Tag seamwork patterns

New jacket: Seamwork Larkin with ruffles and exposed zip pockets

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Lumberjackie? Lumber Jill? Take your pick! All I know is that Seamwork has been releasing patterns of a more complex nature recently and I’ve really been enjoying them! This month I was immediately attracted by the Larkin bomber jacket, which makes the perfect fall or spring outer layer. A few of us Seamwork ambassadors were chatting about what we might do with the pattern at the beginning of the month and it’s been really fun to see how everyone’s turned out. They are so great! You can check them all out on Instagram under #seamworklarkin.

For mine, I decided to add a little ruffle at the shoulder and also to use exposed zipper pockets instead of the pattern’s regular welt pockets. I have absolutely nothing against a welt pocket, but I’ve made a few recently, so fancied a wee change. I also thought the exposed zip would look quite good against the plaid and break it up a little. I’ve included a short tutorial for both further down the page in case you wanted to try them and weren’t sure how to approach the process.

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Seamwork Ani trousers in green See You at Six twill

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Here’s one of the August patterns for Seamwork – the Ani trousers or pants. I like a tapered trouser and I liked the look of the line drawing on these, with the welt pockets at the back and the pleated front. They remind me somewhat of the Alexandria pants from Named, which I like a lot, but a more structured version than that pattern with its elasticated waist.

I made most of these Ani trousers before I left on vacation some weeks ago and finished them up today, noting that the waistband was somewhat more…snug… than I recall. I measured my waist and…yes, the holiday and subsequent social activities took their toll, so you will note the waistband is slightly strained. Still, I’m not too bothered – it will fit better after I get back to my normal routine, plus the fabric I used is a non-stretch twill, which will relax with wear, so it’s almost good that’s it’s a little tight right now.

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New dress: Seamwork Killian and a fitting tutorial

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Another dress so soon, I hear you say? Well yes – this is one of the new patterns for Seamwork this month and I have to tell you, it’s a great month! I love both of the patterns on offer for July, but wasn’t too sure about the bust support factor for Siahra (although I know some ambassadors got around this, so am interested to read their posts on the matter), so I opted to make this dress – Killian. This style is absolutely up my street with its slight vintagey vibe and I’m delighted to report that it’s jumped straight into my favourite-dress-patterns-of-all-time list. I will definitely, definitely be making more of these, and perhaps with some variations, so stay tuned for those.

First though, you might wonder why I like it so much? Really, it’s because it has features that I think really suit me. It’s that simple. I’m also very happy with the fit I achieved and thought that it might be helpful for beginners (or anyone who’s interested) if I explain how I went about the fitting process. Obviously everyone is different, but one thing I found hard as a beginner was just assessing a pattern and figuring out what to tackle, and in which order. I’m not a fitting expert by any means, but I’ve definitely gotten better at fitting my body over the years, so perhaps it will help someone. I’ll pop that detailed section at the bottom of the post. Let me know if you have questions!

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New dress: Seamwork Kimmy

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I wasn’t kidding when I said I was into dresses right now. I have this one, another two in progress and ANOTHER two prepped and just waiting to be cut out (which as you know, is my favourite thing to do (yes, I’m a weirdo, but I just adore the cutting part). This is the Seamwork Kimmy, which came out last year at some point. I really liked the version on the model and filed it under “potential future projects” in my brain, and then I saw some versions on Instagram that prompted me to order the copyshop version while I was getting some other stuff printed. It’s a fun little sundress , which is mostly a success, but I don’t think it will go down as a favourite of all time. Let me tell you why…

The Pattern

The Kimmy is described as: “a versatile dress that marries effortless style with ease and comfort. Dolman sleeves with adjustable gathers and an elastic waistline offer this frock its figure-flattering shape.” The pattern comes in Seamwork’s two sizing ranges: 0-16 in the misses range with a C cup block, and 18-26 in the curvy range with a DD block. There is an overlap between the two ranges now, but this is an older pattern, so the break happens at the size 16. The pattern is drafted for a height of 5’8″. I’m 5’6″ and didn’t make any changes to the length and, as you can see, it’s still fairly short – above knee length. You’ll probably want to check that if you have long legs.

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Seamwork Kari summer romper in Ruby Star rayon

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I have to tell you that I almost gave the game away this month! I’ve been wearing this Seamwork Kari romper on and off since I made it and I allmooossttt put a picture on my Instagram account for Me Made May. Argh! Luckily, I realised in the nick of time and didn’t post. This romper is just a perfect summer garment – breezy, so easy to fit and with secret shorts – what’s not to love?

