Kalle and the Bears

Hello :)

I'm back with something a little more seasonal this week. Seasonal...but not new.

It's Kalle again! I contemplated a different shirt pattern - but if it works it works. I find the Kalle to be the right amount of roomy, has all the features of a loose shirt you may need, and a wonderful length for wearing as a tunic/long shirt over leggings.

Now this Kalle was serving a purpose. You may have seen on Instagram that I've been on my honeymoon (#honeymoose) in Canada and OF COURSE I wanted to take a brushed cotton plaid shirt with me.

I found the perfect plaid on Minerva and ordered this lovely blue colour. Which incidentally matched my surroundings......  (gratuitous holiday snap incoming). It's gorgeously soft and very cosy to wear in the drizzly weather.

There had been a lot of bear chat before I left - do we need bear spray?! Would we even see any?! So with that in mind, what better way to celebrate going wildlife watching with little bear buttons...

This is the long sleeve version of the pattern. Like a fool, I did leave this until the last minute and my sleeve plackets are awful - however if someone would like to criticize my sleeve plackets in a day to day non-sewing-related scenario I would invite them to reassess their life priorities. You say badly made, I say woodland rustic.

In such desperation to take my shirt on holiday, I did actually leave it a bit 'unfinished' with no mini placket cuff buttons and no pockets attached! Those got added at home afterwards...

Days went by without a sight of much wildlife at all until......

BEARS!!!! Don't worry folks this was taken from a safe distance. We saw a momma and baby black bears in a clearing as we drove to Jasper! (No doubt any Canadians reading this will wonder what the big deal is but I'd always wanted to see wild bears :)

By day 10 you couldn't shift for bears.

These grizzlies were however in a safe sanctuary hence the pics - otherwise you wouldn't have seen us for dust...or just wouldn't have seen us again.

So there we have it. Kalle and the Bears. New band name. (An entire post without a tortoise reference! Apart from that one. Oops.)

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Tulips all the way down...Minerva Makes

It's time again for another Minerva Make! 

Hop on over to their blog to see more details of this amazing border print fabric and how it got used to make a version of the Nina Lee Kew Dress!

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Blending in on Union Street

Hey June - howd'ya get your patterns soooo good?

This is not a new pattern for me, but it's certainly a favourite and the most versatile. After multiple attempts at finding the perfect tee - turns out I had it all along. Hey June Handmade - Union St. Tee.

This post is all about blending into the wild.... camouflage at it's best.

Can you see me?

How amazing is this chameleon fabric?! From Olumis, I already used this for a friend's Ogden top and had a load stashed for something fabulous. It has vivid colours and such good quality, resistance was futile.

After toying with the idea of a jumpsuit, I opted for something I would get more wear out of. Enter the Union St. dress hack - again. Simple, sleeveless and sassy. I added a pop of colour to the neckline with some jersey bias binding from Beyond Measure. I tried to add it to the arm holes aswell but it ended up too tight so got snipped.

Next up, a very similar dress but in a really different fabric. This absolute beauty is from Enchanted Fabrics (a UK pre-order site) and is the slinkiest, softest bamboo lycra. Perfect for those urban safari's.

And last but not least - for when you need to go incognito near the sea. BOOM. No-one will be able to spot you near the rock pools in this one.

I have to thank a lady on The Fold Line Facebook group for this inspiration as she posted a picture from Pinterest of this beautiful fabric. It turned out it was available from Spoonflower called Tides#3 and wow I was taken.

A simple tee dress was in store for this to use the print to it's full effect. I only JUST managed to squeeze this out of the fabric, hence the rocky sleeve vs. water sleeve.

I am also significantly wider than the Pinterest girl so on the back there is a line where the image repeats. Who cares though. I haven't worn this yet as I really enjoyed making it, rarely wear white/lights and feel like I'm going to drop something on it! It will get worn though...

It's quite funny looking back at my last few posts as I always used to wear black... Colour feels so much better these days.

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Nina Lee - In The Kew

I'm not sure I need another summer dress pattern.... I found my perfect version!

And made it three times.

Enter the Kew Dress into my life. To be honest I've swerved Nina Lee patterns as they always seemed rather 'girly' and I wrongly assumed that they were only for very slender petite figures. I could not have been more wrong.

