More autumn essentials

I made some undies! Ok nothing difficult like a bra (pants/ knickers/vests still on my to do list).

I was chatting on Twitter about the fact that it should be easy to make underskirts, prompted by Carolyn's blog post here. A couple of lovely ladies (no idea who - sorry!) pointed me towards Gertie and Tasia's tutorials. As I had leftover poly satin from my Anna dress lining and my Anise jacket I knew it would be a quick and cheap make and stash bust.

A quick look on Ebay revealed a seller with picot elastic and fold over elastic (for my SoZo pants and vests - I am obsessed with saving postage and often buy stuff ages in advance to avoid paying twice) and it turned out he was just a few miles away from me. I ordered at lunchtime one day and received the next morning! I ordered some pretty lace with a Minerva Fabrics order (see, postage!) and it's gorgeous! It's a lovely weight which makes these feel really luxurious. 

I think the spend on these worked out at £2 per underskirt and they are so much nicer than any bought ones I have had.

I used Gertie's tutorial and it was so fast - both of these were made in an evening.

Perfect for making cotton summer dresses wearable with tights! 

I'll spare you pics of these on me (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?

FO: The Gertie Portrait Blouse

Anyone who followed me during Me Made May will have seen this - It's become a wardrobe staple!

It is the Portrait Blouse from Gertie's Book for Better Sewing.  I loved this from the first time I saw it.  It's such a pretty style with very clean lines and shapes.  I am really getting into blouses after being a t-shirt girl for most of my life - I have several more planned.  This one feels very ladylike!  Maybe I fear the ironing board less than I used to since starting sewing?

For such a simple pattern, I did have to make a lot of adjustments however.

Of course, I consulted the fabulous #sewcialists on Twitter - there's always some fab advice available - and found that Katie had made it already so she gave me some great tips.

The sizing on Gertie's book patterns is quite different from usual pattern sizing - I made an 8, and added slightly (about 1/4" at each seam) to the waist and hips.  I have heard that the book is quite wide across the back which suits my broad shoulders and I think the shoulders fit well!

Gertie says in the book that it is a short style, so I knew I'd be in for some considerable lengthening - she wasn't wrong.  I lengthened by 4"!  I also did a small FBA.  For me, the neckline is perfect and I love the loose tucks rather than darts.  I did have to lengthen them quite a bit to get them to sit flat - the fabric would insist on poofing out above them, but I kept extending them until this stopped happening!  I suspect this was to do with my lengthening making the end points hit in the wrong place.

I also did a couple of new techniques on this make - narrow hems, following the instructions from the book.  It was fairly easy and looks nice and neat.  I also handpicked the side zip.  I don't know why I haven't done this before, as it made the zip so easy to insert neatly.  My only complaint is that the thread matches the fabric so well that you can't see my pick stitches!  As you would expect, Gertie's instructions on both of these were nice and clear with good photos and illustrations to help.

The fabric was a poly remnant with lovely drape that I picked up from the legendary remnants table at Ditto in Brighton (I love that table!).  I had just over 1m and I think it was the princely sum of £1.80.  So that plus the cost of the zip makes it a practically free make!  I've worn it lots and have a couple more in the pipeline (OK they are in my head but they'll get done sometime!).  They definitely smarten up my jeans!

And finally a back view for Nessa:

A lovely day!

I had a great day on Friday!

Following my pre-order months ago, I was thrilled to arrive at work and find that Amazon had come through with my copy of Gertie's book!

 

I have read it cover to cover and absolutely love it!  It is really inspiring, especially on the subject of tailoring. 

I had never realised all the stabilising and padding and reinforcing that goes in to creating a tailored garment.  But Gertie makes it all seem attainable even to a newbie like me!  I know it will be a long time before I can even think about attempting something like her suit jacket:

but i am sorely in need of tops and there are some gorgeous ones in the book that I can see in my near future!

The Portrait Blouse

The Keyhole Top

And I love the bound buttonholes on the back of the bow tie top:

And the Tiki dress is great!

In fact, maybe i should work through her book in the way she worked through VNBBS at the beginning of her blog!  I espcially love the fact that she models all the clothes.  She looks fantastic throughout!

And to top that off, I met up with Karen and a group of other lovely ladies to drool over the ballgowns at the V&A and talk sewing.  I completely forgot my camera so unfortunately don't have any pictures but it was lovely to talk about sewing and not see people sidling away - or maybe I just have that effect on people!  My particular favourite dresses were the black beaded bias cut dress (top pic, second from the left) and the Holly Fulton one with the Rocky Horror-esque lip print and leather trim (bottom pic on the catwalk).

Source:belleandbunty.co.uk

 

Source: idontwearfashion.blogspot.co.uk

Thanks to Karen for organising such a lovely night.

The spotty skirt

I have a thing about spots. And stripes. But at the moment it's spots! I
think they are lovely for summer.

As soon as I saw Gertie's tutorial for her full gathered skirt I knew I
wanted it to be in navy with white spots.

I really enjoyed making this one. Gertie's directions are really clear and
the pictures really helped. I also learnt a few new techniques with this
make. I had done some traditional gathering using the bobbin thread on some
of the clothes I made for N but Gertie suggested a different way using a
crochet thread and zig zag stitch, as per the tutorial here. It was really
easy and I think given the volume of gathers in this skirt, it was much
easier.

I also inserted my first invisible zip, which I found much easier than
expected! The random lump of plastic that was the invisible zipper foot I
had went on easily and did the job perfectly! I used this method to insert
it and I'm very pleased with the result (altho it doesn't actually pull up
past the bottom of the waistband so a hook and eye is needed). Not sure
what I did wrong, but perhaps I needed to move the zip out slightly at the
joining of waistband and skirt?

As the actual sewing was so simple, I though I'd give it a little twist
with a bound and handstitched hem. Note to self: when comtemplating a
handstitched hem, think about the circumference of the skirt first! But I
really love the flash of red and the deep hem. Looks fab with red shoes!

.