Jazzy Jackets for Festive Feels

So apparently Christmas time brings out the Elvis in me... (Exhibit A) 

Well that appears to have continued into 2025 and I am pleased to report that my dream jazzy jacket was born into creation!

 

For an absolute age I was a bit obsessed with a blazer from 'Any Old Iron' which was about £1300 and well out of any kind of reality. Pretty to look at but that was about it. Until I realized I could probably make it..... This was the inspiration pic that had been haunting my StashHub app:

Pic credit: Any Old Iron

 

I set about finding the ingredients one at a time. I was very luck to go to Julian Lopez in Barcelona this year, and wow they have good service. After about 20 minutes of searching for my criteria of  'the blackest black you have' the gentleman did indeed bring out the most luxurious black wool viscose. (P.S. The place is ENOURMOUS - do have a look if you are in the area). 

 A piece of fiery sequin fabric had been lurking in the stash since last year - bought from Jenny Stitches for my previous festive Elvis ensemble. Perfect for my little side stripe plans. 

 The pattern was a no-brainer. 100% the Nina Lee Richmond Blazer. That girl can draft.

 To top it off, of course we need a fabulous lining, in which case bright cherry red viscose was to finish this jacket off nicely. I found the perfect shade of 'cerise' from Beyond the Pink Door. 

I love how from the front it looks just like a regular black blazer - fairy sensible - until BOOM, you point for something and disco breaks out.  

Welt pockets on a partially sequin jacket were no joke - I did slide them slightly to the wool side of matters for ease of sewing which is potentially why they are a bit wonky - but who cares they are on and my machine still works which is the main thing. 

There jacket is incredibly heavy! A combo of the viscose wool, woven interfacing, shoulder pads and all that bling. I'm so pleased with how it turned out - there was only one label for it:

 Wishing you all well, until the next time!

 Feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx      

Ever Herd of Moonotone?

Oh yes, already with the cow puns - fine, bovine and very amoosing. Yes I will be milking this throughout. 

A fun and udderly lighthearted share on the blog today!  

We've all seen that cow print is having a moment in fashion - but obviously I went a little rogue.  

Do you know your Holsteins from your Friesians? I do not, but I do know I love this soft cosy brushed-back cow French Terry. Bravo, Little Legs Fabrics.

 In case it went pasturise too fast here it is again... 

 Sometimes you make something and it feels like it's been in your wardrobe forever as a much loved piece - this is it for me. It's so snuggly and cosy I have won it so many times since making it. 

The pattern is nothing new - you may have herd, it is my much loved and FREE pattern from Closet Core - the Core T-shirt. Definitely a pattern outstanding in its field. 

For the colour blocking I just added a band of cows under the short-sleeve cut line. The cuffs and neckline are some ribbing I had in my stash. (Just because I cud). 

What better to wear with cow print? Cows being beamed up by UFO earrings.   

 I added a Cosyclub Handmade label in as it matched those little pink noses. On a recent trip out I also went the whole hog (no wait wrong creature!) and found these amazing boot socks that I had to get to match. 

Incidentally why do cows have hooves? Because they lactose.... 

Moooving on. 

 All in all a simple but loveable make that needed a little space on my blog. Just a bit of fun, no beef.

 Wishing you all well as usual - thanks for stopping by this udder chaos of a blog post. 

Feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx      

Snakes and Snazzy Linings - Richmond Blazer

'ello. Me again - been a while as I lost my sew-jo a minute there. Back today with 'one I made earlier'. 

Repeat after me.....'Linings Must Always Be Jazzy.'

I don't think this particular example fails to fulfill that brief. Behold the INSIDE of my latest make. 

Several months ago back in Spring I embarked upon trying to find a blazer pattern - needless to say it did not go particularly well.

I tried the Friday Pattern Company Heather Blazer - which seems like most people absolutely loved, but I just could not make it work. The size was an absolute mystery as I measured myself and the pattern pieces MANY times before cutting, yet it came out quite small and ill-fitting.

 Tried again with The Blazer - by Avid Seamstress which was far too narrow in the arms for me (I should have learnt this, their block does not suit me). I didn't have the patience to keep making a million alterations so moved on...

Then up popped my gal Nina - of COURSE she had something wonderful!

I think I had initially swerved this as it looked a bit hard and the welt pockets freaked me out as I had never done them. 

