A plethora of jersey basics

Hi there, its been almost a month since I blogged but the truth of it is I have been on a bit of a slow sew of late. Life has been getting increasingly hectic and the pressures of keeping up with everything have been getting on top of me a bit. Sewing I often find is a pleasant release from all this, its a great way to clear my head of all the clutter, but sometimes it can feel like its just another thing stressing me out. Because of this I have been forcing myself to take a bit of time out when my head feels like it needs it rather than trying to force through that ever growing to sew list.

You've got a friend in me

How amazing is this fabric! Master Fox is a big fan of basically anything Disney, I would tell you which is his fave but it changes weekly so who knows which it will be by the time this post is published. Having said that he is always happy to go back to an old favourite, and who doesn't love a bit of buzz and woody. 

This fabric is some more from llfab who recently ran this as part of their pre-order rounds. The fabric quality is amazing, its so nice to sew with. Its a very thick jersey but it gives the most amazing finish to these adorable little garments.

I bought the fabric to make Master Fox an adorable little tshirt to wear. The problem (is it a problem?) with making kids clothes is that you end up buying by the meter and you have so much fabric left over. Of course I am sure there are other things I can make with the rest of the fabric but how many Toy Story tshirts can one little boy have? So I decided to as well make one of his little girlfriends a matching dress as she is also a big fan of the films.

The patterns for these two outfits are both from the most recent Ottobre magazine (Summer 3/2017). The tshirt is the whales and tigers top and the dress is a mash up of the Donuts and California Surfing dresses. Thankfully these two dresses were drawn on the same pattern pieces so they were easy to mix and match. I do love the versatility of Ottobre patterns, and the great thing about having their magazine subscription is that if I want to make something you can almost always guarentee you already have a pattern for it. Having said that the instructions are vague at best and come with very little visual instruction if any. This does make them quiet difficult to follow for a novice but as long as you read them carefully and follow the instructions they are fine to work with.

I am really impressed with my binding on both these outfits. They are sitting so perfectly flat. I think that can be partly contributed to by the fabric its attached to being of such a good sturdy quality but I have also done a lot of practicing with my twin needle and the threading/tension on my machine. I really do love to challenge myself with sewing now, and knit binding was a skill which was trying to evade me, but I think we are finally getting there.

The binding fabric and green jersey came from caboodle textiles, not a site I have used before but they have some lovely knits, these plain ones feel gorgeous. The knit binding was also from them. it doesn't feel to the touch like the best quality I have ever had but it certainly stitched up fine, I think the pictures prove that.

So which is your favourite disney movie, and if you could score the fabric what would you do with it? Also does anyone have any good ideas for what I could do with the last bit of this fabric? I don't have a massive amount but it would be enough to make another small child/baby outfit. 

Another New Look 6216 and its floral!

I'm pretty sure a few posts ago when I did some baby sewing I talked about how I NEVER sew in florals for myself because I just never ever wear them. What happened?

The print is very 'twee' and feels a bit Cath Kidson to me, what with the colour and the flowers and I honestly can't tell you whats drawn me to this fabric. Maybe its my inner 'mummy' but whatever it is I actually really like it.

There isn't really much to say about this sew, it is another New Look 6216 in size 10. The last two I made just seemed to feel really nice when I tried them on over my bump so I figured I could fit another one into my wardrobe for after baby arrives. This pattern is just so easy to sew and the results look stunning, it could definitely be store bought. I really liked the additional sleeve option out of the two I made last time so I used it again on this version.

Both fabrics are from a local fabric shop in Derby called 'Elegance'. I don't tend to go in very often but I definitely should more, they have some lovely bits in there and the staff are so nice.

This jersey is a little thicker than the stuff I used to make the other versions in my previous post but the top still hangs really well and this jersey handled perfectly.

I'll tell you what though, I'm bored of blogging about things which I can't actually show you being modeled, everything looks so flat. It's also hard to write about the fit etc of a pattern when you can't actually wear it. That being said I can't wait to start sharing them later on. Watch this space.

Do you ever sew with fabrics out of your comfort zone in terms of colour/print? How did you find it, were they worn or did they just end up in the back of the drawer never to see the light of day again? Hopefully this won't be the case here as I do really like this fabric but only time will tell whether I actually managed to add a floral print to my wardrobe.

New Look 6216 - Striped baggy tshirts

Its ok that all my clothes for the next 6 months are stripey isn't it, or do I maybe need to start branching out a bit? :)

Following on from my earlier post where I talked about my personal sewing being all about the breastfeeding at the moment these are no exception to that. What with summer approaching and everything I thought I better sew a couple of short sleeved tops to see me through the warmer weather. I kept with the same theme of nice and baggy so there is room to lift up for feeding and also plenty of room to hide my post baby belly.

These tops are both made using the New Look 6216 sewing pattern which I bought form Sew Essential again. The grey stripe and pink version is made in view B which includes these extra sleeve bands and the black and white version is in view C which has slightly shorter sleeves. I actually haven't made a decision on which version I prefer as yet, they both look and feel great, but as I haven't managed to get the wear out of them you will have to watch this space for my final verdict.

These tops were ridiculously easy to sew. I have always shyed away from making any jersey basics, for a couple of reasons really; firstly they are usually so cheap to buy, why go to the effort of making them and secondly it always seemed really fiddly and not the easiest fabric to sew with. I was really wrong! I knocked both these up in about 4 hours total (including tracing and cutting the pieces) which is really fast and they look great. I have to say I am really pleased with the way I have been managing knit neckbands lately which makes me happy.

Again I have mostly just been experimenting by using up some of my stash jersey which was getting a bit out of hand. These were both made out of polyester jersey which I bought from local markets. I have a nice mix of poly and cotton jerseys in my stash but the reason I picked the polys for this project was because they have a much more flowing drape. They are a bit more lightweight that cotton jerseys tend to be so they lend themselves much better to this sort of baggy top. A definite consideration if you are thinking of making a top like this.

The fit seems to be pretty ok (as much as you can tell with a massive baby in your tummy!). I made this version in a more true to size size than the last top I made which I think was a much better idea, its less like a tent and seems to fit a lot better. I like the neckline on this top, its wide enough but not too massive to fall off your shoulders and the length seems pretty good.

All in all i'm really happy with how these have come out, a couple of quick satisfying makes. Again, its a shame I can't model them for you but I will make sure to pop some pics on instagram once they are in action.

For my next selfish sew I have been looking at tank top patterns, I think I like the look of the Rumi tank, though I worry it might be a bit short length wise. I will have another look around to see if I can see anything else that fits the bill, but if you know of any patterns please shout up.

Lastly, as a rather random final word; I have had my eye on this sewing pattern for a while now, the reason being that I have been hankering after making a top which Veronica Mars wears in the Veronica Mars movie. Ever since seeing this movie in 2014 I have had this make in the back of my mind but just haven't ever got around to it, mostly because of my fear of tackling a jersey basic I think. The top is this black burnout stripe one (I can't find a better picture on the internets). From my recollection it has a sort of faux leather binding which I would love to pull off. Watch this space, I now have the means!