November...ing

Can I just squeak in here with a November...ing post by checking through my phone photos just in time? I have been so busy working this month but that is all good.

Walking - I have been trying to remember to walk more. Since freelancing with a sewing job, I am finding I am stuck on my backside more than I would like to be and because I am like a dog with a bone when I start something - I just want to plough on with my projects. Thank heavens for our dog Beano who makes me get up and go for a walk.

Baking - with yeast. Meg loves making these cinnamon buns but they take soooooo long. It is a special treat and she has to catch me on the right day for me to say, 'Yes! you can spend virtually all day making a bun!'

Loving - the Dahlias from Beth's wedding garden. They just kept coming until mid November. She picked so many which she dried after she had used them in her last wedding booking of the year. The dried ones appear in her Autumn and Christmas wreaths. They are stunning.

The white ones are passed on to me as they don't dry to a good colour. I have the too light and too dark rejects! The ones below were just beautiful.

Twinning - with Megan on the train on the way to the NEC Birmingham for a craft show. The girls and I really had a fab day out. They enjoyed spending their pocket money for doing farm jobs and I loved having a browse.

Crafting - up a zip necklace. I saw these zip pulls at the craft show and the vendor let me rummage through a tray to find 18 in different colours. We negotiated £2.50!

Buying - some fabric at said show. Meg bough the blue one for PJ's (it is so soft) and I had a metre of the vintage simplicity models for.....something.

Bottling - up more homemade wine. These are my blackberry, quince and damson batches. I have 26 now that I have made this year...maybe 25 by time of posting!

Helping - my big girl who wandered into the studio wanting to know how to put a zip in. She had sorted her craft drawer and wanted to make project bags for each type of craft. If they ask I help, if they don't ask to craft I leave it. 

Starting - a craft group in our local village hall. It is called the Schoolroom (because it once was) Lots of happy crafty people.

Leaving - you with the view from my kitchen table as ever. Lots of low-lying fog in beautiful ethereal layers lately. 

Thanks for dropping by. You can catch my sewing video tutorials on YouTube here if you fancy it. Jo xx

Just been Sewing and Sewing and Sewing

Hello there, it's been a while but I have been busy sewing some epic patterns; ones that take a week or so, then at the end of the day I couldn't be in a sitting position anymore, I just needed to stretch my legs.

I have been making the Dawn Jeans by Megan Nielsen. I chose it because there were good reviews of the fit and sizing accuracy. The finished garment measurements are the measurements I always take when making jeans - I always ignore the 'womens' size numbers because they are too variable from country to country. Who am I making these jeans for? A size 12 woman somewhere in the world or myself. That is how I like to think of it. Dawn is from an Australian Designer.

I LOVE all the details of making jeans. You can't make them in a rush, you have to split the process up into chapters. I chose topstitching, button fly, handstitched sashiko pockets and belt loops - I hate making belt loops but I found some new techniques to conquer my nemesis.

I even treated myself to a leather label once I knew that the jeans were fitting well. If I made them again, and I will, I will do a zip fly rather than a button fly. If you are young with a flat stomach then fine but with a little tum the buttons peel open when you sit down. A zip would remain closed in a straight line I think.

I messed around with the angle of the back yoke to stop the gape I get in shop bought jeans and split the waistband with a join in the back so I could get a better fit. This worked a treat. Did I mention that I filmed the whole process for Minerva as part of my freelance work? It is a surefire way of making you sew something really well.

I could have done with a quick sew break after making, filming and editing a video for these jeans but next up on my list, with a looming deadline, was the Hovea jacket also by Megan Nielsen.

It is an easy fit jacket pattern which I think the marketing team have missed out on with the cover image. Both jackets are quilted on the cover but there are so many other ways to make this jacket lined, unlined, long, casual or cosy. I saw some really different ones on the Minerva website with very different looks. It would be easy to overlook this pattern if you thought it was just for a quilted coat.

Anyway, again I needed to film this process so I chose a tricky fabric to quilt on purpose to share some techniques for makers. Gauze has a bubbly texture which can easily be distorted if you don't use a walking foot to feed the fabric through your machine evenly.

I also made it reversible. This jacket is the easiest construction ever but the process of quilting is time consuming rather than hard. Off the back of my jeans making knowledge, I used felled seams to enclose all of the raw edges on both sides. It worked a treat on the shoulders and sleeve head and I used bias binding to bind along the side seam and under my arm.

These two garments have kept me away from blogging for a few weeks but I did get to see the view from my sewing table every evening reminding me to stand up, stretch and come back to the project the next day with a fresh mind.

Off to check in with you folks now.... Jo xxxxx