Sunday 12 March 2023

Denim Quilted Jacket Make

 Hello everyone I hope you are all having a good week.  What a funny one it has been with deep snow and beautiful blue skies, the snow here is mainly all gone now and I am hoping it will warm up enough for us to have our weekend away in the caravan soon.  

So this past week or so I have been working on a quilted denim jacket inbetween other jobs.  I didn't want to rush it as i had a very specific idea in mind and couldn't find it among my patterns.  I had thought of using a pattern from my book Basic Black but I know the sizing is tiny and on further inspection the pieces looked too small to my eye. When you look at patterns every day you can often tell when the size is wrong just by looking at the pieces so I abondoned that idea.  Then after much thought I decided to use burda 6053.  Now this is more of an edge to edge cardigan pattern but I knew I coyuld tweak it and the size and shape were along the right lines.

I cut it out just a touch bigger to allow for the quilting I was going to add, also I planned on lining it.  My next idea was to add a small stand up collar.  Well I must say my son suggested this when I was showing him what I thought, he suggested rib like on a bomber but I went with the same kind of shape but in denim and I quilted it the same as the rest of the jacket.

Next was to change up the pockets, the ones on the pattern felt too small for a jacket so I drew my own shape on paper and cut, quilted and lined those.  

The biggest most time consuming part was drawing the grids on the denim ans sewing in all the lines through the denim and wadding.  I am so glad I did this though as the end result is just what I wanted, I have lined it with leftover viscose challis from another project but the sleeves are lined with regular red lining fabric.  I hand stitched the lining to the denim facings and bottom on the inside.

Finally it closes with a good zip with metal teeth.  I am sort of sad it is complete I enjoyed the process so much, that is a good thing and I think I need to have more slow projects on the go as I complete most things in an afternoon.


It is very warm so the wadding has done the trick.



I think the wild lining goes well with the denim, it was also good to be able to use these pieces of fabric as the denim was a piece that was in the large amount I was given when a lady passed away. It now has a purpose and each time I make something  I think what a kind gift it was from her daughter.  I only bought a small amount of wadding and the zip for this project so I spent £7!  Not bad .

A lot of photos but I am very pleased with it!



That is all for today, have a super week and take care.





Saturday 4 March 2023

Recovery and Dress Making

 Hello everyone I hope you are all doing well. We have not had a very good past few weeks as we all came down with the winter sick bug a week ago and it wiped us all out for a week barely able to get out of bed!  Then we have recovered but are still all very lethargic, I think this is due to lack of sleep as we were very sick and while trying to rest you can't really when running to the bathroom all the time plus lack of food for a week.  There is is not a lot on us to start with so going without food all week has left us seriously depleted in fuel.  Anyhow sad story over and know there are people dealing with much worse but it does set you back, March is here and I would love to say I am raring to go for spring but just puttin one froot in front of the other at the moment.  We do have a little break away booked so I am hoping we will be in full health by then. 

I have caught up on a few quilt blocks these last few days, made some more undies and also my work.  A few days ago I made this cord skirt using some of the fabric I was gifted a while ago.  Even the lining was gifted.  There was a mishap with rushing to get on with it as I made it with the nap going in two different directions!  Tried it on and spotted it, so I had to unpick the whole thing and recut a front and back panel.  It all worked out well in the end and i wore it yesterday, it is very comfy.



I have made this skirt before so I think this is possibly why I was so complacent cutting out, but I should have known better with cord.  In my defence I had been ill so maybe that was it. 

Here are a few of the things I have made since I recovered for work projects...
This is a Burda top that ties at the sides and can also be worn as a dress full length, this one is being sent on so not for me.


This one is New Look 6866, it does not have a belt on the pattern but it was a very loose fitting shape and I do like things to fit to me so I made up this belt to bring it in at the waist and I really love the look now.



Burda 6632 blouse, I really like the details on this although again it is very oversized on me and I made the size 8!  Maybe it is the lack of food last week!  All these fabrics and patterns are from Minerva with the exception of the olive gifted cord in the first image.



I love this blouse although there are such a lot of pieces to this blouse, the whole botton is interfaced and lined but it does give it such a lovely shape.McCall's 7978.

                                                       This is the style arc Courtney top.

I also made this little bag for my Etsy shop as I haven't made one for a while, some of the fabric was in the gifted lot, the charm pack scraps I already had, recycled denim and other repurposed bits.  very bright for spring.




My next plan is to make a quilted demin jacket by quilting some denim fabric that I have,  I have so far changed my design three times the last time being earlier when I was about to cut it out.  I think I am settled on a final plan now? Also changed my mind on the lining fabric, I will now cut out tomorrow before I dither any longer.  I am quite excited about this so fingers crossed it works out how it looks in my head.

That is all for today, enjoy the rest of the weekend.










Sunday 12 February 2023

Staying on Track and The Gertie Bow-Tied Blouse

Hello everyone how are you all doing? Also how are your plans holding up into February? Well for me it is so far so good I have been sticking to my intentions and I find for a few thigs this works well if I do them straight away when I get up. Now I know this is not ideal for everything or even everybody come to that. For example if you have to be at work early you don't want to have to cram in a lot of habits before you even leave the house. Although I do have a book that says you should get up at 5am to do just that! Well I could see my husband loving it if I disturbed his rest everyday to do that, also you have to go to bed really early to get up at that time and that is just not for me. However a few things do work well first thing and this has made them a habit for me, does anyone else prioritise anything first thing in the morning? Please let me know if you do and how it works.



I have made  these knicker this week  from the free Megan Nielson Pattern on  the website for the acacia knickers.  I didn't have enough of the elastic so I used stretch lace on the legs.  One pair is cotton Jersey and the other is frech terry I will let you know if they are too hot to wear ha, ha.  I have ordered more elastic so more on the way  and also made my own pattern from some favourite fitting knickers.


I made the Bow-Tied blouse from my Gertie Book yesterday and I am very impressed with how well her sizing works for me.  I used some of my gifted fabric and another odd selection of buttons, this time various purple ones. 



I made a video so if you would like a peak here is the link. video here


 I am going to have to go as blogger keeps auto changing my words and I don't know what I have caught!  This has taken me ages to keep correcting.  Back soon making more sense I hope.  Take care.



Me Made May 2024

 Hello everyone I hope you are all doing well I know it has been a while.  There are so many things that I haven't posted that I just do...