Selfish sewing week round up

So selfish sewing week is over...:(

I have so enjoyed spending a whole week sewing up new patterns and old ones alike. I have taken on three new patterns this week and feel I have learnt a whole lot. So incase any of you guys missed it, here is a quick round up of my makes in what was a really fun #selfishsewingweek!

I managed to complete;

One tank top for my mum, not particularly selfish, but I gave it to her on Mother's Day and she was over the moon with it!! It was kind of selfish because it was a wonderful excuse to use some of my all time favourite Cotton and Steel fabric by Sarah Watts.  You can see more details about that here. 

My first ever Emery dress also got completed, and I have to say, I now know what all the hype is about!! I love this pattern, so beautifully drafted, and I have high hopes of making a few more of these for the summer. See more pictures here, and if you like silly gifs of people twirling in skirts hop over to my instagram here!

Garment number three is the chiffon blouse that is from a self drafted pattern. To hear about my lucky fabric find and my attempt at testing out a new bit of kit take a look at this post. 

Number three is my mustard Tilly and the Buttons Francoise dress, I chat about fit, fabric choices and my indicision over colour, take a peek here. 

And last and least impressive is my self drafted polka dot vest top. To read a little more about my FBA process and salvaging projects click here. 

Thanks for stopping by over the last week, I have had a lot of new visitors thanks to Selfish Sewing week, I hope you will all visit again.

That's all for now, up next on the sewing table is a new navy dungaree dress, don't go too far. 

~HJF~ 

Dotty swing vest - #selfishsewingweek

Hey guys,

 I am back again with another selfish sewing week post....

Garment number 5! I (I actually had to check that then... I had lost count!!!) 

Today is another quick sew with my swing vest top pattern. I created this pattern using the same pattern as for my mums Tokyo Train Ride Tank Top pattern, but I did an FBA to get the fit better for me.

I do believe I did it slightly wrong..... Well, I think I did it right, I just put way too much fullness across the front. I could have fit another of me in there too! 

I wanted to salvage the vest top, so I cut out the excess down the front and added in a faux button placket. (Now I know this isn't strictly the right thing to do, and it has made the dots across the front look a little awkward but there was sooooo much fullness across the front I didn't have any other option)

I cut the fullness out of the centre front, then stitched my button placket over the top. Although it looks wonky in this shot, it is straight!! I had problems with the gale blowing outside again... I guess that's what you get for living on the top of a hill. 

Thanks for stopping by to see my selfish sewing this week, I still have two garments that I would really like to have completed by Sunday night...but I am not convinced I will manage it. 

More on those to come, and hopefully a full round up of all my makes this week.

~HJF~ 

Mr. Mustard Tilly and the Buttons Francoise!

Garment number four in selfish sewing week is my Tilly and the Buttons Francoise dress.

I recently went on a little trip to wales to the huge fabric shop Abakhan. We have a smaller branch here in Bolton, but NOTHING on the the scale of the Mostyn shop. It has everything!!

So I had a good rummage in the printed viscose section and found this lovely vintage style mustard rose print. Now, I must explain, I am not very adventurous with colours, I like black, navy, grey and in the summer if you are lucky I will thow in the occasional colourful print. I just don't do colour, it doesn't suit me, so I stick to the darker tones. 

So in a vow to add a little more colour to my summer wardrobe I chose this mustard print.... Man how it doesn't suit me!! I am altogether way too pale to pull this number off. 

Anyway, getting back to the point. I made this dress up straight from the packet, and I am pretty happy with the fit, although the neckline/shoulders are too wide on me, but this is something I hope the rectify next time around. 

Pleas excuse the slightly dodgy photograph, it was blowing a gale outside and so I had problems with my dress blowing away... See below! 

I really like this dress pattern and the fit around my bust and hips is pretty flattering, all things considered. As I mentioned before the neckline is too large for me and needs some work, but hopefully nothing I can't rectify. 

As I said this colour really isn't working for me, and I am kind of gutted about that because this fabric is soo lovely and would be wonderful in the summer. Who knows maybe with a tan it won't look as bad?!

I will definitely be making this again, with alterations. I really like how different it looks to the sample image on the packet. I have used a completely different fabric to the ones recommended and it gives a totally different shape to the 60's versions Tilly has made. 

That's all from me for tonight, more selfish sewing week updates to come!! 

