International Anna Party!

Hello!

Look at me going crazy and doing two posts in a week. There is a very good reason for this though, I made a dress with a deadline. I joined Elle, Ute, and Pip‘s International Anna Party competition to celebrate the marvellous work of By Hand London. I have made two Annas before to a moderate amount of success, but one was too small and the other a bit big. I had graded up and got the bodice right but had never managed to get the skirt pieces to properly match the bodice.

I had quite a tight deadline for this one, so decided to follow the lead of many other people and use a simple gathered skirt instead of the seven gored Anna skirt. I obviously used the rectangle for the ESP skirt as I like the amount of poofery in it and used the pockets for that too. An Anna with a gathered skirt isn’t quite as dramatic as the original, but if you have a bit of a tummy, it’s a lot easier to wear, and a LOT easier to make.

Swish

What is exciting about this one is the fabric. I got some lovely gauzy…. errr…. cotton? gauze? stuff? with purple fluffy knobbly bobbles (so technical) from the Knitting and Stitching show earlier in the year. It’s so light and airy and soft, it’s like wearing a mint green dream. It’s lush. It’s a very loose weave and quite see through so I lined it with some hand dyed hot pink cotton batiste. I even hand sewed the lining bits, as this dress was FANCY. I don’t really know what occasions it is suitable for: where can one go and wear a posh frock, but also flash their pink lining to everyone?! It’s very hard not to do loads of twirls and pink flashes in.

This dress is the softest most comfy party dress known to man. My bust darts are a bit weird, (I ironed them to the side instead of flat) but I don’t mind as I can just swoosh and twirl around all day regardless.

Did you enter the #internationalannaparty? There were some glorious makes there. Check it out on instagram for some annaspiration!

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A nautical ESP and fabric shopping in bonnie Scotland

Hi Chaps!

The sign on the stairs in Glasgow’s fabulous Tenement House: can Mrs Toward do miracles??

I’m back from the BEST week in sunny (well, alright, changeable) Scotland. My husband and I went up on the sleeper train and took in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow on our travels. I also managed to do some fabric shopping in Glasgow, and meet up with super lovely fellow sewist Shirley who took me for a little trip to a great place selling super cheap liberty prints (£8 a metre!).

I took quite a lot of me-made clothes on my holidays, including my latest make which is, unsurprisingly, another ESP.

Here I am looking jaunty on a bridge over the Clyde in Glasgow

I don’t have much to say about this that is different from my previous E.S.P apart from the fact that I did try to lower the neckline by extending the width at the top of the shoulder piece. However, once I had sewed it up, I realised I hadn’t also enlarged my facings, and being incredibly lazy, I just sewed it back up with a much larger seam allowance so the facings fit, instead of drafting new facings. I am the actual worst. However somewhere along the line some magic happened and the neckline is a little bit lower and more comfortable. I obviously can’t repeat this as it is borne out of bodging, but it makes this dress supremely comfortable.

It’s made from a lovely quilting cotton from Moda called More Hearty Good Wishes and features line drawings of boats. It was also pointed out to me that from a distance, they look like suspension bridges which is very excellent.

It was very comfy for wearing around GLORIOUS Glasgow and for doing a spot of fabric shopping in. I only went to Fabric Bazaar and Mandors (OMG Mandors is fabric heaven) which I can heartily recommend but there is a great guide to Glasgow fabric shopping by the wonderful Kestrel Makes, here. It seems to me that fabric shopping in Glasgow is a lot better (by which I partly mean cheaper!) than London. Mandors was magic, full of gorgeous discounted Liberty (what is it with Scotland selling Liberty at half the price of, errr, Liberty?!) and other brands. I got some fabulous floral John Kaldor satiny stuff and a couple of Liberty prints for a tenner a metre. Sadly, tragically, the houses one is for a shirt for Robin. It would make the BEST ESP dress yet.

Luckily, I had already bought myself some Hyderabad Madras Check Liberty for an ESP, so you don’t have to weep for me too much.

I also bought 4m of this amazing giraffe pattern rayony stuff, probably for a Southport maxi, but maybe for some Alexandria peg trousers and a matching cropped t-shirt. As I’m typing this I think that actually might need to happen.

What do you think I should make with my satin and my green Liberty print?! I have 1.5 metres of each…..

