Author: Rhiannon

Tiny foxes shirt

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Tiny foxes shirt

What is it?
A t-shirt with a peter pan collar covered in tiny foxes

Is it blue?
Yes. Well sort of. It might be a blue green? I think it’s blue though.

What’s the fabric?
Kokka Company “Little Foxes” double gauze

What’s the pattern?
Grainline Studio’s Scout Tee, adapted by me to add a faux peter pan collar

Where’s the fabric from?
Tomato in Nippori Textile Town, Tokyo

What was good about making this?
It was very quick to put together, including drafting the fake collar. Instructions were clear and simple

What was bad about making this?
The bias neckline was fiddly, especially with the addition of the collar. I also misjudged how long the collar pieces needed to be so they don’t meet in the middle as a proper Peter Pan collar should.

Would you make it again?
Yes. Both with and without the collar. Although I’ll redraft those pieces first if I do!

Polar bear skirt

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Polar bear skirt

What is it?

A dirndl skirt COVERED IN POLAR BEARS!

Is it blue?

Yes

What’s the fabric?

POLAR BEARS! Or, more calmly, Polar Bears by Kobayashi Canvas

What’s the pattern?

The Clemence skirt in Love at First Stitch, this time with a 50cm drop

Where’s the fabric from?

Tomato in Nippori Textile Town, Tokyo

What was good about making this?

Did I mention this skirt had polar bears on it? Polar bears.

What was bad about making this?

Unpicking gathering and basting stitches (again…)

Would you make it again?

Yup

Bedroom curtains

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Bedroom curtains

What is it?

An absolute bore to sew and something I will avoid again if I can a.k.a curtains for our bedroom

Is it blue?

Yes

What’s the fabric?

Upholstery fabric

What’s the pattern?

I just sort of made one up. Basically, rectangles, hemmed and then gathered at the top.

Where’s the fabric from?

The Fancy Silk Store, Birmingham

What was good about making this?

Finally getting some curtains in our bedroom; for the last year we’ve just had some nasty white Venetian blinds that were both ugly and ineffective.

What was bad about making this?

The sheer boredom of pinning seams and sewing them when everything is 2m long and straight lines. I also didn’t like the fact that because I had blackout lining, all the hems rolled as I sewed them due to the number of layers of fabric

Would you make it again?

Not if I can help it, but I have a feeling that I’ll need to when we decorate the dining room…..

Pussy bow blouse

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Pussy bow blouse

What is it?

A loose-fitting button up blouse with pleated sleeves and altered by me to have a pussy bow collar and piping on the yoke.

Is it blue?

No!

What’s the fabric?

A flimsy material (not very good with technical terms….) that’s white and covered in teeny red polka dots

What’s the pattern?

I used the same pattern that I used for the blue blouse, but followed the instructions in the book to add the piping on the yoke and this hack tutorial on the collar

Where’s the fabric from?

The Fancy Silk Store in Birmingham

What was good about making this?

Managing to get the hack to work and figuring out how to do the piping

What was bad about making this?

The fabric was slippery which made it a bit hard. It also took me a while to figure out how to do the piping without actual piping. I ended up getting bias binding, sandwiching it and trimming it down. Looked pretty effective though so ultimately a plus.

Would you make it again?

I’m not sure. I like the softness of this blouse far more than the previous one, but with both versions they’re pretty low cut on me so I have to wear them vest tops underneath. If anyone has a suggestion for an alternative feminine blouse that I could make that has a slightly higher neckline it would be much appreciated!

First jersey dress

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whoopsWhat is it?

A sleeveless jersey knit dress with narrow round collar

Is it blue?

No. Well it depends on whether you consider teal to be blue or green. I just think it’s teal

What’s the fabric?

Jersey knit. Possibly viscose?

What’s the pattern?

The Moneta dress by Colette Patterns.

Where’s the fabric from?

Guthrie & Ghani in Birmingham

What was good about making this?

I made this dress as part of a class at Guthrie & Ghani that focused on learning to use an overlocker. I decided to go on it as 1) I’d never really understood what an overlocker was useful for and 2) I’d never sewn with jersey before and figured this would give me some hints. The dress came together really quickly, the instructions were lovely and clear and the dress fits fantastically. It also helped having a wonderful tutor who’s approach was much more relaxed than I’ve been in the past and made me realise that you can bodge more  than you’d think when you’re sewing.

What was bad about making this?

It made me want to buy an overlocker!

Would you make it again?

