I present to you my first single welt pocket. It’s my second, actually, but you know where they say to slash the opening for the pocket but DON’T cut through the other pieces? That’s what I did.
Which is why you do a practice one first. It’s actually pretty straight forward and I love the finish. These are for the jeans I cut out before we went to Madeira but didn’t get a chance to sew up.
I have a lot of things to take photos of – my pink jumper, a shawl I finished and blocked over a fortnight ago, socks…and a polka dot top and my kilt, shown below.
I’m happy to have indulged my kilt whim as I learned far more than I expected from it! The top I have looked forward to making and it was a fun, quick project. Looking forward to showing both.
I also sewed up a muslin for my Mum’s blouse. Sorry about the poor light, it’s been dismal weather.
I need her to fit it on before I cut out the actual fabric. I measured it and it should be in the money but best to be sure! And so that we’re all on the same page, THIS is the fabric (not the other one, Mum).
Nice, isn’t it? It’s a polycotton I got in Murphy Sheehy’s last summer but couldn’t find a pattern ‘perfect’ enough for it. I’m training myself out of that. Sometimes, you should just use it. Anyway, this works out in Mum’s favour! It’s definitely her colours.
The other thing I have to show you is this funny little thing I’ve been meaning to make since I got Bertha (my bike). I finally found clips in Hickey’s the last time I was there and made this up in about ten mins.
It’s a piece of elastic inside a cotton casing, attached to two clips…and it works like this…
It keeps my coat over my knees when I’m cycling, with still enough leeway to put my foot on the ground when necessary. In windy weather, my coat flaps open and when it’s raining, results in a very wet lower half. I’ve been using it constantly and it works perfectly. The clips were about €3.
I apologise in advance for the photos of wrinkled fabric. I wash fabric as soon as I buy it so that it’s done. It is unbelievable how much fabric can change after the first wash.
I was really looking forward to sharing photos of a sweater and a shawl I finished recently! When I went to upload them just now, I found that I must have deleted them by mistake 
So today, I’m going to share my plans for summer knitting and sewing instead.
If you follow me here, you’ll probably have noticed that this year, I’ve made a lot of work wear – lots of skirts, blouses and plain sweaters. I have gotten particularly good wear out of the skirts and blouses. I like to wear this combination to work because even with a less formal fabric, like polka dots or floral print, it looks well. Previously, I shunned blouses because it was so hard to find one that fit comfortably. Now that I can make them to fit, they are my favourite thing to wear. Coming to the end of the school year, I now realise I actually have very little casual wear that I’d be happy to wear in public. Rather than spend my time sewing light tops that I get to wear very little (which is what I did last summer), I’m going to sew some casual things that I can wear all year round.
First up: some Archer shirts. When this pattern came out first, I was sceptical. Thanks to the glory that is the internet, I’ve watched people from all over and with all different shapes sew this up with success. I think I will follow suit. It will look good tucked into high waisted pants or wide-legged pants, loose over tight pants and shorts. Here are my fabrics.
The bottom is a plain denim chambray I found in Hickey’s. I have been looking for a year for a nice chambray. I would prefer something a little bluer but the light drape of this is perfect. I’m looking forward to doing lots of detailed topstitching with this fabric.
The middle is a butter-soft cotton lawn I found in Murphy Sheehy’s. It’s got insects on it. Yep. If that’s not the perfect fabric for a summer holidays shirt, I don’t know what is.
The top is something I have refused to put away since laundering: a habotai silk that I ordered from Britex Fabrics in San Francisco. It wasn’t cheap, but it was on sale at about $20/yard, which is pretty good for any kind of silk. I have never seen a silk print of this kind before and I love rope print. I dream of a blouse that will waft over a pair of shorts or posh up a taffeta skirt.
Summer is meant for skirts! I have a good few summer skirts already so I will probably concentrate on wearing them. However, I got the pattern for the Hollyburn skirt and I’d like to use this ridiculously old fabric to make it.
I bought this in Hickey’s before 2005. I loved it so much but didn’t know what to make out of it so I bought a ton. Thankfully, the Hollyburn takes a ton and the style will definitely suit this. The colour scheme gives me lots of options in terms of what I can wear with it. I think I will probably give the Moss mini skirt a go too. I have made so many skirts by now that they tend to be a quick make.
