Sewing Inspiration - Boden

OK, hands up who looks at fashion spreads in magazines and starts trying to work out what patterns/ fabric they could hack to make it themselves? 

I recently got sent the latest Boden catalogue, and in addition to a coupon which will allow me to replace a couple of seen-better-days fine knit cardigans (if you know me in real life or follow my Me Made May daily pics, you'll see I wear these just about every day!) there are some excellent knock-off-able looks which I am considering for summer sewing.

I have been somewhat scathing about Boden in the past, totally putting them into the Yummy Mummy box, but their last few seasons collections have been great!

The Lovely Linen dress could easily be made with a Colette Pastille dress bodice with a bit of piping and a gathered skirt (like an Emery if you needed a pattern rather than just using a big rectangle!)

Source: Boden, Colette Patterns (from the Sewing Handbook), Christine Haynes

I would use a lovely blue graphic floral rather than the yellow pictured here.


The 60s Ponte Dress is a dead ringer for a sleeveless funnel necked Coco:

Source: Boden, Tilly & the Buttons

With a little bit of tweaking (stitching down the pleats a bit and adding grosgrain ribbon to the waist), Maria Denmark's Paula pleat skirt could be just the ticket to make a version of the Poppy skirt:

Source: Boden, Maria Denmark

I think with a bit of tweaking of the wrap bodice pieces and addition of some braid (perhaps in a more tasteful colour than Boden's neon orange!), Cake Patterns Tiramisu could make a fab version of the Rosie dress:

Sourc: Boden, Cake Patterns

You could use Sinbad and Sailor's new Hepworth pattern with a little bit of neckline reshaping to make your own version of the Nancy dress (what is with all the yellow Boden?):

Source: Boden, Sinbad & Sailor

Do you like the new Boden looks?  Any you are planning to recreate?  What other fashion brands are inspitring your sewing this summer (or winter if you are in the southern hemisphere!)

Me Made May week 1

It's been a successful week and I have found it easy so far!

1st May - Square necked Alma blouse and cornflower blue Kelly skirt
2nd May - Purple Red Velvet with collar
3rd May - Denim Pavlova skirt, rose print Kimono tee (unblogged) and Carmine jacket
4th May - Nautical Emery dress
5th May - Blue Marl Renfrew tee
6th May - Charcoal grey Tiramisu
7th May - Navy wool Anna (whoops, something's gone wrong with that post - will fix it!) and Hetty cardigan

In addition I have repaired the zip on my Flora and stitched the wrap part down, so one item is gone from the mending pile. 

I have put my back out so no movement on the knickers front as taping PDFs and cutting on the floor really aren't happening until it's feeling better!

Minerva Blogger Network - My Favourite Jacket!

This could be one of my most useful makes ever!

I have been holding out for the release of the Carmine Jacket from Cake Patterns since late last year when it was announced as part of the Red Velvet Collection.  It's no secret that I am a total Cake fangirl - I have made 2 Tiras, 2 Pavlova skirts, a long sleeved and short sleeved Pavlova wrap top, 3 Red Velvet dresses, 2 Cabarita tops, 2 Hummingbird skirts and 2 Hummingbird peplum tops.  Actually, am I out of fangirl and into stalker territory yet?

It seemed like a really useful little knit jacket (and is it any surprise I am planning another version already?)

The fabric is the Morgan crepe jersey that I have made 2 dresses from already (both Red Velvets which you can see here and here).  I really love this fabric and would recommend it for knit beginners - it's got a good amount of stretch but is stable and easy to work with, with no curling edges.  The crepe texture is really nice and there's a less textured side too (I always spend ages trying to choose which is the right side!).

The sizing follows Cake's usual method - choosing the bust size using high bust and working out the difference between high and full bust to work out the cup size (there are A-D lines on the pattern, but Steph has included directions for larger cup sizes).  It took me a while to get my head around the construction - there is a shrug piece which has underarm gussets, and a circular collar which makes the collar and the lower back of the jacket.  You cut the collar based on cup size too.

It went together really easily - I think this could be done (including the basted fitting of the shrug that Steph recommends) in about 2.5 hours.

