Denim Sewing All done #18

Today I am writing my 18th all done post. Firstly I made stretch denim jeans, more on that later. I had a piece left over which Big Sis spotted so she persuaded me to make her a dungaree skirt from an Ottobre magazine. I had enough for the main pieces and then used a floral fat quarter for the facings and pocket linings. 

We bought some Prym metal buttons to make it look like the real deal. I grappled with top stitching thread which incidentally needed the tension wheel on my machine to be on 7.5 to get a smooth thread tension. She is all arms and legs this girl!

She wants the T-shirt now! No worries I love sewing for her.

The skinny jeans were a little less photogenic which is why I have written about them second. I have made some simple skinny jeans using the Sew Liberated indie pattern. If you like wearing long tops or tunic button fly jeans can leave you with a lumpy stomach, so I thought this pattern would be pretty useful.From a toile I found out that they had quite a low rise which didn't feel right so I made the body pieces longer by 2 inches. This made for a much better fit. The piece above the yoke is ribbed jersey.

It is hard, and also expensive, to get ribbed cuffing knit fabric strong enough to hold up your trousers so inside the folded over knit fabric around the waist I sewed a piece of wide elastic on a stretch stitch before I folded it in half. This made it super comfortable and a suitable waistband. They are reminiscent of the maternity jeans I wore ten years ago! 

I stitched them together with yellow thread for an authentic look and designed the pocket pattern myself by drawing free hand in chalk and then ironing the other pocket on top to mirror the image. You can simply sew the inside and outside leg seams with a straight seam or go for a flat felled seam on the inside leg and crotch for a durable, authentic finish. 

All done with this stretch denim with two good items of clothing.

In my opinion

I have used sew liberated patterns twice now and I'm afraid I am not a fan of the sizing or the shaping - they require a lot or modifications for me. The patterns are on tissue and do not have enough markings to indicate which size you are cutting. All the lines look the same and lack numbers to show which size you need. The instructions are clear and well written but I have not been happy with the end result on either these jeans or the school house Tunic without the alterations I had to make. In my top ten indie patterns Sew Liberated is near the bottom of the list unfortunately.

April ...ing

Making - Saxon mittens from my favourite knitting book.

Drinking - Rhubarb and ginger cordial.

Cooking - in batches for the freezer in case we get nice weather and I want to be outside instead of in the kitchen.

Eating - A steak salad, at home, on my own - bliss!



Wanting - Warm weather really really badly.

Deciding - How many work contracts to take on for the summer.

Fixing - The pockets on my winter coat before I put it away.

Wearing - woolly clothes still.

Enjoying - The final furlong on our king sized quilt.

Considering - My next quilt construction.

Loving - My new pin badge.



Watching - Our sheep give birth.

Thinking - How we will love living at the farm one day.

Disliking - Putting things in landfill.

Getting -  Another Skip at the farmyard (major contradiction)

Laughing - At their whispered pre-planned tricks!

 Buying - New yarn from a local producer on holiday. Swoon.

Wondering - What to do with it.

Feeling - Ready for Spring to come up and bite me on the bum!

Knitting Finish Line

A few projects have crawled over the finish line lately. They were all languishing in the basket waiting for the final finishes. A few days off over Easter has been a blessing.

The pom poms finally arrived for these hats. They are knit in seriously chunky metallics by Cygnet yarns. You can knit one in a night. I made a pattern up for each one which was dependent on using up three balls of wool: two grey and one pink. I used this FREE pattern from Ravelry called Calzetta. Big Sis' started with 48 stitches and has a small intarsisa pattern on and Little M's started with 42 stitches then used up the last of the pink in stripes.

My cousin is having a baby in May. I made this cardigan from a vintage pattern but messed around with the yarn choices a little. The body is knit with Patons DK cotton which has a mercerised firm feel. The arms and neckband, which will touch the baby's skin, are made using Cottony by Cygnet yarn - it is soooo much softer.

I had a few packets of these vintage buttons given to me last year in a big bag of old craft stuff from an elderly relative. There were ducks, butterflies, flowers and these cute elephants.

OK, I can distract myself no more with quick fix projects - back to that moss stitch on the back of my winter sweater!

Hope you are having a relaxing weekend. 

Jo xxx

A Surprisingly....

....Woolly post for this time of year but our kitchen floor is still freezing cold and those girls' white socks won't wash themselves. 

 

These are a pair of natty homemade plush slippers using a kit from Prym. You can buy a pair of pre-prepared soles along with a paper pattern all in a little kit. The way you add the top is up to your creative self. There are instructions for crochet, knitted or quilted tops but of course we went for something different - we are a bit like that!

Big Sis had a Jack Wills sweater, albeit second hand, and she loved it - then I seriously shrunk it. We decided the best way to pay homage to her favourite jumper was to turn it into slippers.

