How much equipment I’ve gathered over the last couple of years. Here’s a little run down of my most used items.

Clockwise from the top.  Janome 525s sewing machine, Obviously need a sewing machine. Tape measure, shears of which I have two pairs. The red pair are from Merchant & Mills , the grey pair, I can’t remember the make but I know they weren’t cheap, but for some reason they don’t cut nicely. They seem to have a nick in one of the blades and therefore I can’t do a nice long cut in any fabric as they stick. I think they were about £20ish, but the M&M pair were over £50 and well worth the money. Its so worth spending the extra pounds if you can afford too. I had some birthday money which is how I justified it. Then there’s the tiny black scissors, I love these. Endlessly useful and sit on my sewing machine to snip threads whenever I need them to, and you can get really close to the fabric so you can snip threads nice and close.

It can be useful to have multiples of things. I have my ironing board down stairs so am often up and down stairs whilst making things and I find having a pair of scissors by the ironing board useful for snipping threads that I’ve forgotten to snip whilst upstairs.

close up of the scissors/shears.

Then there’s the seam ripper, or as I prefer to call it thread unpicker, I sometimes don’t feel like I’ve done a proper job till I’ve unpicked at least one seam. Tailors chalk, and this funny little gadget, can’t remember what its called, but you use it to create perforations in the fabric, with coloured carbon paper underneath to mark out darts and suchlike. Pins, I love the coloured plastic head ones. You can never have too many pins. And of course a pin cushion.

I never ever thought I’d own so many ironing accessories, never ever thought I’d enjoy ironing so much. I call it creative ironing.

Sleeve board, who knew you could get a little ironing board just for your sleeves. Love this though. Really makes a difference to your garments. Tailors ham, which I’ve yet to learn how to use properly. And the iron, this ones OK but I think I need a new one. The ironing board that they are all standing on was new last year. My old ironing board was about 100 years old and was really tired and sad. But until I started this sewing lark I didn’t iron anything if I could avoid it. My new one is huge compared to the old one. And often reminds me of a surf board. Its really long and quite wide too. And has lots of different height settings.

And then last but not least is Gertie. So so useful, I really urge you if you are thinking about a dressmakers dummy to get one. Though it is a little scary when you see what your figure apparently looks like! Especially from the side.

Weird shape or what?

If you’re new to sewing I hope this has been a little bit useful. When I first started sewing I had no idea how much equipment I would need. Thankfully not all of it is expensive. The biggest outlay should most likely be your sewing machine.

So I made one.

I don’t know about you but I can’t wash up or cook without wearing an apron, just doesn’t feel right to me. My old one was looking a bit sad and in need of a wash and I couldn’t find the other one with which to swap it. I’ve always wanted to make an apron as I love the shape and it looks like it should be easy. I remembered I had some denim fabric from Merchant & Mills left over from previous projects and wondered if I had enough to make an apron? I had a look, laid the old apron on it and yes I had plenty. I even had enough for the ties. I was going to use a different fabric for the pocket, a light blue cotton canvas with dark blue stars, but decided against it. So I cut out the shape, cutting round the old one, remembering to leave plenty of room for seam allowances. And cut out the neck and waist ties, after measuring carefully of course.

It was while I was thinking about the apron ties and neck strap and cutting them out that I realised there would be an awful lot of sewing to do with them, and again I remembered I had some gros grain strapping in my stash. I had a look and found the perfect match. Did I have enough though? It looked like I might not at first but after a bit of revaluation I had plenty. Oh happy day!

The unassembled pieces.

I was a little bit anxious about doing the curve at the side but it went a lot smoother than I expected it too. I first ironed the folded over edge and then folded it over again, ironed and pinned in place.

Like so.

Did the same the other side, sewed, and was happy with it.

Next up was the top of the apron and neck straps. I had a good look at the old one to see how best to attach the neck strap.

Tucked under folded over top, pinned in place, then sewn.

And then you turn the neck strap right way up and do some of that X shape in a square stitching. Think it might be called reinforced stitching or something.

Pinned first.

Then stitched.

Then the side edges, again folded over, ironed then repeated. Sewn. Lovely. The waist ties were attached more or less the same as the neck strap.

Waist tie attachment detail.

I found the pocket quite tricky. Folding the edge over it didn’t want to go nicely, so its ended up a little bit untidy. And my stitching isn’t brilliant either. Never mind though, apart from my husband, I’m the only one that’ll see it on a daily basis.

Doesn’t look too bad in the picture.

There we are…

Look at that for a stylish apron. I can’t believe how happy this makes me. I love it every time I put it on. The old one is a red and white stripe, nice, but not as lovely as this. More pics…

Love the inside

My little label.

I love it!

Pockets work.

I know I probably shouldn’t be this excited about an apron, but I am. Makes a change from a blouse.

For a while at least!

7 lovely blouses.

