Jumpers - Burdastyle 02/2016 #121, Named Talvikki and Vogue 8962

As we approached the end of winter in Perth, I was all ready to begin my summer sewing. However, the cold weather dragged on and on through spring this year, so I decided to make just one four more jumpers to wear. I'm so pleased I did, these have been worn constantly over the last few weeks.

First up, this one from the February 2016 issue of Burdastyle magazine. This is the 'High Collar Sweatshirt', No. 121. I loved this design in the magazine and was so keen to make it, when I rediscovered it recently, that I did so despite the fact that I didn't have the collar zips. I assume the zips are there as a practical and decorative feature. Luckily, I can easily get the jumper on and off without having the zips there.

Burdastyle 02/2016 #121

I used oatmeal marle fleece fabric from Fashion Fabrics Club that has been in my fleece drawer for quite some time. It's lovely and cosy. The cord for the drawstring was saved from a boutique paper bag. I always save the cord handles from bags and knew I'd find a use for them one day!

Apart from omitting the zips, the only change I made was to lengthen the cuffs slightly. I used silver grommets for the cord openings.

I was so happy with this jumper that I immediately made another. This time I bought the collar zips and used a striped silver and blue cotton fabric I found on sale in Spotlight. 

I pattern matched the pockets and made a feature of the front panel by offsetting the stripes. The cuffs and hem band are made from navy ribbing.

I was expecting that the addition of the zips to this would enable the top to be worn with different collar variations. However, I don't really like the unzipped look. I don't know if it's the fabric, but it reminds me of the 80s and not in a good way. I don't bother to open the zips when putting this on or off either, so if I made this again it would be zipless.

One last word on the zips - if I were to put them in again, I would probably turn them over so the right side of the zip pulls showed then the collar was turned down. This is personal preference though.

I'm happy with this, but I prefer the plain fleece one.

Next we have another Named Talvikki (my first is blogged here). I love this pattern with the cool neckline darts and side splits. It is also very quick and easy to make.

This one is made from Fleece from Spotlight. I added cuffs with some pale blue piping just for a change.

This has been such a useful addition to my wardrobe. It goes with everything and I love it.

Finally, I made another Vogue 8962 tunic. My first was made with knitted fabric and looks completely different. This one was made with Spotlight fleece that I found reduced from about $25/m to $5/m. It's not my usual style, but it's lovely and soft inside.

I wanted to practise my coverstitching on this pattern as I'm on a mission to get decent coverstitching. It seems to be a skill that is very hit or miss. Coverstitching always seems to work better on thicker or more stable fabric and I had quite good results this time.

I chose orange thread to match the background of the fabric and highlighted the design lines and hems with coverstitching.

I lined the collar with turquoise fabric to match the cheeks of the faces on the fabric.

Although this fabric isn't quite me, the bold print is fun and the style of the tunic is great to wear. I've worn this a lot more than I expected.

OK, I think I've fulfilled my winter quota of sewing now and got good wear out of everything. Now it's time to bring on summer. Come on Perth!

Vogue 8962 tunic

This pattern had been waiting to be made for far too long. So long, in fact, that is now out of print. I'm so pleased I finally made it though as it's a really nice style.

Vogue 8962

Vogue 8962 is a tunic, skirt and pants pattern. The tunic has an optional cowl neckline, which I made, interesting seam lines and a high-low hem.

Hopefully you can see some of the outfit in the poorly-lit pictures. I am wearing the tunic with my Paprika Patterns Jade skirt and a new pair of Megan Nielsen Virginia leggings from lovely, stretchy, warm ponte from Spotlight.

 Oops, I seem to have lost the skirt! Here it is with some higher boots instead.

This was a very simple pattern to make. I used some lovely wooly knit fabric in grey from Potter Textiles. There wasn't quite enough grey to do the cowl neck, so I used another patterned, knitted remnant from Potter's for the neck and lower sleeves. It coordinates very well with many things.

If you have this pattern I would definitely recommend it. It is flattering and comfortable and I will certainly be making more.

So there.

