jersey

The £1.50 Moneta

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

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There are a couple of different things you can take from my expression here; the fact that I managed to get a(nother) Moneta out of a metre of fabric, amazement at how swooshy it is, delight with the mix of colours. I think the main thing though is the appreciation that despite having what can only be described as a horrendous hangover (may have had a sherbet too many…) I managed to not only navigate the rag market but I scored this fab jersey for the princely sum of £1.50.

What is it?

A(nother) Moneta with a Peter Pan collar and slightly longer than usual skirt.

Is it blue?

Some of the flowers are. But some of them are copper coloured. And some of it is white. Let’s go with multicoloured?

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

A ponte roma that I got from a stall in the outside section of the rag market. I nearly fell over when they told me the price.

What’s the pattern?

That old favourite I know so well

What was good about making this?

Pattern placement for the collar was really satisfying, and there’s something very smugness inducing about getting a dress out of a metre of fabric.

What was bad about making this?

I don’t know why but for some reason my sewing machine and overlocker weren’t enamoured with this fabric and both had weird puckering. It wasn’t too much of a hardship but it was a bit annoying.

Would you make it again?

Another awesome Astoria

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

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There’s something incredibly snuggly about sweatshirt material. I think it’s probably something to do with the way that it looks like it’s been constructed from hundreds of teddy bears to give it the ultimate comf factor. When you get that comfiness and put it into something that can be worn for work as a cover up for smart dresses without looking slobby, well then you’re on to a winner!

I’ve had this for about two months now [let’s not look at my making to blogging time lag in too much detail….] and I can confirm that it is fab and gets worn with pretty much everything. In fact, I’m wearing it right now as I type this (and I have the picture to prove it!).

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What is it?

A cropped sweater

Is it blue?

You betcha!

What’s the fabric and where’s it from?

A super comfy sweatshirt jersey from Guthrie & Ghani. I had my eye on it for ages and then found a metre in the remnants bin; just enough for an Astoria. It’s like it was meant to be!

What’s the pattern?

The Seamwork Astoria

What was good about making this?

It continues to be a super swift make, which is a definite bonus

What was bad about making this?

I’m not entirely sure I had the fabric rotated the right way… Which isn’t exactly a bad thing per se, it’s more just that I found myself getting confused!

Would you make it again?

It does make a great throw over for dresses due to the crop of the sweater… I think if I could find a comfy grey I probably would (I truly love a grey jumper) but otherwise as much as I love it I might be exhausting the number of Astoria’s I can get away with!

x

Shiny Astoria jumper

~ Rhiannon ~ Leave a comment

Sparkly astoriaPart of the shopping trip to London included the super exciting purchase of some very sparkly fabric to make a dress out of for New Year’s Eve. In my panic of shopping I ended up buying a good half metre (and then some) more than I actually needed. Combined with knowing that I wanted to make an Astoria out of some very lovely teal sweatshirt material I got as a bolt end from Guthrie & Ghani, it seemed like the perfect time to test out the Astoria pattern and a couple of embellishment ideas I had in mind at the same time!

What is it?
A cropped sweater made in a super shiny black and gold jersey with gold topstitching at the collar and cuffs

Is it blue?

No

What’s the fabric?

Black and gold jersey material

What’s the pattern?

Astoria by Seamwork

Where’s the fabric from?

Another Walthamstow find, this one was from a shop that (surprise!) I can’t remember the name of. It had loads of rolls lined up and they were all under £5 a metre (indeed, this stuff was maybe £3 a metre?)

What was good about making this?

It was so fast! I think it took maybe an hour to get from cutting out to trying it on. I shouldn’t have been surprised given Seamwork pride themselves on patterns that take three hours or less, but it was nice to find out it was true!  It was also good fun to test out using gold thread for topstitching (especially as it worked!)

What was bad about making this?

Nothing. Actually, the amount of waste paper produced when printing out the PDF. Though I’m not sure what could have been done about that?

Would you make it again?

Yes, I just need to get round to prewashing that fabric!

x

ps. Apologies for the awful train selfie of this one. I’ve worn it loads since making it, but somehow never managed to get a decent picture!

All because the lady loves….

~ Rhiannon ~ 3 Comments

Cadbury Moneta

I’ll be upfront. I’m not about to hand over a box of Milk Tray to every reader. However, don’t you agree that my new dress is very Cadbury purple? Particularly as, for reasons beyond my ken, the camera appears to have over exposed in the background.

I digress…

What is it?

A lovely swingy swooshy jersey dress

Is it blue?

No, Cadbury purple (which I guess could be argued at blue if you get that far round the spectrum?)

What’s the fabric?

Purple jersey that I picked up during SewBrum

What’s the pattern?

Moneta by Colette, using the 3/4 sleeves option

Where’s the fabric from?

The infamous Rag Market in Birmingham

What was good about making this?

How quickly it came together! I sat down at 3pm on Saturday and by 5:30pm I had a dress that was ready to wear out to dinner with friends (if we ignore the fact that I was lazy and didn’t hem the skirt until the Sunday….).

What was bad about making this?

Although I’ve made the Moneta before, this is the first time I’ve done it on my own machine and also the first time I’ve sewn jersey on my machine. It was fine for the most, but there were a couple of ‘oh yes, that’s how you do it’ with the shirred waistband as well as a ‘why won’t you work?!’ when using the twin needles on the hem (along with a note to self to read the instruction manual before doing twin needle sewing again….)

Would you make it again?

Yup, I’ve already got the fabric to make it up for my dress for New Year’s Eve. I think that next time I’ll add the collar back in as I’ve realised I really like the collar, although I might use one of the add-on hacks you get when buying the pattern (let’s not kid ourselves, it’s going to be the Peter Pan collar because I’m a sucker for a PPC).

So yes, all in all a delightful quick project, which was especially welcome as it feels like a long time since I’ve actually made anything! Now I just need to tackle a slightly longer-than-I-have-time-for list of things to complete before Christmas…. Wish me luck!

x

 

First jersey dress

~ Rhiannon ~ 1 Comment

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?!)