Category Archives: Gift

Christmas sewing

xmasgifts

Phew, it’s all over for another year, and I can show all the things I made for gifts now they’re with their recipients! I was pretty sly with my project choices – making gifts gets a rep for being a stressful undertaking but I really enjoyed it. Basically I see it as an excuse to buy (or stashbust) fabric and to sew a lot, but for selfless ends – win win! I also went for either quick/fun knit projects or things i wouldn’t normally pick for myself, so it was fun to try some new types of garment out.

Christmas sewing
Christmas sewing

I made Simplicity 1620 top for my aunt Mandy out of a gorgeous John Kaldor viscose jersey from Stitch Fabrics. A nice quick project all on the overlocker – I just removed a wedge from front and back neck (narrow shoulders and hollow chests run in the family) and sized way down as I was using a knit instead of woven and the ease is typically ridiculous. I also self-lined the yoke burrito-style to finish the neckline and arms; the pattern doesn’t specify that but it made sense to me. The pattern is the cover gift on Sew magazine this month if you’re interested.

Christmas sewing

My mum got another version of a dress I made for her birthday back in September (I didn’t blog them at the time but here’s a photo). It’s a self-draft rub-off of one of her favourite dresses that she gave me to copy. It wasn’t a very complex shape to reproduce – separate waistband, slashed-and-gathered neckline and front skirt, yoked pockets – and the fit turned out bang-on so it was just a case of making it up again. The fabric’s a rather nice snuggly knitted-effect jersey from Abakhan. She loved it and it looks fabulous on her – I’ll try to get a photo as I bet she’ll wear it for new year’s and you can’t see the shape on the hanger.

Christmas sewing

I also made my mum a Love Notions Trendy Tunic using more John Kaldor jersey from my stash. I was disappointed with this pattern though; nothing seemed to line up properly and the drafting is pretty wack, with the arms being very tight and a load of excess fabric pooling in the back. I should have stuck with self-drafting as it ended up not fitting/suiting her unfortunately. In fact my recipients ended up having a bit of a switcheroo – this top ended up with Mandy (who wore it Boxing Day and it looked great on her), and Mandy gave her 1620 top to my other aunt Christine who it suited better. Hey, if everything ended up with a happy recipient I don’t mind! I probably wouldn’t make so many ‘surprise’ garments again though as I learned it’s pretty hard to predict someone’s sizing and taste, even close family.

Christmas sewing
Christmas sewing

For my little sister I made a Dixie DIY ballet dress from some Liberty jersey – I happily grabbed the very last 1.5m of this while it was on sale in the store itself. (If you recognised the Shavings and Sharpenings print, I’ve used the same print in tana lawn to make myself a dress too.) I’ve made this pattern for her before so knew it’d fit, and she immediately wore it for the rest of Christmas Day so it was definitely a hit.

Christmas sewing
Christmas sewing

At last minute I also made her a set of Pauline Alice Turia Dungarees out of two quilting cottons I bought with her in mind (she loves foxes, remember?). I had the pattern and notions all ready from early Dec but thought I’d run out of time to make them. Turns out they were a fairly quick sew, even with my decision to fully line them and try to achieve a semi-reversible finish. I kind of winged the construction order/method but ended up with quite a clean result – don’t ask how! It luckily fitted perfectly and I’m sure we’ll make another pair for her sometime, it’s a fab pattern. I quite fancy a corduroy dress version for myself actually.

Christmas sewing
Christmas sewing

I was incredibly touched to receive a beautiful handmade gift back from Natty. She’s been learning to sew over the last few months, taking two courses at Ray Stitch and suffering my very poor tutelage occasionally in between. She made me this stitchy-themed holdall bag, and I seriously couldn’t have done a nicer job myself. Her piping and topstitching are totally on point and I was so touched that she pushed herself to make something like this for me when she’s still a beginner. I nearly cried!

Christmas sewing

Finally, a few other sewing-related gifts I was delighted to receive. Dorky stuff: a mini iron! Thread rack and stock of threads, Chaco chalk pen, double tracing wheel, new zip foot! Fancy brass scissors and a kitty tape dispenser to make PDFs more fun. And fitting and pattern drafting books which I had my nose buried in all Christmas day. Sewing honestly brought me quite a lot of extra Christmas joy, both in the giving and receiving of handmade gifts. I can’t wait to get back to the machine now.

