September 2020 – THORNBERRY

patchwork, quilting

Quilt top explosion – Value quilt and Scrap quilt

I think that I mentioned a couple of blog posts ago that I’ve been spending time in the sewing room organising and tidying. The entire process was kicked off when I decided that I really needed to progress my many quilt tops and tidy up the quilting section of my sewing room cupboard. One of the first boxes that I pulled out was full of Japanese fabric squares that I had collected from Kimono House some years ago. My original plan for these squares was to turn them into a Japanese Kaleidoscope quilt, which is entirely hand-stitched. I looked at them, acknowledged that the hand-stitched quilt was never likely to eventuate, and began to turn them into a Value quilt.

There are some wonderful examples of Value quilts on the internet and Instagram. They all follow the same principle of using the value – how light or dark a colour/print is – to form the overall design, rather than the actual colour. Looking at the fabrics in greyscale really highlights it.

I sorted the squares into three piles of light, medium and dark fabrics. Then sewed them into half-square triangle blocks. After that they were trimmed to be exactly the same size.

Then I started playing with layouts. Here are some of the ones that I experimented with.

I really wanted to use all of my blocks, so in the end I went with the last one of the three layouts above which utilised every single one of them. I didn’t agonise too much over this project; it was all experimentation and play. I was aiming for done, rather than perfect! Time to sew them all together and see how the final product looked.

Ta-da! Done. Let’s take a look in greyscale.

This quilt top is pretty small. I’ve since added a border to it, which you can glimpse in the next photo.

After sewing the Value quilt I pulled out every single quilt top that I have, along with whatever batting that I could find, and started piecing together backs for each quilt. I wanted to use stash fabrics only for this, and was able to put together a back for each one from both the scraps left over from sewing up the front, plus coordinating fabrics that were already in the cupboard. Some of the quilt backs took many hours to piece together, and I think that they look like modern improvised quilts in their own right! I also cut binding for each quilt. Now I have two quilts all basted ready to quilt, and more with the quilt top/back/binding all ready to go once I have more batting. There are two quilt tops that need my Mum’s sewing machine and it’s lovely little embroidery stitches to finish off. I feel that I’ve made loads of progress toward turning all these quilt tops into quilts.

The next thing that I did was ferret through my scrap bin and cut all the scraps into squares – either 2.5″, 3.5″ or 6.5″. These are now pre-cuts, just waiting to become quilts once there are enough. I still have another shelf to sort through and cut up in a similar fashion (maybe I need some strips as well as squares). I feel that this will be really effective quilting stash management for me – thanks to Kellie from Cutting Cloth for sharing how she’s managing her leftovers. Basically, after you’ve cut out a project, turn the scraps into useable pieces such as pre-cuts.

Of course, I couldn’t just leave these squares in nice piles, and decided to turn some of the 2.5″ squares into a scrap quilt top, by mixing them with a small amount of quilting cotton solid that was also in my stash.

I had cut out enough 2.5″ squares from the solid to make thirty blocks. So more decisions! How should I arrange them? I wanted to sash them, but the amount of solid was quite limited. I popped a photo up on Instagram, and Stacy suggested that I add cornerstones. Excellent idea! So this is what I ended up with.

There wasn’t enough of the solid for another row of sashing (and cornerstones) around the outside, which would have been my preference. But this is still pretty sweet! I have enough fabric in stash to back it, and have cut a striped fabric for binding. It will be a cute knee rug, all from scraps/stash.

Now the quilt tops/backs/binding are all folded ready for quilting. I also did a huge tidy of my sewing room, finally clearing out the ‘kids craft cupboard’ and rearranging many of my supplies in more useful, easy to access ways. I think it’s time to sew a couple more garments, then pull the sewing table/cabinet out, put it in to quilting mode and get cracking. I’d like to finish off this blog post by sharing this amazing quilt that my sister-in-law recently completed. Jeanette has only started to sew garments and quilts in the past couple of years, and she’s absolutely fearless! She imagines something that she’d like to make, and just goes for it. It’s awesome. That’s her mum (my mother-in-law) Adri you can see holding it in the photo below; she’s really enjoying doing craft with her daughter since recently moving to Melbourne.