You need to trace off the pattern not cut it out otherwise you'll cut the instructions into small pieces - we know because we did that! I ensured that the knitted pattern would be the same(ish) on each foot. Next we lined the boiled wool to stop it feeling itchy and added pull on grosgrain ribbon loops.

Choosing a needle to complete the hand sewing is crucial. It needs to be sharp enough to go through a few layers but have a big enough eye to take some tapestry wool or your chosen thread.

 It took just over an hour to sew them.

 I really would have liked to have been making something more Spring like but there you are - we are still cold!

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xxxx

Cable Twist Bed Socks

Cafe knitting is still going strong. They know me now on a Thursday. Walking in, they bring me a cappuccino without me even asking. It is the best coffee I have all week. It is good to have a craft-on-the-go project in a zippy bag. Every Thursday I have an hour to kill between work appointments and sock knitting fits the bill perfectly.

These cable knit socks were easy to do but gave a little knitting interest. The yarn is actually Sirdar snuggly four ply which was given to me about six years ago in a gargantuan quantity, probably about ten balls. My mum and I have used it to knit little girl things over the years but my girls have outgrown this kind of pink now so I am using up what is left over to make bed socks as pressies. 

The pattern is FREE from Colourful life and Christina's sock patterns are easy to follow and I highly recommend them.

I got distracted on sock number two and started some new projects. I had to hunker down and do a few more rows wherever I could. I even had a beer in a cafe whilst waiting for a friend one Friday evening. 

Got there eventually! These ones are going into the present chest ready for Christmas(Smug!)They are sporting these rather natty paper bands sourced free online which you can find here.

They are for my friends daughter who will be 18 this Christmas. I have made many things for her over the years, some of which I have had to stand a bit of friendly teasing for, so this band makes a fun finishing touch.

I am sure she won't mind me modelling them just this once, they were so snuggly, it was hard to prise them off.

Thanks for dropping by. Jo xxx

PS. Not knitting related but please, please go and look at a make on this blog - it is awesome!

Kalle Shirt Dress

As part of my new years resolution to try out some Indie sewing patterns, this month I have chosen the Kalle Shirt dress by Closet Case from Minerva to share with you.

First up, I must confess, I made a huge cutting error right from the start. The pattern is very versatile and has a selection of choices on one sheet. I accidentally cut the front of the dress and wait for it... the back of the tunic - it was so short at the back I didn't know what to do especially as it has a shirt hem. It is a bit ironic as the dress has a hem with a long back and short front - mine was the other way around! Anyway more on that later...

The 100% cotton fabric was a joy to work with and is just right for a UK summer dress and for this pattern. It is a lightweight cotton canvas with plenty of  movement and drape. It would make a great skirt, shift dress or capri trousers too. I cut it with pinking shears and hardly used my overlocker because most of the seams are cleverly concealed on this pattern.

To construct the yoke you use the burrito method, apparently. It is mighty tricky to understand the instructions for this unless you label your cut pieces adequately...Which is what I did the second time! You birth the whole dress through the neck hole and have an encased double yoke.

I took my time with the collar: to ensure that they were absolutely even I measured and drew on a sewing line with a 5/8" seam allowance. I recommend doing this with any collar. Ta dah! perfectly symmetrical collars.

Really impressed myself there...

Again marking your pieces will enable you to have the under collar on the bottom and the upper collar on the top. The under collar is slightly smaller therefore it stays rolled underneath as shown.

Now back to that hem. I tried cutting them both to the tunic length but in truth it was too short for what I wanted before I had even turned it under. In the end I had to kind of make a bit of a feature of it and have a different hem. I had some left over from clever cutting out therefore I added a band to give it the length I wanted along with some top stitching. The grainline is going the other way but it looks like it is supposed to be like that.

I am satisfied with the end result, if a little miffed with my initial mistake.

As part of my 2018 craft resolutions - I used the buttonhole foot to make five button holes. It is so easy and on my machine, it is all automatic. 

Overall it is the dress I want for airplane travel for our holiday to France in May. A cardy and tights will see me through until then.

Thanks Minerva. Jo xxxx

Closet Case patterns

In my opinion...
I am tagging this one as one of my 2018 resolutions. Closet File patterns are American so I don't always feel too confident about sizing; measuring yourself is a must. The instruction booklet is photographed and clear for intermediates. I think it is a step too far for beginners. No tracing is required but the pattern has layered multiple styles on it which is how I made my error. The pattern is on tissue paper with seam allowances included. The packet is not over complicated or costly. They are expensive but give long lasting styles and in this case more than one garment on this one which I feel is worth the investment. The modelling imagery does not rely on overly slim models which I like too.