Designing fabric with Spoonflower for a Jalie Charlie Bomber Jacket

I was rather thrilled to be contacted by Spoonflower recently and invited to have some fabric printed for a project of my choice. Spoonflower have a massive library of designs to choose from, or you can upload your own design for a completely unique print. 

***DISCOUNT: If you are interested in having fabric, wallpaper or giftwrap printed for your own project, you can get a 10% discount on the Spoonflower website for the next month using the code meggipeg10. The design I created for this jacket can be found here***

I immediately thought I'd like to use my Mum's artwork as the basis for the fabric design. Mum paints a lot of landscapes with a sea of flowers in the foreground. I decided to use just the flowers as the basis for the design and to make a jacket. I chose a painting with lots of blue, khaki and white so it would be wearable with lots of colours of pants and skirts.

I selected an area of flowers and photographed that part of the painting in high resolution using the close-up setting on my camera. I then used that photo to create a repeating pattern with the larger flowers at the top and bottom of the fabric, transitioning to smaller flowers in the middle. If you would like to use this print, you can find it here. I have only just set this up for sharing, so I hope it works. I had the fabric printed on Organic Cotton Sateen Ultra (see fabric types here), which is just a lovely fabric. I prewashed it before making the jacket and the colours held up beautifully.

My design as it would appear on one yard of fabric

The pattern I used was the Jalie Charlie Bomber Jacket. I have made this before in adult and child's sizes and it's a brilliant pattern.   

I added about 4cm to the length, but otherwise chose the size based on my measurements. My tip for the jacket would be that the pocket fabric will show on the outside of the jacket as the welts are cleverly formed from the pocket piece, so it's best not to use lining fabric for the pocket! I chose to use some striped ponte to match the cuffs, neckline and hem band. I love the classic look of striped ribbing on bomber jackets, but it's hard to find and this ponte does the trick just fine.

I decided to line the jacket. The pattern is unlined, but I just used the front, back and sleeve pieces to make the lining and I drew a front facing piece that was cut from the main fabric. I lined the jacket with white cotton that I had dyed blue to match the outer colours. I bagged the lining for a clean finish. There are lots of online tutorials for this.

I used a nice black and silver zip with a fancy pull from Homecraft Textiles to finish it off.

I was very pleased with the print quality and the way the design worked out. I was easily able to cut the pieces so the larger flowers were at the bottom of the jacket. I deliberately made the sleeves slightly different for a more random effect.

I could not be happier with this jacket. I love the print (thanks Mum!) and the colours will make it such a useful piece of clothing. The Jalie pattern is also very comfortable and easy to wear.

Thank you so much to Spoonflower for providing the fabric. This has been a super-fun opportunity and has definitely got my creative juices flowing to create more designs.

Don't forget to use meggipeg10 for a discount if you order from Spoonflower!

Anyone for tennis? - Jalie 3023 skirt x Virginia leggings and a Briar tee

I sewed up a storm for my Christmas presents last year and, now it's February, I am starting to recover enough to blog about it!

My sister requested a tennis outfit and emailed me very specific, illustrated instructions. Anyone who has read this blog for a while may know that my sister is not only super particular, but is also a lifetime member of the brutally honest brigade. I was feeling the pressure as I planned and sewed this outfit to her exact specifications!

The skirt was to be slightly A-line with a pleated lower back section under a second frill. It had to also have built-in shorts.

I chose stable lycra/ponte fabrics for the outer skirt in polka dots and plain black.

I used the swim skirt of Jalie 3023 as a starting point. I made a few changes to the pattern, which began with raising the waistline and adding some length. Then I cut the back pattern piece into two horizontally and created the lower frill by slashing and spreading the lower back pattern piece. The middle frill was made from a strip of black fabric cut on a curve so it only flared slightly.

Jalie 3023

I assembled the back of the skirt and added some decorative white topstitching along the seamline of the middle frill.

The box pleats are underneath the black frill.

The plain front piece was sewn to the back at the sides. Then, before I attached the waistband, I made some little, black, cotton lycra shorts using Megan Nielsen's Virginia leggings pattern (the best-fitting leggings pattern ever). The shorts and skirt were sewn together into a doubled-over waistband and hemmed with a cover stitch.

The black and white top was requested to provide some sun protection. I used the Megan Nielsen Briar T-shirt pattern and added long sleeves. The length was altered to somewhere between the t-shirt and crop top lengths. I used a lightweight, cotton knit fabric for the top and added a black neckline and decorative black topstitching on the hem and cuffs.

I was very nervous as my sister opened her present on Christmas Day, but she liked it! Then, the other day, she sent the pictures of herself in the outfit that you see here.

I was blown away. She looks amazing! OK, her legs look amazing, but the tennis outfit shows them off to perfection, doesn't it?

I was thrilled. 

And I bet no one else could concentrate on their game!

