Basics

I have been meaning to replace a favourite black t-shirt for a while now, I made a three quarter length, thick t-shirt a while ago but it was no replacement for my go to short sleeved version.  The trouble with that is it was looking very worn and faded having had it for many years.  However I did like the fit and the sleeve length so I have used it as a pattern for not one but two t-shirts.  The first is a grey one and here I have tried to copy the neckline as best I could, I made the grey one as I needed something to go with my swan skirt from a few days ago.

I found that where I had gone around the neck with bias tape at the bottom was not lying exactly as I liked so I have added a little tab, if you look closely you can see it.  I think it makes it look a little more finished.  A trusty zig zag hem and a band on the sleeve turned and topstitched to the reverse.  it was quite a quick make with the only faffing being the neckline.

When stitching the black one I find a useful little video on youtube here about how to turn your bias binding so that a v neck lays nice and flat. I found this helpful and much neater than how I have done it before.  I have had to quickly take a photo on a hanger as it has now been worn and I just realised I had no image of it.  The fabric on this black one was more springy so I had to unpick one side of that v twice as I had pulled it a little, it is super comfy to wear though even if it was not such a great fabric to stitch.

A bright room with the sun shining through the window does not make for the best images.

Anyway that is two more basics done, and I did say that this year I was going to sew more of those items to balance my pattern heavy wardrobe.  Using the old t shirt as a guide worked a treat, I always favour actual clothes to patterns as a template.

Cutting two t-shirts  out together to speed up the process, and here is the original faded favourite...

As you can see no longer a great shade, it was from Matalan years ago, about three pound and I really have had my money out of it ;) Do you have any old favourites you can't let go of?

Skirt Week

Ok, so it is not officially skirt week if there is such a thing but I have been doing a lot of skirt sewing.  Three of which were for my friends daughter, another one for me and a few other bits but I will stick to the skirts for now.  I was asked a while ago if I would make these as the fabric had been spotted in a shop in York, time passed and then suddenly here we are and  both near our hols so my friend got the fabric over to me.  They are due to go on holiday to Florida so despite knowing about this job for months it ended up being a call with oops have you time to still do the skirts ready for the holiday.   Well of course, and I do things last minute all the time so that wasn't a problem.

The fabric is Harry Potter, Star wars  and some funky glasses, had I known beforehand how much she was paying for the Star Wars I would have told her to shop online, but too late the fabric was already bought.

Here is the first skirt, I didn't use a pattern as they brought me a skirt that fit her well and she liked so I took my ideas from that.  They are all circular ish  skirts, meaning not a full circle but that style.
She wanted them all to have the black elastic showing at the top and not a waistband and zip, though I personally prefer the latter.

Here is the next one, I have  told her to hang onto the original skirt that she brought with her even if she gets bored with it, just in case she wants more of the same thing later.  I could have made her a paper pattern but I don't generally have patterns of other peoples clothes about the place I have enough with my own sewing supplies.

I think this last one is my favourite, the fabric was a bit heavier than the other two and it turns out more reasonably priced.  It just shows how much they can tag on when there is a bit of a theme or film element to the design.

After sewing these I grabbed my swan fabric that was in the drawer and decided to make myself something similar.  Of course I wanted a waistband and zip and I  also lined my skirt.

It seems to me if you line a skirt you can wear it year round as tights don't grab and in the summer you don't feel as if your clothes are see through.  I think that can be an issue with light colours.

The perfect flower button from my odd button jar, a black zip as it is all I had but I don't mind.  Right now I am off to sew a bikini that should have been completed earlier this week before all the skirt sewing frenzy!

Blue Bird Dress

Summer sewing is still underway and this week I have a dress for a Minerva post.  The original pattern I was working from has taken a few adjustments as it felt a little like a painting smock without additional shaping.  I took the whole dress in  by quite a bit and added darts, I will provide more detail in the future post on Minerva crafts.

It is looking much better here with a bit of shaping, you can't see very clearly but it has pockets too.  I don't often opt for pockets but this time I did.   With a bit of thought I should have had a before photo.

I think that a fabric with a bit more drape would suit the pattern better, this fabric faired far better with structure.

So there you have it, nothing wrong with the pattern or the fabric just not the two together unless you are adding darts, that is just my opinion you may feel differently.

Yesterday I started reading this book...

When I came in from work I picked it up and couldn't put it down, I took this photo to show my friend and it turns out she has already bought it as a Christmas gift for someone!  Very organised.  It is historical fiction, a bit of fantasy, something different to start the holidays.

I have been sewing skirts all day and I will share these later, right now I'm off for  a cup of tea.