The Roberts Collection Dungarees - In Vintage Olive floral

Hi lovely folks,

Today I am back with a bit of garment sewing, if you keep up to date with my Instagram @hannahjanefellows its pretty much all been about the home decor over there recently.

That was until the lovely Marilla Walker got in touch and asked if I would like to try out one of her new patterns from her new collection, and I jumped at the chance. Marilla makes fabulous patterns, if you don't already know of them you can see them here and here.

I decided to start with the dungaree pattern, because I have been wanting some loose legged turn up dungarees for a while now, and I loved the detailing on these!

My dungarees are made in a Vintage wool mix olive green floral fabric.

I made these in a straight size 7 and I know that there have been some mods to the pattern since then, but I love them so much! I haven't made any mods to the pattern, I like to make it true to pattern when I am testing. 

They are so comfortable to wear, I cant wait to make a million other versions! I chose the wool mix for my first version so they would have some drape, in case I had got the sizing a little large, but next time I am hoping to make these up in a lovely denim or linen.

There are so many lovely details within this pattern, like the fine straps, or the neat waist tucks, which make it just that extra bit feminine.  

( please excuse the twisted straps, I was sure they were lying flat) 

There are several other patterns included in The Roberts Collection that are all equally beautiful, the Pinafore has my name written all over it, as does the blouse, and the jumpsuit would make a great seasonal outfit. 

Head on over to Marilla's blog to read more about it and to go buy the pattern for yourself. If you only buy one pattern this autumn, I can highly recommend this one!

Thanks for stopping by again guys! 

Have any of you purchased this pattern yet?

Are you hoping to make something from The Roberts collection?  

I would love to hear about it, drop me a message in the comments below!

Thirty gifts for Thirty - Mens Keyboard wallet

Hi all,

Today's post is yet another instalment of Thirty gifts for Thirty, where I challenged myself to make twenty handmade gifts for my husband for his thirtieth birthday! 

Today I wanted to show you the handmade wallet I made for him. I wanted to make him a simple fold over wallet but with a bit of personality, so I set about drafting a quick pattern. 

I wanted a simple design with a fold down the centre, a place to hold notes and cards, and that's it. 

I came up with the pattern fairly quickly and set about sewing. I decided I would take step by step photographs of each stage so that I could make a tutorial with the hope of giving my pattern away as a free download. It was the first time I have made an accessory pattern with the intent to make public, it is usually garments patterns I draft for myself, so I tried to be organised about it and made sure I documented each step.

 It all went together fairly quickly, I made a couple of silly mistakes near the end, but I think that was just due to tiredness. I ended up remaking the whole wallet because I had handled it so much by this point it looked a mess! But I got it together and finished it off in time for his birthday.

 I can't say I am overly happy with the finished product, it just doesn't look professional enough for me. So after taking all of the photographs and drafting the pattern, I decided not to post my tutorial after all. I think I am better sticking to the garment making and this has definitely taught me that small accessories are not my thing! But I am ok with that, you know, I am a garment girl at heart, and that's ok. I have loved sewing clothes for as long as I can remember, so maybe this little accessory adventure didn't go quite to plan because my heart wasn't really in it (it was, I wanted to make Mr. F a rad wallet) but who knows, I am ok with not being a whiz at the old wallet making. Pass me the dress patterns any day....:)

So here we have it, gift number three...

As you can see in this photograph the corners are not square, this is due to the amount of bulk, even though I trimmed out all of the excess. I am not sure how I would eliminate this next time?

The two lovely fabric I used were from The Village Haberdashery.

Here is the finished gift with the label attached. Although I am not completely happy with the finished product, it still taught me a lot, and it taught me about what I enjoy sewing too. I really thought I would enjoy sewing this, but I really didn't. I guess there won't be too many more wallets in my future sewing plans. ;) 

Are there things you sew that you don't particularly enjoy sewing? 

Are there any things you sew that you know you find difficult?

 I would love to hear about them in the comments below! 

Thanks for stopping by. 

~HJF~ 

Sea Change Top - Pattern Testing for Lily Sage and Co

Hi all,

I am back today with a lovely bit of pattern testing. I started following Debbie of Lily Sage and Co over on Instagram a while ago, and was so inspired by her fashion an her sewing skills, her style is just fabulous. So, when she posted her new Sea Change top and shouted out that she needed pattern testers I thought I would try my luck.

I was aware that Lily Sage and Co are very popular so I wasn't sure I would be in with a chance but I think being at the larger end of the size spectrum meant I got a shot at testing. I have never tested a pattern for anyone before so I have to say it was quite exciting for me, and it felt really nice to be a part of someone else's creative journey instead of just my own, and hopefully I was able to give some constructive feedback too.

 

Ok so here we go, the Sea Change pattern is a cropped shape top with loose kimono style sleeves. It is super easy to assemble with only minimal pattern pieces to achieve what I think is a really nice clean finish .

 

 

 

Above you can see the kimono sleeve details, there is so much scope with this pattern. It is styled to be a slightly cropped fit, and I made it this way for the pattern test and think it looks great. For me personally next time around I will be adding just a little more length to make it a bit more flattering to my larger figure.

 

 

I made this top in some navy and off white georgette that I had in my stash, it has lovely drape to the fabric so I thought it would be perfect for this (nautical stripes....again!!). This pattern states it works for jersey fabrics too and I can definitely see that being a bit hit, a bamboo jersey with just the right amount of drape would be perfect for this top.

 

 

 I am seeing potential for a really great dress hack here too, add elastic into the waistband and an A-line skirt and it would be great wardrobe staple!

 

All in all I am super happy with this make and will be making more once the official pattern comes out. If you are looking for a new top/blouse pattern for the summer (or the winter, think of the layering options!!!!!) this really is a winner. Great work Debbie!

 

That's all for now,

 

~HJF~