Cobra Corsage - McCalls M7629 Boxy Shirt

After having noticed this pattern at a Norwich Sewcials event being made by a friend, I was strangely drawn to this new-ish McCalls shirt. It is not my usual style put it piqued my interest and thought I'd just go with it. In need of a few separates, I thought it could be a good wardrobe builder!
 


The shirt has a few collared variations however I opted for view A which has more of a woven tee feel about it.
The shirt is boxy in style, has no dart at all and only consists of front, black, sleeve and facing pieces!


As there are no darts and froofy details, it appeared to be a great way to use and show off some beautiful fabric without distorting the print.

This is 'Cobra Corsage' in cotton lawn from Fabric Godmother - I may have also bought the viscose version aswell...oops.


 As per usual the McCalls sizing was a mystery. The chart put me at a 14 bust and 18 everywhere else. As my packet only went up to a 14 I just cut that out and hoped for the best. The boxy shape and extraordinary amount of ease in the pattern meant that it fit just fine over the waist. Potentially a little too big if anything.

Weirdly my pattern didn't come with any instructions inside, so I just took a guess how to make it. Thanks to Sew Direct who later sorted that out and sent me a stack of instructions for next time! The only thing I didn't notice was there was supposed to be side vents in this version. Oh well.

I should really have given this a better press before taking pictures however light levels are hard to come by in November and time was short.

The only changes I made were to shorten the shoulder seams by 1cm and then adjust the sleeve piece accordingly, just so it sat a little better on my shoulders and didn't droop so much. I wonder if it may benefit from being a size smaller next time. WITHOUT a cardigan/coat on, the shirt is really nice and comfortable and hangs really well...however when I put a cardy on unfortunately it started riding up and gaping at the chest leading to wardrobe malfunction. I had to pop into M&S and grab a vest top!!

Not sure why it did this - perhaps just the fabric sticking to my knitwear? Any suggestions welcome as its put me off wearing it again, which is a shame as I actually quite like it as an alternative to a t-shirt for casual wear.


I couldn't find any matching buttons but found 2 blue and 2 green in my stash, and after a quick insta-poll, decided these would do just fine. They even match the snake and beetle!

A good quickie project; not a stunner but not a dud either. Another may be on the cards one day but potentially with a few fitting fixes...

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Vilene Hot Spots with Minerva Crafts

Minerva Crafts have once again let me have a play about with some new products - and this one was certainly new to me!

This time it was Vilene Hot Spots! What on earth is that I hear you say? Good question.... 






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Secret Sewing and Plotting Plans...

Hello all, it's been a bit quite on the blog of late hasn't it...

Main reason being I just totally lost my sew-jo for a few weeks. It was a busy October and I didn't get much chance to do any creative crafting, however I also just didn't fancy it - happens sometimes right!

I got a bit stuck on something I felt I needed to make but didn't actually want to. Because I couldn't bring myself to start that project I just came to a stand still. The thing in question was going to be a Christmas gift (relax peeps its November, we can talk about it now). As chance would have it, I found the future-recipient of said gift something altogether different and far more lovely and useful from an actual shop.

If any of my close pals or family are reading this - I'm fairly sure they are thinking 'dear god let that be me....no handmade crap this year pleeeeeeeasse'. Schrodinger's Christmas gift. Until December you both have and have not got a handmade present. Mwhahahah.

However, since setting that idea aside it seemed to free up some brain space and the sew-jo came back. A couple of days ago I went a bit nuts and just started cutting out and planning EVERYTHING. It got out of hand.

So there's nothing in particular to share with you today - just some muttering and musing :)

Secret sewing is back on track and Christmas presents are being made - so of course I can't blog about them!

In other news, as my brain went a bit on overdrive, I've been updating my to-sew list and giving it a revamp. We have a lovely new sofa so I'd really like to make a small festive quilt to go on it from the amazing Higgs and Higgs Nordic Christmas fabric I picked up at the sewing bee live.


I may have given myself WAY too much to do before the holidays. Especially as in the midst of all this selfless sewing - I totally got distracted by the Kalle Shirt dress expansion pack - sleeve version - and have to make that.... of course.

Photo: Close Case Patterns
Also of extreme interest is the project going on over at Randomly Happy. Elena is doing a Capsule Wardrobe for Makers series, and whilst I will never be someone with only 15 items in my wardrobe - I seem to wear only about 15. Especially these days as I now work at home and instinctively reach for something comfortable. There is a great pdf download to get you thinking about the activities you actually do in life  and the types of clothing that would be good to create to fit those needs. I think I'll give it a little go - it could be a good project for the New Year and any potential future sewing plans.


There's a few things coming up on the blog soon - another make for Minerva next week and then a bit review of the M7629 shirt in some fab fabric from the Fabric Godmother.


Wishing everyone a lovely week!

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