Tag making clothes

My #SewingTop5 hits for 2019

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Another year has gone by already! Wow! It’s already time for my favourite round-up series of the year and that’s the Top 5 series by Gillian from Crafting a Rainbow. This year she’s moved it over to the Sewcialists website as she hasn’t been blogging so much this year, which makes sense – but I’ll always think of it as your series, Gillian! 😉

Top 5 Hits 2019

You can check out my previous such posts from 2018 and 2017 if you really love this kind of thing. For me, it’s a great way to look back over the year’s garments and remind myself what I’ve been up to this year – and it’s so goddamn hard to narrow it down to five! Argh! But I did. So, without further ado – my Top 5 Hits!

Deer and Doe Sirocco (s)

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I can’t recommend the Sirocco enough – it’s so good I made it twice! Seriously, check out the hashtag on Instagram if you don’t believe me. Everybody looks fab in this jumpsuit. Why is it so good? I think it’s the combination of the stretchy knit (you need 60% stretch factor for this baby) and therefore body contouring/lack of fitting woes, combined with elegant structural design details such as the tapered leg, angular pleats and sharp shoulders. Very clever.

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As I mentioned, I made this twice. First, the classic black in a gorgeous mid-weight rayon from L’Etoffe Fabrics. This is a dream of a jumpsuit. Having said that, I put on a little weight over the year and so when I was in a mild panic trying to think of something to wear to Seattle Frocktails in November, I decided to whip up a silver velvet corduroy version. I made some adjustments to the crotch area and also added a simple tie to give it a 70s disco feel. It did the trick!

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New party outfit: The silver Sirocco for Seattle Frocktails

bellecitadel 6 Comments

Ooh, I loves me a bit of alliteration. Seattle Frocktails happened on November 9th and it was another exciting evening in the world of Seattle sewing. You might remember that last year I kicked off Seattle Frocktails, but I wasn’t able to organise it again this year due to other commitments and, luckily for me, a couple of the ladies from last year’s team were keen to take it over – and they did a grand job! I was working on a Vogue dress for the event, but it ended up being a “not feeling it” situation. I was feeling a bit bloated and I just didn’t think I could make it work (although I will finish it soon), so I had a bit of a last minute panic and started a new outfit the day before the event: this silver Sirocco jumpsuit! Woo!

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New top: Paper Theory Kabuki Tee

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In my continuing quest to build up a wearable, practical wardrobe, (interspersed with off-the-cuff crazier garments of course), I decided I’d get some more SOLID woven tees and tops into my wardrobe once and for all. My problem when faced with a simple pattern is that I immediately want to make it more interesting by using a print or pattern. It’s almost a subconscious thing – I have no restraint! Argh!! When looking for some simple tops-with-a-twist, I discovered I already owned a couple, then I found a couple more I liked and the idea of a woven top collection emerged.

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I say collection – I really just mean a sort of comparison. They’re all fairly quick and easy to make and I’m thinking that the variety in the construction and details will keep me going interest-wise. Let’s see, shall we? Ha. I should also mention before I get going that I was partially inspired by a post @arrowmountain posted on Instagram some time ago (whose feed I love). Her drawings are quite mesmerizing anyway, but I loved the idea of this collection. Not many of the tees I’m making are on there, but the idea is similar.

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New jumpsuit: Deer and Doe Sirocco

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As I’m sure you are not unaware, the new collection from Deer and Doe came out recently and the Sirocco jumpsuit immediately leapfrogged my other projects in the queue. There are three pieces in the collection, but, for me, this one stood out head and shoulders above the others as the one to make. Firstly, it’s a knit jumpsuit, which equals both comfort and somewhat less fitting – and I have plenty of other fitting-intensive projects going on. But also, I just love the balance between the flowy, pleated trousers and the structured shoulders. I’m going to New York this week for a few days and had been considering what in my wardrobe would take me from daytime sightseeing straight to nighttime eating and carousing – and this is the perfect garment.

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I LOVE it. Like, really love it. I’m a fairly “glass-half-full” kind of person and can see the positive in most of my projects, but it’s great when something comes along that really knocks my socks off. This jumpsuit is exactly what I hoped it might be and that doesn’t happen too often. Great drafting and just so me. Comfortable to wear, with modern clean lines, but also some structure thanks to the sleeves and pleats. Yes, I really do love it. Of course, black fabric is hard to photograph, but hopefully you can see the detail okay – I tried a few different locations. I also wore it with both heels and trainers – and let’s face it, I’m much more likely to be sporting the latter with a cardie over the top. It’s a versatile garment!

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New tees/dresses: Athina Kakou Sheonas and a wee Givre

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I had a lot of fun leading this month’s #sewmystyle2019 challenge along with the February team of Whitney, Paulette and Simone. Today is reveal day and it’s so cool to see all the new tees being posted! It’s mid-afternoon here in the Pacific Northwest, so time to publish my own pics after a fun (mostly) few weeks of trying things out.