Foxes Quilt

Fox quilt

I finished this big project last month but only just got around to taking photos, as it was a housewarming/birthday gift for my little sister. It was also my first quilt, and I jumped into the deep end by designing it myself too. Oh, and I started it with about three weeks to go before her birthday. I never learn…

Fox quilt
Fox quilt

She’s really into foxes, so I decided to make her a foxy quilt to match all her other fox paraphernalia and the colour scheme of her new flat’s living room. (We made that fox cushion above together, using dashwood studio fabric). It’s totally not perfect at all but I’m still really happy with how it came out, and my sister loves it which is the main thing. Nerdy quilting process post incoming…

Fox quilt

This was my first real foray into patchwork and quilting, besides a cushion class at The Make Lounge years ago (which is still pride of place on my sofa) and my recent sewing machine cover. I had some invaluable email advice from my quilt guru Kate before getting started.

Fox quilt

She suggested I use Thangles to make all my HSTs (half-square triangles), which were SUCH a timesaver. You just need to cut your fabric into strips, pin on the paper template, stitch and cut where marked, press flat then pull off the easy-tear paper. I used the 3″ Thangles (they come in 1 – 6″ sizes) – you cut the strips a half-inch wider to end up with a final seamed square of your chosen size, keeping fiddly maths and measuring to a minimum. My final quilt is 36″ x 48″ (12 x 16 blocks), which I think is a nice petite size for a throw/lap quilt and was manageable for a first quilting project. Nb. I think it’s best to request skinny rather than fat quarters if you’re using Thangles, so that you can run the full width of the fabric with your strips. You can fit about 24 3″ HSTs into a skinny quarter.

Fox quilt

Working methodically, setting up a strip at a time and working production line style, it was really quick to make up all the squares I needed for my design. I did a strip here and there on my working at home days, in between emails and so on (the joys/perils of having a joint home office and sewing room). It only took two days of part-time stitching to get all the basic HSTs made and another two to sew them all up into my quilt top.

Fox quilt

I put the fox head blocks together first, edging them all round with a half-width strip of my backing fabric to make the total width of the quilt 12 blocks. Then I sewed the rest of the design together in horizontal strips, attaching each to the quilt as I went to avoid getting muddled. I used my new 1/4″ edge stitching foot to sew all the squares together, which is a pretty essential bit of kit for quilting I’d say. It’s got a groove on the side meaning your stitching stays nicely aligned an exact 1/4″ from the edge.

Fox quilt

My points are mostly pretty accurate for a first go…

Fox quilt

… some miss the the mark a bit though!

Fox quilt
Fox quilt

Final step is the assembly and quilting part, which was even more nerve-jangling than getting the top made. I figured out my quilting stitch pattern ahead of time in Illustrator, laid out the layers and used safety pins to tack them together. The most annoying bit was manoeuvring the quilt through my machine and pivoting around. My machine’s quite small, as is my workspace, so I was sending things flying at every turn. It was quite a physical workout! I can’t imagine making a quilt any larger than this without going insane.

Fox quilt

The backing is a plain charcoal grey flannel which is soft and snuggly. I was running out of time to finish near the end, so did a ‘cheat’ binding method – just folding the backing over to the front and topstitching – using this tutorial. It was really quick and looks quite neat. There’s a world of excellent quilting tutes out there on blogs which I’m very grateful for!

fox quilt pattern

If you’re interested, here’s my quilt top design in full. You’re welcome to use it, I’d love to see more foxy quilts so please share if you do. The fox block would make an adorable cushion on its own, too.

fox quilt patterns

Here are some of my rejected designs. Hello, can you tell I’m a graphic designer? This part was most definitely my jam: I found it amazing how many designs you can come up with just using HSTs. I dithered for ages about what design to do in the middle but decided on a centred pattern rather than a repeat like the chevrons, which were my original choice. I thought it worked best to have something symmetrical as the foxes on each end are mirrored. The good thing is I have lots of designs for other quilts now – I’m sure there will be more!

Fox quilt
Fox quilt

Spot the non-deliberate error: one fox’s face is upside down to all the others! Doh.

Here are all the fabrics I used (I have quite a bit of most leftover)
1m Essex Linen in Flax, Robert Kaufman
1/2m Sketch in Orange, Timeless Treasures
1/2m Botanics Line Scratch, Carolyn Friedlander
1/4m Windmarks Mirage, Tule by Leah Duncan
1/4m Dots & Spots in Blue Moon, Cloud 9
1/8m Sketch in Smoke, Timeless Treasures
1.5m Charcoal solid flannel, Robert Kaufman

Fox quilt
Nat's flat

It looks really at home my my sister’s flat, and she loves it which is the main thing. I don’t think anyone can argue that the actual process of sewing a quilt is particularly thrilling, but there is a such a satisfaction in seeing it slowly come together, and the end payoff of a snuggly handmade quilt made to your exact specs is a lovely thing. Plus unlike a garment, it will always fit and be useful! I’m sure it won’t be my last quilt. Back to the design board…

Lots of Christmas baby PJs

Baby PJs

Is it too late to be sharing Christmas present sewing still? This post is also kind of cheating since I actually barely did any sewing on these. My sister has a lot of friends with babies and thought it would be fun to sew them some Christmas presents, so I agreed to give her some guidance while she made them. For an absolute non-sewing beginner I’m amazed at how well she did: we jumped right in at the deep end with stretch fabrics, overlocking, fitting jersey bias bindings on a curve and elastic waistbands, and she handled it all fantastically – much better than my early garments. We barely had to unpick anything and swearing was minimal. I guess I’m just an awesome teacher, eh?!