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing

Studio Faro drape back dress

Do you follow Studio Faro? They’re a design and patternmaking studio and school, and over the years designer Anita McAdam has posted a number of pattern puzzless on the associated well-suited blog. These are illustrations of pattern shapes that come together to form a garment – and it’s often not obvious how they come together! It’s always fascinated me to see how two-dimensional shapes join together into three-dimensional garments. While there have always been instructions for drafting these pattern puzzles yourself, Anita has recently turned some of them into pdf sewing patterns that can be purchased. I have been eyeing off her drape back dress for years, so quickly bought the pdf pattern when it became available.

Unlike the tunic I shared in my last blog post, this was an incredibly fast garment to make! There is only one pattern piece, cut twice. The line drawings are really useful in understanding how this pattern works.

From the pattern website: the Drape Back Tunic is the simplest of patterns with the most stylish outcome. It’s a one-piece pattern with one size only and very clear markings to alter the generous fit of this tunic. Cut in a jersey, I easily fit this little gem on my size 20 dummy in the workroom. And at the same time I wear my own jersey tunics regularly with skinny jeans, leggings or a pencil skirt. This PDF has one size only with a 1 Pair cut for the complete garment and some volume and length alteration instructions included in the pattern. You’ll be able to moderate the amount of fullness in your garment according to your own taste. You can checkout the Pattern Puzzle post about this design on the blog.

I sewed this in a fabulous printed knit that was in stash – if my memory serves me correctly it came from one of the little fabric shops in Sydney Road, Brunswick. Even after making this dress I have plenty left! It’s poly/spandex, veering toward a medium wieght rather than a light weight. Very easy to sew, as it wasn’t too slippery. Construction was entirely on the sewing machine. I actually sewed it together in breaks between Google Meet parent-teacher interviews for Clare!

Even the hems were sewn with a simple straight stitch on the sewing machine. I do have a few comments on the sizing. I’m somewhere around an Australian size 12 to 14, with relatively small hips, and I’m 158cm tall (5’2″). This is a one size pattern, and I didn’t make any alterations. There are lines very clearly marked on the pattern to show you how to alter the size to your preference. I think it’s actually just right for me as it is! The website also notes the following: This drape back tunic is best cut in a light, drapey, one-way stretch knit fabric. The seam allowances are generous at 1.25cm (½”) so there is enough fabric to finish the neckline and armholes. The wider seam allowance will also be useful if you cut this tunic in woven fabrics (e.g. light weight cotton voile, light silks and some rayons). It’s home and industry ready with a flexible fit that makes it so easy to wear…..The first order of business is to select your fabric for this elegant tunic. I’d recommend soft drape knits for your first sample. That could be either one or two-way stretch knits although the elastane found in two-way stretch is not needed in this design. And I did have some success using a light cotton voile keeping in mind a petticoat would be needed. And I’m just dying to try it out in a silk crepe de chine!

This type of style is right up my alley. No waist definition, interesting drape, comfortable. When I posted it on Instagram a couple of people commented that the patternless, zero-waste Envelope Dress by Cris Wood was very similar. It looks to me to be very much the same type of garment, although the Envelope dress is designed for woven fabrics, and the armholes are constructed differently. The Studio Faro drape back dress design has been around for years, and I am pleased to see these less conventionally shaped styles reaching a wider audience.

Unsurprisingly, I will be sewing this pattern again (and again). I agree that choosing a fabric with drape is super important. If I sew it in a woven I will probably upsize it a little more. I think that it would make a perfect holiday wardrobe for a warm climate. I look forward to experimenting with the pattern length and width as well.