Getting my active on - McCalls 7026 jacket and Vogue 1378 leggings

I am not what you would describe as sporty. In fact, the only time I run is away from anything sport related. I am quite active though. I walk every day and can be found hip hop dancing at the local school hall once a week.

I decided I needed some new, fancy activewear for the abovementioned activities.

In the interests of looking the part for these pictures, I grabbed this stick thing that was lying in the garden. I use it to poke the shade sail so the water doesn't pool in it when it rains. How do you hit a ball with this thing anyway?

Let's ditch the stick, move into more interesting territory and talk sewing. I have had this McCalls 7026 jacket pattern for quite a while. Ever since I saw a gorgeous version by JStarr4250 on Pattern Review. After reading all the reviews of this pattern, it seemed that the jacket was quite short and that the side seam pockets were awkward. I decided to alter my pattern to change these aspects.

I used the longer back length of View C and lengthened the jacket pieces all the way around so the hem was just slightly (maybe 5cm) higher at the front that the back. For the pockets I traced the bottom section of my lengthened side front piece and drew a curve for the top of the pocket. Once cut out I edged it with ribbing and sewed it as one with the side front piece. I was really pleased with these pockets.

You've probably noticed by now that there are several fabrics used in this jacket. I started off with the thick, plain, black lycra (left over from the leggings) and a remnant of mesh with a velvet pattern from a Potter Textiles remnant bag. These two fabrics turned out not to be enough for the jacket, so I searched around and found a textured stretch woven fabric for the pockets, cuffs and upper back and some other black fabric for the sleeves and to use as backing for the mesh.

I used the mesh for the front and back jacket panels and got a bit fancy with some Quilt Basting Spray to hold it to the backing fabric. I then got even more fancy with some Washaway Wonder Tape to get the pattern matching as best as I could at the back seam and front zip.

I am over the moon with this jacket. I love all the different fabrics that give some subtle interest. Next time I might make it a smidge longer at the back. Here I am wearing it all zipped up with the cuffs folded down.

The leggings are made with Vogue 1378. I have made this pattern three times now but never blogged it. The pattern has several panels that are overlapped at the edges and sewn to leave a raw edge. This time I decided to branch out and experiment with my coverstitch machine to see if I could get a ready-to-wear (RTW) seam finish.

For the overlapping seams I first sewed them on the right side with a wide zig zag in white thread, as a guide to be removed later. Then I could turn the fabric over and see where to coverstitch to get the stitches right over the raw edge. This probably makes no sense, so just ignore it. Anyway, I did get kind of the effect I wanted. I ended up doing two passes of coverstitching so it was more obvious. For the detailing near the hems, I used the other side of the coverstitch to get some straight stitched lines.

I bought the wrong size of this pattern and could really do with going a size smaller. Other than that, it's a practical and interesting pattern that could be made with different seam finishes, as I've done, or with colour blocked fabrics. I'd like to try a contrasting thread colour next time.

I love those cosy glove-cuffs!

Brief thoughts on Me Made May 2016

StyleArc Toni dress made as a top with StyleArc Elle pants / Named Jamie Jeans with Burdastyle 06/2014#114 jumper / Vogue 1378 pants with Megan Nielsen Briar tee made as a jumper / StyleArc Lola pants with Deer and Doe Plantain tee and Paprika Patterns Opal cardi / StyleArc Mara Shirtdress / Pauline Alice Xeria dress with Megan Nielsen Virginia leggings / Vogue 1378 pants with Burdastyle 11/2012#128 top / Refashioned dress from jeans

Like me, you are probably ready to forget Me Made May for another year. However, I thought I'd just have a quick look through the handmade clothes I wore in May 2016 and see what was popular in my wardrobe.

May 2016 in Perth was, weatherwise, pretty similar throughout. Most days were in the low to mid 20s with a couple of rainy days. This meant that hardly any of my warm and cold weather gear was seen at all, which was a bit of a shame.

