2013 sewing

This year's sewing was sewing in twos and sewing wardrobe staples:.  Here are the twos:

• Two Renfrews - yellow and purple, two pairs of Sew Liberated skinny jeans in red and in blue, two staple dresses by April Rhodes, two pairs of shorts from Simplicity 5558 (thank you Phillipa)

navy shorts

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• Two Tovas - grey and white floral
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  grey tova

  
  

  

  spotty tee

  
  

  

  spotty Staple dress

  
  

  

  floral Staple dress

  
  

  

  blue Sew Liberated skinnies

Two Ottobre tunics

And sewn only once (so far)


Minna blouse from Salme patterns (unblogged)

Traveller dress from Sew Lisette
Spotty tee
Vogue green cord skirt

Most of these garments have been worn so much and become my staple everyday uniform, especially the Sew Liberated jeans and in the summer the Simplicity shorts.  The |Renfrews are slightly too big so I wear them but not as often as the Ottobre tunics which I wear and wash, wear and wash at the moment.  So  hurray for sewing wardrobe basics.

I have a few vague plans for 2014, but nothing concrete yet.  I just want to think about getting more creative,  linking sewing to my painting....returning to some form of teaching as I desperately need to earn some money!  Oh and finishing off my ufos of course!  I have recently bought the Lola pattern and the Paula pleated skirt from Maria Denmark so once the UFOs are done, those two patterns are top of my list.  

vogue skirt

Last year I learnt the value of looking after my sewing machine, reading the manual and changing the needle. Could I finally be moving away from being a slapdash sewer?  

Last year I have learnt that I have lots of ideas but I do not have the time or resources to follow them all

through. Maybe I need to focus more.  Hmmmmm...I will get to you about that. 

FO: Simplicity 2258 shorts

It's hot here and has been for over a week...for the -last week I felt I really wanted to wear shorts.  Skirts are great but not so good when I have spend  lot of time on the floor playing.  My favourite shorts are in the loft, don't ask, it's a long dull story...so there was some sewing serendipity and luck at play this weekend when the dark blue fabric sent to me last summer by Jessica, met with a pattern that I nabbed in Phillippa's giveaway. How great is that?  It's a riposte to some friends of mine who dismissed sewing clothes as "too expensive"  - these shorts cost only a couple of pounds to make if I account for the ric rac trim and elastic from my stash.

I had initially planned trousers from Jessica's fabric but then started looking at shorts a while ago.  I loved the Ruby shorts from Burdastyle .  I know, I know, all the cool sewers made these several years ago....I never promise to be uptodate!   But I felt a bit to old and tubby tummied to be able to wear them.  When I saw Phillipa's Simplicity  2258 pattern in her recent giveaway, I immediately asked for it and was very pleased when it arrived as it has good potential for adaptations.  It also has a skirt and cropped trousers in the pattern.  The knee length skirt appeals to me.  So, here are some brief review type facts:
Size: UK 10 - cut out, no alterations
Fabric and notions: dark blue linen look sent by Jessica
red giant ric rac from stash and red buttons also gifted by Jessica
Time taken:  Cut out on friday, sewed up on saturday, hemmed, buttons on and tabs sewn sunday morning
Worn: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday....can you guess how much they are filling a wardrobe gap in our current UK summer?

The pattern is only 5 pieces, including tabs for the hem and a nifty pocket lining/yoke piece which is folded after attaching to the pocket front to create a yoke and lining in one. 

At first I was stumped, looking for a separate pocket lining piece...then the penny dropped as I re-read the instructions.  Maybe I am too easily impressed but I thought this was a clever one piece pattern design and an idea I may copy in future.

I had the oversized red ric rac in my stash and used it on the pockets to add a bit of colour. I used vintage style red buttons on the tabs.  You can't see here but the buttons have pretty flowers painted on them.  As you can see I have had my little white legs out coated in factor 50!   

A massive thank to Jessica and Phillipa...I am just loving my new shorts......if you don't read their lovely blogs you should check them out!