This does not include the first 2 I made. So they make 9, and there’s the 2 dresses I’ve made too. Which is a total of 11 garments made from variations on the Mathilde pattern. Although most of them don’t really resemble the Mathilde too much at all anymore.

4 short sleeved blouses.

I do particularly love the short sleeved version.

A wardrobe full of self made tops :0)

I can’t remember the last time I bought an item of clothing, the only clothing (I’m talking outer clothing, not underwear) I’m likely to buy now are jeans, as I have no intentions of ever making any. For me there are somethings that are best left to the professionals, and jeans are one of them. I might have a go at trousers one day, when I find the right pattern, but not jeans, no sir.

And cut off the excess 2cm from the bottom half of my Merchant & Mills Strand coat. Don’t know why I resisted, well I do really, I was scared I would completely ruin it, but I haven’t. I’m very happy with it now and wore it out today. I’m now thinking I might get some hook and eye fastenings so I can do it up too.

Before…

After…

Much much happier now.

I had been thinking I would have to scrap this one and make another. I had just about resigned myself to doing just that and was thinking about which fabric I would like to use this time. So I had a little look at the Merchant and Mills site and found they have sold out of the Strand coat pattern, I was also thinking I would have to buy another pattern as I had altered the one I have. So when I saw they had sold out of the pattern I had another look at my coat this morning. 10 minutes later the deed was done. Should have done it weeks ago instead of trying to convince myself it was ok as it was. Doh!

Its a sickness! I’ve made another blouse.

I bought 3 more metres of this gorgeous fabric from M&M, in the hope that I would be able to get 2 blouses out of it. As the fabric is just a mere 110cm wide it takes a bit of juggling. As you can see the back piece of the bodice is overhanging the fabric a bit, this doesn’t matter as I don’t have the button fastening down the back so usually end up cutting off several inches down the centre back seam anyway. I thought I might have to put the sleeve piece on sideways in order to fit it all in but happily using the shortest sleeve pattern piece I was able to get it on right way round. The picture shows the cuff piece (top left hand corner) in the sideways position but I actually managed to get that on right way round too. It is a bit of a tight squeeze with the bodice pieces but they do all fit onto just under 150cm.

How to get two tops out of 3 metres of narrow fabric!

Now, I don’t have an overlocker but I am so far getting away with just zigzagging the edges. I have also gotten better at this each time I make a blouse. Getting pretty neat now.

neck facing

centre back seam. Looks better in real life than it does here!

I really like the inside of my blouses, the finish is quite lovely. Even if I do say so myself.

It is very similar to this one except the sleeves are shorter now.

The sleeve cuffs gave me a bit of trouble on this one, but only on one sleeve. I just couldn’t get it to attach nicely, in the end I did what Anne from the first Great British Sewing Bee used to do with tricky fabrics and situations, and I talked very firmly to it, and it eventually went on OK. Not perfect but OK.

I have more fabric for more blouses, probably another four I think (and I’m thinking about buying some more of the white cotton eyelet), but I might need a bit of a break from making these for a little while. Lets see what I come up with next.

I have to confess something, something I’ve sort of been in denial about. I made a bit of a sewing mistake when I made my coat, yes I did. I touched upon it in the post about the making of the coat but I sort of brushed over it. its the 2cm I cut off the bodice. That was really and truly a mistake, although I did it intentionally, I now know I really really shouldn’t have. I thought it was the right thing to do, right up until I was attaching the bodice to the skirt piece. Thats when I realised that the bottom half was wider than the top.

Like so.

A close up.

Now, I can live with it, and I even quite like it. So what is the problem you might ask? Well I’m admitting to myself that its not supposed to be like that and that I MADE A MISTAKE! I don’t think I will ever wear it to visit Merchant & Mills, or to a “Strand” coat convention as they might laugh at me for making such a mistake, but elsewhere I think I can get away with it. I feel it lends a certain design element to the coat and I’m certainly never going to see anyone else wearing the same coat.

I wore it out Saturday evening and nobody laughed at me (that I could see) so I think I’ve gotten away with it. Yes it might be better if I hadn’t cut off the 2cm, it would mean that the edges of the front bodice would meet in the middle but thats all. I’m still debating about whether to cut off 2cm of the skirt part, I probably won’t but its always an option.

Anyway there you have it, I’ve got it off my chest and thats all I wanted to do. There will now follow some pictures of me wearing it to justify to myself that it does in fact look OK…

It just looks so right with hands in pockets.

When I bought the lovely white eyelet fabric from Fabric Godmother I also bought 2m of this

and I was very happy to get some thread to match.

Pattern pieces laid out on the fabric. again I will get 2 tops out of this.

Another view. Can see the pattern pieces better.

Looks a bit like an hawaiian shirt at the moment!