I do promise I will make something other than ESPs soon, maybe, but for now I’ll leave you with another pic of this dreamboat dress.

The E.S.P wonderdress

HELLOOO

It’s been a month since I posted here last, huge apologies. I’ve been working all hours on (amongst other things) a majorly exciting project at work crowdsourcing LGBTQ heritage. If you are so inclined, read about it here and (long shot!) if you know of any interesting queer historical places, map them on our interactive map here!

But enough of that, back to sewing. I am now getting back to having some stitching time in the evenings, and I am delighted to say, I have been using it very well indeed. I had been having some instagram chats with the wonderful Decades of Style about the cost of postage to the UK because I so desperately wanted their Given a Chance Dress but at the time shipping was extremely expensive. When they told me they had found a cheaper shipper (is that the right word?!) who could post as many patterns as I wanted at a flat rate of $15 dollars, I ordered the Given a Chance dress, and thought I might as well order the E.S.P pattern too because I had seen Tanya at Mrs Hughes make some really glorious versions and wanted some of that action for myself.

When the patterns arrived I fully intended on making the Given a Chance dress first and had been musing on various different yoke/dress combos and then I met my mum for dinner after work. She had made the classic mistake of having a bit of time to kill, and popping into the haberdashery department of John Lewis. Despite generally being a bit horrified by the size of my fabric stash she found a fabric she couldn’t resist and so kindly bought me 3m of this beauty…..

You might not be able to see it here but the flowers are actually a very pale pink and it’s gorgeous. I’m not sure what kind of fabric it is, some kind of cotton blend with  both body and drape, and it’s brilliant. I knew it had to be an E.S.P. And so it became this….

Musing on my stash never getting any smaller

The biggest size was bust 46″ and waist 40″ with little wearing ease. My full bust is 51″ and my waist 45″ so I did the rarest of rare things and made a muslin of the bodice. This told me I needed to add a bit of length to the bodice and a 1 inch FBA. I did not incorporate this into the darts so it also added 2 inches to the waist.I also graded out the waist by another 3 inches at the side seams, and added an inch to each skirt piece. IT WORKED! I cannot believe it!

My final bodice piece and a sneak peek of the fabric I used for ESP number 2

The legendary muslin

Once muslined, this pattern went together like a dream. It’s really well drafted.

Nice work me on the zip and nice work wind on the swoosh

The neck is finished with facings which I don’t really like but are necessary for this nice crisp square neckline and they do go in quite easily. I did slightly over clip my corners though and have to hand stitch a hole up, so don’t be too overzealous!

The neckline is really high, so if you are bothered about things around your neck you might want to lower it a bit. There is a great tutorial on Gmariesews  who asked the lovely Decades of Style about how to do this. I only found out about it after I had made a VERY bodgy attempt to lower the neckline on the second version, so will use these instructions on E.S.P. number 3. Yes I do like it that much. It’s supremely comfortable, is a really stylish slightly loose but flattering silhouette, and is great for showing off prints and for using quilting cottons with. I think this is definitely my first tried and true pattern and I am SO happy about it! I’ll leave you with a few more pics of me swishing around merrily in it.

P.S, I obviously didn’t press the bust darts properly before my ‘modelling’, they really aren’t that prominent in real life, I promise!

 

 

 

True Bias Southport Dress (Or the Lytham St Anne’s)

Yes, I’m a styleman and I’m pronto a vestir

Hello! Look at me blogging about a recently released pattern. I’m so cutting edge! I’m so pronto a vestir! I’ve just come back from my first wedding anniversary holiday in Portugal which was berilliant. We went to Lisbon and Porto and a bit of seaside in between and it was ace. I took a lot of me made clothes on my holidays and they wore very well. You might recognise this previous make on location in Porto…

I made a couple of True Bias Southports especially for the holidays. It’s a brilliant pattern that I have blogged about in its maxi dress format over on the Curvy Sewing Collective so I won’t repeat everything I have said again. Do go over and have a look at it there if you have time, as there are some useful comments from others who have made it too.

What I will say is the short version is pretty short and the skirt pieces have considerably less ease than the maxi dress version so whereas I could fit into the biggest size (18) of the maxi dress view with no problems at all despite my measurements being a lot larger than the recommended ones, I probably should have added a couple of inches to the width of each skirt piece of this one, as well as adding about 4 inches to the length. As you can see, if I hadn’t lengthened it it would have been a bit indecent on me!

