Stocking Up on Seperates

I have been known to build outfits around very small things. Like a few buttons becomes a need for a dress, a pair of shoes needs new trousers or something, and so on. I bought this ring while on holiday in Los Angeles:

- and then I bought these boots from Ebay:

And - I came across this picture somewhere on the interwebs, and became obsessed with, of all things, the belt loops!-

Source

I noticed a western theme bubbling up. As luck would have it, I had these two pieces of fabric in my stash which I'd never quite found a use for:

I really wanted to make these into blouses, but looking at my wardrobe, I realised I also needed skirts to go with them. And it would give me a reason to make something with those belt loops! I had fabric left over from my Birkin flares, and some other black twill from a long ago project, enough for 2 skirts. And so 2 western-themed outfits were born!

Here's the first:

The blouse is Simplicity 3414 from 1950:

I made view 1 with short sleeves:

And added a subtle western touch with some top stitching and arrowhead tacks around the fabric channels on each side:

The skirt is a denim-weight black stretch twill, which is a hack of my self drafted pencil skirt, and a flared section taken from Burda 122 and added at the back:

I have worn this skirt constantly since I made it - it's like the skirt equivalent of a favourite pair of jeans. I added some denim details to it like topstitching, belt loops, and a jeans-style zip at the back:

Centre back fly zip

On to outfit number 2:

The blouse is Simplicity 6110, from 1973:

And the skirt is mostly Simplicity 6017, with pockets borrowed from Butterick 4990:

And with self drafted belt loops!:

I carried through the theme of topstitching and arrowheads on the inverted pleat at the front:

And that's really it! I'm off to listen to some Patsy Cline and eat some bbq. See you soon!

A Suit (of Sorts...)

Believe it or not, I'm a responsible person at work, in charge of 11 people and all of their training, payroll, issues, etc. For years, I've been able to get away with not dressing like a grown up. Skirts with a cardigan and the odd dress have been fine but recently I've been sifting through my work clothes and I think they need a bit of attention. So for this project I thought I'd break my own personal rules and make a (sorta) suit for work. 

It's a combination of patterns - for the top I used this bolero from Vogue 8721, which is fast becoming an old-standby:

I used the bolero on the bottom right

Then I used the skirt from this pattern, a 1970's does the 1940's Simplicity 6110:

I made the skirt with the pockets, but I love all the styling on this pattern - I might have to make everything!

I used some black twill that I picked up at Fabricland in Bristol. (Which by the way was great - check it out if you're ever in the Bristol area.) Not sure what it's made from, I think it's a wool and poly mix, but the weight and drape was perfect for this project.

We're currently experiencing cold but these photos were taken a few weeks ago when it was unusually warm:

It looks like a pretty simple project, and it should have been if I hadn't put my self-drafted bolero lining together wrong way round, and then stretched the right front facing out of shape. This made the jacket sit all wobbly on one side, but was fixed with a lot of unpicking and re-cutting of the lining and facing, and some sneaky piecing together.

Inside view of the bolero - you can just see a sneaky seam on the lower right of the photo where I had to piece a replacement facing together.

The curves at the front wouldn't stay 'sharp' when I ironed them; I was already hugely frustrated by this outfit, so I decided to use spray starch on them. The directions on the can says not to use it on dark fabrics, but I tested it and it seemed fine. Result - lovely front curves! (sounds a bit rude...)

What's so great about the skirt is the pockets, which are usually filled with scraps of scribbled on paper at the end of a days work:

I've been a bit slow at posting recently, so this outfit has already had a few outings at work. It's my new favourite work outfit! It sounds odd, but there's something about having a matching ensemble which makes me feel 'grown up'. Maybe suits aren't such a bad thing after all...

See you soon!

Catching Up On Stuff

How's everyone been doin'? Thought I'd just do a post about the bits and pieces I've been up to recently. It'll mostly consist of a whole lot of stuff I've started, but haven't actually finished! But I've also been to exotic places - well, Budapest - and not so exotic places - Bimingham, eaten some great food and bought some cool sewing stuff.

Let's start with sewing-

Simplicity 6110, circa 1973

I'm finishing off the skirt from this pattern, which I bought a while ago from Raystitch. I love the styling on this pattern so much - someday I'm going to make the ensemble on the far right, turban and all. But for now I'm making the pocketed version in a black twill for work, with a matching bolero jacket.

It's also been time to cull the wardrobe, and I've found a few bits which are either totally worn out, or they can be re-modeled into something better, so expect some posts in the future about re-making and so on.

Knitting-

I finished another pair of socks!

They took a fair while to finish, not because they were hard but because I'm slow. I used Debbie Bliss 4-ply; they went on their first trip outdoors the other day and I can confirm they performed well!

And so I'm straight on to the next project:

I've started this pattern from a 1960's Woman and Home leaflet in a 4-ply wool mix from Drops in this mustard, which is a slightly ugly colour but I love it.

Travel-

I visited Budapest in August for the 3rd time. I love this city! It's beautiful, cheap, and has great cake:

Wonderful cake!

Just your average coffee shop

But they do modern as well - the new underground station

And I traveled not so far to Birmingham for Charlotte's SewBrum meet-up which was fab. 

I'd never been to Birmingham before and I have to say the selection of fabric was excellent. I'm kinda regretting not buying some of this beauty:

It was a lovely day, and I met a whole new set of sewing enthusiasts and bloggers. And if it wasn't for Birmingham, I wouldn't have the next bit to write about-

Shopping-

Singer Overlocker

While chatting to Sarah from a Million Dresses, I found out that Lidl was going to be offering Singer overlockers for the bargain price of £129. That Monday, I was up before sunrise and on my local branch's doorstep for 8.00 am. I seemed to be the only sewist in Hackney there at that time - everyone else was clamoring for the Tefal irons - but if Instagram is anything to go by there were quite a few purchases up and down the country before 10.00. I haven't opened it yet - I'm one of those really annoying people who can wait to open presents - but I've got some ideas for jersey projects so watch this space. I also picked up some cheap overlocking thread, and an eyelet and rivet tool.

And that's pretty much it for now - see you soon!