A springtime Granville

If you were looking forward to reading a long blog post all about Granville - Arkwright's long suffering nephew from Open All Hours - then I'm sorry to disappoint you. This post is all about shirt making, and one shirt in particular, the Granville pattern from Sewaholic. I couldn't resist adding a picture of Granville though, look at his little face! And his Fair Isle tank top!

Despite admiring Sewaholic's patterns from the sidelines, I've only sewn a couple of them (the Pendrell, Renfrew and Alma). There always seems to be some little detail about their patterns that I don't like, or I don't think will suit me and I haven't actually bought one for ages. The latest releases were an exception - as soon as I saw the Granville pattern I knew it had my name on it. A classic, fitted shirt with princess seams to the back and shaping to the waist to give it the fitted look I'm always after. I bought the Granville as soon as it was released.

Alice at Backstitch had also recently asked if I'd like to review some fabric, so I saw this as a good opportunity to try out a nice, crisp cotton. I settled on one of the Timeless Treasures Sketch fabrics in Red. I love a crosshatch design and this particular colour has a really subtle, crosshatch finish. If you like your crosshatch a bit bolder, then Cherry might be a better choice - it's a bit more obvious.  The fabric is a good match for this pattern. I wanted something lightweight enough for a shirt, but crisp enough to hold the shape of the collar and stand. It's just the right weight and washes and presses perfectly. I also like the fact that it looks like a plain red fabric, until you get closer and notice the crosshatch detail - fancy!

I found the clear buttons in my button box and couldn't work out where they'd come from (maybe the sewing ghost put them there?!) Then I remembered - they were from an old duvet I'd thrown out. Not quite the classy lineage I'd imagined!

When I've made Sewaholic patterns before, the fit has always seemed pretty good on me initially. I'm the opposite of the pear shape that Sewaholic patterns are drafted for, so I've always used my bust size and graded down at the waist and hips. When I'm wearing the tops, I've noticed that the bust often feels a bit tight and constricting. So this time round I took a tip from Mary over at the Curvy Sewing Collective and altered the front bodice piece accordingly. I traced a size 8 for my bust and waist, grading down to a size 6 at the hips and added a one inch FBA (full bust adjustment) using Mary's excellent tutorial. This gives more room in the bust but retains the lovely shaping at the waist and hips. I also shortened the whole pattern by an inch.

The other change I made was to convert the sleeves from long, cuffed ones, to short. A bit drastic, but I just don't wear long sleeved shirts. Ever. Short sleeves are much more practical for me and the fact that I made mine without a cuff or sleeve band means I can still just about get away with wearing them underneath a cardigan. 

As far as construction goes, I found some areas a little challenging. I should point out that I've never actually made a proper shirt with a collar and collar stand before, I've made plenty of shirts with notched collars and flat collars, but not this sort - so it was a bit of a departure for me. The written instructions were adequate, but I would have liked a bit more direction in a few places, notably when you add the button bands and sew the collar and collar stand. I felt that the diagrams weren't that clear, and once or twice I actually found them misleading. I figured it out in the end, but it wasn't an easy process! Putting together the basic shirt, yoke and buttonbands was pretty quick once I'd worked out where to fold the front bands. The collar on the other hand, took almost an entire day to get right! Maybe it will be an easier process next time round when I know what I'm doing?!

The inside yoke has a lovely clean finish - luckily I found the instructions for that bit to be perfectly clear! All the seams are pressed together and overlocked before being topstitched. It's worth taking a bit of time with your topstitching as it does give a professional finish to the shirt. especially round the pesky button bands and collar areas.

Fit-wise, I'm pleased to report that the FBA was a complete success, there's plenty of room across the bust but the shirt still remains fitted because of the shaped waist. I could kick myself for not paying more attention to the button placement though. I usually use this tutorial, but decided I knew better this time round. Clearly I didn't, as there's still a bit of gaping. Gah, so annoying, especially as the rest of the shirt is near perfect! The one fitting change I'd make next time would be to move the bust dart up by about an inch. I did measure it before I did the FBA, but something obviously got lost in translation as it ended up a bit low.

