Sunday 29 December 2013

Colette 1027 Zinnia

I made this skirt for my bezzer mate as a gift for Christmas. Now that she has this gift I can post it!

This is the first time that I have made anything for anyone else and as you can imagine I was so nervous as I passed the wrapped, final product to her.

This pattern was so simple that I knew it would work as a gift and have a reasonable chance of fitting. You only need your waist size to make it, what could be simpler?

I really sailed through this one. Even though I took my time as I wanted to get it right (and I only had just enough of the fabric to make it once!). 

The fabric that I used was a Linen Cotton/Poly blend from Minerva. I went for the blend as I thought it would be easier to care for than 100% cotton. 

The only hiccup that I encountered was that the skirt was too big for the waistband. However, I remedied this by putting in some extra pleats.

I also made this small elasticated belt to go with it. I wanted to buy one, but I couldn't find anything appropriate in the shops. 

I like this skirt so much, that I think I'll have to make myself one in the not too distant future! It was a dream to sew and honestly it looks better in real life than my photos!


Back to basics with Simplicity 2906

I made this skirt a couple of weeks ago now, but for some reason I've not found the time to share it!
This pattern is part of the 'it's so easy' range from Simplicity and it really was. I think I sewed this one up in maybe 3 hours. But that's not really surprising considering that there's only 1 pattern piece.

I bought this pattern ages ago when I was just starting out, in hindsight I could have drafted my own pattern pieces!

The original pattern has this skirt really long, I guess that's for tall people, but as I'm only 5'4" I had to chop 3 inches from the pattern. This brought it, after the hem allowance, to sit on my knee. The one piece that it has was still massive and didn't quite fit on my table.



I measured this pattern, I measured it twice and I went for size 12, but my measurements were either wrong or there was too much give in the fabric I used because I had to take it in 1.5". It still feels quite loose too.

The fabric was some wool mix that I won (sounds like I got it for free ha ha!) on eBay. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it definitely has some wool in it.

I've since worn the skirt twice and I love it. It feels so feminine and flirty. It has been worn for both work and out to the pub, I can add so many tops to the outfit.

Sunday 1 December 2013

Simplicity 6020

It has been a while, but I've finally got back in to sewing and created a Simplicity 6020. This is possibly the quickest, easiest dress I've ever made.

That's not to say that I made no mistakes. It all got a little confusing when it came to the lining, when I decided to stitch it to the wrong side on the neckline! 
 
The dress is constructed with front and back princess seams that run from the bodice down through the skirt, to make a fit and flare shape.


For some reason the side zip sits funny on the dummy, but it's not too bad when it's on. I went for a lapped zip to make it look neat and I was quite impressed with how it turned out considering it was my first.

The fabric was some that I'd picked up from Pauline's on Darlington Market for about £5 per meter and I lined it with purple anti static lining.


The back is in a lovely 'v' shape, showing a little bit of black.


I love the little flowers and I'm glad I went for purple lining rather than boring old black.


However, the camera on the iPad makes it look like I used black, but it's definitely a Cadbury's shade of purple. 

I wore the dress last night when we went out for a family meal and I felt like such a lady. I'm going to have to make another of these, but next time I'd make some amendments to the bodice, the shoulders were a little wide, so I had a little gaping on the chest neckline.