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You know, it’s easy to think: well, a tee is a tee is a tee. I mean, how much can you do with a knit tee pattern? Seriously. And then you participate in something like this and you realise there are as many variations as there are people and ideas – and how silly it was to even think otherwise. Even the four of us within the Feb team came up with completely different garments. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out Paulette’s glamorous and sophisticated take on the Givre, Simone’s summery Givre tank tops (want) and Whitney’s fresh and clean Givre mini-collection. Continue reading “New tees/dresses: Athina Kakou Sheonas and a wee Givre” →

New activewear: The Power Sports Bra from Greenstyle Creations

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Hello again! I wasn’t planning on splitting my leggings and sports bra into two posts, but there’s actually a fair amount to say about the bra, so it seemed logical in the end. I’m just going to dive right in and start by saying that my bra size is normally a 36DD or 38D in ready to wear, so I have a decently-sized pair of boobs (in case you hadn’t noticed) and I find it rather difficult to find a good sports bra! Sound familiar?

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My requirements

I’ve tried all different sorts of brands and shapes – some are pretty good and some are totally useless. But the pretty good ones are also pretty expensive! Like a lot expensive. Expensive enough for me to know that this is potentially the one…the ONE… area I might save money by making something rather than buying it. We all know we don’t sew to save money, no sirree. Continue reading “New activewear: The Power Sports Bra from Greenstyle Creations” →

Me-Made May 2018 Round-up: my results and a sprinkle of musings

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Time to add a small post to the plethora of Me-Made May round-up posts that hit the blogosphere once we breach the banks of June. I had a really fun May and, owing to the up-and-down weather we had here in Washington state, managed to wear almost all of my me-made garments, or at least that’s how it seemed. It was so much easier to take photos this year in my new house, as our kitchen worktop is just the right height for a little mobile phone tripod. I just set the timer and snapped a couple each morning or evening coming in or out of the house.

Results

My pledge was to wear a whole outfit each day for Me-Made May (outer clothes, not underwear/shoes) compared to last year, where I wore one item per day. I found it fairly easy to mix my me-mades up, but I also dragged some out of the closet that I wasn’t too sure about to give them a whirl and decide if they should stay or go (or be refashioned).

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Me-Made May 2017 vs 2018: Since last year was my first year, it’s interesting to compare my findings with what I found then. My biggest shocker last year was that I had a virtually monochromatic me-made wardrobe. I love colour and hadn’t really realised. This year I was expecting more of the same in all honesty, so I was (pleasantly) surprised to see that there was definitely a good deal more colour in my wardrobe this time round. Continue reading “Me-Made May 2018 Round-up: my results and a sprinkle of musings” →

New jeans: Closet Case Pattern Morgans

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Woowoowoo!!

I did it! I made a pair of jeans and squeezed them into 2017 (and squeezed into them in 2017) by the skin of me teeth. Hemming occurred on December 31st, heh heh. They were on my #makenine list for last year and I was determined to get them done, if only to please myself, since there was no other real reason. I made this somewhat easier to accomplish by signing up for a jeans workshop at Drygoods Design here in Seattle, which ran over three evenings and then I finished them up at home. I had intended to post them pretty soon after, but then decided to wear them for a few weeks and see what happened, so there is a little time-travelling going on in this post… just so’s you know.

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Discoveries of a novice: finishing knits with a twin needle

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Here’s a little technical post today. I don’t write these often because I’m a beginner and almost everything can be found fairly easily on the Internet these days. Now and again though, I come across something that took me a while to find or didn’t quite answer all my issues and hopefully what I’ve done will be useful for others. Today it’s the turn of… hemming knits with a twin needle! Woah! Grab your Moscow Mule and take a seat!

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The Issue aka Hemming Hell

Alright, so, in a nutshell, here was my problem. I had been using the twin needle to hem t-shirts and other knits, using many hints and tips I’d read in articles or books. The stitch seemed to work pretty well and looked okay, but, then, after just a few wears, the threads would snap. The first time I thought perhaps I was using the wrong type of thread on one of the spools or the incorrect width of needle, but it slowly happened to everything I had sewn. In addition, sometimes when I was sewing I could feel that one of the threads was a bit “tight” and was pulling a little, but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Gah! Continue reading “Discoveries of a novice: finishing knits with a twin needle” →

New make: Linden #2 – a mixed affair

bellecitadel 4 Comments

You know sometimes you make something and you’re not that keen and then you see the photos and you think, “Actually, it’s not that bad…”. Well, this was the opposite for me. I was really chuffed when I finished this Grainline Linden sweatshirt and now I’m… less so. And there’s a simple reason. I love the fabrics, I like the shape of the sweatshirt anyway – but the sizing/shaping is completely off on this one. The neckline is the worst. I mean, it’s not terrible, but it’s too big and droopy. It’s partly the fabric – there just isn’t enough recovery in the knit I used and I should absolutely have used ribbing. But I also think there’s something afoot with my pattern pieces, because this happened with my last Linden too (which I didn’t finish/ blog, because the neckline application was B.A.D). We adjusted the pieces as part of a class and I think I need to go back and check them. I may also have traced the long sleeve badly. Something is going on.

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