart from the bottom hem.

So overall this was very quick and just goes to show you don't always need patterns and lots of supplies to get a project finished.  After flicking through some of my donated sewing magazines I got the impression that some of the articles suggest you need to spend an arm and a leg before you can get any sewing done.   There seems to be a gadget for just about everything, threads for any emergency and don't get me started on feet!   

I have to say that when I began making my own clothes at sixteen it was not only for the love of it but also because it was cheap.  I could see an image in a catalogue ( yes it was catalogues back then) and then try and copy it, often with whatever cheap fabric I found on the market and never with a pattern.  Now I tend to think if people are buying really expensive fabric they are going to be nervous about starting things.  There is also the fact that patterns are not always accurate so it does not really follow that just because you bought an expensive pattern it will fit you beautifully.   I hope more people will try out doing their own thing with cheap offcuts or clothes in a larger size from the charity shop, it really is the best way to learn.   

Here is the dress on the table as you can see it was not an entirely accurate copy of it 

but I feel it still works really well.  The main thing is that is wide enough, I knew that any problems with tapering the sides could be sorted later, as it happened it was fine first time.