MMM'16 Final Week round-up!

A little late, but here's the round-up of my last week of MMM'16. 

Let's begin with the Old Favourites Dress:

My Bottle Green Vintage Liberty strikes again:

 The Vintage Pleated Skirt:

And last but not least, one of my McCalls 3830 in action: 

So that's it for another year! I've found it really enjoyable to participate, and MMM has inspired me to make more of an effort to wear home made items for the rest of the year. 

Have a great week guys! The sun is shining here beautifully, and I hope you've got the same fantastic weather where you are, too! 

MMM'16 week #3

It's time for our week #3 Me Made May 2016 round-up! 

Since I missed out on wearing any homemade outfits last week due to feeling poorly with a bug, I wanted to make the most of it this week. So here we are!

Tuesday (I worked at home on Monday in my PJs again!) -- first day back in the office, I needed a "feel good" dress. This TNT mash-up dress never fails to cheer me up :D

Wednesday daytime- in the office with my first version of Vintage Vogue 1137 

Wednesday evening - Back to Basics top

Thursday - attending an all-day conference in London in my new Bottle Green Liberty dress. I met a dear friend of mine afterwards in an amazing little Thai Cafe near Waterloo. Just about to sip my Thai ice tea here -- one of my favourite drinks of all times!

 Dress-down Friday - Cheap as Chips Alma Blouse

The weekend is going to be filled with decorating and other home improvements, so chances are, my home made wardrobe will be getting a little well-deserved break :) Whatever you will be up to this weekend (hopefully something a little more glamorous than what I've got planned), I hope you have a great one! 

Vintage Vogue 1137 in bottle green Liberty

Hi guys! I hope your week/bank holiday weekend is going well! Thanks to the extended weekend here in the UK, I have managed to snap some pictures of my latest project today to share with you :)

Remember my test run for the Vintage Vogue 1137? More than 2 entire years later (!), I'm pleased to say that the "real deal" is done, and just as I envisaged when I picked up this beautiful piece of Liberty wool in an unusual bottle green colour from Goldhawk Road.  

Long term readers of this blog will know that green is not a colour that I reach for very often; I can't help but think that the drawings on the envelope may have something to do with my fabric decision here. 

Thinking about it, I can't actually understand or explain why it took me so long to pick up this pattern again. My test run had gone really well, and the unlined cotton dress ended up getting plenty of wear, for its comfy-to-wear, easy-to-pack, simple-to-style qualities. What's not to like? In fact, it featured so much in my work wardrobe that the colour has even faded slightly in the wash!  

No wonder Vogue 1137 was one of my pattern picks!  

When I did eventually pick up this lovely pattern again, I felt very grateful to my younger self that I did not need to make any alteration to it. The only thing I did change for this version was adding a lining, and I sure didn't hold back! 

Oh how I so wish this dress was fully reversible! The bodice lining is a super soft watercolour viscose (I only had a tiny piece), and the skirt lining was the leftover aubergine polyester lining from my Ultimate Work Skirt. 

Now I want to make version #3, in something slinky and dressy!

A couple of notes on the construction. First, as explained in my skirt lining tutorial here, instead of sewing full darts, I opted for tucks on the skirt lining to allow some additional ease (see picture above). It worked well, and I can move very freely in it.  

The second one is about inserting the bodice lining. I didn't follow the instruction for this, but instead, I used this super clear tutorial (based on the same pattern!) which let me get away with minimal hand sewing. It worked a treat! The only hand sewing that I ended up doing was stitching the lining to the lapped zipper, and finishing the dress with an invisible hem. 

The lapped zipper:

Remember these subtle but elegant V-necklines? Front and back?

  

I'm so pleased with how this dress has turned out (and in!), and am proud to have this addition to my work wardrobe. It was worth the wait, after all! 

My Pattern Picks!

Remember my silk kimono? That was my first encounter with Love Sewing magazine. I was really impressed with how current and informative this magazine is, and you can probably imagine my excitement when the editor Helen asked me to write a feature on My Pattern Picks! 

This has just been published in the latest issue, issue 12, which has been on sale since 26th March. I'm sure regular readers of this blog will not be surprised by the patterns that I chose below, as I have never shied away from recommending them :)  

Here are the links to my versions of these 5 wonderful patterns:

McCalls 2401 (need I say more?) 
version 1 (blurry)  version 2 (spotty) version 3 (stretchy floral) version 4 (neon lace)

Simplicity 2311 
My wool coat

Simplicity 1368
My 30-minute maxi

Vogue 1137
My unlined version

Sewaholic Alma
View B
View A

Another piece of good news is that I am now a White Tree Fabrics blogger! Watch this space for my makes ;) 

Thank you for allowing me for some self-indulgence! 

How sewing has changed my life, & blogiversary giveaway!

Hello readers! I hope this post finds you well. Can you believe that another year has gone by? This little blog of mine is 3 years old today! 

I've got something different, and something of a tradition for you today. 

Starting with the something different, instead of reflecting on my projects this year, at this 3-year point, I think we are ready to look back and reflect on how sewing has changed my life. Not a grand topic or anything, I know. 

