Linden Sweatshirt Dress - Paisley Vintage Jersey

Hi all,

It feels like an age since I have written a blog post! I have been so busy with birthdays and the like that posting has been put on the back burner. Well I am back today with a super quick sewing fix!

I have been doing a lot of sewing recently some of which I hope to be sharing with you guys in the coming weeks, but I kind of overloaded my self and needed a bit of a break. So I have had a week without sewing pretty much, which for me felt kind of crazy! But this week I gave in and decided I needed a quick simple project to get me back at the sewing table. 

Firstly let me explain, I have a 'to sew' list which changes on occasion but mostly I work my way through it and am pretty happy, but the weather has kind of made that a challenge recently. I had planned my next batch of sewing to be vests, summer tops, dresses, things for my holiday. In fact I had a whole post based around it ( but lets not talk about that shall we) but when the weather decided to stay wet, grey windy and well, very cold I decided, all this summer sewing just won't do! 

I got out my Linden Sweatshirt pattern from the ever faithful Grainline Studio and decided, I NEED more sweatshirts. So that was that, I cut out a lovely grey knit sweatshirt from my newly modded pattern and thought this will be my sewing fix. For some reason I wasn't quite content with that, so I went back to the fabric cupboard and sought out my Vintage paisley cotton jersey. 

I feel I must explain, this is stuff of legends, it is 100% cotton and so thick it could keep you warm in winter like a blanket, it is wonderfully stable, sews like a dream and.....is over two meters wide!

Where did I find such a magnificent piece of cloth, well like most of my snazzy prints it was handed down to me from my Aunty. Back in the day when there were multiple fabric shops on the high street, my Aunty would go and buy amazing fabric so cheaply it now makes me feel a little queezy just thinking about it. She would not only buy for herself but for me when I was a kid, so she has amassed a rather large stash of pretty rad 70's, 80's and 90's prints that she very generously donates to me when I am looking to make something super snazzy.  

Okay, sorry, getting back to the point, I got a little off track there with the whole 80's fabric shopping nostalgia. I  have saved this particular piece of fabric for about eight years, yes, that's right, eight years, I love it that much. I decided it was time to cut that 80's fabric up and have myself a new dress by the end of the day. I wanted a dress that would see me through the pretty poor weather we have been having, something I could wear with tights and a shirt underneath, but equally just on its own in the summer. I wanted to make myself a t-shirt smock dress and decided that the Linden Sweatshirt pattern was the perfect place to start.

I wanted a smock t-shirt style dress, so I set to shortening the the Linden bodice, adding some shaping and then cutting two rectangles to give the gathered skirt I wanted.

Here we have it, I think it fits the purpose I made it for, it is perfect for layering, but also great for when the weather gets a little warmer. I purposely made it just long enough so I could go bare legs if it ever gets warm enough here and the wind drops.... this is not a dress for a windy day...

I have to say I finally had some success with the neckband on this Linden, I feel super happy with the finish on it. ( I was getting a little jealous over here of everyone's wonderful Linden necklines)  I have had a little trouble with this in the past and thought it was perhaps just me being a sloppy sewer.... but as it turns out it was my fabric. My previous two Lindens were out of crazy unstable knitted fabrics that laddered when stretched so adding the neckline had been a challenge. I feel it looks neater this time around, yay for stable jersey!

Here I am laying up my dress because as predicted by the time I had finished my dress it was still mighty cold and I needed my shirt and tights to keep me warm. 

And here is how I hope to wear it if the weather gets a little warmer, however by that point I hope that my legs won't quite blend in to the magnolia colour on the walls quite like they do now.... lets just say I need some sunshine......

I am pretty happy with my quick sewing project, I think I will be making a few more, possibly in a woven next time just to make things a bit cooler for the summer.

I would love to know if you have tried any hacks out with the Linden Sweatshirt pattern. If so please let me know in the comments below!

~HJF~

Simple Paisley scarf

At Christmas Mr. F asked for a vintage men's scarf, you know the ones, paisley printed silk one side, cosy complimentary coloured wool the other. I would call it a men's dress scarf but who knows the real name?! Well he asked for this about a week or two before christmas, and I searched but couldn't find one anywhere, and without time to venture to manchester to wade through the wild array of vintage shops there I decided to give up...... For now.

After my bow tie making marathon before christmas I realised I had quite a few sections of some lovely quilting cottons left over. So I felt a quick project was in order. I realised I had some rather lovely paisley cotton left over that was just big enough to make a scarf with. So I rummaged though my remnant box and found a piece of lovely camel coloured wool mix twill that was an incredibly good match! 

It may not be the vintage one he asked for, but he is happy all the same.

This was a super simple project that probably took half an hour in total with cutting, sewing and pressing. Okay, okay, well maybe a little longer if you include hand sewing the lining shut. 

There you see the lovely warm lining. This scarf was four pieces cut, joined and then, "bagged out". Then a quick trim of the corners, turn the right side out, press and finish with a little hand stitching.

I debated whether to top stitch the whole way round the scarf but I thought that might make it look a little clumsy. 

The fabric is a really lovely quality quilting cotton that I got from Minerva Crafts, unfortunately i don't have a brand or name for it, and there was no selvedge on my piece.

And here he is modelling the scarf. I am sure he really loved modelling this for me.... Ha ha. 

Thanks for popping by, and as ever I would love to hear your thoughts on any of my projects. 

~HJF~