Tuesday, 29 September, 2020Tuesday, 14 December, 2021 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing, vintage patterns

Vintage Style 2609 tunic

I’ve done much more patchwork and sewing room organisation over the past month than garment sewing. Since my paid work stopped, and with restrictions still in full force and the kids schooling from home, I’ve had relatively uninterrupted time to just get things done. I’ve been able to start tasks and just keep on going! This means that many of those ‘one day I will do that’ tasks are now either done or are well under way. It’s quite a satisfying feeling, especially as there haven’t been any time pressures related to it. This tunic pattern, copyright 1979, was also a slow sew.

I’ve had this pattern for a little while, but knew that it required careful fabric selection. There’s so much fabric in it! So many gathers! Fortunately I picked up a very soft and lightweight fabric from Restash that I thought would be perfect – and it was. An added bonus was having exactly the right amount!

This pattern is ‘one size fits all’ – and it probably would fit many. The hemline has a drawstring in it, so it’s quite adjustable.

There are many, many gathers. Gathers at the front yoke, gathers at the back yoke, elastic gathering the fabric in at the wrists, hemline gathering in at the drawstring. Goodness!

You can see how much the weight of all that fabric pulls the yoke and collar backward on me. The yoke seam is actually straight! The fabric is quite lightweight; it’s just that there is so much of it.

The little combined collar and stand is actually quite sweet. I didn’t add a button and loop to do it right up at the neck as I knew that I would only wear it open. I hand-sewed the collar facing to the inside of the tunic.

This fabric was actually very shifty. Spreading the sewing across days made it more bearable – I’d just do one component a day, then put it away and do something else. Not a relaxing sew – and vastly different to sewing quilting cotton shapes together! But I was in no rush.

I have the drawstring tightened quite high above my hips in these photos – if it was undone the tunic hem would be just above my knees; almost dress length! I’m pleased that I’ve finally sewn up this pattern, despite the challenges of working with the fabric. It’s actually a perfect fabric/pattern pairing. Now let’s see how much I wear it once the weather warms up a little!

Monday, 28 September, 2020 by thornberry

patchwork, quilting

Whirligig Quilt Top

You might remember the Wake Me Up quiltalong that Emma Jansen ran during Melbourne’s first lockdown. She ran another for her Whirligig quilt pattern during Melbourne’s second lockdown. I chose to make the largest size, working with fabrics that were already in my quilting stash. Most of my quilting fabrics were bought when I first discovered sewing and quilting blogs. They date between 2007 to around 2012. Many of these fabrics were bought with the eye of a garment sewer more than the eye of a quilter, and that creates it’s own challenges when trying to make effective quilt tops. This pattern uses a decent amount of solid as a background, so I figured that I could make it work without having the issue of not enough value and contrast difference that I had with the quilt top I made in the first quiltalong.

I ran into a problem when making this quilt top – because I ran out of the white solid fabric that I was using for the background. I had a couple of other white fabrics in stash, but they weren’t the same white. There are so many variations in shade! Luckily, Cutting Cloth is in my 5km lockdown travel radius, so I was able to do a contactless drop off of the leftover solid fabric for them to match. Another metre was all that I needed to be able to complete the quilt top. While I was waiting for the additional solid, Emma had fun playing with the photos of the blocks that I’d shared on social media to see how they might look in a finished quilt.

This photoshopped quilt really inspired me to keep going and get this quilt top finished – I knew that it would be so pretty! And here is the actual finished result.

Each block is slightly different, and I have oriented each one to keep the windmills turning. As you can tell, it’s a decent size! I have now pieced together backing, using as much of the leftover fabric from the quilt front as possible plus some of the non-matching white solid that was in my stash and some more fabrics that coordinated. I’ve also cut the binding. It’s getting closer to it being a finished quilt! I plan to quilt this myself on my domestic machine, and have been watching some Craftsy classes to refresh my memory on how to quilt. I’ve took a couple of classes on it years ago, but I am definitely in need of practice.

Sunday, 27 September, 2020 by thornberry

crochet

Washcloths – or dishcloths? That’s up to you!

Crocheted washcloths. These are something that I crochet every few years when I’m looking for a project that is straightforward and achievable. Perfect pandemic crochet, in many ways! I have found my concentration lacking over the past few months, and washcloths can be crocheted in an evening while watching television. Or during a morning coffee Zoom call with friends!