Baby PJs

We made three sets of baby PJs from the same pattern, all from Brindille & Twig on Etsy. These are nice basic patterns in a handy range of sizes from newborn to 3 years, so we were able to re-use them for each baby at a different age. You could easily make them into a ‘day’ outfit with different fabric choices too, so I’ll be keeping them on hand for more potential baby gift makes in the future.

Baby PJs

Baby PJs

Baby PJs

For two little boys, Freddy and Arthur, we used this adorable rocket print jersey, snapped up from KitschyCoo in her Black Friday sale. It’s pricey stuff so I only bought a yard, which with some thrifty cutting we nearly got two full sets out of – just the sleeves of one top needed to be cut in a different fabric, some grey marl jersey from my stash which we also used for the neckline trim. The waist is encased with wide elastic and all hems are zigzagged.

Baby PJs

Baby PJs

IMG_6881

We made a third, larger, set for two-year-old Erin, from some equally cute safari animals jersey from Boqinana on Etsy who stocks all manner of adorable jersey prints (omg tiny kittens and puppies, squeee). For this set we used stretch bias binding on the neckline and did a ribbing waistband instead of the encased elastic. This was the first one we made and you can see the neckline turned out a bit loose: I don’t know if this was a pattern or sewing fault, but the pattern pieces do look considerably different to the final garment around the neckline – much ‘scoopier’ with less of the shoulder seam crossover. For the boys’ ones we corrected it by pulling the neckline tighter and shaving off the excess, which did the trick.

It was fun teaching Natty to sew, and I think she’s getting the bug since we’re also making her a dress and some lounge pants next. I’m all for spreading the sewing love.

Grey flannel shirt for Josh

Josh's shirt

Just one last make for 2013, since he’s wearing it today so I could snap some photos. This was one of my Christmas presents for Josh, another shirt using Burda’s Jakob pattern, in a lovely grey brushed flannel.

Josh's shirt

He’s been wearing his first shirt loads this winter so I felt he deserved another one for Christmas. Lest you think I’m ever so selfless making him two shirts by the way, I actually – shh – really enjoy the process of sewing button-down shirts. I don’t often wear them myself (though I do have an Archer in the pipeline), so I’m quite happy to labour away on some selfless sewing if it also means indulging my inner precision-sewist from time to time.

Josh's shirt

I used the same pattern at last timeBurda’s Jakob – since I knew it would fit without needing him to try it on and ruin the surprise. I just took in the side seams a tiny bit for a slimmer, smarter look since the first one was designed to go over t-shirts so is a little boxier.

Josh's shirt

The fabric is from Dalston Mill. I’m not entirely sure what it is: it must be a poly/cotton blend as it’s happy in the washer and dryer and does not crease much, and it’s got a diagonal weave pattern like denim but a peachy-soft brushed finish like a flannel. (Locals, Dalston Mill also have a few ex-Hobbs suitings and wools which are really dreamy. I nearly bought one for this shirt but it was 2.5 times the price of this one!) Whatever it is, it was very nice to sew with and behaved much better than the thick wool from the first one.

Josh's shirt

Construction was dead straightforward the second time round, especially using a lighter fabric. I did a slightly different pocket design to keep it interesting for myself, based on Jen Grainline’s tutorial, and also put in proper cuff plackets.

Josh's shirt

I used the Threads downloadable pattern for the plackets but with the Colette Hawthorn tutorial, as I found it made for a more precise result in fewer steps. They are still not exactly perfect and should be shorter, but I was a bit up against it with time so couldn’t redo them. Next time they’ll be better! As before, the buttons and buttonholes are all machine stitched – such a timesaver.

Alright that’s me over and out for 2013. I already have some really exciting sewing stuff planned for next year, including my first 100% self-drafted pattern which I’ve been working away on since Christmas. I’m going to digitise and give away, so hope you like it! Until then, happy new year.

