Category: sewing

challenge, knitting, me-made-may, sewing

Me-Made-May 2014!

christinahopgood
This is the first year I’ve decided that I have enough handmade clothes to last me throughout the whole of Me-Made-May!  I made my pledge today over on So, Zo.  Here it is:

I, Christina of http://www.cutiefulchristina.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May 2014.  I endeavour to wear at least one handmade item (excluding underpants which are mostly handmade) every day for the duration of May 2014.

I won’t be able to wear unique items every day, I just don’t have enough.  But I might be surprised!  Some days I find myself wearing 100% me-made clothes (excluding footwear and bras) – and some nights too!  I have 2 pairs of handmade pyjamas which are in high rotation.  Plus I think I have an advantage because I have a bunch of knitting as well as sewing!

Why Participate?
1. I really love the handmade/sewing online community and I like to participate as much as I can.  It’d be nice to get some new readers too!
2. I’m looking forward to finding some holes in my handmade wardrobe and filling them!  For example, I like to wear t-shirts and pants on weekends and I have no handmade t-shirts.  Billions of skirts though.
3. This will give me a chance to figure out why I don’t wear some things I made.  And then when the month is over, I will be able to re-work or chuck out the stuff I don’t like!
4. It’s fun to do challenges!

I’m going to take photos of each handmade outfit and post them on my blog – possibly not daily but in a weekly round up.  I prefer that format on other people’s blogs so I should stick to that right??

Links
Here’s where you can sign up on So, Zo’s blog
Here’s a link to the flickr pool where people will post photos
Here’s a link to the Me-Made-May Pinterest board

Will you join Me-Made-May??

knitwit, pants, sewing

Pants! Knitwit pattern 2100.

christinahopgood
Look!  I made some pants!
These crazy pants are KnitWit 2100, and I chose to do view A (the easy one).  View B has pockets and more difficult fastenings at the waistband.  I omitted the pleat down the middle to avoid looking too much like a nana!  I got the pattern from an op shop, I love knitwit patterns!
The fabric was a gift from Charles’ grandmother, and is a fairly old cotton-elastic blend knit.  I can tell it’s got elastic in it because it’s perishing slightly!  It doesn’t quite stretch back into shape when I pull it.  I made these pants as a toile, as I’d bought some nice black ponte to make another pair.
The alterations I plan to make include making the legs narrower, getting rid of the sagging at the hips (not really noticeable because of the fabric here, but I notice), and maybe making the waist lower.
The fit at my butt is pretty good.

Pretty happy with these pants though.  I’m goint to wear them all the time!
Maybe.  They do look a bit like pyjamas.
dress, fail, sewing

Self-drafted bodice dress

christinahopgood
So I have been really enjoying Dolly Clackett’s blog – her dresses are always made of gorgeous fabric, with a fitted bodice and full skirt.  I wanted one too!
First I made myself and Elisalex bodice to see if it would fit – and – it didn’t.  Not at all!  The shoulders fell off, the bust was baggy, it was AWFUL.  So I drafted a bodice for myself using a book I had.  The book is from the 60s and has errors in it!  Annoying!
I traced the neckline of the Elisalex dress and combined it with my own bodice block.  It still didn’t turn out that well!  I feel as though it’s baggy in some places and tight in others and I’m not sure what to do next.  The skirt is just a box-pleated rectangle, and I edged it with some broderie anglaise.
This dress does look ok with a petticoat, cardigan, and heels.
I also put in a waistband, which may have been my main mistake.  It looks like it made the bodice too long for my body.
It does have one pocket!  Just one.  WHY.
Bias binding armholes – yes this is an armhole not some random body part.
My “invisible” zip – gosh I suck at them.
Ummm thanks for looking?  It’s a weird dress and I’m not sure whether I’ll wear it.  Failure is the first step on the road to success, or something.
I’m going to enter this dress in the Sew Dolly Clackett competition but I have very very low hopes for winning!  But as they say, you’ve got to be in it to win it.
colette, culottes, dress, sewing

Completed – Tania Culottes AND Hawthorn Dress!

christinahopgood
Double whammy coming at ya!

I made another pair of Megan Nielsen’s Tania culottes!  This one I love the best.  The fabric is light and flowy, the length is perfect for me, love love love.
The fabric is a beautiful thin brushed cotton, which I bought at St Vinnie’s in Braidwood on our way home from the coast a couple of months ago.  It sounds nuts but I buy a lot of fabric at op shops, they often have a big yardage and the fabric is usually lovely quality.  You can get some cute retro prints too.
 But!  Observe!  The fabric has stretched on the bias, leaving me with long bits at the sides!
 I’ve never been one to leave a garment hanging to even out the hem, because I always want to wear it out immediately.  In this garment’s case, I needed to wear it to Adelaide the next day.
So I ended up with kind of wonky culottes.  I don’t think you notice much, but I learned my lesson.  Next time I deal with a pattern that’s so circular, I’ll leave it to hang overnight at least!

 Which brings me to my next project out of the same fabric!  I had a bunch left over and made another Colette Hawthorn dress!
 I am pretty amazed I got another entire dress out of this fabric.  I have to admit some of my layout was a bit creative, so I have some upside-down pieces etc, but you don’t notice with this busy print.
It looks like I have a bit of bias stretch on this too.  Flipping heck.
 I made this in a super hurry because I wanted to wear it to teach in last week.  But I think I’m getting quicker and better at this pattern – it all came together well.
 My only alterations were to make it slightly shorter and do a teeny-tiny hem (fabric constraints), and I made the back facing longer.  On my other one it keeps popping up, but just a bit longer and it stays put.
I like it with a belt.  The buttons were kind of expensive at $1.30 each at Lincraft – but I got one extra since there was only 1 left in the tube after she counted them out.  Bargain??  Not really since I didn’t need it.
It’s a bit hard to see but I made belt loops using needle lace.  It’s easy, you just make a few loops where you want it and then blanket stitch around the threads the whole way accross.
I wore it four days in a row teaching.  But that’s okay, because I teach a different schools.  Nobody knew I was recycling my outfit!!
culottes, sewing

Finished! Tania Culottes!

christinahopgood
Can you guess what I’ve been making?  
Aww it looks like a lovely skirt.
…
NOPE PANTS! TRICKED YOU!
These are the Tania Culottes by Megan Nielsen.  This is the first pattern I’ve tried by her and it’s just great.  Such a clear, simple pattern to follow, and the way she uses those pleats to hide the crotch is amazing!  This totally looks like a skirt even in action.
My fabric is some kind of cotton/linen suiting.  The only reason I know what it is, is because it doesn’t melt under a very hot iron.  And it feels like a natural fibre.
This is me not being very good at invisible zips.  I only had a white one, and I thought “it’ll be fine!  It’s an invisible zip”.  I don’t have an invisible zipper foot on my machine so I blame that.  I’m also not too happy with my hem, it went all crinkled.  I can’t get the hang of hemming curved things.
The only alteration I made is that I lengthened the skirt about 10cm.  It was super short before!  Apart from that I made a straight XS.
I’d give this pattern two thumbs up! It’s extremely comfortable and cute, and I’ve been wearing it pretty much nonstop.  Totes happy!