I added a couple of inches to the length of the front bodice piece and did a tiny FBA: in this thick quilting cotton I could probably have done with adding a bit more ease. However I do like tight clothes and I like this dress a lot.I sewed down the placket and just sewed buttons on top to avoid a)  any gaping and b) having to sew buttonholes. I’m lazy and I don’t care! Here is a terrible picture of my buttons.

And here is me sitting in a chair in our hotel room. Fascinating huh? Please excuse the giant bruise on my knee: I fell off a stationary bicycle just before my holiday!

Here it is ‘on location’…

Here is a selfie with me wearing a jacket. Don’t say that this dress isn’t versatile. Oh In case you are wondering about the Lytham St Anne’s reference: my mum said the dress should be named after L St A’s instead of Southport as it’s a ‘much nicer area and much more befitting of your dress!’. I’m pretty sure this dress wasn’t named after a small town in Merseyside, but I would like to think it was!

I used a Cotton and Steel Black and White Collection quilting cotton for the top half and a Kona solid for the bottom. I was a bit peeved that the black in the Cotton and Steel fabric wasn’t nearly as black as the Kona (despite being from a collection whose sole selling point was the joy of black and white) but I don’t think it matters in the finished version.

Ta da! Contrast pockets how I love thee. Also manic faces.

I think it’s a pretty chic little dress that I will wear a lot. I’m planning on making a slightly more graded up and slightly longer version next, plus another tropical print maxi version. It’s a breeze to make and comfy to wear. Also, the straps cover your bra straps. It’s a miracle. Oh and the neck and sleeves are finished with a jazzy yellow bias binding for a pop of colour. Well, I couldn’t be entirely monochrome could I?!

Emily and Zippy a l’orange

Hello!

How are you? It’s sunny here in England, which is good, because my mood is very dark. I shan’t bang on about it, but OMG we have the worst government ever and they are going to destroy everything we hold dear and all my faith in humanity. I’m moving to Scotland.

Right, now I’ve got that off my chest, let’s get back to fashions.

First of all, some VERY EXCITING news! I have been asked to become an editor of the Curvy Sewing Collective, so will be blogging there much more regularly. I am so delighted by this as I think it is the most inspiring, helpful and friendly sewing site out there, and the ladies who run it are my total sewing heroines. It’s like being asked to sit with the cool girls at school dinners. I will be blogging my beginner’s experiences, pattern reviews and general opinion pieces, so if there is anything you would like to see me write about, just shout.

Secondly, I have made some very summery things.

YES! Culottes!

Here I am ‘modelling’ a See Kate Sew Zippy Top and Itch to Stitch Emily Culottes. They are both brilliant patterns and I think go rather jauntily together.  I made the Zippy top in 2xl in some slightly jailbirdy seersucker, and took the sleeves in a bit as I have no shoulders.

The not so wearable muslin

It was ok, but a little tight on the hips and I wasn’t so keen on the fabric. I made the next one is some lovely floaty, super fine, soft and drapey orange stuff I bought ages ago and added an inch on to the hips of each piece. I was a bit confused when I made it as the front piece is significantly shorter than the back piece, but it all seemed to work out fine when I sewed it together.

The above picture caused a bit of panic. The shirt has a groovy zip at the back which is good because I may have ordered lots of zip bundles from ebay, and I might just have about 70 metal toothed zips….

I do need to get better at sewing this in straight though

I used some top stitching thread for the first time just to have a go (I know this isn’t really the right fabric, but I wanted my stitching to match the zip)

Smart straight lines for once

This top is super comfy and I will probably make a few more, both with and without the zip. I am really enjoying sewing with lots of drapey materials at the moment. Oooooh they feel so nice.

Talking of which: SPOONFLOWER SILKY FAILE

I can’t describe how lovely this stuff is

I bought this fabric ages ago vaguely with a dress in mind, but at $24 dollars a yard (not even a metre!) plus international shipping I only bought two, which isn’t really enough for most plus size frocks. So it lingered in my ‘most special fabrics’ box until the Emily culottes pattern came along. And it is perfect for them.