Patrones army jacket with StyleArc Elle pants and Named Wenona shirt / Patrones jacket in black with khaki StyleArc Lola pants / Deer and Doe Plantain tee with black StyleArc Lola pants / Named Jamie jeans with Paprika Patterns Jasper sweater / Named Jamie jeans with StyleArc Amber top / Vogue 1313 dress with Closet Case Files Nettie bodysuit / StyleArc Estelle jacket, Paprika Patterns Jade Skirt and SavageCoco Patterns Presto top / Named Inari Tee dress / StyleArc Estelle jacket, Patrones blouse and silk StyleArc Lola pants.

MY MOST POPULAR PATTERNS IN MAY 2016

Pants: StyleArc Elle and Lola pants (some of the Lola pants were altered to have an elasticated cuff and front and back patch pockets) and Named Jamie jeans.

Tops: Burdastyle jumpers and Deer and Doe Plantain tees.

Jackets: Patrones jackets in black and khaki, StyleArc Estelle jacket.

Dresses and skirts: my refashioned denim dress from jeans was the only dress or skirt I wore more than once. I always wore my Megan Nielsen leggings to stay warm. I love all the dresses and skirts I wore in May.

The pattern companies I wore most things from were StyleArc, Paprika Patterns and Named Clothing. I think I use mostly patterns from these companies year round actually.

StyleArc Estelle Jacket almost finished! / Named Wyome jeans, Paprika Patterns Zircon sweater / Named Wenona shirtdress / Victory Patterns Hannah dress, Closet Case Files Nettie bodysuit / Burdastyle jumper and StyleArc Elle pants / Refashioned dress from jeans / Patrones jacket, StyleArc Lola pants, indigo dyed Plantain tee / Vintage pattern jumper with Megan Nielsen Virginia leggings in ponte / Burdastyle jumper, Named Jamie jeans

So there we are. Thank you to all who followed my progress on Instagram and made lovely comments. I loved seeing what everyone else was wearing day to day too.

Indigo dyed Vogue 8897

I have had this pattern for quite a while and decided it was about time I used it. As usual, I googled the pattern to see what others had made. Unfortunately there was not a lot of enthusiasm for the pattern out there. It seemed everyone who had made it needed major adjustments to even begin to achieve a good fit.

Vogue 8897

The pattern is Vogue 8897. The drawing on the envelope makes the dress look quite fitted and lovely:

Vogue 8897

The picture on the website looks more like a nun's nightdress on a saucy evening:

Vogue 8897

The latter is the more accurate picture. Why I looked at this picture and still decided to use the pattern is beyond me. The fit is horrendous and that badly pressed pink fabric with the wonky stripes is hurting my eyes!

To cut a long story short, I should have listened to those wise sewers who had gone before me. However, I am not one to abandon a project so, once I'd started, I fussed with this until it was wearable. I'm very happy with the dress now, but I wouldn't recommend the pattern unless you are after an unwearable sack a loose beach cover-up.

Having established that the pattern was a dud, let's talk about the fabric. This is unlike any fabric I've seen before. It is cotton with random flower patterns slashed into it. The flowers seem to have a dot in the centre indicating that perhaps a special tool was used to make the cuts. I bought it at the 'Breathless' designer fabric sale in Perth a couple of months ago. I don't know if the cuts were made by the designer or if she bought it like that. I would love to find out.

The fabric was originally white and I dyed it blue with the Dharma Trading Indigo kit. I dipped the fabric three times, for about five minutes each time, to get this intensity of colour. To highlight the flowers, the dress was completely lined with white cotton.

The pattern has a centre seam, which was useful to drastically reduce the length of the neckline opening. I omitted the facings since I had lined the dress.

To improve the fit I added back darts using the Colette Laurel shift dress pattern as a guide for length and placement of the darts. I also took in the side seams a fair bit and omitted the pockets, which would have added bulk in the wrong places.

The fit adjustments were numerous, but fortunately not difficult due to the simplicity of the pattern. I love how the dress turned out, but that is mostly down to the interesting fabric and the indigo dyeing. I hope I've learned my lesson not to ignore the findings of my pattern research in future!