Tag Archives: clothing

Tropical Jeans

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Unlike most of my sewing projects, these tropical jeans never actually entered the UFO (unfinished object) stage! I’d originally purchased a metre of this fabric to make a t-shirt, but then realised that all my t-shirt patterns required either horizontal and vertical stretch, or 40% stretch as a minimum. This fabric only had 20% horizontal stretch, so it was destined to turn into a pair of non-denim Real Deal Jeans* (can you guess this is my favourite trouser pattern at the moment?).

I will admit I fluffed the buttonhole completely – I started far too close to the edge and once I’d opened the buttonhole, I realised it just wasn’t going to be practical to use.

So, to save trying to somehow redo the waistband with the bit of fabric I had left, I decided to just zigzag over the failed buttonhole (I’ll probably add some ribbon or something over that at a later point), and add poppers instead!

Unfortunately I didn’t put the popper over far enough, so the zip is visible (oops!)

The poppers still make the waistband nice and comfy, and although I haven’t (yet) added any belt loops, I might wear a belt with these trousers just for added reassurance that the poppers won’t suddenly unpop while I’m wearing them!

I do love the way I was able to be creative with my fabric placement for the back yoke – given this was all squeezed out of a metre of fabric, I didn’t think I’d be able to be quite so picky with my layout!

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Pattern:  Real Deal Jeans* by WinterWear Designs*
Fabric: Cotton Elastane from Fashion Fabrics

Owl Button-up (finished)

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I’ve finished my Button-Up shirt! I will admit that sewing the bias bound hem on the sleeves was a bit of a nightmare….

….it caught up at points, and refused to lie flat, but it’s still wearable so I wasn’t going to unpick it all!

You wouldn’t know that shirt had poppers instead of buttons, would you? 

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Pattern: Button-Up Top*  by Winterwear Designs*
Fabric: Fashion Fabrics

Owl Button-Up (UFO)

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I’ve been wanting to make myself a shirt for a while, but the thought of all those buttons was putting me off!

Instead of tackling the buttons for my first attempt at the Button-Up Top*  by Winterwear Designs*, I decided to cheat and use poppers instead!

 

So far it’s looking suitably shirt-like – hopefully the collar won’t be too challenging to sew!

 

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Pattern: Button-Up Top*  by Winterwear Designs*
Fabric: Fashion Fabrics

Zen Chameleons

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Not content with my unfinished jeans, I decided to start another pair of trousers this week…. this fabric is the same type as the penguins, polar bears and astronomy designs and has just about the right amount of stretch to make a pair of Zen Pants* by 5 out of 4 Patterns. I bought a metre and a half this time, just in case a metre wasn’t enough, and picked out a vibrant pink for the top stitching.

I played around with the back pockets, making them a hybrid of the Zen pocket, crossed with the Real Deal Jeans pocket.

And what better way to try out my new smiley face poppers, than on the cargo pocket? This is the first time I’ve tried adding a cargo pocket to a pair of trousers, and it went surprisingly well.

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Pattern: Zen Pants* by 5 out of 4 Patterns
Fabric: Cotton Elastane from Fashion Fabrics

Real Deal Penguins!

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Ok, I know I haven’t finished my first Real Deal Jeans yet, but I spotted this penguin fabric in town the other day, and couldn’t resist seeing if it’d work for another pair of jeans.

This is a stretchier fabric than the pattern calls for, so I’ll be adding in some elastic to the waistband, just to help it keep its shape.

I didn’t do any decorative stitching on the back pockets this time, as the penguins are really all the detail it needs.

These should be really comfy to wear – I just need to get on and finish sewing them now!

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Pattern:  Real Deal Jeans* by WinterWear Designs*
Fabric: Cotton Elastane from Fashion Fabrics

 

Making my own Jeans (UFO)

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I’ve always wanted to be brave enough to make my own jeans. In fact, this year I added the Real Deal Jeans* by WinterWear Designs* to my 9 to Try in order to persuade myself to pluck up the courage to attempt them!

