La Sartora

First of all, doesn't Maggie + Mabel sound like a chi-chi childrenswear label?  If you are a childrenswear designer in search of a name for your label, you are welcome to it, but remember you heard it here first!
Ok onto the sewing. This pair of projects, Colette Patterns Mabel and Tessuti Maggie, demonstrate the everyday ups and downs of sewing. Let’s start with the Mabel: Twice I’ve bemoaned the failure I had last year with the Grainline Morris blazer, made in grey ponti knit. Gee, I was disappointed , made worse by the fact it almost seemed sacriligeous to turf the project, with perfectly good fabric, out altogether. Anyway, I started thinking, as you do, that maybe, I might be able to scrounge a Mabel skirt out of it. I’d made the Mabel before, so it was just a matter of pulling the jacket apart (no mean feat as I hate unpicking stitches in knits) and seeing if the pattern pieces of the Mabel could be accommodated. The back of the blazer became the front of the skirt, the fr…

First of all, I must say it feels slightly odd to be modelling  in my pyjamas for the blog. A bit less odd than modelling this swimsuit, but still..

I'm blending into the background a bit aren''t I?
I started on the pyjama pants back in April, after noting my favourite RTW pjs were heading inexorably for the rag bag.  But then the weather turned cool and I put them to one side. The fabric, both the main fabric and the contrast band fabric, came from Remnant Warehouse. The pattern was traced from my pants block, My favourite bit of these pants is the part you don’t see: the contrast fabric used on the inside of the elastic casing. I copied idea this from my RTWs.
Ok now onto the top. Since cutting out the pants I’d been looking around for a top pattern, and was on the verge of cutting out a Sorbetto, when Tessuti brought out the Kate: a woven sleeveless top with side splits. As I mentioned in the last post I’ve been looking to make some sleeveless tops to wear underneath ca…

I wrote in my last post, my 2015 wrap-up, that I tend to sew to plug holes in the wardrobe. The latest identified hole has been sleeveless tops to wear under jackets and cardigans. To that end, here’s a nifty little sleeveless top pattern, Style Arc’s Evie, for knits. I’m finding it hard to think of what to say about this pattern that isn’t obvious from the photos. What you see, is what you get, really: a loose, but not oversize, tank for knits, with bound neckline and armholes, with a bit of the high/low hemline happening. As straightforward a sew as you can ask for. The only alteration I made to this pattern was to make an FBA. That’s it. The walking foot did its job of keeping those stripes lined up. That foot was pricey, but every time I use it, I’m reminded it was worth every cent. One other thing about this pattern is that it is the first knit pattern I’ve come across that instructs you to make a machine blind hem. I quite like a blind hem, and having done as I was told on this…

I always enjoy reading yearly sewing wrap-ups. If you like them too, here’s mine for 2015:  I’ve had a somewhat quiet sewing year in 2015. A quick look at the blog archives shows that this is only the 19th post of the year, quite a lot down on the previous two years of the blog’s existence. There are two reasons for this: one is I haven’t sewn as much this year. The low productivity rate sits ok with where I am at with my wardrobe. I tend to sew to plug holes in the wardrobe (though not always), and after 7 or so years of sewing, I find I have more clothes than I will ever wear out in the near future. (An aside: My me-mades seem to last so much longer than most RTWs – better quality fabrics and stitching I guess. Plus, now I have some idea of how to make things fit, I don’t have many that get tossed due to fit reasons.) So not sewing as much isn’t a major cause of angst, although it does make for a quiet blog. C’est la vie. The other reason my blog has been fairly quiet is my increas…