I tried the stretch tricot stitch on my new machine for the first time.  I wasn't sure if this was the ubiquitous lightning bolt stitch that everyone recommends for sewing knits, but it worked really well.  Much more secure than my long narrow zig zag i have always used.  It's quite slow though - sewing round the outer edge of that huge collar piece took a while!  As the jersey was stable, I didn't use my walking foot.  And even my overlocker (or overlord as she is now known) played ball! You might want to add a tag at the back neckline - I had a small panic when trying on after I had added the button and buttonhole that I had totally messed with the fit, but then realised I had put it on upside down (doh!).

I added the button on quite low down to pull it in at the waist a bit, as I think this is more flattering on me, which gives a more dramatic collar.  Vicki from Minerva (the Buttonmaster General) helped me pick this fab burgundy "selfmade" button for it, but this is a great opportunity to showcase an excellent single button you might have in your button box.

This makes a great cardigan for this time of year, and it'll be a really useful jacket when the weather heats up a bit.

I have shown it here worn with a previous Minerva make - my Kelly skirt, but it goes just as well with jeans and dresses.

If you want to recreate this jacket, you can buy a kit here which includes 3m of the jersey (enough to cut the collar piece twice if you mess it up - ask me how I know!) and a "selfmade" button.

Red Velvet with added collar

Here's my second finished Red Velvet dress. 

This time I used the same crepe jersey from Minerva but in the plum colourway.

All the fitting etc was exactly the same as I used the same fabric, but this time I decided to add the collar. I wasn't sure about it at all before I started and figured I would baste it on and see how it looked.  I have to say I love it! It makes the dress look totally different from the red one.

The finish is great. I found it much easier to get a clean neckline finish as I followed the instruction to have the interfaced side facing up. This seemed counterintuitive to me but it is much easier to avoid the dreaded puckers! 

I also sewed the side seams with the extra I took off the first time removed.  Which made matching up the side seams so much easier (you don't want to look too closely at the red one in that area!).

I can tell I'll wear this one loads this winter!

The meta dress - a red Red Velvet for #sewredoctober

Oops, so I'm late blogging this one (there's a surprise!) but I did actually sew it in October! 

And another surprise (not!) is that I am in love with Red Velvet, one of a raft of new patterns StephC from Cake Patterns has released. As a total Cake fan girl, I love how easy she makes it to get a great fit off the bat with no muslin, and how you can get lots of different looks from the same pattern.

As I generally need extra length, I started with a tape measure.  This pattern conveniently has the bodice length and skirt length marked.  I lengthened the bodice pieces by 2" and the midriff pieces by 4". I cut the skirt with an extra 2" length. As usual with Cake, you use your own bust and waist measurements to make your own pattern pieces and choose bodice pieces based on cup size.

This version used a lovely crepe jersey from Minerva Crafts. I spotted it when Winnie used it to make her Victoria blazer and promptly ordered it in a few colours including this lovely bright red.  It's pretty stretchy with a 4 way stretch and super comfortable to wear. I would definitely recommend nabbing some of this jersey while they still have it in stock as you can't beat it for the price!

For the first version I decided not to add the collar. I also didn't add the invisible pocket as for me, pockets are for my hands!

It was really easy to make and fit as ever. At the fit check, I took an inch off each side seam to account for the stretch in the fabric. Later I took another inch off at the waist. I also removed some of the extra midriff length I had added once the skirt was attached.  This was due to the amount of stretch and the weight of the skirt pulling it down.

On this make I realised the importance of using decent thread for topstitching! The first thread I used was part of a box that came with my machine. It's fine for seaming but the topstitching round the neckline looked terrible. I knew it would bug me so I unpicked and redid it with thicker thread. 

All the seams are sewn using a long narrow zigzag and then overlocked.  Beware of overlocking the pleated waist seam if you have a lightweight (as the repair man put it - he was too polite to say cheap!) overlocker.  They are not made to go through that many layers and I badly bent the upper looper. That's not a cheap fix, believe me! Hubby managed to get it going again but it's not quite right.  I may have knocked out the timing or something.

For the hem i used fusible stay tape and then twin needled and it looks great.

But the dress is fab and I got lots of compliments!

And of course Steph is having a sew along so I had to get all competitive and join in! Go Team Esme! This dress doesn't qualify as I made it before the sewalong started but I have more to show you over the next few days.

Bend over let me see you shake your tail feather...

I've made the Hummingbird skirt before. Twice. But not blogged either. I know, bad blogger! I'll get to it soon, I promise! 