Boucle sweater knit - what a great fabric discovery!

While places in the world with seemingly endless fabric choices (Hello America) have probably been sewing with this for ages, it's a new discovery for me. And I love it! It is boucle sweater knit from 'Fashion Fabrics Club', which I found while choosing my prize for the Pattern Review jeans contest.

The fabric is the weight of fleece and is slightly fluffy inside like fleece. The outside is textured a bit like towelling and it's soft and cosy and fabulous. I've made a jumper and a jacket with my, almost 2 yard, length.

Image source

For the jumper, my inspiration was this picture (above).

I used the Briar t-shirt pattern as the basis for this. I lengthened the front and back and lowered the front hemline curve. I made the neckline higher, drafted long sleeves and added cuffs and a hemline band in black ponte.

Simple to make and cosy to wear.

With the remainder of my fabric I made a jacket using my old favourite Jalie 2795. I used black ponte again for contrast on the shoulder pieces, collar, cuffs and hip band.

I have made this pattern up many, many times. It's a great pattern but, in some of my versions (adult and child versions), the jacket was a bit short. 

Jalie 2795

This time I added 5cm to the length of the jacket. I left the pocket openings where they were so I have lovely, deep pockets in this jacket.

I also added some piping for a bit more interest. It is made from a knit remnant from Potter's Textiles and is just a folded strip of fabric, not real piping. I'm not sure if I love the piping, but it's ok. It's a bit hard to see but I doubled the cuff length. I can fold the cuffs down to the tops of my fingers on cold days.

I bought a longer zip so it would fit the new jacket length. This one was from Spotlight.

You can see the boucle fabric quite well in this picture, although it doesn't really do it justice. Oh yes, I also did a bit of quilting on the shoulder panel. 

Jalie patterns seem to have lots of little tricks for getting a great finish on garments. These pockets, for example, are so easy to make with the excellent instructions provided.

This is just the best jacket for wearing inside and out in Perth's cooler weather, where the houses are often colder inside than outside. Heating, what heating?

I've had this finished for a couple of weeks and have been wearing it non-stop. I'll certainly be looking out for more of this fabric locally in the future. I hope I find some!

A pinch and a punch - modified Jalie jeans and Burdastyle top (07/2013 #103)

One of my favourite Aussie designers is Sass and Bide (no special links, I just like them). Now and then I will waft around their airy shop, touching and examining and committing to memory my favourite designs, not to mention feeling horrified at the price tags! A couple of years ago I saw some skinny jeans called 'The Pinch'. All S&B clothes have arty farty names. I liked the interesting lines created by the white stripes. Anyway, when I saw that Pattern Review were holding a Bargainista Fashionista contest involving the creation of a garment inspired by RTW (ready to wear), I decided to have a go at making a Pinch, or perhaps a pair of Pinches, of my very own.

Picture saved from Sass and Bide website. No longer available.

Were $190 on Polyvore

I didn't want these super skinny, so I went back to an old favourite pattern, Jalie 2908. I used a modified version of the jeans which I have made before (changes explained here) and which I wear often.

I used a stretch sateen for the jeans and shop-bought bias binding for the stripes. The total cost was $17, so a saving of $173 on the original!

Just imagine the photobombing dog is a luxurious rug!

I had to think about the placement of the stripes and change the order of construction a bit so they went where they were supposed to go, under the back pockets and, the trickiest bit, across the side seams. I also redid the front stripe as I didn't like the placement when I first tried the jeans on. It was difficult to get the stripes in the same place on each leg, but I got pretty close in the end. 

The shiny fabric highlights all the wrinkles, but I quite like the effect actually.

Still imagining that rug?

I'm pretty happy with the fit, although I think my Jamie jeans provide a smoother and better fit overall, for me anyway. I'm just hoping that those stripes lengthen the legs rather than widening the hips!

Once the jeans were done, I needed to find something to wear with them. What goes with gold? Why more gold of course! Enter the twisted tank from Burdastyle 07/2013 (#103). This pattern caught my eye when I first received the magazine, but it's taken me over a year to make it.

Burdastyle Twisted Tank

Part of the dilemma involved the fabric choice. The top required two layers of light fabric. I eventually settled on the gold with a nudy brown colour for the under layer, which peeks out at the shoulders, along with my bra straps. Both fabrics are polyester chiffon.

I had read on other reviews of this pattern that the construction could be a bit tricky. I just followed the instructions and didn't have any problems. The only issue I had was that my fabrics are so delicate. This top is only for gentle outings!

I am naming this 'The Punch' to remind me not to punch anyone while wearing it and because it goes well with 'The Pinch'.

A pinch and a punch for the first month of the year. Or something.

I am very happy with both items, apart from the top being a bit delicate. I definitely feel more of a fashionista than a bargainista in this outfit. I just hope I'm getting away with it!