Whingeing aside, I do like the shirt a lot and I would definitely recommend the pattern. It's beautifully drafted and I think the classic style would work with lots of different body shapes. Believe it or not, I lack a plain, red top in my wardrobe, so this simple shirt will go with everything: jeans, skirts, shorts, trousers. I love how it looks untucked too, it's just the right length! I'm so pleased to have kicked off my summer sewing with such a wearable shirt! Next up, something in barkcloth I think...

Fabric was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.

Little red Mabel skirt

Earlier this month, after a long summer of reduced stitching time, I was in need of a quick make to ease me back into autumn sewing. Alice from Backstitch contacted me at about the same time to see if I'd like to review a pattern from her shop. It seemed the perfect time to try out the Colette Patterns Mabel Skirt - a simple pull on skirt designed specifically for knit fabrics. Plus, Rachel from House of Pinheiro had described wearing the Mabel skirt as being like wearing pyjamas - how could I possibly resist?!

The Mabel pattern offers three design options: a mini skirt, a variation of the mini with a button placket and a pencil skirt with vent. I went for version one, the mini skirt, but lengthened it by 1.5 inches. As it turns out, it's still less of a skirt and more of a pelmet - it's very short on me and I'm titchy. So I'll be lengthening it considerably for my next attempt - probably to the same length as the pencil skirt version. There's a broad range of sizes from XS to 3XL - for reference I made a size M (US 8-10) and apart from adding a tiny bit of length, I made no changes to the pattern.

I used leftover red double knit from my Victoria Blazer for the main skirt fabric and a few scraps of thinner red jersey from my easy elastic waist skirt for the waistband lining. And before you ask, yes I did try the skirt and blazer on together - sadly I looked like some kind of Butlins red coat nightmare…. not a good look! Medium to heavy weight stable knits are recommended for this pattern and I think double knit is a great choice. I've had trouble with hems on knit dresses going a bit wavy in the past, but there's none of that nonsense with double knit as it's so sturdy. 

The pattern envelope claims that the Mabel skirt can be made in just an hour. This would have been an accurate description if I hadn't sewn the waistband on upside down. Grrr! Easily sorted though. The instructions are well written and easy to follow and the pattern was a very good choice for me to cut my teeth onto after my sewing-deprived summer. There are no fastenings, it's quite a forgiving fit (it's designed with negative ease so stretches into position if you've eaten too many pies) and even with the waistband debacle, I managed to whip it up in no time. Apart from a tiny bit of top stitching to secure the waistband and a hem sewn with a double needle, I sewed the whole skirt on my overlocker. As it's a knit pattern, a smaller ⅜" seam allowance is used throughout, which is helpful if you're using an overlocker and worth making a note of if you're not! I also liked one particular tip in the instructions telling you to trim ⅛" from the top edge of the waistband pieces to allow for "turn of cloth". This helps the shell fabric roll to the inside - it worked splendidly on my Mabel which is always satisfying!  

This first attempt was always meant to be a practice version but it's turned out so well I'm going to wear it until it falls apart. I have some navy blue double knit waiting in the wings for my next version. I'm well aware that almost everything I make is navy and red, but I want these Mabel skirts to be everyday basics to wear with tights in the colder months (I just got away with no tights today on this fine September day but I think that was a fluke). The way I see it, a red version and a navy version will match up with about 99% of my wardrobe. Hoorah! 

And Rachel was so right, wearing a Mabel skirt is exactly like wearing your PJ's! x

The Mabel pattern was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.

The Anna 6696 dress

There's something about blue linen as a colour/fabric combination that I just can't seem to resist. This particular pairing works perfectly for summer: it's classic, it's chic and, more importantly, it's cool. I succumbed twice last year with my Anna dress in a linen/rayon mix, closely followed by my Simplicity sundress in linen look cotton…. and I've just succumbed again! 

The fabric I used this time was a linen-cotton blend (55% linen, 45% cotton) from Backstitch. It's one of their new summer dressmaking fabrics and was kindly sent to me by Alice to review. I'd originally planned to use the fabric for a different pattern, but there were too many fit issues involved, and with the school holidays fast approaching, I was rapidly running out of time to fix them. I needed a blue linen dress I could wear in the sunshine. NOW!  As is often the case with me, I saw the perfect dress on Pinterest - a lovely casual, chambray dress with pockets. 