Other definites include a white cotton shirt and khaki canvas pants.
The khaki pants has been a long-term plan. I found the fabric for very cheap in Murphy Sheehy’s. I made a pair of Juniper pants (a Colette pattern) in heavy black cord and I wear them all the time. I have them all broken in just right, I’m happy to answer the door and pop to the shop in them. This khaki canvas is lighter than the cord and I think the colour is more summer-appropriate. The white cotton is a sort of gauzey shirting that Murphy Sheehy’s tends to keep in stock. It is ridiculously wide (I think nearing 80″, about 2m) and very reasonably priced (maybe €8/m). I have two metres here. If I was able to squeeze a fitted blouse and a loose shirt, that would be great. I made a Liverpool blouse out of the same fabric last November and it has softened into one of my most comfortable makes yet.
Other honourable mentions include Colette’s Laurel (shift dress – I’m hoping to salvage the dress from this post) and Iris (shorts – I love the pockets on these and I have something very specific in mind).
The one thing I’m setting my knitting sights on is Kate Davies’ Ursula cardigan. I have been dying to start a new colourwork project because it has been soooo long! I received a very generous voucher for This is Knit for my birthday recently. My voucher, this cardigan and me – it was destiny! I’m excited for this.
I am going to continue with being very strict about working on only one project at a time. I have just finished two sewing projects in quick succession. Before I start on anything I’ve talked about before, I’m going to sew my Mum a blouse for her birthday. I’m using this Amazing Fit pattern and I’ve already cut out the muslin. These are particularly detailed patterns so I am really looking forward to working my way through this one.
Down through the years, I’ve made a fair amount of small things for the house. For living, really. Napkins, tray cloths, kitchen cloths. They get used and abused and I love them.
I have knitting to show you. I have a new embroidery book that I want to share and I have endless ideas for summer sewing!
Enjoy your Friday!
I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend! We get a bank holiday Monday here for May day. I got someone to fill in for me at the organ on Sunday so I had three whole days off. Unthinkable. It turns out that I really needed it. We didn’t really go anywhere but we did lots of little things. It doesn’t feel like I did a lot of sewing but I must have, because I finished this blouse. I’m putting it with a finished-in-April skirt.
The blouse is a vintage pattern that I made again with modifications. The skirt is self-drafted. About the blouse!
I used 2m of Tilda cotton from Rubanesque. It is so pretty I literally became weak at the knees when I set eyes on it. I knew it had to be a spring blouse.
I modified the collar to make the tips rounded because I felt it would suit the print better.
I also adapted the cuffs to make them rounded and open. I had to pare down the shape of the sleeves because I didn’t want them too wide without a placket and closure. I sacrificed the tidiness of seaming the sleeves and then enclosing the seam into the cuffs for sewing the cuffs flat with all the top stitching and them seaming the sleeves. It looks fine from the outside. If I were to do it again, I would probably suffer through topstitching the cuffs with an already seamed sleeve.
The buttons I salvaged from another unwearable blouse. Now, for the skirt! I dug out my drafting notes from five whole years ago and drafted this up. I pity my younger self as I took the drafting course without ever having sewn any sort of clothing! It made a WHOLE lot more sense this time around. Unfortunately, when I was cutting out my pattern pieces I managed to chop off the side seam allowance and only discovered when I could barely get the skirt on. Thankfully I was able to salvage it through some manipulation of the darts but gosh! Never again! I basically made up the pleat bit by holding my muslin up against me and saying, ok, I’d like my pleat to go from about here to here and be about this long. Turns out, that’s kind of the way to do it.
My mum helped me get my pleat to behave itself. I did myself no favours in the way I’d hemmed it but I will know for again!
I actually made this skirt to go with my
It is a peculiar outfit! It is a bit dull for a bright May day such as today. Maybe later in the summer with hot pink tights? I should probably just wear the cape with jeans also – although I put it on Sunday and Alb asked me if I was going to meet Batman :/ He does not see capes as a proper item of clothing unless for dressing up. Isn’t that what clothes are for anyway?!