The pattern cropped up as a result of a Minerva project #minervamakes a little while back where I was kindly gifted some digital print cotton and challenged to make something that showed off the print. The result was this absolute beauty:

I won't say too much about this as my project post will go live on 25th September on Minerva's blog where you can have a browse of the pattern hacks. I'll give you a little peek at how I felt about it though!

I was all prepared for a week's worth of pattern adjusting and fitting, having just fully given up on a Deer & Doe Magnolia dress (oh the hours of my life I will not get back).

Checking measurements carefully I went for a size 14 at the bust graded to 16 at the waist and hip. To my utter astonishment - it fit!!!!!! Not one adjustment was made to the patterns. No broad back, no bust faff, Nada. Unbelievable. Even better is that this dress totally covers bra straps which is pure genius.

My tulip field version is a soft cotton poplin and sewed up really well and without issue. The zebra print version is cotton fabric from Fabrics Galore I bought an age ago at the Sewing Bee Exhibition!

This one was made for my sister who really liked the print and colour - and of course the pockets ;-)

My last and favourite dress is this beautiful viscose from Sewisfaction called 'Divine Landscapes'. It being slippy and slidey, the dress was much more of a challenge to make and the back did stretch out quite a lot and the buttons gaped.

I MAY have fixed this with bond-a-web. Gasp. So it's pretty on the outside, but held together inside by string and glue. I also had to rip out the pockets and move the placement as I seemed to have sewed them in at the knees. I can't unbutton it now and it has to go on wriggled over the head but never mind.

None the less I love it now and the extra room is quite nice and comfortable, plus it makes me feel all nice. 

Just to evidence that I do leave my back garden sometimes, here is the dress in action actually being WORN. Result for me.

The dress passed the day out and mega-lunch test on a trip to Urban Jungle with The Fabric Wrangler. Awesome cafe, would highly recommend.  

The buttons on these dresses are lovely and fairly unusual. I found them on Textile Gardens and they are made of cotton!The colours in real life are like 'bright pastel' and they have this great matte texture to them.

Summer 2019 - The Year of the Kew. Love it.

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Dotty Anza Dress - Itch to Stitch

It's that gauze again!

Last seen on my Cielo dress in black, here's the green version in action. (The yellow is still biding its sweet time).

This dress is the Itch to Stitch - Anza Dress (& Jumpsuit) pattern - in dress format obviously.

I came across the dress on the Love Sewing magazine cover and liked the casual style of it. There seemed to be lots of details and a nice shape to the neckline so went for the download. It was inevitably massive so I admit to having it printed. Ain't no-one got time for that.

There it all came unstuck as once I'd cut my pattern pieces out - and just a warning - there are many, I could not figure out the magazine instructions for the life of me. So I bought the actual pattern, got proper instructions and felt generally much better about life.

(Well it feels a lot of pattern pieces to me, who makes 3 piece t-shirts all the time and rethinks life-choices if there's more than 6...)

It was a good meaty little project this one - after sewing many basics, it was nice to have a go at something a bit more involved. I wouldn't say more complex as the separate features are not massively difficult, just more time consuming. I think it took a couple of weeks in total, just doing bits of it here and there in my lunch break.

Can we just take a moment here to appreciate the god's of haberdashery who were on my side when it got to button day. It needed 4 buttons for the front bodice and low and behold, 4 glorious matching buttons were in my stash!!! (Found a while back from Textile Garden - my go-to button gal).

The pattern is really well drafted - there is cup-size options as well as normal sizing so a lot of folk will love that. I went for B cup and therefore no darts were needed. Lazy girl's dream. I graded the pattern between 12/14 without any modifications and it seems to be spot on. Next time, the bodice could come up by 1cm ish but that's just a minor niggle.

Just proving I ironed my fabric this time, check out the back crease hehe

I totally messed up the position of the button holes so I have one right next to the waist band that sticks out, and the top gapes a bit so I've sewn in closed. The dress can just pop over your head anyway its pretty roomy.

The dress is super comfy, there's a bit of a belt and braces job at the waist which is a bit weird. It has elastic casing AND a waist-tie. I did myself a favour by mistake in this respect as I didn't fold over the waist casing and applied it more like bias binding. Turns out it was a good job as the casing would never have been big enough for the elastic and tie as it was on the pattern piece.

If you're going to make this dress - double the width of the casing strip!! I've since since some other reviews of this dress who also say the same thing so glad its not just me being daft.