I decided that denim was going to be tricky on my Janome 525s – I’d struggled with it not feeding through evenly if there’s a bulky seam, and felt that denim would be a step too far as a first attempt. Instead, I found some lightweight cotton elastane fabric which looked like it might work well. I bought a metre, expecting it to be enough for a pair of shorts, seeing as the pattern says you’d need 3 metres.

As luck would have it, being petite in height and a smaller size, meant I could actually fit an entire pair of jeans on this metre of fabric!

Top stitching isn’t my favourite pastime, but I’ve made a special effort to make this as neat as possible…. even though most of it isn’t visible against the patterned fabric!

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Pattern:  Real Deal Jeans* by WinterWear Designs*
Fabric: Cotton Spandex from Sewing Studio

 

Fruit Polo Polar Bear Knot (UFO)

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I wasn’t planning on making another Knot Your Average Top* quite so soon, but when I came across some digital print Cotton Elastane in the fabric shop, I knew it was going to make a great top!

I’ve got “so far” with this top, and had to stop to try and figure out just how to make it work – I’ve added in a second layer to the top bodice part, as a ‘shelf bra’. That bit went well, but I’m trying to work out how to add in the elastic and sew the side seams neatly without getting too many lumps of crossing seams!

I think it’ll be worth the effort though, and will make a great top for the autumn, as it’s probably going to be too thick to wear on a hot summer’s day!

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Pattern: Knot Your Average Top* by 5 out of 4 Patterns
Fabric: Cotton Elastane from Fashion Fabrics

Union Street Tee (UFO)

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After trying some raglan sleeve t-shirts, I decided it was time I attempted a v-neck, and the Union Street Tee* by Hey June Handmade caught my eye.

As usual with Hey June Handmade* patterns, the instructions are really detailed, so I figured I would be able to make a super v-neck…. unfortunately, due to user error, my v-neck is currently looking rather lopsided.

As I was sewing the neckline band, I think I must have stretched one side further than the other…. unfortunately, I didn’t realise until I’d top stitched the band, so I don’t know if it’ll be possible to unpick to resew that.

Maybe I’ll just leave it wonky, and call it a design feature!

 

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Pattern:  Union Street Tee* by Hey June Handmade
Fabric: Fashion Fabrics

Ascent 2

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I know it doesn’t seem overly seasonal, but with the great British Summer approaching, you never quite know what thickness of clothing you will need! In March we had snow, then a mini heatwave in April, before temperatures of 7C again! Besides, it’s nice to have a warm fleece to wear on a chilly late spring / early summer’s evening.

Following from my first Ascent fleece, I decided to change the facing a little, to make it easier to sew. I couldn’t find a suitably chunky zip this time, so I picked out a 10″ open zip instead and just covered the end with my facing.

I used bias binding for the facing – it dawned on me that a zip wouldn’t stretch sideways, so why did the facing need to be stretchy? The bias binding was a dream to sew in comparison to the jersey I used last time, and links in the white zips as well.

The pockets have regular zips again, but I stuck with white non-concealed zips to lift the navy blue fleece. Too much of a dark plain colour can look too heavy for the person this is made for, so I felt the white zips would lighten it enough for her.

The pockets are self-lined with the fleece, and while that’s not ideal for this time of year, it’ll be perfect for Autumn and Winter, with no risk of cold hands while she’s wearing this!

If you want to be really picky, the front section doesn’t quite seem to want to hang properly – it looks like it’s a little caught up near the base of the zip. But the relative I made this for was perfectly happy with it, and once it’s being worn you really wouldn’t notice it at all.

The pattern has been adjusted for her height (or lack of!), but I added in some extra length to save needing to add a band at the base.

Pattern: Ascent Fleece* by 5 out of 4 patterns*
Fabric: Fashion Fabrics
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