Sewing

I did it! I Made Trousers :-)

Categories Clothing, Sewing8 Comments on I did it! I Made Trousers :-)

Trousers have been on my ‘take make’ list for a while and I had been putting off making them for a while too.  A few weeks ago, I decided to bite the bullet and go for it.  My pattern of choice was the Cigarette Pant pattern from the Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book.

As usual, before making a garment, I tend to research it online to see if there are any fitting issues and tips for construction.  With this pattern, I only managed to find 3 bloggers who had reviewed them – there were a lot of reviews for the Butterick 5895’s, which were designed by Gertie…but these were different form the ones in the book so I didn’t really want to take note of those fitting issues as they were not the same trousers!

Gertie Pants

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Bonnell Dresses: My First Pattern Alterations

Categories Clothing, Sewing8 Comments on Bonnell Dresses: My First Pattern Alterations

Bonnell dresses

Just over a month ago, I made my first Bonnell dress from Dixie DIY.  I knew that this was the dress I was going to make for my Art Gallery Fabric project so I really wanted to make the fit of the dress perfect.  For the very first dress, I used a pink & green floral cotton with a plain purple cotton lining.  I shortened the bodice pattern by 1 inch as I’ve now gathered that I need to do this for most dress bodices.  The rest of the pattern was cut out in a size 10.

Bonnell dresses

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30 Days Of Sewing With Art Gallery Fabrics: The Bonnell Dress

Categories Clothing, Reviews, Sewing21 Comments on 30 Days Of Sewing With Art Gallery Fabrics: The Bonnell Dress

Last month I was invited to be involved in 30 Days Of Sewing With Art Gallery Fabrics – to say I was excited is an understatement!  Throughout the month of September, they will be sharing beautiful projects that have been made with their beautiful range of fabrics.

I chose to make the Bonnell dress from DixieDIY: a gathered skirt dress with triangular cut outs on the bodice.  I had a really hard time choosing fabrics because all the new collections are just gorgeous! The one that jumped out at me the most was the Anna Elise collection by Bari.J.  The look book for this collection is just adorable!  After narrowing it down to this collection, I chose the Wind Melody Carmin for the main fabric and the Rythmic Hatch Vivid for the dress lining – both cotton.

Art Gallery Fabrics   Art Gallery Fabrics

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Mum’s Knitting Needle Case

Categories Bags, Other, Sewing11 Comments on Mum’s Knitting Needle Case

When I started sewing more regularly (last August!) my Mum mentioned that she would like a knitting needle case as she couldn’t find one that matched the style she wanted.  My original thought was to make one for Christmas but I forgot and then by the time I remembered, I hadn’t got enough time.  So I set out to make one in July for her birthday – August 6th.

I had a good look around online to get some ideas for the one I wanted to make.  I wanted the make to be ‘fairly’ simple but also pretty and useful.  By combining a few ideas, I chose to make a roll with three horizontal sections for different sized needles.  I also want to add a bit of extra detail so I decided to quilt the outer piece of fabric.

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Gertie Wraps Up!

Categories Clothing, Sewing13 Comments on Gertie Wraps Up!

A new favourite!  I am in love with this dress!  So in love, I’m already planning my second 😀

I had bought the cotton madras a while ago with this project in mind.  I actually wanted to make it for the TMS’s July ‘Check It Out’ challenge but despite my plans, I didn’t make it until August!  The fabric is so light and is just lovely.

The instructions were fairly straight forward and the dress came quickly.  The collar and neckline was a bit a teeny bit fiddly but believe me, it’s worth it! I’m really impressed with the finish of the collar.  I did have to tack the facings down a little but that’s my personal preference; it makes for easier wearing. 🙂  I chose to make it sleeveless and just faced the armholes with a bias tape that was in my stash.  I do think that I need to take them in a little more, maybe hem them another 1/2 inch.  They seem to be a little big around the arms and flap too much in the wind. 🙂

The only puzzle I had with this was with the seam on the neckline – I knew I needed to finish the seam and I knew I needed to clim the seam but finishing was not included in the instructions.  I wasn’t sure what to do so decided to clip and then finish, which turned out to be tricky.  Should I have left the finishing & not overlocked?  I thought about that but then worried that it might fray once washed?! Any alternatives would be appreciated!

So here’s the finished dress, on an outing to a local park.  It was so comfortable to wear!  I was trying to spot an alligator but didn’t find any. 😦  Maybe next time!

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