All in all a good and useful project - I've worn it several times now so a good sign!

Just a little note - not all projects are a success I just generally can't be bothered to write about the disasters (unless it was particularly comical). For example - my usual love of Closet Case Patterns designs was slightly blighted by the worst fitting trousers known to mankind when I tried the Pietra's! That was definitely a case of what suits one person will not suit everyone! The quest for trousers continues....

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All the Ogdens...

'Tis the season of the Ogden.  Buenos Dias you beautiful basic.

This year I joined in with the Ogden Swap #ogdenidaswap2019 organized by Jen @jenlegg4 and Samantha @purplesewingcloud through Instagram.

This was an 'international stash-busting swap' and sounded good fun. People signed up, then we all got assigned a swap partner who you could insta-stalk to see what they may like, then make them a little cami top in secret!

The reveal date was yesterday and my swap partner, also an Emma did an absolutely spectacular job! She absolutely hit the nail on the head with this top. The fabric is called 'Slow and Steady' from Tula Pink in the colour 'Tortoise Shell Kiwi'. Perfect!!!

I was really overwhelmed that a stranger had taken the time to make something so lovely, I feel very lucky. There was a beautiful little tortoise key ring included aswell as a nice note and the top itself is immaculate. Thank you so much Emma :) One of my favourite touches was this label:

In return I had been plotting an Ogden cami for her, and having seen her sporty photos, love of Liberty and nice colour choices I decided to use some of this Liberty of London Strawberry Thief fabric. I really enjoyed the research part of this little project and seeing what someone may like, all very exciting.

Not part of the swap, but also going elsewhere, I have made several other Ogdens this summer, these one's out of jersey for a soft and stretchy fit for my good pal in Barcelona.

She, like myself, is obsessed by Snoopy, so when I saw this Woodstock fabric from Flamingo Fabrics
there was no way I could let that lie.

 Not stopping there I also made her a chameleon version - look at those colours! This is also a beautifully soft cotton jersey from Olumis fabrics. I was quite taken with this fabric so went back for some more to make myself something. I'm sure that will pop up on here at some point. 

I've been having some fit issues myself with this one so had to reprint and size up from my previous pattern. Since gyming I clearly have a broader back which is causing some sewing issues however the size 12 now seems to fit - so more Ogdens for summer here I come!

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Un Cielo Estivo

A Summer Sky - quite literally when I took this photos on one of the hottest days of the year so far...

It's no secret that I'm a massive Closet Case Patterns fan, and I pounced on the new Rome Collection when it launched!

Pic: Closet Case Patterns Insta

 Within about 15 minutes of it going live on their site, I'd already added the Pietra Pants and Cielo dress to my cart. I resisted the full bundle however, as Me Made May pointed out, I just don't do skirts and I didn't really fancy Fiore.

I used to live in Rome so I think this collection, just by name alone, brought back a bit of nostalgia and spurred me on to get the patterns. (Weird fact, I discovered not long ago that myself and Randomly Happy were living there at the same time!)

In the week I bought this, the weather was super hot so I had the Cielo dress printed, taped and cut out within a few hours.

There are loads of sleeve and dress combos in this pattern but I just love the simple version. No frills. I didn't add the front pockets either as I thought it may be too bulky for the fabric I chose.

Enter the gold dotty double gauze from Higgs & Higgs.  So good I bought it thrice. (Mustard, Black and Peacock Green ;)

The fabric is gorgeous. It's opaque, soft, cool, easy to press and sew and well...dotty.

With regard to the pattern, it put me at a 14, so a 14 I did make. I do feel however it's potentially a bit big. I don't know if it's just the style, but the pics of other people wearing this don't seem so voluminous. I guess I could shave a bit off the sides but actually the big roomy nature of this was great for the heat. Clothing that doesn't touch your body.

The dress sewed up in a couple of hours, a simple make however I did go for the simplest version possible. As usual the pattern is very well drafted and the pieces all fit together nicely. Don't you just love it when pattern pieces fit how they should...Sleeve satisfaction right here:
 


There is a bust dart which gives the front a bit of shaping and I found that to be a nice touch. There's also the option to bind the neckline or use a facing. I didn't have enough fabric to cut the bias binding strip so used some black jersey binding from the stash. Worked a treat.

I'd say it wasn't the most interesting thing I've ever made but it certainly is the comfiest and quickest! Now where to go sightseeing....

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