Knit ballet dress for my sis

Knit ballet dress

It’s funny that now that I’m getting more confident in my sewing skills I’m making more for other people. I suppose I needed to be sure that my workmanship was up to it before inflicting my handmade garments onto others. So here’s a sweet little dress I made for my sweet little sister. Since she’s very petite it can be hard for her to find stuff that fits sometimes, and she requested a copy of a princess-seamed ballet dress from H&M that fits her well. I used my Aztec print knit from Rolls & Rems to make her this fairly faithful copycat.

PB140874

I used Dixie DIY’s Ballet Dress pattern in size XS as a base. The pattern has been tweaked by Dixie since I last used it so the fit around the arms and bodice is noticeably better now. I also tweaked it a little myself by adding princess seams to the bodice per the RTW dress I was copying. To do that I cut a curved piece from the side of the front bodice piece and re-traced it, adding seam allowance and bulging the curve out by about half an inch in the middle, to make a new side piece. The fit was perfect first try, yay!

Knit ballet dress
Knit ballet dress

This fabric was very easy to work with: it’s a thick, stable knit so nice and cosy for winter, and doesn’t fray or pucker at all. I had a decent stab at pattern matching, and especially like how the lines turn to chevrons at the skirt side seams. It’s got my usual finishes: twin needles neckline, blind hem.

Knit ballet dress

I’m especially pleased with the super tidy insides. This was such a quick sew: barely an afternoon from printing the pattern to finishing up. This pattern is just a great canvas for pretty jerseys to make quick everyday dresses.

Knit ballet dress
Knit ballet dress

She barely stays still for three seconds so excuse the photos, but here’s evidence that she’s worn it twice so far, including to work and to hug my tubby little cat, so I’m pleased it’s a hit.

Plaid wool shirt for Josh

Shirt for Josh

I finally got Josh’s shirt finished up, just in time for his birthday yesterday — I actually sewed on the final buttons and made him pose on the very day. I think we’re both pretty happy with how it turned out.

Shirt for Josh
Shirt for Josh
Shirt for Josh

(Excuse all the cat hair and dust, it needs a spin in the wash.) I used the Burda Jakob pattern, a semi-fitted style with a full stand collar, buttoned cuffs, curved hem and chest pocket. As I mentioned before, Josh picked out the wool plaid when I bought the fabric for my coat from Dalston Mill. It was quite pricey, so I made sure to take my time and do a good job with it.

Shirt for Josh

I made a toile out of cheap polycotton first to check everything made sense and that the fit was right. Not many adjustments were needed from the medium size, just shortening the body and sleeves a little (I took most of it from the cuffs since my client wanted them narrower anyway) and reducing the ridiculous Seventies-disco collar considerably.

Shirt for Josh

The construction was really quite fun as well as satisfyingly challenging in parts. The pattern is perfectly drafted and unusually for Burda the instructions are clear and thorough, with photos and diagrams throughout. I especially enjoyed the really nerdy details like matching the checks, careful pressing and topstitching and doing neat mock flat-felled seams throughout. I would have liked to do true flat-felled seams inside for a really pro finish, but they proved tricky in this fabric.

Shirt for Josh

I supplemented the instructions with some of the Archer sewalong steps and Andrea’s superb alternative method for setting in a collar which worked a treat. I redid the collar once because I overcompensated and cut the first one too narrow, and also omitted the interfacing from it the second time since it was pretty thick anyway. The buttons on the tips are nonfunctional, they’re just stitched down.

Shirt for Josh

The wool plaid Josh chose pressed and stitched up nicely, but its thickness and frayability did make the construction a bit more challenging. The collar stand, cuffs and shoulder seams are rather chunky because I was nervous to clip too much, though a bit of steam-pressing helped it settle down. I think there’s 8+ layers around the armsyce where the yoke and sleeve join which my poor machine really struggled with. All the raw edges inside are either concealed or overlocked so I feel good that it won’t fall apart in a hurry anyway.

Shirt for Josh

I used my buttonhole foot for the first time for all the functional buttons: together with the one-step program on my machine it makes them sooo easy. I’ll be buttoning all the things from now on! I used the machine to stitch the buttons on too, just going very slowly on a short, wide zigzag setting. Totally worked, even if it probably isn’t the done thing.

Shirt for Josh

This is definitely the most precise and well-made garment I’ve made so far, probably because I was making for a harsher critic than myself (not that Josh is harsh, I’m just pretty lax) and I really wanted to make a shirt he would love and wear often. It seemed to take forever compared to my usual makes – about ten sessions over about a month – but I quite liked the change of pace. I even put the speed limiter on my machine, and I can see the difference in neatness and accuracy when I go slower. Definitely a lesson learned going forward. I’d like to make him another shirt in a lighter fabric like a flannel, now that I know this pattern is a good fit and fun to sew.