The dress originally featured on this post on lifestyle blog A Cup of Jo and on further investigation I discovered it was the model's own and a few years old to boot. Ah well, I'd just have to make my own version!

I did this by marrying the bodice of the By Hand London Anna dress with the skirt of McCall's 6696 shirt dress. The Anna dress has tucks under the bust rather than a gathered bodice waistline, which I felt would be more flattering to my shape. The skirt and waistband of McCall's 6696 is exactly the right shape, but the pattern is for a shirt dress with buttons up the centre front, so I had to fiddle with the pattern pieces a bit. I cut the front piece on the fold and added a tiny amount of width. I then did the reverse for the back pieces (cutting two pieces instead of one) to allow for a zip. 

The Anna bodice is much more fitted than the McCall's bodice however, and this, coupled with my dreadful maths, meant things didn't quite line up the first time round. A few unorthodox gathers had to be added to the skirt section, but because they're below the waistband, they're actually quite flattering and make the dress really comfortable to wear.  

The only change I made to the bodice from last time was a back neckline adjustment, (thank you Sonja at Ginger Makes for the splendid tutorial!) I also took an identical wedge out of the front bodice. I redrafted the facings, which are cut from some scraps of amazing Liberty fabric that reader Nathalie sent me as part of a bag of offcuts. There were some great pieces in the bag (the facings from my sailor shorts were one), but the real gem was a remnant of Cranford, a fabric designed for Liberty by Grayson Perry a few years ago. 

I LOVE IT and the background just happens to be the exact shade of blue as the linen-cotton. I also used some of the Grayson Perry fabric for the insides of the pockets (but forgot to take photos - soz).

Grayson Perry facings - look at those little faces!

The linen-cotton fabric is excellent quality, but like all linens, it's a bit of a pain to work with as it sheds so many fibres. It's medium weight, which I naively thought would make it less transparent. Not so - I could probably get away with it on holiday, but need to wear a slip with it when walking around London. With hindsight, I should probably have lined or underlined the dress, it's no big tragedy though. I love the finished look of the dress and how close the colour (Moonlight if you're interested) is to the original inspiration photo.

Talking of which, I don't have a flower market nearby to replicate the original image, but I do have the next best thing - an allotment! Unfortunately, I looked hideous in most of the photos we took there, but I'll leave you with a couple of outtakes with my gorgeous Charlie. Despite my best efforts, he flatly refused to pose for a photo!  x

Glamour amongst the cannellini beans

Gotcha!

Fabric was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.

Love Sewing Magazine - mini giveaway!

Since I started sewing I've more or less given up reading magazines like I used to. I still make a beeline for Vogue at the hairdressers, but I never buy it any more and I always end up flicking through it rather than devouring it like I did in the olden days. I think it's because I make most of my own clothes now, so feel even more disconnected from high fashion magazines. I will admit to a weakness for interior mags from time to time, (I LOVE nosing around people's houses), but the main thing I really enjoy reading about is sewing. There have been a couple of sewing magazines that have come and gone in the past few years, but since the demise of Cloth and then Crafty, there hasn't been much out there to float my boat. I subscribed to Mollie Makes for a while and although the photography and interiors were beautiful, the constant crocheted vegetables and lack of anything to actually read started to get a bit tiresome. So I have high hopes for Love Sewing magazine, who published their first issue this month (no pressure then!)

It doesn't disappoint so far. There are lots of projects to try out, with a good balance between dressmaking, accessories and quilting.  On the dressmaking side, there's a free downloadable Brigitte shift dress pattern from Simple Sew patterns (dress shown on the front cover). Basic instructions are included in the magazine, but if you want detailed step-by-step instructions, hop over to the Thread Carefully blog where they're holding a sewalong. In the magazine there's also a tutorial on how to hem a pair of jeans (which sounds basic but is actually really useful!) a girl's skirt project and how-to articles on underlining and zip insertion. On the accessories side there are at least five projects, including the cute bow clutch bag on the front cover, a scarf, napkins and baby accessories.

I was pleased to see so many indie patterns reviewed in the magazine - on the double page above they feature Gather, Sew Over It and Oliver + S. There's also an interview with sewing blogger of the moment Tilly Walnes…

...a sneaky peak behind the scenes at Backstitch….

and a Q and A with May Martin. Oh yes, and a certain lace trimmed Peter Pan collar tutorial was mentioned, which was a lovely surprise!