I made the largest size (20) in my weird starchy heavy polycotton wearable muslin fabric knowing full well that it would be about 6 inches too small round the waist and three inches too small round the hips judging by the size chart. Why did I do this you may ask? The answer is, laziness. I couldn’t be bothered to grade it up for the muslin because I had seen lots of pictures of other people’s culottes and it seemed to have a LOT of ease. So I thought I would give them a try as I like my clothes quite tight anyway, and see what happened. And yes, they are a bit tight around the middle, but they are actually quite wearable and very smart. The starchy fabric makes them very angular and jaunty which I like.

Off to work selfie with Style Arc Rosie top

I made the version with the pleat and lengthened the pattern by about 4 inches

I also used this muslin to try out my first ever welt pockets, sliced through my fabric to release the welt and lived to tell the tale. They are so not perfect, but I am THRILLED with them. LOOOK!

Groovy collage of welts

For the second pair in the glorious, soft, smooth, drapey and lovely to sew silky faille from Spoonflower (I will be bulk buying next time they have free international shipping) I added half an inch into both front and back pattern pieces adding an extra two inches overall, and they are PERFECT. 6 extra inches were not needed. I did also lower the crotch on this pair by about a centimetre, I might lower it by another cm in my next pair just to have a little more room for my bum and tummy, but this is fine.

I omitted the welt pockets for speed. You can also add cute patch pockets which I will try and the pattern allows for lots of different lengths and a version without a front pleat. The instructions are quite clear and simple to follow. I am so pleased with these. They are comfy, flattering and mean I can have cool bare legs in summer without the dreaded ‘chub rub’ of my thighs. I shall be making more!

Oh and if you wondered where I am for these pictures, it’s the London Wetland Centre in Barnes, where we got married just about this time last year! We went for a little stroll down memory lane: it’s so beautiful. I recommend it heartily to anyone living in or staying in London. I’ll leave you with a few of the things we saw, including A BABY MOORHEN and OTTERS!

One little thing

I have just one thing to say to you. If you live in the UK or are a British citizen elsewhere, please please go out and……

Spring sewing

Hello everyone,

This is a bit of a bonza blog entry because I have been making loads of things and entirely failing to blog about them. I do put lots of stuff up on my instagram, so do follow me there if you are so inclined. I’m sparkleface100.

So what have I made? Loads more stuff for others. I need to stop doing it and be more selfish! I need some warm weather clothes. And some more work clothes. However, I love all the things I have made. Especially things for babies. Babies really do get all the good stuff don’t they?

First up, not for babies, but also kind of for babies is a breastfeeding top for a dear friend. I used the Golden Rippy Cinnabar Sky pattern in a suitably baby sick coloured jersey. Its a very cute and easy to make pattern and though I am not breastfeeding, I think I will make a maxi dress version for myself. You can just sew up the gaps, and the ballerina style wrap top is very cute. Here is is, suitably functionally modelled!

Next up, a VERY jazzy outfit for the baby himself. This is in the same fabric I made husband’s t-shirt in: a super soft (and horrendous to sew) jersey. It’s a Simplicity Pattern I think,  I will check the number if anyone needs it. I made a babygro and matching hat (not pictured). I think he is going to look very fancy. As as his grandfather said to me at his christening: no one will question who made it for him!

Finally I made the cutest T-shirt ever (if I do say so myself) for a second birthday present for an April (showers) born little boy. I used half a metre of amazing Kitschy Coo organic jersey, and I want to be able to fit into it myself. It’s dreamy, and was lovely to sew. Here we go!

In other news, as well as sewing things for Other People, I’ve been helping Other People sew things for themselves. My awesome friend Anna came round yesterday and made a very cute nautical woven t-shirt (New Look 6217: highly recommended as a beginner pattern) from scratch in three hours including tracing and cutting. I was so impressed. Anna can use a sewing machine and has done some alterations before, but had never made an item of clothing herself. And here she is sewing and modelling. I’m definitely going to make a few of these T-shirts myself.

Time to stop appearing saintly.

Confession time: I have ENTIRELY failed to stick to my pledge to not buy any more fabrics. I decided I did not have nearly enough summery fabrics and have used this for justifying buying many more fabrics. I’m not buying at the same rate as I was last year, and I have been making some good inroads into my stash, but there is no denying it, I have entirely FAILED at my New Year’s resolution. But oh, oh oh, look at the pretty things I have bought of late.

