The Pattern:

Size + Alterations: I cut a size 6* and cheated my way out of the usual full bust adjustment by converting the pintucks into gathers and dropping the centre front 2 inches.

In a wonderful coincidence Tilly just posted a super clear tutorial on how to do this so jump on over for instructions. The only difference I made was that my gathers started at the first pintuck marking so they were more concentrated at the centre.

For the sleeves I reduced the width at the bottom by a few inches to make it a bit more practical for work (I work in hospitality so drapey things risk getting caught on equipment).

The Fabric: Printed poly crepe from Goldhawk Road at £3.50 per metre. I had been hunting for the perfect fabric ever since I saw this photo on design*sponge.

Time to Make: Do we count the two months I procrastinated over putting in the buttonholes? In all seriousness it is a lovely fast project, I can’t remember actual timings but I was helped by leaving off the pin-tucks.

New Skills: French seamed armholes, baby! And a second use of this interfacing method – stitch fusible interfacing to facing in a narrow seam, trim, turn and press leaving a non-bulky finished edge.

Favourite Features: The buttoned back and (confession time)…

… my outsourced buttonholes! After confessing to my patternmaking tutor that this was languishing in my sewing pile without buttonholes he kindly offered to do them on the college’s industrial buttonholer.

Changes for next time: I love the gathered version but it would be nice to do the pintucked one too in a simpler fabric.

First Worn: Me Made May Day 13

P.S. I’m posting my Me Made May Pics here on instagram

*Tilly’s uses a different sizing system to the big 4.

The Pattern: Jamie Christina Mission Maxi, view A

Size + Alterations: I cut a size 16 (chosen by my high bust measurement) then made a that’ll-do style of FBA, i.e. I fudged it from a few different tutorials on the interwebs. I didn’t want a side seam bust dart as this is jersey so rather than sew the one created by the FBA I just eased the excess into the back pieces at the side seams. To my great surprise it actually worked!

The Fabric: Oh this fabric! It was lust at first sight. I’d already found a nice classic navy at a previous shop when I spied this origami paper style print at Classic Textiles on Goldhawk Road and to make it even better it was only £3.50 per metre and is super soft.

Time to Make: So fast, I cut out the night before then sewed it together in an hour or two the next morning.

New Skills: Attatching a knit binding – the instructions are awesome for this.

Favourite Features: So quick, so neat, so easy, so comfy.

Changes for Next Time: Adjust the back piece to hide bra-straps.

‘scuse the scrunched up face – the glare was out of control!

First Worn: On holiday back home and many times since.

Now with that out of the way, let me show you my second ever* wearable knitting project – the free Gaptastic Cowl pattern from Jen Geigley on Ravelry.

I learnt to knit as a six-year-old during a short stint at a Rudolf Steiner school (we even made our own wooden knitting needles!) but for years it was always a back-burner craft. But once I started seeing this lovely and simple pattern popping up on the likes of Tasia and Kelli I knew a return to the needles was imminent.

The wool and needles came from a small shop on Walthamstow market (narrow store front on the left not too far down) I used 2x 150g skeins in a lovely mauvey colour and being a novice I didn’t realise this yarn was way less chunky than described. To compensate, I used smaller 6.5mm circular needles and cast on 191 stitches rather than the 131 in the instructions. It worked out just right for wrapping around the neck twice.

Also, it must look close to the original inspiration because when my sister saw it she said it looked just like a cowl she bought from Gap a couple of years ago. (insert happy-dance here).

Here it is with a magazine for scale.

It was pretty slow going as I mostly used time on the bus and tube for knitting keeping home-time for sewing.

I managed to get the last stitch in while standing on the tube platform at Heathrow, just in time for my flight home to New Zealand. It was perfect to snuggle into on the plane, but I definitely didn’t need it once I landed.

Auckland and Melbourne certainly put on quite a show. It was so nice to be home and great to visit Melbourne – I just wish I had longer. Still I got to have coffee in Melbourne with the lovely Leith and managed to score some lovely fabric from Rathdowne including 2 meteres of this gorgeous bird print silk (any suggestions for what to make?).

But back to the cowl – I already have wool for a second version in my favourite colour…

*First wearable item… the worlds biggest pom-pom hat.

The Pattern: Sewaholic 1203 Thurlow Trousers

Size + Alterations: I made a size 16 with a 1/2 inch added to each of the side and in-seams and 1 inch to the length. I left off the belt loops as I wouldn’t wear a belt with these anyway and lastly I made a mistake with the waistband (more on that later) so the pointed edge is outermost on these.

The Fabric: Mustard (the cooler khaki) Cotton Sateen from Walthamstow Market. Navy gingham for the lining.

Time to Make: Much quicker than I thought – I started cutting them out about 4pm and worked until 10pm then finished them in the morning so all up about 8 hours including cutting out.

New Skills: Welt Pockets and inserting a front fly – very glad I made a muslin first as there is still a bit of practise to be done.

Favourite Features: As always Tasia’s instructions are one of the best – I know I can follow them blindly step-by-step and it’ll all come together. Other bits I like – navy gingham and mustard is one of my favourite combinations. Discovering that a blind-hem foot can be adapted for edge-stitching on the cuffs.