Absolutely, although I might begrude having to do it on my sewing machine with a jersey needle rather than a whizzy overlocker (can you tell I was sold on the benefits of them?!)

Blue blouse

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Blue blouse

What is it?

A loose-fitting button up blouse with pleated sleeves and Chelsea collar

Is it blue?

Yes

What’s the fabric?

Some blue cotton I had in my stash

What’s the pattern?

The Mimi blouse in Tilly Walnes’ Love at First Stitch

Where’s the fabric from?

Ikea I think?

What was good about making this?

It gave me a chance to have another go at a lot of skills

What was bad about making this?

The pleats took a couple of attempts to get right and when the blouse was finished, due to the weight of the fabric it didn’t seem to sit very well (although it is better tucked into skirts).

Would you make it again?

I did; see the pussy bow blouse

Green skirt

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Green skirt

What is it?

A bright green dirndl skirt. I think of it as being my apple skirt.

Is it blue?

No!

What’s the fabric?

Incredibly cheap polyester. Amazingly it actually works really well!

What’s the pattern?

The Clemence skirt from Tilly Walnes’ Love at First Stitch. I made it 60cm long as I wanted something  that hit below rather than above the knee

Where’s the fabric from?

The Fancy Silk Store in Birmingham

What was good about making this?

It was so quick and easy! Definitely a go-to skirt; I like how easy it is to change the pattern

What was bad about making this?

Unpicking three rows of gathering stitches and a row of basting stitches. I hate unpicking stitches.

Would you make it again?

Yes. Lots. See the polar bear skirt as the first of what I expect to be many other versions.

Tiny flowers dress

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Tiny flowers dress

What is it?

A sleeveless dress with pleated skirt covered in teeny tiny flowers

Is it blue?

Yes

What’s the fabric?

Blue floral cotton lawn

What’s the pattern?

The Lilou dress from Tilly Walnes’ book Love at First Stitch

Where’s the fabric from?

The Fancy Silk Store in Birmingham

What was good about making this?

The dress came together surprisingly quickly, which I think was because unlike the sweetie and elephant dresses it was only lined on the bodice, not the skirt too. I also felt pretty impressed that I managed to make pleats and fit an invisible zip.

What was bad about making this?

I didn’t make a toile (again….) and found that the bodice needed quite a bit of adjustment once it was on. I promise that I’ve now learnt my lesson

Would you make it again?

I wear it all the time, so definitely yes, but I’ll make the aforementioned toile first!

Spotty denim skirt

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Spotty denim skirt

What is it?

An asymmetrical denim skirt with side button opening

Is it blue?

Yes

What’s the fabric?

I used an indigo denim cotton spandex with spots for the outer and some blue gingham I had lying around for the facing

What’s the pattern?

The Arielle skirt by Tilly & the Buttons

Where’s the fabric from?

The denim was from Guthrie & Ghani in Birmingham

What was good about making this?

I discovered I can be pretty resourceful if I need to; at the time I bought it, they didn’t think they’d get the denim back in stock so I had slightly less than I needed for the skirt. I altered the pattern to make it shorter (but not mini skirt length) and used different fabric for the facing. I liked how quickly it came together

What was bad about making this?

The top buttonhole. I’d not done buttonholes before and it took about six attempts to get the top one to work as there more than anywhere else the amount of fabric the buttonholer had to deal with meant it got pretty thick. I very nearly gave up completely. Also, the spots were white when I bought the fabric but went blue when I prewashed… And haven’t gone back yet….

Would you make it again?

Yes, not least because it’s a fantastic skirt for cycling in. I quiet like the idea of making one in red. I think I’ll make it full length this time (i.e. buy enough fabric!) and also tackle lining it.

Floral dress

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Floral dres

What is it?

A bateau neck sheath dress I made use a floral fabric to wear to a friend’s wedding

Is it blue?

No!

What’s the fabric?

EMMIE ROS cotton, a medium weight interior fabric

What’s the pattern?

Colette Pattern’s Peony dress

Where’s the fabric from?

IKEA! (I think the name probably gave it away)

What was good about making this?

It came together pretty quickly, I was impressed with how clear the Colette instructions were, I liked the boat neckline

What was bad about making this?

I’ve since learnt that Colette model their bodice on a c-cup. I am not a c-cup. This explains why I had the usual issue of the dress being way too big on the bust, even though I graded this pattern before starting. However, as I wore it with a belt, this hid quite a lot of sins! Also, setting sleeves was quite a big learning curve!

Would you make it again?

Yes, but I’d use a fabric with more drape and I’d also learn how to do a SBA