They have some great contributors on board, and above all there was plenty to read, which really pleased me. I do like to actually read magazines that I'm interested in, so if there was one thing I'd change it would be to have one or two fewer projects and more feature articles to pore over. But that's just me. Overall, I think it's a great first issue and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Talking of which, it's been a popular launch and the first issue has sold out in a lot of places. But never fear… I have a spare copy! The original issue I ordered got lost in the post, a replacement was sent and then the original copy turned up. As it's in high demand, I'm going to offer the spare copy as a giveaway on my blog. The giveaway is for Issue One of Love Sewing magazine which comes with a free Kirstie Allsop FQ and a booklet of Liberty sewing patterns and ideas. To enter, just leave a comment on this post by midnight GMT on Monday 19th May. The winner will be chosen at random after this date and notified by email. On this occasion, the giveaway is open to UK readers only I'm afraid. But don't worry, worldwide readers, I have a few giveaways planned soon that are open to everybody.

Have a great weekend! x

Emery dress - read all about it

I was lucky enough to be offered a pattern to review by Alice at Backstitch recently. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it… Alice stocks an impressive array of independent pattern designers, but one pattern stood out for me - the Emery dress by Christine Haynes. With a neat, fitted bodice and plain lines, it's exactly what I like in a dress. It also has variations for a collar and, wait for it…. a bow!! Oh yes!

I think there are strong similarities between the Emery dress and the Colette Patterns Peony dress. I've made the Peony dress five times and wear all five versions regularly, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an absolute bugger to get the bodice to fit. In comparison, the fit on the Emery dress is spectacularly good, and it's not just me who thinks that - everybody who's made it seems to think so too.

Before I started work on the pattern, I pored over the reviews by other bloggers and decided to make two changes. I lengthened the bodice by an inch, influenced by the perfect fit on The Sew Convert's version, who made the same adjustment. A quick muslin (yes, you read that correctly - muslin) confirmed my instinct was right, it was a little short in its original state. I also changed the skirt from a gathered rectangle to a half circle skirt. This was after seeing The Nerdy Seamstress's version. I was impressed by how flattering the fit was on Kathy, especially as her body type is quite similar to mine. I used the By Hand London Circle Skirt App, which does all the maths for you - hoorah. They're the only changes I made though, I nearly cried when I saw what a perfect fit the bodice was!

This is the first Christine Haynes pattern I've used and I was mightily impressed. I faithfully followed the instructions for the invisible zip and it went in first time, without the slightest hint of a fight. There are also instructions for self lining the bodice to give a clean finish around the zip line. I've often struggled to work out how to finish lining around an invisible zip without resorting to hand sewing. Well this pattern shows you how in a beautifully simple way.  The sleeves also set in perfectly FIRST TIME. Just look at them?! Not a pucker or ripple in sight - these might be the best sleeves I've ever sewn, which is a massive confidence boost after the debacle of my raincoat sleeves.

My fabric is linen - an unusual choice for a dress made in February you might think, but I couldn't resist it. I saw it on a recent Spoolettes visit to the Goldhawk Road but didn't buy it. I kept thinking about it though, (how sad am I?!), and had to make a second emergency visit to claim it as my own.  It's a biscuit coloured background with red and pink roses, probably not the best choice with my pale colouring but do I care? No. I did plan to self line the bodice but the rose print was clearly visible from the front, so settled for plain white cotton instead. I underlined the sleeves in the same fabric but left the skirt as it was. I added a waist stay to keep that lovely waistline anchored into place and I think this helps give the dress the neat, fitted look I like. Adding the waist stay was easy peasy by the way - look out for a tutorial soon!

Even though this dress is linen, it can be worn in colder months with tights and a cardigan and I can't wait to wear it in summer with wedges. It's a wonderful pattern and I'll definitely be making more versions, probably using a plain fabric and adding one of the embellishments next time. I don't think I've ever enjoyed making a dress as much as I enjoyed making this one!

Thank you Backstitch for sending me this wonderful pattern and thank you Christine Haynes, the Emery dress is a definite YES from me! x

The Emery pattern was given to me free of charge for review. All views my own.