You may have spotted my denim version on the Other Renfrew post. I wear these loads - what's not to love? A simple fitted pencil skirt with cute pockets (pocket-aholic is totally a thing, just ask Carolyn!). Much as I love the simple style of the Hummingbird Orange, I had a hankering for the fancier Pink version with tail feathers flounce.

The fabric was part of the haul that supplied my Hawthorn, from Remnant Kings in Glasgow. It was a remnant, about 1.7m and cost the princely sum of £4.00. Burn tests were inconclusive but it's a woven with a bit of stretch and there's a fair bit of poly in there. It's a lovely airforce blue with black and white flecks running through it.

I had already lengthened my previous versions to 22" which hits just above the knee. I knew I wanted mid-calf length on this so I made it 28". Clearly I messed up in the measuring as the back ended up longer than the front so I had to cut it down after sewing the side seams. I consulted Twitter, especially Katie about lengthening the flounce. Although I couldn't get my head around it, I trusted Steph's drafting and all was well.

I ended up doing quite a narrow hem as I didn't want to lose much more length.

I love the end result! I know I won't wear it as much as the plainer versions but it's like the denim one's posher cousin! It's so comfortable to wear as the flounce stops you being restricted as you walk, even while the front view is quite pegged. It's flattering even on those of us who are blessed in the bottom department.

I'm wearing it here with my Gertie Portrait blouse.  I love using a colour palette - everything matches so well!

I haven't seen too many flounce versions around the blogosphere. Have you made one? Link me up in the comments!

If I was Jo from Amazing Adventures of Taracat, you'd probably get a some pictures of me shaking my tail feather. Since I am not, you'll have to make do with Susannah Reid on Strictly Come Dancing.

 

This was the first week too - she's brilliant! This woman is a newsreader, not even a singer or actress. I have spared you the 5 year old shaking her tail feather in her pyjamas - you're welcome!

Cold weather wardrobe planning and the Fall Essentials Sew Along

 

I'm a planner by nature and so I started a list of things to sew for winter about a month ago (Evernote, natch!).  It's quite a long list so hopefully it will help me work out the best order to tackle them in.

I'm not much of a fabric hoarder - I tend to buy specifically for patterns, but I do tend to give myself too many items to tackle, so I have a lot of the fabric for the patterns already bought and waiting to get sewn up.  I'm also being relatively sensible in that a few of these are patterns I have sewn up before, so the worst of tracing, muslining and adjustments have already been done, so some should be speedy makes!

And then Sarah from Rhinestones & Telephones announced the return of the Fall Essentials Sew Along (FESA for short).  I don't remember seeing this before but could well have been before I started sewing.  It's a simple format.  7 categories covering all garments, a Flickr group and no tight deadlines.  Just the sort of sewalong I like! And the beauty of it is, you can fit other new patterns and sewalongs into the mix.  Perfect!

Sarah asked if we were sewing to a colour palette.  I never really aim to do this, but I do tend to find I gravitate to similar colours in summer and winter.  Here's my usual winter palette:

I wear a lot of navy and charcoal grey as neutrals but I also have plans for a couple of black items too.  Colours to go with are teal, aubergine/ burgundy and airforce blue.


Looking at my plans, I think I'll be sticking to it again this year too!

Here's my plans organised under the FESA headings.

Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather (all bottom half garments)

Kelly Skirt in teal corduroy - I snapped up the fabric for this the other day.  Not sure on whether to cut the front on the fold and leave out the buttons but as usual I was struggling to choose buttons so I still need to find these.  I may also do a burgundy one.  I have sewn this before so should be a quick make.

Source: Steph C's lovely version on Sewing Cake

Hummingbird variation with the flounce.  I have made a couple of Hummingbirds but not made the flounce version yet.  I am using a remnant of blue boucle-ish fabric.

Juniper trousers.  I meant to make these last year and failed miserably at muslin stage.  But since seeing Maria Denmark's fab trouser fitting instructions I'm keen to give them another try!  Her tinfoil tip is amazing!  I muslined in an 8 which was nowhere near fitting so I think I'll need to retrace in a 10.  I have a lovely soft grey suiting for these.

I have had a Gertie pencil skirt in mind since I bought the book and a nice burgundy crepe ready to make it.  I even bought silk organza to underline it.  I love the idea of perfecting some slow sewing but I think it might mean I get through a few other items first!  I thrifted some lovely charcoal grey wool which I want to use for the a-line variation with the pintucks.  But that will depend on the fitting issues I find with the pattern.  If I struggle it might end up being another Hummingbird!