I wouldn’t normally wear such a bright shade of green, but it’s diluted quite a bit by all the white flowers, so it doesn’t appear quite so vibrant. I’m not too sure about the cotton Poplin yet. Its quite a crisp fabric and at the moment feels a bit stiff, I’m hoping it will soften with washing and wearing. Otherwise its a gorgeous fabric and pretty good value for money, I’ve got two lovely tops for the price of £28, which lets be honest, you can’t really get a decent top on the high street now a days for that.

A very spring/summery top.

I’m also very pleased that this blouse only took me 6.5 hours to make. That does not include the cutting out of the fabric. I’m really happy as the first blouse I made back in January took me about 12.5 hours (not including the cutting) so i’ve come down to just under half the time. And although I am happy to take it a little slower now a days, I am also happy to know that I can make one of these blouses in a day.

I now have two of these white blouses. And I love them.

I am a bit sad, I nearly always used to buy two, sometimes three of something if I really liked it. So it comes as no surprise to me and those that know me that I make more than one of something if I really like it. I now have seven variations on the Mathilde blouse (Sarah style) SEVEN! FFS! What am I like? But you know what, I don’t care. I really don’t. This style of top suits me to a T, and is what my wardrobe has been waiting for. And this has basically been my reason for starting to make my own clothes. So I can have exactly what I want, when I want it. Wow that makes me sound slightly nutty and very spoiled. But in my mind its just good sense. If you find something that you love and it suits your style then why not have it in a million different fabrics. There are so many gorgeous fabrics out there and I enjoy making these tops in a different fabric each time and seeing how they turn out. And of course occasionally I’ll make it in the same fabric, simply because I love it and I have enough fabric for two. So there you have it

Don’t they look pretty.

The backs. So very similar, but ever so slightly different.

I really love how it looks with jeans.

I would like to share this picture of the pins in the sleeve head, I just love how the coloured pins look against the white. Thats all.

Just want to share the changes I’ve made to the Mathilde pattern. It no longer really resembles the Mathilde top as Tilly intended it. I’ve turned it into a dress and a top that suits me and my sewing style, both of which are simple!

The dress pieces

The different sleeve lengths.

close up of the shortest sleeve.

all I did with the sleeves was trace around the original and then move the original up the sleeve to the desired length and then trace along the bottom of it to keep the curve. Works really well. And with the dress pieces, again traced around the original pieces and then carefully added the extra length remembering to keep the curve at the bottom of the pieces. as there is a slight curve to the original bodice pieces. Hope that makes sense.

For years now I’ve been on the look out for the perfect white cotton blouse to go with jeans. I’ve bought various versions of OK ones but have never found the perfect one. Whilst browsing “Fabric Godmother” I found this beautiful white eyelet cotton lawn fabric. Now I’m not always keen to buy fabric on-line as I usually prefer to be able to see it & touch it before I buy, but occasionally something pops up that just shouts “BUY ME” and this beautiful white fabric did just that. Initially I was thinking maybe a dress or perhaps another 3/4 length sleeve blouse and I wanted to buy 1.5 M of the fabric but it appeared I could only get whole meters. So I purchased 2M At £14 a meter.  Along with 2M of this gorgeous fabric, but that will be another post.

When the fabric arrived it was so beautiful I knew I wanted to make the most out of it. If I made a dress I would be using most of the fabric and it would be value for money, but I decided against a dress. A white dress is not the most practical thing for me. However a 3/4 length sleeve blouse would mean that I’d have a lot of fabric left over but not enough for another garment. So I decided to re-draft the short sleeve pattern even shorter. This was an excellent idea as when I laid the pattern pieces out on the fabric I knew I’d be able to get 2 blouses from the fabric. It looked like the 2nd blouse might have un-cuffed sleeves though. That wouldn’t matter. I was just happy that I’d get 2 blouses from the fabric. Making it great value for money.

I just love how beautifully this has made up. The eyelet pattern is quite big but looks quite effective I think. Gives the blouse a really professional look. I’m so so so happy with how its turned out, the little puff sleeves are so cute and pretty and look exactly as I wanted them too. I’ve compared this blouse to one I bought from Dorothy Perkins a couple of years ago for about £24 or something like that and it simply doesn’t compare. Don’t know if its the fabric or the pattern or the finishing but this blouse is for me PERFECT! I love the high neck line, the shape the sleeves everything. And I can;t wait for warmer weather to wear it. Looks fab with jeans, really does.

Anyway lots more pics to bore you with…

Lovely shoulder detail.

More lovely shoulder detail. Love that both shoulder sleeves are different.

I also love that you can see the seams through the fabric, shows off the beautiful french seams I love so much.

Shameless pic of me in PJ’s and messy hair, but its my blog and I don’t care!

Like I say I really really really love this top and am going to make another. Have already cut out the fabric.

Here’s a pic of the fabric that was left, a meter of fabric, and then a pic with the pattern pieces laid out on it.

I do love being able to turn a flat piece of fabric into something lovely.

Happy days :0)