It’s also named after my fellow Seamwork Ambassador who is called Kari (I bet you guessed that already) She makes so many great garments and is such a nice person – check out her account at @littlebrickhouse on Instagram. Her namesake pattern is, as you can see, a romper. For me, that is such a funny name, because where I come from rompers are only worn by babies. We would call this lots of other things, but not a romper. Still, now that I’ve used the name, it’s stuck in my head, so I’ll probably be calling it a romper forevermore, although it will still definitely, definitely always conjure up a mental image of me wearing a giant babygro.

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New skirt: Seamwork Sawyer plus a new Maya top

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I mentioned a few weeks ago that I can’t seem to stop making green things, but August has definitely been The Month Of Pink. This weird Covid-19 period has had a whole range of effects on different people, from what I can tell. Talking to my sewing friends, some people haven’t sewn much at all and have found knitting or crocheting to be more soothing during this time. For me, it’s almost the opposite. I’ve had little periods where I couldn’t muster up the creativity for anything at all, but then have almost-manic bursts when I just want to sew 24/7. This has actually proved useful in terms of wardrobe planning, because I’ve ended up making two things that go together, more often than not.

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Seamwork Clarke tank – more adventures in bias and a dress version

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I’ve been working on the Seamwork Clarke for some weeks now. So far, I’ve made two tops and two dresses, one of them a fail, which I’ll go into below. There’s a fair bit to talk about: working on the bias vs. cutting on the straight grain, extending to a dress and quite a bit of trial and error, to be honest, so I’m going to split this into two posts. Today, I’m going to write about my first Clarke tank and my two dresses, with a few lessons I learnt about working on the bias. Next week I’ll post my other tank and a bias skirt I’m working on – the Seamwork Dezi – which will hopefully make for a nice duo. Fingers crossed!

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New tops: Seamwork Rory twice over

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I was quite attracted to the Seamwork Rory pattern when it came out last year and I remembered it when I was putting together some ideas for my loungewear plan. I rather like cut-on sleeves for a tee as long as it’s in not too stiff a fabric and also liked the base shape of the tee, which is gathered into a hem band with two ties.

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Like all of Seamwork’s patterns, Rory comes in two size ranges: 0-16 with a C cup and 18-30 with a DD cup. I made the 14 graded out to 16 at the hip because, even though it’s a cut-on shoulder, I didn’t want it to be too big. My high bust is 40″ – so I could really pick anything between a size 12 if I used my HB measurement as the “bust measurement”, up to the 14/16 if I added on the 3 inches for the C cup to get to 43 inches, which is right between 14 and 16. There are different ways to approach this, but I would probably tend towards the narrower shoulder, so the 14 was my decision and I find a Seamwork 14 shoulder quite a good match for me. I actually think I would have been fine with a 14 all over as there’s a decent bit of ease going on, but the shape isn’t bad at all. Continue reading “New tops: Seamwork Rory twice over” →

New outfit: Kristin crop top and Heidi shorts from Seamwork

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Hello chaps! Thanks for all your lovely comments and feedback on both the Alexandria peg leg trousers and Butterick B6551 dress I made recently. I called the Butterick dress a “semi-fail”, but have managed to wear it plenty since I made it, so it worked out ok in the end! We sewists can be pretty tough on ourselves, but I usually only point out errors in case it helps anyone else avoid making the same dumb mistake, or helps people with a similar body shape to mine decide if they want to make the garment or not. I don’t really beat myself up about it other than thinking “Huh, that’s a shame” – it’s all part of the learning process, right? But it sure is nice when people reassure you! So thanks. 🙂

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Anyway, all this preamble is really because I’m kind of lukewarm on this project too, haha! Let me say up front that I half expected to be lukewarm because of the slightly boxy shape, but I was really interested in the Seamwork Kristin top with its unusual design, and I wanted to try it out from a mechanical point of view. I gather this style was quite popular back in the sixties, and it comprises a wrap-style tank with an interesting three-armhole design. It has “bust darts, a relaxed fit, and a slightly cropped length make for a flattering fit for both misses and curvy sizes” according to Seamwork. What this means is you effectively make a front, a back and then another half-front and half-back and sew them all together. Then you wrap it around yourself and the weight, plus a snap, holds it all in place. Continue reading “New outfit: Kristin crop top and Heidi shorts from Seamwork” →

New menswear: Seamwork Harrington swimshorts

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Another tick from my #menswearmakenine project this year, and the first that my husband specifically requested, making it very slightly more nerve-wracking. In the past, some sewists have said to me, “Oh you’re so nice, making clothes for your husband”, but, and I swear this is true, I do it because I find it interesting and I get to fit someone else, even if it that person is of the male persuasion – and Tom really is a “typical T” male shape, with very broad shoulders and slim hips. It helps my skills and also concentrates my finishing. I’m very much an ideas person, who is not always the best finisher in any sense, but making something for another person means I take more time over the final result rather than taking shortcuts or settling for shoddy finishing, which I would be more likely to do, were it a garment for me.

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