I used leftover cotton/acrylic from my stash to crochet these three washcloths. You can pretty much use whatever yarn you have available. It needs to be fairly sturdy, so keep that in mind. Cotton is good, linen, hemp, acrylic, things like that. And of course these washcloths can be used to wash whatever you like – they can be used in the kitchen as dishcloths or in the bathroom/shower. My girls really like handmade washcloths – they use knitted ones made by Grandma quite regularly. They’re also a great gift with a handmade soap. Personally I buy the handmade soaps, but you may be more competent than me in that area and be able to make soap yourself too!

Pattern wise, my go to is Ravelry. There are SO many knitted and crocheted washcloth/dishcloth patterns on there, and the vast majority are free. Alternatively, just google! I look for a textured stitch pattern; I prefer that to colourwork etc. These three are the Textured Dishcloth by Kara Gunza, Sun Rays Washcloth by Amal Saleh, and Spread the Dishcloth Joy by Catherine Richardson. I use these patterns as a base, and alter them a little to add a border or edgings or change the size etc depending on the amount of yarn that I have available and my mood. Crocheted washcloths are also a great way to test out new stitch patterns – you can just select from a stitch dictionary. This is a project that allows significant freedom, and still ends up with a useable product.

Another fairly instant gratification project that I’m working on at the moment is a set of crocheted placemats, in Bendigo Woollen Mills Cotton 8ply. I can do one in an evening – but of course, it’s a set, so there is more than one to do! I had better get back to that soon…

Saturday, 26 September, 2020 by thornberry

adult's clothing, Friday Pattern Company, sewing, teen

Sagebrush top(s)

When the Friday Pattern Company Sagebrush top was first released I thought that it was very pretty, but not something that I was ever likely to wear. Then I showed it to my daughters. It was definitely something that they were likely to wear! So Cottagecore!

From the pattern page: The Sagebrush Top is an elegant and easy-to-sew blouse that is a joy to make and wear. The Sagebrush is designed for woven fabrics and looks great in breezy fabrics like cotton voile, as well as more structured fabrics like a crisp linen. The simple design of the top lends itself well to customization. Loose without being baggy, the type of breezy fit you’ll want to wear all summer. Generous puff sleeves and gathers across the front make it comfortable to move in. The tie at the back neckline makes it simple and cute! The Sagebrush looks great tucked into something high waisted. This top was drafted using sample measurements for a B cup and a height of 5’6”.

Includes sizes XS – 7X
Beginner level sewing
PDF pattern includes: instructions, A0 copy shop file, and print at home pattern (A4 and letter)
Designed for woven fabrics

Eventually I bought it, printed and taped it (am very grateful that we have a home A4 printer during lockdown) and cut out the smallest size, the XS. I knew that this would still be roomy through the body on both my girls, but figured that the shoulder/yoke fit should be okay. And it was! First up, for Clare.

This was sewn in a printed cotton that I think was originally from Spotlight (it came to me via a generous friend). The crispness of the cotton makes the gathering and puffs really full. So pretty! The pattern was well drafted and came together beautifully. The instructions were all quite comprehensive. I hesitate a little when commenting on instructions because I strongly suspect that I read ‘over’ them rather than really take in the detail – unless it’s for a tricky section. I always look for the seam allowance and in this case the seam allowance is 5/8″ (pattern designers, you can never write the seam allowance in enough places for my liking – write it on the pattern pieces, write it at the beginning of the instructions, write it in every conceievable place that I might want to check what the seam allowance is). I learned to sew back in the late 70s by watching Mum and by using the instructions in envelope patterns, so this is the seam allowance that is burned into my brain. It made things very straightforward for me.

I may have deviated from the instructions in the way that I applied the neckline binding. I sewed it to the wrong side, then turned it over and topstitched on the right side to secure it. Well, one Sagebrush top wasn’t enough – I needed to sew another one for Stella.