Ch-ch-ch-changes:  The seat still needs a little more room and I think I need to transfer a bit from the vertical part of the crotch curve to the horizontal at the front. I also, totally faffed-up the waistband/fly – NB: when the pattern piece says ‘cut 1 right side up’ it’s talking  about the pattern paper not the fabric – doh! This meant that my left and right waistbands (each has it’s own pattern piece) are reversed. I made do and put the pointed piece on the outside but I had to improvise because the length wasn’t sufficient for finishing the top edge of the fly facing.

First Worn: Around home – it’s fricking freezing out there!

Repeatability: Definitely. I have some grey suiting ready to go for the full length version.

Sew Grateful: Tasia for making all the new techniques straightforward and un-intimidating. Lauren for her amazing sew-a-long posts and inspiration.

roxanne blouse – victory patterns // orla kiely pleated collar blouse via wishwishwish

orla kiely aw13  via memoirmode // sublime stitching forest friends embroidery design // vintage sweater via etsy

orla kiely aw13 via wishwishwish // burdastyle march 2013 brocade dress with petersham ribbon

orla kiely aw13 via wishwishwish // kurt geiger daphine t-straps in black + nude

orla kiely aw13 via betty magazine // burdastyle january 2013 calf length coat // margot tenenbaum

Orla Kiely Presentation LFW AW/13 from James Hatt on Vimeo.

Other thoughts this week:

• Lots of love to everyone for the thoughtful comments on my bombshell bodice – made me all warm and fuzzy!
• I’ve been on holiday this week which equalled lots of instagram time-wastage
• Gertie released two new patterns for Butterick and announced a second book – busy lady!

• Tilly will be teaching two new classes at my local sewing store Raystitch including her very own Mathilde blouse
• Vicki’s mapping the whole damn world or at least the important sewing people in it – add yourself here

Have a lovely and peaceful weekend x

ps. want to know what the models were really typing at orla kiely…

The Pattern: BurdaStyle 07/2011 #132

Size + Alterations: I started with a size 48 but I followed Gertie’s Craftsy Course for the fitting so the actual size is anyone’s guess. I took quite a lot out of the back panels and the three-piece cup changed shape dramatically.

The Fabric: Oh, I splurged for this 1.5m of Anna Maria Horner’s Turn of Events Voile and the same of medium weight cotton  both from the lovely folks at Raystitch.

Time to Make: I was on a bit of a deadline for this project so it was quite intense. I completed it during evenings for a week and over a weekend. Using the craftsy course was great as it broke it into manageable chunks but there’s no escaping the fact that there is a lot of hand sewing and fitting involved.

New Skills: Too many to count thanks to following the course – thread tracing, draping the cups, properly underlining, boning, joining the lining by hand.

Favourite Features: The fabric is just dreamy to work with and I love the way the zipper works – I hate the feeling of a side zipper tab under my arm so I inserted it upside down. It now sits at the bottom when zipped up.

Ch-ch-ch-changes: In hindsight, I made the cups a little shallow. It fits because they are quite wide but the centre panel doesn’t sit flat on my chest. The bodice is really a work of engineering because of the weight it needs to support so next time I would trace off the cups of a well fitting bra as the starting point.

First Worn: Eek, I haven’t yet. I chickened out of wearing it to the black-tie even as it was work related and this felt a little too booby-liscious. I’m working on building up my cahones to wear it in public.

Repeatability: Well I don’t really need another for the reasons above but for the learning experience – absolutely!

Sew Grateful: Thanks to Gertie for being a kick-ass teacher on the course.

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The Pattern: Sewaholic Cambie View A

Size and Alterations: Size 14 at the shoulders grading to 16 at the waist and hips. 1 1/2 inch full bust adjustment which added side-seam bust darts.

The Fabric: Cotton Sateen purchased over a year ago on Goldhawk road. Oh yes, the magical meet-up fabric finally made it out of the stash!

Time to Make: This was much quicker than I anticipated despite having 20 darts to sew once I’d added the FBA. All up about 4 and a half hours excluding cutting it out. Though I must give a shout-out to Jen’s chaining tutorial at Grainline – serious game changer people!

Favourite Features: Too many to choose from! The pockets are genius - though I would recommend reinforcing the stitching at the top and side edges, if you’re like me and always keep your hands in them. The fabric was a dream – sturdy and dependable making it easy to sew. Also, one of the things Tasia’s patterns always excel at – neat tricks for finishing the inside as nicely as the outside.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes: I think I could have started with a size 12 at the shoulders as they are a little big and the top of the sweet heart neckline gapes. I really like the look of Tasia’s samples and I think this would make the difference.

First worn: Quarter Brief work function

Repeatability: For sure.

Day One: Planning

Remember this Louis Vuitton collection? Easy inspiration.

Louis Vuitton Fall 2010 via style.com

Another summer sewing project, this dress was made in a hurry but is still my favourite dress of the season.

From the front

The fabric was a serendipitous find from Walthamstow market at only a pound a meter. I have a sneaking suspicion it may have been a home dec cloth but this dress would not be defeated by such definitions. It has a thick slub like weft thread and a shiny warp and seems slightly mustard and green-gold depending on the light. These photos were taken in the sunny kitchen so they look more yellow.

The back – ignore the black zip – I was in hurry

The pattern is Colette’s Lily, one I overlooked in favour of the clever Hazel when the spring patterns were released. In hindsight, what a silly mistake. This pattern is fantastic, hugging all the right places and with pocket construction reminiscent of the Rooibos to top it off.

Day-Lily

I made it in a rush for a work team dinner but I’m determined to find more excuses to wear it now!