Swoon (shamefacedly)

Right. On that embarrassed note I shall love you and leave you. I have also made some lovely things for myself (using stash fabrics, yes!) that I shall post very soon. Until then, happy sewing xxx

The long (face) and the shorts of it.

Hello!

Two blog posts in a week. I’m on FYAH! Today’s post is about some fancy pants shorts I made for my dear husband. I thought that these were the least I could do to thank him for putting up with me commandeering half the lounge with all my sewing contraptions and fabrics (we haven’t been able to have a dinner party for months) and also for taking all my blog photos. He is a colourful man who cycles a lot and so Ikea was the obvious choice for a hard wearing (furnishing) and cheery fabric! We got a corker, but it’s so corking I didn’t want to chop it up to make some shorts before I had practiced making some. So far the nearest thing to trousers/shorts/things to wear on the legs I have made are pyjamas and my plan was to make the super trendy and rather advanced Thread Theory Jedediahs. So I needed a practice. And lo! the rather stylish but extremely cheap navy blue linen blend something or other was used. I can’t remember where it was from, but it was a bargain. Maybe Regency Rags? God I love Regency Rags. Everything is so cheap, and good quality and comes so quickly.

Anyway……..

SHORTS

My husband is the least willing model ever. I’ve seen quite a few pictures of bloggers’ boyfriends and husbands modelling things made for them looking a bit uneasy or stiff. But THIS is the best I could do and I really think takes the biscuit….

Such sadness

The shorts are a bit scrumpled because he has been wearing them all the time and they are linen, so here are a couple of pictures of them on a less unwilling model: a clothes hanger.

I learnt SO MUCH in making these and though my top stitching is a little wobbly to say the least (excellent choice to use white thread on navy for my first attempt at decorative top stitching. So visible!) and I put the button hole in vertically instead of horizontally, but apart from that, I think they are pretty triumphant. I’m thrilled with them. I learnt how to make a proper waistband, bind my seams, do a zip fly, do top stitching, flat fell seams and make proper slash pockets. And they have a cute contrast pocket bag. Look!

So pretty

I found the pattern instructions in the booklet a bit hard to follow. There aren’t that many diagrams and I am just not sure I liked the way things were explained. HOWEVER there is an absolutely awesome sewalong on the Thread Theory website. These instructions are brilliant, comprehensive, friendly, there’s loads of photos and even a video with Morgan being super shy and nervous which is really helpful to show how to do a zip fly which I was scared about until I did.

The pattern is also just COOL. The shorts are a very stylish shape and look awesome with the turn ups and bound seams. The opportunities for doing fancy top stitching on the pockets are endless though I like the off centre mountain ranges they give you a pattern for.

BUM

You wouldn’t believe it, but Robin is very happy with his shorts and I am assured they are very comfy for cycling in. They also haven’t fallen apart, which I am delighted about as Robin cycles a LOT. The Jedediahs are awesome, and I would urge anyone who knows a man of any kind to make some because they are so fun. I also wonder whether girls could wear them, because they actually have quite a feminine shape with room for thighs. Has anyone tried?? I really enjoyed all the little details and different activities and tasks in making them. I’m already looking forward to making the second jazzy pair, and as you can see, so is Robin, the little ray of sunshine that he is….

Such a natural. Really selling those shorts…

Against real beauty

My first ever reblog and it’s a good one.

Stickler.

this post gets pretty communist #sorrynotsorry

Here are some things I would like advertisers to stop doing:

• Showing me a flawless 18-year-old butt in a $5 pair of panties and tell me its empowering because it’s not Photoshopped.
•  Asking me to choose “beautiful” or “average” and then explain my choice.
• Telling me what physical features “real women” do or do not have.
• Showing me a picture of a woman who is radical only for being comfortable with herself and expect a gold star for progressive thinking.
• Using the word “real” to sell me underwear or soap or goddamn douche.

There’s actually very little difference between a lingerie ad featuring the Victoria’s Secret angels and a body wash ad using pictures of some perfectly lit women who have cRaZy things like a little belly flab or freckles and yet dare to say they’re beautiful. Why? Because the link between aesthetics and value survives. (Nothing new under the…

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Anna goes to Camden and Hastings

Hello!