This one is sewn in a lighter weight cotton, a lawn that was also originally from Spotlight (and yes, also came to me via the same generous friend). It’s absolutely perfect for this top, and for Stella! I really love it! Now we need the weather to warm up enough to see whether she will actually wear it (you never know, but it did get very positive feedback when I made it).

Now I felt the urge to sew more! And tweak it a bit! There are a large number of Sagebrush tops tagged on Instagram – take a look there for inspiration. I’ve seen it at dress length, with full length sleeves, and a couple where the elbow length sleeve has been modified to give a bit of a ruffle below the elastic rather than have the sleeve end at the elastic casing. I took inspiration from this, plus the border embroidery of the fabric, to sew this next Sagebrush top for Stella. The fabric was left over from a sweet Oliver + S Croquet Dress that I sewed for Stella when she was about six. It was one of my favourite dresses I’d ever sewn for her – and she hardly wore it. The fabric came from Darn Cheap Fabrics, and is a very lightweight cotton chambray with broderie anglaise style embroidery. There was very little of the border embroidery left in my scraps; just enough for the sleeves and a touch on the back yoke. I found a strip of vintage broderie anglaise lace in stash to use for the little gathered frill below the front yoke.

Because I wanted to highlight the border embroidery, I made a strip of bias that I sewed to the inside of the sleeve to make a casing for the elastic, sewn just above the scalloped area of the lace. This gave a little shaped frill on the bottom of the sleeve.

In the untucked photos you can see how deep the hem is. I really like deep hems; they give what I consider to be a more professional finish to many garments. I was just admiring the same thing on a Calyx top that I was ironing yesterday! When I first started to sew, deep hems were in most patterns – and hems were always hand-sewn. Over the years we have seen ready-to-wear hems become narrower and narrower, and not just because of the fabric choice (of course, a very narrow hem is appropriate for some fabrics). They also mostly have machine-stitched hems, and once we became used to seeing that in bought clothing, many of us switched to doing it on our home sewing too. I suspect that we were trying to emulate ‘shop bought’, thinking that was somehow superior. ‘Oh, it looks just like it came from a shop’ was a huge compliement. I no longer think or feel that way and am happy to use whatever techniques I like when sewing for myself and my family – having a garment easily identified as home made is something that I now view as a compliment! That said, I still sew most hems by machine nowadays, with blind hems and hand-sewn hems being a relatively rare occurrence.

Three Sagebrush tops wasn’t enough, I was on a roll, so here’s the fourth one, for Clare! You can see that I’ve done a deep hem on the sleeve, and sewn the elastic casing in such a way that it leaves a frill below it. I also spiffed things up a little by overlaying some fine lace on the yoke frill. The fabric is Anna Maria Horner voile. I’ve worked with this fabric before, and it’s always delightful. It feels silky smooth and is light and soft. It’s equally enjoyable to wear.

You would think that four Sagebrush tops in one weekend was enough, wouldn’t you! But I had it in me to sew just one more. Two each was plenty for Clare and Stella. I thought hard about whether I would wear it in a less sweet print. Then – epiphany! Sew one for my cousin Freya!

This one is essentially the same as the first one that I sewed for Clare, except it is in the pink colourway of the printed cotton. I sewed according to Freya’s measurements, made a mask to match, then popped it in the mail. And that was it – Sagebrush top binge over!

Friday, 25 September, 2020Saturday, 11 February, 2023 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing

Style Arc Bonnie Woven top

I’ve actually used the Style Arc Bonnie top pattern before, but that was view B, for Stella. This time around I sewed the sleeveless view A, for me!

Style Arc describe this pattern as follows: This wonderful new pattern comes with two options; A & B. Pattern “A” Features a slightly cropped body length, relaxed fit with bust darts. With a round neck and a functional back opening that can be buttoned this sleeveless top is the up to the moment look. For those that prefer a more covered garment there’s option “B”. Featuring a square shaped body and dropped shoulder line with an optional buttoned tab. The body length is longer and has a buttoned back, round neck as option “A”. FABRIC SUGGESTION: Linen, crepe, cotton, rayon.

