Space Cadet - Salute to Kalle!

This is my first project of 2018! Wow did it take a long time to materialise...

I instantly fell for and bought the Kalle Shirt sleeve expansion for the Closet Case Patterns Kalle Shirt Dress and knew exactly what fabric would work. Set about cutting in December last year....then nothing. I have no idea why either.

But here it is...and it was worth the wait. I was meticulous about every detail this time, which makes a change for me, and made sure to do things properly rather than rush through. Hence why its now the end of January and only just finished. You'll have to excuse the poor light levels as the UK is lurking somewhere under a blanket of pure grey and we haven't been allowed out yet.

Firstly let me attest to how PERFECT this pattern is. The shirt is good, the dress is good and dammit the tunic is amazing too. It it hands down THE perfect shirt for me. A long cosy shirt to go over leggings - my uniform. It's so well drafted, hangs wonderfully and I also found it to be an excellent length. I did however make a few tweaks though...just because.

Epaulettes! For some reason this just naturally occurred. It felt right to add them to this lovely material and the shape of the shirt to give it a bit of a twist and a bit of a military vibe. Plus I wanted to use studs, and in the end opted for these amazing ladybird buttons from Textile Garden.  So it's more eco-warrior than mercenary - you can't get mad at a ladybird.

The fabric I used here is Ocean Herringbone Shetland Flannel by Robert Kaufman. I first saw it on Meg and instantly purchased it with the intention of making something similar to her Archer. Because Meg is cool and I need to copy her. Fact. The fabric has however been languising in my stash ever since. Embarassingly I've just seen the date on her post and it was 2015....good thing's come to those who wait?!

This is most certainly a winter shirt as this stuff is thick. The shirt has taken on an almost jacket feel to it! As I result I also went for a few changes to the yoke and inner collar as I wasn't sure my machine would go through 2cm of flannel. Enter the #prettyguts with the addition of some astronaut fabric gifted to me by a lovely friend.

Rolling with a theme I decided to percevere and create bias binding with it aswell. This part was tricky as the binding is so thin and unravelling was a risk. With a hell of a lot of pinning and pressing, it got there in the end.

This was also my first attempt at box plackets (is that the word??) on the sleeves and was a little dubious however it came together of sorts. Not perfect but not bad, plus the fabric hides the threads really well. I ran out of ladybirds at this point, and will power to leave the house, so the sleeves have 'eclectic' buttons.

I adore this shirt and hope in the spirit of #makerscapsule it it going to get some wear - it fits the secret pyjama, smart casual criteria :) I will ABSOLUTELY be making another.

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It's Not Rocket Science - M6044

Now my other half has seen this shirt (it was made as a suprise) I can share it with you...

Ol' faithful M6044 came out to play again, this time with long sleeves. For some reason I had put off making the long sleeve version for absolutely ages, for fear of labour intensive fitting and adjustments. After biting the bullet and just going for it blindly as a Christmas present, it turned out just fine. I pinched one of his work shirts and measured the sleeve against this pattern piece - identical!

Behold the geekiest shirt to date....

This amazing rocket science fabric was from Hawthorne Threads, although quite a while ago and has been sitting in the stash for about 2 years. Blue prints for space ships - perfect.

The fabric was lovely to work with, nice and stable to sew and super soft after washing. Luckily Mr Crafty Clyde loved it. He's in the science and tech world so that's fortunate!

I did find the cuffs to be quite slim (I tried it on myself) and so the buttonhole was done vertically to space save. It worked. Phew. The long sleeve version goes together so easily as there's no seperate cuff placket. The sleeve is 2-piece and so the opening is just formed from the seam.

And as if this couldn't get any nerdier - galaxy-esque buttons were added!

I love this pattern so much - and if menswear is on your 2018 agenda I would highly recommend this pattern!

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2018 - Fresh Perspectives

Happy New Year!

Here we are a week into 2018 - I hope it's treating everyone well so far. After last week's musings on the year gone by, this time I'm looking forward to what sewing may be in store!

Randomly Happy has been doing a 'Maker Capsule' series which I touched upon a while back, but I've really taken this into account when thinking about what I want from my makes this year. It looks at what you actually do with your time, then takes inspiration boards that you filter down to things you would actually wear and would be practical to wear in your life. Then you can look at suitable patterns and adjust accordingly.

From Pinterest I picked out these looks:

I now work at home ALL THE TIME so my need for any kind of formal wear is nil. Neither do I want to spend all day slouching in PJs despite the reputation home working has! My activities generally consist of being at home, being at the gym or yoga, tortoise welare working outdoors, or out with friends in more casual settings. Whatever I may be doing the ultimate goal is comfort and movement.

This leaves me with:

• Smart casual -  for restaurants/pubs/social stuff
• Activewear - for both outdoor work and fitness
• Daytime secret pyjamas - comfortable for being at home, smart enough to open the door/nip to shops!
• Loungewear

Here was another more casual inspiration board...

So really the things I actually like are really basic and simple. To keep things from getting too dull though I'd like to add a bit of personality - I love the patches on shirts and these pimped up tees!

To go with comfort factor obviously means staying way from buying quilting cotton for clothes! Soft viscose, ponte, jersey, silks (maybe :-/ ) is the way forward. 

Quirky chic. Let's try this. 

And so to the 2018 Make Nine intentions...

 

• Black cullottes - I'm going to draft some myself - I can't find a pair I like so to the drawing board it is! A total staple perfect for a graphic tee
• Blackwood Cardigan - This may get me back on the knitwear wagon, after seeing some out in the wild they look beautiful
• Sew Sweetness Patterns - I have so much novelty print it's untrue, time to channel that into bag making!!
• Toaster Sweater (Simplicity version) - Meg totally put this on my radar with her white version shown in the pic. Perfection. 
• Fehrtrade Activewear - never having tried this I'm a tad nervous but here goes, I pre-ordered Melissa's book at the Sewing bee Live
• This is the Reeta dress however I would just like one nice flowy shirt dress for summer, regardless of pattern
• Sasha!! Of course I'm going to be making Closet Case Patterns in 2018. I would love to make these in floral print like my Trigger's Bloom trousers (that I can't fit into anymore and are long gone)
• Union St Tee - I've heard good things about this, would be a great basic if it fits 
• Morgan Jeans - these are a wildcard - I already feel like I may not get round to these however I like the relaxed fit and they may be good in a different fabric other than denim 

These are the intentions anyway, nothing is set is stone and as well all know things change and the sewing list is fluid...

What are you guys going for this year? x

 Feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Bloglovin too :-) xx