Firstly, sewing has made me realise that I need time to be able to enjoy my life, and amongst other things, this was one of the reasons why I decided to move on in terms of jobs a few months ago. Knowing that I should make time for something that I truly enjoy was liberating, and being able to make this happen was absolutely brilliant. I am much happier with myself as a result. You see, it can be life-changing! 

Secondly, sewing has made me more familiar with my own body shape. Don't get me wrong, I never though I had massive boobs, hips, or legs that went on for miles, but fitting my own clothes had been very helpful in getting to know my own body shape well, and where it might be smaller/shorter/flatter/fatter than the "standard" shape (i.e. where the pattern alterations typically are). 

Following from the second positive change, with clothes that fit better, I feel much more comfortable and confident in my outfits, and in my own skin. I also take pride in what I wear more, and it is a great conversation starter with strangers. 

The next change sewing has made is that I spend less buying clothes, but spend more on fabric/haberdashery/sewing machines. There have been so many times where I'm browsing through shops, and thought to myself, "what a cute dress/top/skirt/trousers/pjs", but then immediately thought "I could make that so easily!" Of course more often than not, I don't then go away and end up making it, but if I don't miss it after a few days, I clearly didn't need it to start with. I often find that when I shop now, I focus more on how complex the construction of the garment is, as opposed to how it looks. Geeky or what?!

The final thing that I want to mention is that sewing made me feel part of a really great community. When I had a quick weekend stop in NYC, what did I do first? I emailed Sonja from Ginger Makes. I've also received emails from readers about nearby fabric shops, or asking for tips on wedding dress makings, and I do love helping out where I can. It really does overwhelm me sometimes, in a great way of course! 

So that's me. How about you? Has sewing changed your life? 

Now that's off my chest, it's time for a great tradition - the blogiversary giveaway! 

Remember this little project? Yep, I've got some of that lovely fabric left over to give away! 

It measures 1.5m wide and 1.56m long at the shorter end, and approx 2m long. It's funky, it's lightweight, and it's 100% natural cotton. I can confirm that it is very comfortable to wear, and doesn't even wrinkle too much. What more could you possibly want? 

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment below, by Sunday 14th September (closing at midnight BST). I'm happy to post to anywhere in the world, so do feel free to enter wherever you are. The winner will be announced on Monday 15th. Best of luck!  

Vintage Vogue 1137 - take one

Hello, my dear readers, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, and it's not running away from you too quickly! I'm very excited to show you my first finished make for the vintage sewing pattern pledge! 

It's a reproduction vintage Vogue 1137, from the 1950s. I must admit that this was a pattern that has quietly sat in my pattern drawer for quite some time -- whilst I love how the drawing looks, and have seen various lovely finished versions on the blogsphere, the fact that it was reprinted in sizes 8-14 meant that it would've been a bit more work for me to grade it down to my size, so I had been putting it off and prioritising easier tasks instead... However, the pledge was just what I needed to get my arse in gear!     

My apologies if your eyes are struggling to focus. It's not you, it's me, and my fabric choice! 

This is take one, as I was going to use it as a test run for the graded size 6 pattern. What with it being a vintage production, and Vogue (don't get me wrong, I do love Vogue patterns, but you may have noticed that for some reason my go-to big 4 tends to be Simplicity, and I'm a lot less familiar with the Vogue sizing) and its V-neck, I wasn't exactly keen to cut into my beautiful Liberty wool just yet! So I found this medium weight (quilting?) cotton in the dizzying print, and had a go of it instead. 

Once I've traced a size 6, I did my usual SBA (due to the construction of the bodice, I used this method), and shortened the bodice, too. I also shortened the skirt significantly, as it was almost a mid-calf length, and I ended up cutting it above where the side vents would've been. It's a shame as I quite liked the look of the side vents, but midi skirts really aren't flattering on me, and I didn't want to compromise on the shape of the skirt to keep the vents. I didn't bother with the belt, as the shape of the dress was enough to cinch the waist in, and I was happy with the silhouette.   

One of my favourite design details on this pattern is the elegant v-neck back. The V is not as profound as at the front, but a lovely touch indeed. Speaking of the front V-neck, I love that, too! I'm not normally a keen wearer of V-neck garments, but I really liked this version as it's not too low, yet still maintaining the great pronounced V shape.   

The thing is, once I'd put it all together (it was a breeze, by the way) to test out the fit, I loved how it looked so much that I decided to finish it off as a dress. I didn't want to line it, though (or just line the bodice, as the pattern suggests), so I drafted front and back facing to finish the neckline, and did my usual single-fold bias tape facing trick for the armholes. By the way, I have now "consolidated" the tutorials (from other blogs) that I use often (in other words, can't sew without!) on the tutorials page, so that it'll be easier for me to refer to them every now and again, and also in case it would help anyone else. Trust me, they are tried and tested, and AMAZING tutorials.    

Armhole finished with navy bias binding as facing:

 The mock overlocked waist seam:

The front bodice and skirt darts at the waistline - all lined up (I think I've becoming more and more OCD these days) 

 Hand finished blind hem: 

So there you have it, my first version of Vogue 1137. And thank you, Marie, for encouraging me with your brilliant pledge idea! What do you think? I have a few other projects lined up at the minute, but I am now looking forward to making this in my Liberty wool, and even with the self-fabric belt! Watch this space!