Chic Chemises for Cool Climates

I bought the Renfrew pattern after Me Made May but not made anything from it yet.  I have a black viscose knit and a blue marl, both earmarked for long sleeved Renfrews.

I'll get a knitting project on the go for those nights when it is too cold to sit in the dining room and sew. 


Fabulous Frocks

I am currently working on the first 2 of these!

A navy wool blend By Hand London Anna dress.  Everyone has made this one up and I have yet to see anyone who didn't look great in it!  Hopefully I will be no exception.  I'm working on the slash neck midi version at the moment for their sewalong.

Unusually for me, I have 2 sewing projects on the go at the moment.  I have traced Simplicity 1882 and am making the collared version in teal cotton sateen with black accents and piping.

I had a great charity shop score recently - 5 yards of (narrow) black wool delaine for £15.  Hopefully this will work well for long sleeved Hawthorn.  Might need some funky buttons to stop it looking too drab however.  Or a nice red belt/ shoe combo.

Source: Stolen from Three Dresses Project with Leila's permission!

I've been waiting for the new Cake Patterns Red Velvet dress and it's finally on sale!  Steph has been teasing us with pics of hers on Twitter and it looks amazing!  I was going to do this in teal ponte, but I'm realising writing this list I have a lot of blue things planned, so I may make this up in burgundy or charcoal grey instead.  Isn't Leila's version gorgeous?  (and such a gorgeous girl! - click here to see more pics and read her blog post.)

Underneath it all

I'm never made any underwear but I have stashed some t-shirts which are now too big and I'm planning to make some SoZo vests and knickers out of them.

I've also got plans to make a couple of underskirts for those cotton dresses which stick to my winter tights a bit too much!  Gertie and Tasia have great tutorials here and here.


Baby it's Cold Outside

Not only am I anxiously awaiting the Red Velvet dress, but Steph has designed a whole collection around it.  When I saw the Carmine jacket I was totally hooked!  I am planning this in either a striped navy and white knit or a plain navy or burgundy.  But we have to wait til October for the pattern - boo! (apologies for the quality of the image - I couldn't find a better one since the pattern's not out yet!)


Cosy Nights

I didn't have much of a plan to make nightwear but I am tempted to make some cosy PJs or lounge trousers.  Much as I love the Tofino pattern, I don't want to pay full indie pattern prices for PJs!  I may make Maria Denmark's Lara Lounge Pants or else the Simplicity free pyjama pattern.  This might well get left til later while I see how I am getting on with the rest of the queue!

Tender Tootsies

I'm not about to start knitting socks and I don't wear slippers, so I'll probably skip this category!


Wow, that's loads when I see it written down like that!   4 (possibly 5 skirts), 1 pair of trousers, 2 tops (plus a knitting project), 4 dresses, a jacket and a "maybe" plan of PJs and undies.  Pretty sure I will make the underskirts but the PJs, pants and vests may wait til later in the season!  2 months isn't realistic is it?  I guess that is my whole season sewing list and I'll see what I can get done within the 2 months of the sewalong!

Now can I stick to this or will my plans get derailed by some new sewalong or  pattern release?

Are you doing FESA?  Do you have a sewing plan each season or are you more a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of sewist? Are you excited about the new Cake patterns too?

Tira two!

I did say that my first Tiramisu dress definitely wouldn't be my last, and here is number 2!

It's been finished for a while and worn on several occasions.  I also get really lovely compliments when I wear a Tira!  This was made from a ponte Roma jersey from Fabricland, which I loved the colour of.

However the stretch of this fabric has meant that it really doesn't fit as well as the first - It's not as stretchy and it pulls at the front wrap slightly.  I did take a bit off the bodice section and add quite a bit to the midriff as before, but I think next time I would cut as per the pattern and do the fit check as I did with the first one.  Another step on the learning curve - I haven't sewn with jersey enough to predict how the different amounts of stretch will affect the final fit.

It's still a much better fit than RTW though and I love the swirly skirt! 

More Pavlova

One of the things I really like about the Pavlova top pattern is how you can get different looks depending on how tightly you tie it.