I sewed size 12, and did a high round back alteration as per this excellent tutorial on the Oliver + S blog. This adjustment seemed to fix lots of my usual fitting issues with woven tops. I am 52, I spend most of my time hunched over a desk/computer/phone/sewing machine/crochet hook/book, so it pretty much makes sense that I should need to make this alteration! I actually think that this is more important than a traditional forward shoulder alteration for me. Should do it more often!

Oh, look at all the pretty buttons! If memory serves me correctly, they came from Thailand (thanks Gaye). I love using items from countries that I’ve visited in my sewing. My sewing machine was my 21st birthday present, so it does four-step buttonholes. None of that fancy computerised one touch buttonholing for me, I’m afraid! Because I have used this machine so much over the years, I have gained a fairly high level of competence in the four-step buttonhole. See what I mean?

And let’s look at the buttons again. So cute!

In those last couple of photos you can also see the fabric detail well. When I posted this top on Instagram lots of people commented on how much ‘pink’ suited me. Well, it does read as pink in a distant photo, but this fabric is actually a red/white chambray. I did a little bit of googling and discovered that chambray is the name for a plain weave fabric with white threads in the warp and coloured threads in the weft. Most of us think of chambray as being like denim, with white warp and indigo weft threads, but the coloured threads can actually be any colour. In this fabric, they are red. It’s very similar to a shot cotton, although those fabrics have two different colours in the warp and the weft (no white). The two different coloured threads give the fabric a type of ‘iridescence’.

There are french darts to give a little shaping to what is otherwise a fairly boxy top (my favourite type of top). I sewed this as per the pattern length, thinking that it might be worth having a more cropped top than my usual longer length in my wardrobe. I think that it will look especially good with the Bonnie skirt (I have one cut out, but not sewn up yet). I’m not likely to wear it with jeans as in the photo below!

I’m really glad that I gave this pattern a try. The armholes and neckbands are finished with facings that are topstitched into place, which in my opinion gives a nice detail and professional finish. I pretty much followed the instructions for this top, and found that the drafting was excellent as usual and gave a particularly good finish to the back bands and hemline.

This pattern will definitely get more outings over the years. It’s a lovely sleeveless basic.

Thursday, 24 September, 2020 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing, tessuti patterns

Tessuti Isla top – take two!

It’s just under a year since I last sewed the Tessuti Isla top. Last time it was too big, but I knew that the style worked for me. So here it is again!

I always feel comfortable in this style and silhouette.

This time around I sized down and sewed size Small, graded to Medium through the arms (although as it turns out, the Small would have been okay in this fabric). This top is SO fast to sew. One pattern piece for the front/sleeves and back yoke, another for the lower back, plus a neckband. That’s it! If you look closely at the next photo you can see the seaming a little more clearly. The other seams are the side seams.

I constructed this top on the overlocker, and used a zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine to secure hems and neckband seam allowances. The fabric is a divine Liberty print viscose knit, once again from a generous friend. It’s a prettier design than I would usually choose, but it works beautifully for me in this colourway. It also feels lovely against the skin. There just might be enough left over for a tee for one of my daughters.

From the pattern website: This stylish jersey top pattern sits firm on the hips featuring back yoke, dolman sleeves and wide neckline with finished neck band. This simple pattern has only three pattern pieces making this a quick and satisfying make and is a great wardrobe staple for all seasons. Ideal in any light weight stretch jersey.

There’s really not much more to say about this top! I suggest that if you’re making it you size down. Keep in mind that the sleeves are fairly fitted and are cut on, so make sure that your fabric has a good amount of stretch both lengthwise and widthwise (or grade up those cut on sleeves accordingly). I know that I will get plenty of wear from this top, and I’ll use the pattern again.

Wednesday, 23 September, 2020 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing

Vogue 9207

Vogue 9207 is another Marcy Tilton pattern. This one had sat in my pattern stash for a little while. There are a few reviews of it on Pattern Review, all of them positive. What was I waiting for!