~HJF~ 

Chiffon Blouse - #selfishsewingweek

Hi guys, number three on my Selfish Sewing Week list was my self draft chiffon blouse pattern.

I have made this top countless times, in a huge variety of fabrics. I used to make a lot of these to wear for work as they are really comfortable and so quick to sew up. 

I chose to make my latest version from some lovely digital printed chiffon I picked up a few weeks ago. I got the end of a bolt and ended up getting three meters for just £3.50, so I need to get thinking what I can make with the left over yardage. 

The fabric is really see through, but looks great paired with a white vest top underneath. 

I also got to try out my new rolled hem foot. It definitely seemed easier with more stable fabrics, but I mainly bought it to use with silks and chiffons. I have to say it is a little tricky, but I am sure with practice I will get the hang of it.

This was a super quick make, but I just wanted to share it with you all seeing as it is #selfishsewingweek after all! 

I would be really interested to hear you you guys get on with rolled hem feet, is there a secret to it? Any suggestions I should try, I would like to hear them. 

~HJF~

Emery Dress - #selfishsewingweek

This is rather unlike me to post each day, but seeing as I have committed myself to the rather overambitious task of sewing every day this week I thought I might as well keep you informed of what has been flying off my sewing machine!

First up.......

My very first Emery Dress by Christine Haynes. 

I loved this pattern and as soon as I saw it, I added it to my Christmas list. The shape is very me, fitted bodice and a full skirt. In truth it is not too dissimilar to the dress patterns I had drafted for myself in the past, but this has sleeves... So it was the sleeves that swayed me, there you have it! 

As part of Selfish Sewing Week I decided to give this pattern a go. When I started to stitch up this dress I went from, oh no, this is going to be way too small, to ooh this looks like it will be a good fit to finally.... It's huge on me. So I set to altering the bodice in hope of a better fit and I think I am almost there! In the bodice pattern my measurements ranged from a 14 - 18! Crazy. In truth I should have known better and just done an FBA but sometimes I like to just test the pattern out and see how it fits straight out of the packet. 

So here is my Emery in a lovely vintage Peter Pan print fabric donated to me by my Aunty. 

I had a lot of crazy fit issues on this bodice and have ended up adding a couple of neck darts just to salvage the dress. I had worked too hard and loved the fabric, so I wanted to make it a wearable toile. 

The bodice fit perfectly across the bust but was huge at the waist, so I increased the dart size there. The neck was huge, like 4cm worth of gape down the front, so in this version I added a couple of neck darts there, but on the pattern I have taken the excess out so, hopefully that will be much better next time round. 

The skirt was a dream so twirly!! And I now want to add pockets into every dress I make, the are just so perfect. I also chopped the bodice down by 2cm as I prefer things to land a little higher than my waist. 

I didn't have a long enough zip to make this dress... Why didn't I check that first?! 

So I improvised a little and did a zip with three ruloux loops and buttons at the top to finish it off. 

This dress calls for a lining, but as this was just intended as my toile, I just drafted a facing and went with that for this version, but next time round I will have the right length zip, and not be lazy and do the proper lining!

I love this dress pattern though, and hopefully with all the alterations now traced onto my pattern pieces, next time around shouldn't be as difficult. 

Thanks for stopping by again, I hope you are enjoying #selfishsewingweek as much as I am!!

~HJF~ 

#SELFISHSEWINGWEEK Selfish Sewing Week - plans, prep and patterns

Hey folks,

I decided to take part in #selfishsewingweek over on Instagram this week. In preparation I cut out five garments to sew and patterns for three others, so I thought I would share with you my hopes for this week, it seems I may be hoping for the best sewing week of my life!! 

1 - Vintage Simplicty tank top 

2 - To toile my first Emery dress (Christine Haynes) 

3 - To toile my first Francoise dress (Tilly and the Buttons)

4 - Self drafted digital print chiffon blouse

5 - Self drafted swing tank top 

The patterns I have cut in preparation for use are

1 - The Alder shirtdress - Grainline Studio (with pattern alterations)

2 - The Workroom Social Tate Top

3 - A self drafted swing tank top 

Phew! It's quite a list and I am pretty sure I am not going to get though it all this week, but it has been a good motivation to get sewing again. 

Anyway..... Feel free to check back to see how my sewing mission is going.... Wish me luck!!

~HJF~