This navy long sleeved version is tied at the back quite loosely and even lie this there is no gape at all at the front - nice drafting Steph!  It's a nice casual look that I think goes well with jeans (although they need to be relatively high waisted even with my 4" extra length - and I remembered to do front and back this time!)

I wonder if leaving a gap in the seam at the waist and threading the wrap part through would allow it to be pulled down longer?  I think I have seen this in RTW wrap tops.

Still no builder's bum due to the fab muffin cover flap at the back.

I've also got some red denim to make another pavlova skirt for my holiday but it's gone on the back burner due to deadline for the Mad Men Challenge!

Another slice of Cake!

It's been well documented on here how much I liked the Tiramisu pattern, so here's the follow up - Pavlova (OK, hungry now!).

It's a woven circle skirt (although there is a jersey option).  I made this first one in denim that I got from a charity shop.  I previously made a dress for N from it which shrank, so I prewashed this several times before starting.  I love the seashell pocket - so pretty! I cut the 30" waist and the 40" length which works well for me with this style.

I also made the top in a red jersey from World Fabrics.  Their site isn't great but good prices and quick delivery, so would use them again.  I do find it hard to get nice knits in the UK - may have to order from one of the US sites like Girl Charlee. 

The pattern piece is HUGE!  I lengthened it by 4" at the front, and totally forgot about the back (doh!), but added on at the back and the ties cover the seam.  As usual, Steph's instructions were great.  I was worried about the lapped neck seam, but I trusted in the instructions and it went together perfectly! 

Steph had the fab idea of sorting us into houses to compete for the most number of completed items over a 10 day period.  My Strawberry house didn't win but it was close and everyone was incredibly supportive as usual!

It's been a bit of a Cake month - I have another Pavlova and a second Tira to show and then it's head down for the Mad Men Dress!

Finished - My first Tira

I've only actually made one Tiramisu dress and this is it:

'Scuse the face - it was freezing!

But I know it won't be the last!  I fact I've got some aubergine coloured ponte jersey for the next one.

For this dress I used a poly knit which is charcoal grey with a kind of mohair effect - this worked for me as I can't wear wool and I wanted something warmer than a cotton jersey.  As you can see we have snow, and this was actually warm enough (with a cardigan) to wear to work the other day.

The pattern has different pattern pieces for different high bust measurements (including cup sizes) and waist measurements whch you mix and match for the best fit.  You use the bust and waist measurements to construct the midriff panel, making a perfect fit easy to achieve, especially if you don't fit a standard size.  It's also really easy to use a basted fitting to tweak the size during contruction (and even afterwards).

I used the 35 size bodice in a b-cup.  I had to take 1" off the bottom of the bodice after a basted fitting of the top.  I was getting a lot of gape at the front, so I shifted the centre front of each piece but 3/4" so there was more of a crossover, which fixed that easily enough.I wanted to avoid an empire line look as it really doesn't suit me, so I lengthened the midriff piece by 2".  I cut a 30" waist skirt with a 40" length (but I think I trimmed off too much in hemming and would leave it longer the next time.  The binding goes on flat really neatly.

It's such a good pattern and I'mlooking forward to seeing her other designs - I have preordered Pavlova and she's recently announced her new designs Lammington and Hummingbird.

Steph has run a really great 30 minutes a day sewalong, and i was surprised to find this really worked well for me.  It definitely got me sewing on days when I normally wouldn't have bothered as I didn't think I had enough time.  I think I also took more time with each section as I wasn't rushing to get it done - the topstitching on this is some of the neatest I have done, just because I slowed down a bit!  She put in so much work with all the posts and guidance on getting a great fit and advice on sewing with knits.

Sod this, it's too cold!

This one's definitely a keeper and I completely recommend it to beginners to garment sewing or people new to sewing with knits.  I think Steph is going to leave up the sewalong posts for future reference.  As is her usual style, she's going to be posting way to hack the pattern and change it up, which will be great - I definitely need to try a long sleeved version.

Tiramisu is finally available!

Unfortunately not the yummy Italian pudding on my current diet, but the lovely first offering from StephC's new pattern company Cake.

I love the design of Tiramisu and Steph has lots of hacks planned for us which you can read about here, including getting the perfect fit by drawing in your own side seams!

Best of all, it's on pre-sale on Etsy just now, limited run of 150 copies, and even with shipping from Australia, the total cost is just over £10.  Grab it before it's gone!