I’ve made some frocks! I finally got round to making the legendary By Hand London Anna dress and did some serious experimenting with pattern grading. I think I had to add about 8 inches on to the bust, waist and hips of the largest size (sigh) and I lengthened the bodice two inches on the second one I made. It must be said this was not entirely successful. Pattern grading is something I am really going to have to get my head round as being 5 foot 10 and large all over, I’m very often bigger than the biggest size in the the indie labels and well, I WANT TO WEAR COOL THINGS DAMMIT.

In a cool thing

I know that pretty much everyone has to make adjustments to their patterns, but it’s annoying to have to both grade and adjust, and not really be sure how those two things relate. As a beginner I find it hard to know if I have graded every piece correctly and then if I make adjustments on top of that, I often lose track of if what I am creating is anything like the original pattern. However, nuff moaning. These two dresses aren’t perfect, but they still look like Anna dresses don’t they?

Hooray, I’m by the seaside!

I made the nautical print one first in a very cheap polycotton from Chawla’s . As is often the way, I think I like my wearable muslin more than my actual dress. It’s a bit tight round the tummy and bunches up round the bust but it looks awesome, huh? Here I am wearing it for my Dad’s 64th birthday lunch in Camden.

Me and Pops

I graded up the bodice really well I think, but didn’t add quite enough to each of the pieces of the seven gore skirt, so the skirt was to small to attach to the bodice. Being the idiot that I am, I didn’t unpick and re sew the skirt pieces  with a small seam allowance, but instead took in the waist with some random extra darts. The joys of a busy fabric and under bust pleats mean I can kind of get away with such amateurishness. Well, that and being an amateur!

Bodge darts

This did however make it too tight, so the bodice rides up constantly. And I can’t breathe so well when it’s pulled down. And I need to pull it down as the bodice is too short anyway. It generally looks kind of empire line when I wear it hitched up under my boobs. But it’s lovely, I love the shape and IT’S MY FIRST EVER FULLY LINED DRESS! I’m so proud. It’s lined with a lovely light cotton batiste which was way more expensive than the ‘fashion fabric’ but means it’s cool, breathable and not see through. I’m happy.

The second Anna is also nice, but I’m not actually sure it’s as flattering as my ill fitting cheapo first attempt. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t also function as a corset! This one is made with a lovely poly crepe de chine from Croft Mill. When I say lovely, I mean it looks lovely but frays and presses like a bugger. It was quite hard to work with, but I french seamed everything and it turned out ok, if you don’t look at the shiny bits where I ironed it without a press cloth.  This was unlined with an annoying facing (are facings ever not annoying?!) that was very hard to press properly but that is not the fault of the pattern. I think I just hate facings and want to line everything. I graded up the skirt pieces a bit more (but still not quite enough as the bodice bags out a bit over the waist seam) and added a couple of inches to the bodice length which is much more suitable, but maybe I like the empire line look? Anyway, here it is.

 

I think I could do with lowering the under boob pleats half an inch and taking the hem up a good inch or two, but it’s pretty much there. I just need to add about another half inch over the skirt pieces (ah, tiny maths fractions) and I have a workable me sized Anna pattern. I love it as much as everyone else does and I think I will make a lot of these dresses. Next up is a teal maxi dress rayon version. I just hope the fabric is a bit less clingy in the breeze!

 

Not such a winning look

I’m very sad that I finally got round to making my first By Hand pattern just as the wonderful women announced they could no longer afford to run their business full time. I was so saddened and shocked by this news, as I thought that if anyone could do it, they certainly could. Their patterns are so fantastic but it’s tough out there, even for the most talented, creative and entrepreneurial. I am really pleased that they are going to continue releasing PDF patterns (inappropriately timed request: please extend your size range a few inches!) and will look forward to their latest designs.  This really is as brilliant a pattern as everyone says, and was a good pattern to practice grading on. It’s simple, chic and stylish and easy to adapt. I’m looking forward to shamelessly copying gorgeous Idle Fancy and making one with a gathered skirt in future.

A tale of two Annas. Also, they look a LOT better on than on the hanger don’t they?

So which version do you prefer? Have you graded up any patterns? Will I ever be rigorous and accurate enough to do it properly? Or shall I bodge always?!