What actually happened was that I found a very well drafted, very well instructed and well fitting blazer. 

After having a word with myself about 'hard things' I realized making a jacket isn't one of them anymore. So on we cracked with a jacket. 

I went for a 16/18 and did make a toile (back in January!!!) - adjusting the bicep, shoulder and added a smidge to the side panel.

 The adjustments paid off months later because I could then just get making when the urge took me. Turns out welt pockets are not as hideous as they seem (like most things its the thought of it rather than the doing). 

 

Whilst I initially went for an oversized boxy blazer, this silhouette was much better. It's casual but it has some lovely curved back and side seams giving it gentle shape.  

 It's a fun little number! Made in Cobra Corsage 'candess drill' from Lady McElroy. There's woven interfacing on the upper torso and facings and then of course, some epic lining from Minerva. 

After feeling like I achieved something there was only one label for it...

I wore it with this wonderful pendant from Rock The Panda which matches the fabric so well! Go check her own she makes some incredibly things.  

 Until the next time... don't be put off by hard things :)

 Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx      

Tomato Party on a Pepin Tote

I am so excited to announce that I had my fabrics printed and bought BY AN ACTUAL SHOP!!!!  

The other week I alluded to an exciting project with Beyond The Pink Door - well this is it. I designed a tomato print fabric called 'Tomato Party' a while back. Andrea so kindly took a punt and ordered a load for her shop. (We had to keep it secret for a few months!) 

Here it is! 

There are 3 colour variations - cobalt, aqua and pink. Each of these come in either a lovely viscose or a cotton canvas.  

 If you fancy a piece please do hop over and have a shop! This is not an advert as I get zero money for writing about this or making stuff, Andrea already bought it outright so please support her gamble on me! 

I obviously have saved some for myself and used the canvas to make a really cute tote bag. The pattern is Noodlehead - Pepin Tote. 

This pattern is wonderful. So simple but elegant in its design. It is a big deep tote bag, with side pocket and the best part - choice of zip closure. I hate open bags so having a closure recessed into the tote is perfect. A bit of added security for your stuff. 

 I love that the fabric can really do all the work with this pattern, it's a great one for using a fabric you want to show off. In this case - my own haha! Here is Sammy giving it an inspection.

 I added some very relevant tomato applique from Petra Bose to the front to break up the plain pocket - and even found a mini tomato for the zip tab. I adore tiny barely-there but definitely-intentional details like this. 

 The handles are faux leather and give it that organic vibe. Clyde there also giving it the seal of approval. 

 The Pepin Tote would be a great into into bag making if you have been tempted. Not too many working parts and mostly rectangles! I have been tempted to make these and re-open CraftyClydesEmporium but will think on that. 

I love my tomato bag and it has been used so much this summer. If you have an Christmas presents to sew up - definitely one that would have the wow factor without taking up all your time. 

And if you make one up in Tomato Party canvas - wonderful!!! I think the fabric would also make a great kitchen apron or gardeners belt apron. I may have to see if I have any left for that...

Thanks for listening to my tomato news, and please do consider supporting Andrea who has taken a chance on me - buy yours here!  

Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx      

More Myosotis and some very Pink News!

 Happy Sunday all!

 I'll start with some news for you - I have been selected to be a Beyond The Pink Door Ambassador! That means I can share lots of cool kits, fabrics, discounts etc for you before they hit the shelves and help Andrea promote her business. 

It's one of my absolute favourite places to shop online and Andrea, the owner, is just the kindest and funniest person so this is a lovely honour. 

To be clear I am not being paid for any opinions or fabric uses, I genuinely love it and hopefully you know me - I just wouldn't do it if I didn't like it.  

That brings me to a nice little segue into sharing some fabric that I bought from BTPD a while ago - this fun print called 'Millenial Summer'. 

The pattern is an oldie but a goodie. The Myosotis Dress - in hacked format - a shirt.

I made this hack so long ago now and it turned out to be one of my most worn items ever. I love the fit, the fabric, the floatyness. The lot.

As that was the case I figured I needed a couple more in my life.  

I had a little bit of this ladder lace trim and wanted to use it up - so sliced into the bodice piece and inserted the lace. 

The result. Another great shirt and another cowboy style! 

 I have recently been doing a bit of art and prints (:gasp: yes a different hobby) and painted a lovely little pigeon that had nested in my garden tree.

I couldn't resist putting her on a bit of fabric.