I used a couple of stash fabrics for this top. The body is a double layered knit, made of two lightweight layers joined together with a stitch every now and then like a double gauze. I used a lightweight printed woven that I’d found at Restash for the back underlay. Oh, I’d better show you the back!

My verdict on this top is that it’s not bad, but it’s not great either. The style is unusual, but I’d get used to that. I just think that I chose the wrong knit fabric for the body. It would be better in something a little weightier, that draped down a little more. This isn’t stiff, but it’s not the best match for this style.

Vogue describe this pattern as follows: ASYMMETRICAL-HEM, BACK-UNDERLAY TOP – Pullover top (semi-fitted through bust) has raglan sleeves, neck binding, contrast back underlay, stitched hems and shaped hemline. Wrong side will show on hemline. For moderate stretch knits only.

It looks a little more glamourous on the tall Vogue model! The line drawings show the interesting lines that originally drew me to this pattern.

I chose to sew size Medium, which is a Vogue 12-14. As per usual with Marcy Tilton patterns, this is sizing down from the size recommendation that my actual measurements would suggest. Construction was mostly on the sewing machine; this pattern is drafted with 5/8″ seam allowances. I used my overlocker to neaten and finish edges. The back underlay has a narrow double turned hem. I didn’t get too excited about doing it in a ‘couture’ way, given that I was basically sewing a wearable muslin.

I used the reverse side of the knit for the neck binding. I quite like a binding like this one on a knit garment. That said, the fabric doesn’t have great recovery, and the neckline has ended up larger than preferred. It needed plenty of steam from the iron to get it into shape after sewing.

This next photo is to show you the side godets. Although there are a few interestingly shaped pattern pieces in this top, it’s not actually difficult to make. Just follow those instructions – and use your common sense.

So, my final verdict? Good pattern, interesting shapes and style, not the right knit fabric, and I’ll probably pass it on. But, will I sew it again? Maybe. It has promise, and the shape would certainly add variety to my wardrobe. I don’t like to wear exactly the same silhouette all the time!

Tuesday, 22 September, 2020 by thornberry

adult's clothing, sewing, teen

Puff sleeved tees

A couple of blog posts ago I showed you some pattern pieces for puff sleeved tees. I decided to mash together the SBCC tonic tee bodice with sleeves from the Pattern Emporium Hello Gorgeous tee. Given that I was using pattern pieces from different patterns, I thought that I should sew up a hopefully wearable muslin to check how they went together and to see what the fit was like.

I used some scuba-ish scraps that were in stash for the muslin, but was forced by the shapes of the scraps to cut it with the greatest stretch going up and down rather than around. The girls could barely shimmy into it, although Stella found it easier than Clare. She’s about one size smaller. The fabric does have stretch in both directions, but not enough!

Even though the wearable muslin turned out to be a pretty but mostly unwearable muslin, it showed me that the pattern mash would work, and both girls liked the fit of the tee and the shape of the neckline. Back to the stash!

Oh, night-time photos in artificial lighting really do not show garments to their best advantage (nor do the tracksuit pants). I used a beautiful Liberty print knit (I think in rayon) that was a gift from a generous friend, and paired it with purple rib from Crafty Mamas Fabrics for the neckband and sleeve cuffs.

I can just picture this in summer tucked into a denim mini or similar! Size wise it is the smallest size sleeve, and the XS petite bodice. I used the same size for Stella.

This is a really sweet tee, but I am NEVER sewing with that fabric again. I used leftovers from a dress that I sewed for Stella last year. It’s from Spotlight, and the selvedge says that it is ‘powerhold stretch sports active’ knit. It feels soft, and she likes the fabric against her skin, but it’s a bugger to sew with. The machine does not like it at all.

Anyway, I persevered, and hope that once summer arrives it will have been worth it and she’ll wear it heaps. I threw out all the scraps with great satisfaction.

I quite like the current puffed sleeve trend (always makes me think of Anne of Green Gables). It adds a bit of fun, and don’t we all need that!

Monday, 21 September, 2020 by thornberry

Month: September 2020