 

I only printed a small amount of this as I had no idea if it would work so my Mysostis shirt hack was great for fitting onto 1.5m. I did a short sleeve version (mostly because I forgot the others were 3/4 length) and actually it's another nice look. 

On a recent shopping trip I noticed the Myosotis neckline shape is on a LOT of garments this year. Not that I care too much about the trends- mine has bloody pigeons on it for christ sake - hardly fashionista but interesting none the less! 

I found this shirt type works best in a light cotton rather than viscose and therefore I chose a Cotton Voile for this one.   

This all brings me neatly back to Beyond The Pink Door again - as this evening there shall be some very exciting news! 

All will be revealed shortly (this evening at 7pm to be exact) but I'll leave you with a clue....

Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx    

Princess Seams and Disney Dreams

 Well this post is wayyy off my usual creations! For a kick off it's not for me. Clearly...

This lady is my lovely friend Anya who is absolutely Disney obsessed. About 8 months ago she had shown me a whirly twirly pink dress that she would have liked to wear on her holiday.

8 months later - we made some magic come true!

Anya works for cancer charity Little Lifts who have helped me no end, so I wasn't doing this for just anyone! 

The bodice of the dress started as a Vintage pattern I borrowed from The Fabric Wrangler however we altered the design so many times during the toile process it bears little resemblance other than having princess seams. 

The sketch below is what we started with...

 

Criteria: square neck, v-back, twirly skirt, bow. Pink. 

I think we got there!

I made a toile in some lovely supima cotton which was nice and easy to fit and adjust where needed. I squared off the neckline, moved the shoulders outwards to get that 'princess' feel to it and cut a huge V into the back seam line. It took about 3 versions to get the fit right which to be honest, I thought it would be more so I was a little relived at that!

This is probably one of my biggest projects in terms of drafting, fitting another human, lining, using satin etc etc. 

The 'real' dress is made of a really luxurious duchess satin. The bodice is entirely lined with a light pink cotton voile, hand stitched to the circle skirt. The skirt is, just a circle skirt. But it does have pockets!

 

Unfortunately time was not on my side towards the holiday deadline and I did machine hem it rather than handstitch, which fortunately pressed flat in the end despite the photos. (The mannequin is a bit bigger than Anya so pulls a bit).

There was an additional bit of engineering to this as the bow needed to be removable. I therefore created a little ribbon belt, which also served to nip the waist in when needed. The belt slider could then be moved to the back, and pushed into the center bow loop to hide it. Not going to lie, I was pretty proud of this invention. 

A lovely project for a lovely person that spanned the course of this year so far - and so great to see it being worn where it was intended!!

 For all non-sewists out there:

No, I will not make you one.  

 😉

Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx   

Gold Boots and Cowgirl Kalle

Yes it's Kalle again - I couldn't help myself. This is only really getting airtime because of the fabric and the theme. 🤠

Steady on people don't fall off your chair - that is indeed a picture not taken in my back garden next to the same tree you've seen for years. :: gasp::

I've always wanted to try line dancing and when a local venue hosted a Hoedown with a corn maze, well to the hoedown we did go.  

This fabric is called Filly - by Fabric Godmother and I didn't realize how similar it was to my Charlie Caftan! Clearly I have a type.  

Obviously I felt the need to make my entire outfit, so panic ordered some fabric with about 1 day to spare. Shout out to FG who dispatched this in a flash! 

I had originally picked up some cowboy print viscose from a destash but decided I would probably get more wear out of a something that was leaning more to summer dress and away from overtly costume. This one has horses on so that counts right? In a nod to the theme I did also use these amazing horse buttons and a gingham label.

 Again as time was of the essence, the ol' faithful Kalle was the front runner for a pattern as I can just whip that up without much issue (normally) and in this case it did actually fit the western vibe. 

 Guess who won best dressed and a £20 voucher!!! Yeehaw!

It almost certainly had something to do with my boots which I also had a hand in making. Obviously not from scratch but LOOK AT THESE! I found a cheap pair of brown boots on Vinted and after several hours of paint, foils and varnish - the best boots ever!

I shall write more about my shiny shoe adventures as I have become addicted and already had 3 more pairs and a workshop on the cards. 

Until the next time folks - keep on truckin'.

Wishing everyone well and thank you for stopping by - feel free to comment and come and say hello on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Bloglovin too xxx